Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Ahead of this year's Budget Day, the Government have announced where they will direct extra funding. Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson have promised billions will be directed towards infrastructure, education and cyclone recovery and repairs. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Government have made several announcements over the last few days, but history indicates they won't fo...

The Consumer Advocacy Council is calling for The Electricity Authority to make customer care guidelines mandatory. Electricity retailers have admitted to not fully complying with guidelines, including ensuring customers are on the best pricing plan and medically dependent customers can't be disconnected without notice. Council Chair Deborah Hart isn't surprised that only 18 of the 38 retailers wer...

An essential health service warns if they don't receive a cash injection in this year's budget, they'll have to make some tough choices. New Zealand's biggest hospices fear that they may have to cut services if they don't make the cut for further Government funding. Hospice New Zealand chief executive Wayne Naylor says hospices need double the funding they currently receive from the Government to...

One of the biggest problems Grant Robertson’s going to have delivering his sixth budget on Thursday is just getting us to believe to him. This budget- we’ve been told- is going to be about infrastructure. Hands up- who believes this Government when they announce they’re putting a huge of money into building infrastructure?  Yeah, probably not a lot of us.  We all remember the big song and dance an...

Road safety advocate Greg Murphy wants tougher laws on boy racing. On Saturday night, central Auckland's Quay Street was blocked by a large crowd, after a three-car crash. Murphy says the racers use social media to plan events, and listen to police scanners. "Unless we come up with regulations, rules, penalties that are actually going to stop them from doing it- it's only going to grow." LISTEN AB...

New Zealanders would get a 'taxpayers' receipt' under National. It wants Inland Revenue to give taxpayers an annual break-down, showing where money has been spent. Treasury would also need to report each year on the performance of major programmes, to show whether they're achieving results. National leader Chris Luxon says a lot of initiatives don't start off with a good cost-benefit analysis. "An...

Australia's Government is hitting resistance to its plan to deliver tens of thousands of affordable homes, as part of a $10 billion policy. It needs the Green Party's support to pass. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says they will only sign up if rents are frozen for two years. "Here's some sort of solution to try build 30,000 homes across the country as quickly as possible, and the Green...

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger has accused council staff of 'running amok' after a new cycleway was built on Park Tce. Phil Mauger and several Christchurch City Councillors are up in arms after council transport staff approved this cycleway under the guise of temporary traffic management. Fendalton Ward Councillor James Gough says council staff had submitted new safety enhancements on Rolleston Av...

After eight years, today marks the final day for the current CEO of the Electricity Network Association Graeme Peters, his final words being a warning that electricity bills will double within the next five years. Peters told Heather du Plessis-Allan that it’s due to decarbonizing, and the subsequent investment into infrastructure that will support electric vehicles. He says that the total cost wi...

St Cuthbert’s College is ditching Level 1 NCEA next year, finding the proposed changes to the curriculum concerning. President of the Secondary Principals Association Vaughan Couillault disagrees with criticisms that the new curriculum will leave children unprepared. He says that the point was to lower the stakes of Level 1, and align it more with the amount of work needed in Levels 2 and 3. Couil...

Aotearoa Ten Seven, formerly Police Ten 7, ended last week. The show introduced a format refresh after racism claims of unfair portrayal led to an independent review. However, former narrator Graham Bell disagrees that the show misrepresented the Polynesian population. Bell believes the series was killed by the "politically correct" and "wokester brigade". He told Heather du-Plessis Allan that the...

Transport Minister Michael Wood isn’t ruling out the delay of some major roading projects. Waka Kotahi is currently working on 19 projects, and are trying to see how to continue with them with only the money they currently have. Amongst these projects are the Otaki to Levin expressway, Wellington’s Melling Interchange, and Auckland’s Penlink. AA’s Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer Simon Douglas sa...

Federated Farmers says the slash inquiry report is brilliant. The report recommends an immediate halt on large-scale clear-felling of plantation forests. It also calls for a Woody Debris Taskforce to lead clean-ups, transitioning extreme erosion zones out of pasture, and turning production forestry into permanent forest. Federated Farmers Gisborne President Toby Williams told Heather du Plessis Al...

A British tabloid newspaper has apologised to Prince Harry at the start of legal proceedings against the company. Publisher Mirror Group Newspapers are being sued by several celebrities, including the royal, over alleged phone hacking, deception and other illicit means. UK correspondent Enda Brady says Prince Harry's lawyers argued in court that the publisher's unlawful information gathering led t...

Tonight on The Huddle, Chief Executive of Infrastructure NZ Nick Leggett and ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! A group of 97 wealthy New Zealanders have written an open letter calling on the Government to tax them more. Ecostore Founder Malcolm Rands says he doesn’t mind if it’s done through increased income tax, a wea...

Homebuilder stock prices in the US have risen to an all-time high. Limited resale inventory has inspired homebuilder sentiment to surge, and permits for future construction projects are increasing. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds says the Global Financial Crisis generated a shortage of houses in the US, leading to US homebuyers needing to build from scratch. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener f...

The new President of Federated Farmers, Wayne Langford, has released the organisation’s 'wish list' ahead of Budget 2023. Wayne Langford says farmers aren't asking for handouts from the Government, claiming all they really want is a stop to impractical, unpragmatic and unfair regulations. Langford also explained New Zealand needed farmers to be firing on all cylinders ahead of rising interest rate...

The Retirement Village Association has expressed puzzlement at the complaints that inspired the Commerce Commission probe into retirement villages. Both Consumer NZ and the Retirement Village Residents Association have voiced concerns about potential breaches of the Fair Trading Act. Retirement Village Association President Graham Wilkinson says the Commerce Commission's investigation into complai...

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has revealed the Government will reprioritise $4 billion worth of savings ahead of this year's budget. The Government has “re-doubled” efforts to trim excess spending as the economy cools, but will focus on meeting needs in health, education and housing. NZ Herald business editor Liam Dann says $4 billion worth of savings tells the right story, but the overall figu...

A messy week in Parliament has turned fiery, with Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer launching an impassioned tirade. After Labour refused to back a bill banning all seabed mining, sponsor Ngarewa-Packer concluded her speech angrily, accusing MPs opposing it as amateurs and out of their depth. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this is the latest in a messy week in Parli...

Some legal gun owners are concerned over the new online registry. Gun owners will have five years to register their firearms, and thirty days to record a new purchase in a new online system. The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners says it only gives a picture of legal gun ownership. Spokesperson Hugh Deveraux-Mack says there's concern criminals could get their hands on the data. "It's not only goi...

Not everyone who signed a letter asking for the rich to be taxed more heavily is mega wealthy. The signatories described themselves as wealthy New Zealanders. Tax Justice Spokesperson Glenn Barclay is one of them. He says he's not extremely wealthy, but is still probably in the top 10 percent of income earners. "If the tax system was a bit more fair, I might find myself paying more tax. And I'd be...

Australian ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold has walked back his accusations of political conspiracy in the Lehrmann/Higgins trial. After reading more submissions that had been made as part of the official inquiry into the trial, Drumgold admitted he was mistaken. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Drumgold had alleged that political interference had played a role in the s...

The Blues are out for retribution after going down 34-28  in round four at Eden Park. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been left out of the Blues' 23 entirely for Saturday's Super Rugby match against the Crusaders in Christchurch. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our oldest New Zealander turns 107 today. Jack Coe was born in 1916 in a tent in Bulls, and lived almost a century in Marton, in the Whangārei region. His 77-year-old son, Peter Coe, says Jack stayed quite independent until going into a retirement home four months ago. He says the secret to his longevity, could be his love of popcorn, beer and home-grown veggies. "He did have a large veggie garden...