Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Professional Footballers' Association is standing with the governing body regarding alleged inappropriate behaviour by outgoing coach Jitka Klimkova towards a player. Newstalk ZB understands a number of players were dissatisfied with New Zealand Football's handling of the employment-related matter. The incident, which the players say happened during last year's World Cup, resulted in an indepe...

Heart of the City is urging Auckland Council to follow the Wellington's lead on cracking down on people working from home. Public Service bosses are being told to manage staff working out of office as an agreement - not an entitlement. Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck says council workers are only required to come to the office three days a week. She says getting them back in the city is what the CB...

Over in the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver her first Budget on October 30th. She's warned this Budget will involve some 'difficult choices' regarding tax, spending and benefits. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says significant tax rises have been ruled out to fix the multi-billion pound financial 'black hole'. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand exported a record $3.1 billion worth of kiwifruit in the year to August, a 20 percent lift on the previous season. The figure was largely made up of gold kiwifruit, jumping 24 percent on the previous year to a value of $2.4 billion. Zespri Head of Global Public Affairs Michael Fox says this is great news for growers and businesses. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 23 September 2024, Philip Polkinghorne has been found not guilty of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna. NZ Herald journalist Michael Morrah tells Heather what Polkinghorne told reporters outside court and what his mistress has had to say. Finance Minister Nicola Willis explains why she's issued a notice to public servants to stop wo...

Fletcher Building is looking to put its problems in the past, as it aims to raise an extra $700 million. The construction giant plans to issue $292 million in new shares for investors, to cut into its $1.8 billion debt. Fletcher Building has announced a group net loss of $227 million last month. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly says this is part of the company's bid to reduce additional loss...

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Josie Pagani from Child Fund joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Wellington mayor Tory Whanau's in hot water after she got caught flip-flopping on whether she sold her car to pay the bills. What's going on here? Is this a bad look?  The Government has put the hard word on public servants and urg...

The Public Service Minister has put the hard word on Government departments and urged them to call their staff back to the office. She says there are performance downsides to working-from-home arrangements - and harmful impacts on local businesses. Willis says these changes will begin with public service departments updating their remote working rules. "Then we can compare one agency with another...

There's further calls for Government intervention in Wellington City Council after a rough TV interview from the mayor. Tory Whanau has faced criticism following a Q&A interview where she backtracked on why she sold her car, contradicted herself, and got confused on questions. Local councillor Diane Calvert has been calling for a Crown facilitator on the council. She now says people have lost...

The Government's ordering public servants back to the office, with a crackdown on working from home. Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has outlined new expectations for agency bosses to make flexible working an agreement, not an entitlement. She says there are performance downsides to such arrangements - and impacts on local businesses. Public Service Association national secretary Duane Leo s...

Gasps from the public gallery as Philip Polkinghorne was declared not guilty of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna in 2021 - nor of manslaughter. He's been discharged, but will be back in court in November for sentencing on meth possession charges. NZ Herald reporter Michael Morrah was in court. He says it was very tense as the verdict was announced. "Some people in the public gallery were in tears,...

Working from home is not an entitlement, it's an agreement. That's the Prime Minister's message to public servants today, claiming routines begun during Covid - now risk undermining performance. From now on, it'll only be agreed when Working from Home doesn't compromise agency objectives. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says more data is needed regarding the benefits and drawbacks of...

Australia's leading supermarket giants are set to face court after allegedly misleading consumers through fake discounts. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims Coles and Woolworths bumped prices of products by 15 percent for brief periods before selling them at a discount. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the supermarkets can expect to face fines and additional pen...

There's belief New Zealand wouldn't have been involved in a bribe to free Kiwi Philip Mehrtens. The pilot was released last Saturday after 19-and-a-half months of captivity in West Papua. RNZ has reported the West Papua National Liberation Army claims it was paid a bribe, but Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says that's entirely unsubstantiated.. West Papua Action Aotearoa spokesperson Cath...

So after eight weeks in court, and more than three years of living under suspicion - Philip Polkinghorne is not guilty. This verdict today will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who's been following this trial closely. The Crown simply did not have a good case, at no point, really, was it actually convincing. But when it came to closing arguments last week, it became really obvious how weak...

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 20 September. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting a string of women employed by the department store. Five women have accused him of rape and an additional 20 have claimed he sexually assaulted them. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says al-Fayed would identify and target young, female assistants before isolating and assaulting them. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.c...

The US Federal Reserve surprised economists with its first interest rate cut in four years. Rates have gone down by 0.5 percent to about 4.8 percent - a significant shift after two years of high rates designed to tame inflation. Fisher Funds expert Sam Dickie says the markets responded well to this move after pricing in potential cuts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Two key players looking to help Kiwi farmers reduce their emissions have given a new company some additional funding to craft a methane vaccine. AgriZeroNZ and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre are providing $13.5 million ($8.5M and $5M respectively) to Lucidome Bio to fund their research. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains what this move could mean for farmers. LISTEN A...

Experts say today's GDP figures paint a dire picture of our economy - and it's unlikely things will recover right away. New data shows GDP dropped 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2024. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann explains why the economy is unlikely to recover in the coming months. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and Early Edition host Ryan Bridge joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  A group of Wellington taxi drivers have been suspended from the airport ranks after they used the parents' room to heat up food on their late night shifts. Is this unfair? The GDP dropped 0.2 percent in Q2 and things aren't looking too hopeful...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 19 September 2024, how can we cure our sick economy? Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr spoke to Heather after our economy contracted 0.2 percent in Q2. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith wants to reduce the number of jury trials to deal with the backlog of cases waiting to get to court. Plus, The Huddle debates whether Wellingto...

Wellington Airport has suspended five taxi drivers from using its taxi rank after they used the parents’ room to heat their dinners. The airport contacted the taxi companies two months ago to warn against drivers using the parents’ room for privacy and hygiene reasons - but this was not passed on to all taxi staff. One anonymous driver who avoided suspension has labelled this move 'unreasonable' ...

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has made some line-up changes ahead of this weekend's Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney. Beauden Barrett returns to fullback, Will Jordan moves to the right wing, and Ethan de Groot and Caleb Clarke make their return after recovering from injuries.  All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax hopes the team can turn their luck around after the two recent defeats in Cape Town. He expr...

One expert says today's GDP figures paint a bleak picture of the economy - but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Stats NZ revealed this morning a 0.2 percent contraction for the three months to June, following 0.1 percent growth in the March quarter. Kiwibank economist Jarrod Kerr says it's likely the economy won't start growing again until late 2025. "The Reserve Bank's put a stake in the g...