Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Finance Minister Grant Robertson's unveiled a push to slash contractors, trim back programmes and limit future budget allowances. Almost $4 billion is forecast in savings over the next four years, with a keen eye on limiting contractors and tacking back under-spends. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this doesn't paint a good picture of the state of the Government's books. LISTEN...

Multiple investigations are currently underway following yesterday's deadly military aircraft crash in Darwin. Three US marines were killed and another five were hospitalised after the MV-22B Osprey crashed on the Tiwi Islands during a military exercise.  Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this vehicle has been involved in three crashes over the last 18 months- and engineering failure m...

Do the All Blacks have enough time to get their act together ahead of the Rugby World Cup? New Zealand have been given a wake-up call a fortnight out from the major tournament, suffering a record test defeat by the Springboks at Twickenham. Sportstalk host Jason Pine says this is a 'brutal' reality check ahead of the Rugby World Cup. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

A 73-year-old Hawke's Bay chauffeur has revealed he flew to the Philippines for hip surgery, rather than sit on New Zealand's waiting list. Rex Jones was referred in March for a specialist appointment in six months to go on a surgery waitlist. But he found he could fly overseas, have the procedure, and be fully recovered before the date of his first appointment here. Jones stayed with family, and...

Tonight is the Warriors’ final regular season home game, facing the Dragons at Mt Smart Stadium. A win would guarantee a top four finish and another home game in the playoffs. Warriors CEO Cameron George said that while it won’t be easy, they’ve prepared well. He said that there’s a really positive mind-set around the organisation. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After more than two year's absence Donald Trump has returned with a vengeance to X, formerly known as Twitter. He's made U.S history becoming the first former president to have a mug shot taken, and he's posted it onto his page. After 3 hours the post had been seen more than 40 million times. Social Media Commentator Vaughn Davis told Heather du Plessis Allan that there's several likely reasons he...

ACT leader David Seymour maintains fees-free tertiary education is on the scrap heap if his party gets sway after October's election. It comes after National this week reserved its position on the policy, saying it won't abolish the promise despite campaigning for that in 2020. Seymour says this is about taking a principled position. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Let's be brutal about what we all suspect is going on with Air NZ. And that is that Air NZ managed to turn its business around yesterday and post a profit for the first time in three years .  By milking kiwis .  Not the rest of the world , just us .  We're all aware by now that they’ve jacked up the price on their domestic routes. It might surprise you though to know that they’re pretty competitiv...

The Supreme Court has ruled that the former Mainzeal directors are liable to pay $39.8million plus interest and costs as compensation after the collapse of the company a decade ago. The directors’ cross-appeal was dismissed as the Supreme Court found that they were aware of the company’s precarious position. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley was one of Mainzeal’s directors and has been ordered t...

Donald Trump's turning his latest personal loss into a money making venture. He became the first US President to have a mug shot taken earlier today. Trump handed himself into Georgia's Fulton County Jail, facing charges alleging that he headed a scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Trump's begun selling t-shirts with the...

Police are patrolling a Hibiscus Coast high school three times a day in response to antisocial student behaviour. Whangaparāoa College Principal Steve McCracken says they put their hands up when the police offered. It was because of things like fights between students at school and bus stops. McCracken told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he's noticed a difference since the police came in. He says w...

The long-standing tradition of popping over to an Irish pub for an authentic pint of Guinness may be coming to an end.  New data shows 108 pubs closed in 2022, with an average of 152 pubs closing annually since 2019. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the combination of Covid-19 and the ongoing cost of living crisis has encouraged many Irish locals to drink at home instead. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystud...

Tonight on The Huddle, Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was one of ten people killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, on a private plane enroute to Saint Petersburg. Was this news expected? Is this good news for Putin?  National MP National...

The food and fibre sector export revenue has reached new heights and earned $57.4 billion in the year to June 30. This has brought an extra $1.2 billion into the economy, surpassing Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor's expectations. The Country's Jamie Mackay says this news comes with a caveat, as the dairy and sheep sectors are likely to take a hit. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

How much financial pain is too much to inflict on young families struggling to pay off their first homes? History indicates it's a rite of passage- baby boomers endured mortgage rate spikes of 20 percent and Generation X suffered under rates that soared above 10 percent. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann agrees it's a generational rite of passage, but the weight of the burden has grown...

Qantas has posted an underlying profit of nearly $2.5 billion- their first since Covid-19. The flying kangaroo has bounced back from a $1.9 billion loss last financial year, driven by a 132 percent increase in passengers. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Qantas has been trying to distract their customer base with sales and extra points ahead of potential outrage. See omnystudio.com/li...

Auckland International Airport has managed to bounce back following the return of international travel. A sharp increase in both domestic and international passengers enabled the company to report their first profit since the pandemic. CEO Carrie Hurihanganui says the airport still requires upgrades, and they're confident the forecast growth will support these developments.  "After 10 years of con...

Sky TV has reported results in line with expectations and seeks to double their dividend payout to 30 cents in the next three years.  Full-year profit fell 18 per cent to $51 million - but when adjusted for one-offs including restructuring costs, rose 15 per cent to $56.7m. However, the company is struggling to get consumers to switch to their new Sky Box, as only 7 percent of users have traded in...

An uncertain future looms for the Wagner Group after the leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's death. The 62-year-old was one of ten people killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, on a private plane en route to Saint Petersburg. Russian authorities say its commander and co-founder Dmitry Utkin was also among the casualties. Australian National University defence expert Matthew Sussex it leaves a big void fo...

See what National’s doing with the fees-free policy? This is exactly what I was warning you about a couple of days ago. National chickened out and it has now decided it’s going to keep Labour’s expensive policy of paying for university for students who were probably going to go anyway.  This is a massive about-face from National, because they’ve spent six years bashing it and promising to cut it....

Auckland's mayor says some flooded homeowners buyback could be less than they expect. An Auckland flood recovery package worth more than $2 billion dollars has been agreed to in principle by Council and the Crown. It includes $774 million for buying out homes where there's risk to life and no possible mitigation. Wayne Brown says with different houses, there's bound to be variety in payouts. "Some...

Air New Zealand's chief executive warns that their fares are unlikely to go back to pre-pandemic levels. The company today reported a full-year underlying profit of $585 million on operating revenue of $6.3 billion, up 9 per cent on pre-Covid levels. This result is a turnaround on pre-tax losses of $725m last year.   CEO Greg Foran says customers should expect prices to come down as they add more...

Christchurch rapists Roberto and Danny Jaz have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Danny has 16 and a half years, and Roberto, 17 years- the pair must serve at least half before parole is possible. Roberto Jaz told a a pre-sentence report writer he did nothing wrong. Herald reporter Anna Leask says  he claims the abuse was consensual- and he doesn't accept the Judge's verdict. "Which is unfatho...

National MP Tim Van der Molen has been censured following allegations of violence. The Privileges Committee has found he engaged in threatening and physically intimidating behaviour against Labour MP Shanan Halbert in a stand-off at the Transport Select Committee. National leader Chris Luxon has stripped him of his portfolios. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says he's seen worse beha...

The All Blacks are fielding as close to a full strength side as possible for Saturday morning's last pre-World Cup test against South Africa in London. Outside of starting hooker Dane Coles and Luke Jacobson featuring at blindside for the injured Shannon Frizell, the rest of the run-on side is close to what might meet France in the opening match of the tournament. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave...