Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 18 June 2024, Auckland councillor Alf Filipaina speaks to Heather after five incidents of homes being shot at in Auckland over the past few weeks. The mother of the missing Marokopa children has broken her silence. She wants her babies home and calls what her ex-partner Tom Philipps is doing "child abuse". 80 principals are pools...

Racing Minister Winston Peters has confirmed he's in no hurry to make a call whether or not to ban greyhound racing. Appearing before a select committee, Peters claimed he wanted to wait at least a year to make a decision - and had no interest in making a 'careless' choice. Peters says he ran the risk of being called to account if he rushed the process of a potential ban. "I've got people surveyin...

Kiwi women have been forced to shop around or ration their existing HRT supply amid an ongoing shortage. A new survey has revealed insights from the women affected by the dwindling supply, and Pharmac has warned the situation is likely to continue into 2025. Hawke’s Bay GP Dr Samantha Newman says pharmacies are unable to keep a steady supply going, as much of the medication is unfunded. "The reall...

The end of buy now, pay later provider Laybuy is being described as sad by experts. The company has been put into receivership and services have been suspended.  Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young says the sector has been impacted by decreased spending and reduced consumer confidence. "We are in a really difficult environment in terms of retail... people just don't have the money in their wal...

School principals have taken togs and snorkels along for a five-day leadership trip in Fiji. It's one of many to hit the market since principals got a $6,000 salary boost for professional development and wellbeing. It's prompted debate on whether they're valuable for leadership - or an opportunity to have a taxpayer-funded overseas holiday. The Taxpayers Union's Jordan Williams says it's not a goo...

On principle, I like Nicola Willis' idea of performance pay for the chief executives in the public sector. It's actually not a new idea, we were doing it until Jacinda's lot got in and Chris Hipkins, the then-relevant minister, cancelled it. And it was pretty generous, up 15 percent on top of base pay. Since some of those guys in the public sector get paid close to $700,00 a year, that's another $...

Police are investigating several residential Auckland homes following five shootings in recent weeks. Two were last night in South Auckland, and the others happened within the last couple of weeks. South Auckland Councillor and former police officer Alf Filipaina says this shouldn't be the new normal. "It's just disgusting what's happening... whether it's gang related or not, people just realise t...

There's no reprieve for Australian borrowers just yet, as the Reserve Bank decided to leave rates on hold. Australia's Official Cash Rate was held steady at 4.35 percent, in line with expectations from economists. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says people are screaming for relief - but the Bank is determined to bring inflation down. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

It's been confirmed Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will return to the centres for the Warriors' NRL visit to the Titans on the Gold Coast. He's been out with a hamstring injury for over a month. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave unpacks this update. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's increased support for efforts to trim court waiting times. The Chief District Court Judge has introduced protocols to speed proceedings, including time targets based on a crime's seriousness. Lawyer Steve Cullen says about 81 percent of cases meet targets, against a goal of 90 percent. He says setting up some cases can be a challenge. "You're dealing with people in the criminal sphere who...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 17 June 2024, it has been an embarrassing start to the Prime Minister's trip to Japan - after the Defence Force plane carrying the delegation broke down. Political Correspondent Jason Walls speaks to Heather from the centre of the drama - and later in the show Heather asks Finance Minister Nicola Willis whether it's time to buy a...

The BBC has reported that the Greek coastguard caused the deaths of dozens of migrants in the Mediterranean.   This happened over a three-year period, witnesses say, including nine who were deliberately thrown into the water.   BBC analysis found that more than 40 people alleged to have died.   UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Heather du Plessis-Allan “The Greek government has long been accused of...

National promised in the last election to allow foreigners to buy $2m-plus properties - reversing a ban introduced by the previous Labour government – with exceptions for Australians and Singaporeans.   However, this was vetoed by National’s coalition partner - New Zealand First.   Sotheby's NZ Managing Director Mark Harris told Heather du Plessis-Allan “New Zealand’s always been of interest – but...

Service sector activity has plummeted to its lowest level outside the Covid lockdowns.   The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Services Index (PSI) fell 3.6 points in May to 43.0.   Business NZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope told Heather du Plessis-Allan “It’s consistent with other data – like profit margins being below pre-Covid rates.”   Hope said “Corporate insolvencies are around the same lev...

Tonight on The Huddle: Sherson Willis PR’s Trish Sherson and Child Fund’s Josie Pagani.   There’s some unanswered questions about the cost of commercial flights  to Japan for Prime Minister Chris Luxon and his delegation.   Their Defence Force plane broke down yesterday in Papua New Guinea -- the latest in a string of issues.   Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters was asked if it's fair the taxpay...

Air New Zealand's Chair says the airline's done its best to help with the Defence Force plane's failure.   The Prime Minister's business delegation flight broke down yesterday in Papua New Guinea, en route to Japan.   Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We’ve got a defence capability review under way – that includes being able to quickly get to the Pacific and around the...

The Government’s proposing changes to the Resource Management Act and the Building Act – to help make it easier to build granny flats.   This follows a commitment in the National-NZ First coalition agreement, which requires the government to " Make it easier to build granny flats or other small structures up to 60 square metres, requiring only an engineer's report".   Housing Minister Chris Bishop...

Netsafe has launched an AI chat bot that will scam scammers.   It lets people forward suspicious emails to Netsafe - which uses Chat GPT to start a never-ending conversation with the scammer.   ReScam's first version was launched a few years ago, allowing simple exchanges.   Netsafe CEO Brent Carey told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We've wasted six days of scammers time." Carey said "I've got one on...

Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson says she's feeling grateful that her breast cancer will be treated - and she has the care and support to focus on it.   Davidson will work up until Matariki, before a partial mastectomy next month and further treatment.   Breast Cancer Foundation Chief Executive Ah-Leen Rayner told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We take it for granted in metropolitan areas that scr...

The Prime Minister's business delegation was stranded when their Air Force plane broke down in Papua New Guinea.   Chris Luxon took a commercial flight to arrive in Japan - while the business leaders and media flew to Australia, to take a connecting Air New Zealand flight to Tokyo.   Political Editor Jason Walls is with the delegation. Walls told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We’re getting a sense tha...

The Prime Minister's business delegation is beginning its trip to Japan again, after a detour through Brisbane.   The group was stranded when their Air Force plane broke down in Papua New Guinea.   Chris Luxon took a commercial flight to arrive in Japan on time, and the trade group and media flew on to Australia, to take an Air New Zealand flight to Tokyo.   Senior Political Correspondent Barry So...

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have agreed to properly manage their nations' differences during a visit.   This follows an era in which minister-to-minister contacts were banned and trade barriers cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($21.5 billion NZD) a year.   Australia Correspondent Oliver Peterson told Heather du Plessis-Allan...

The Melbourne Storm beat the Warriors 38-24 at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday, the sixteenth time they’ve won this match-up.   After scoring three tries at the beginning, the Warriors spent the rest of the game with their wingers Marcelo Montoya and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in the sin bin.   SportsTalk Host Jason Pine told Heather du Plessis-Allan “I’m sure the players would have said not to worry ab...

Four months ago, Wellington Water said plumbers weren’t qualified to repair the capital’s water crisis.   However, it's now been revealed that they're more qualified than Wellington Water's own workforce.   Master Plumbers Chief Executive Greg Wallace told Heather du Plessis-Allan “The Workplace Development Council have agreed the NZQA standards that plumbers do, are more than what Wellington Wate...

Well, we're just gonna have to pony up and buy a couple of new planes, aren't we?   Come on, this is the second time this year that this plane has broken down on Chris Luxon, and if he keeps on insisting on using these old girls, it's definitely not going to be the last time.   I reckon Al Gillespie made the best argument today for why we should have a plane that works - rather than flying the Pri...