Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Starting from July, hundreds of Kiwis living in Australia will be able to easily become dual citizens. This announcement fulfils a promise Anthony Albanese made in July last year when he met former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.  NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says that Jacinda Ardern's meeting with Albanese laid the foundation for this policy, and it was apparent this would eventually...

The Australian Government announced that Kiwis who have been in the country for four years will be able to apply for citizenship come July. This has sparked concerns from economists and employers that New Zealand workers will head across the ditch following the removal of bureaucratic hurdles. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says these changes are good for New Zealanders, as Kiwis...

The Warriors will face the Storm in tomorrow night's annual Anzac Day NRL clash. The match is due to take place in Melbourne and experts are unsure as to how it'll play out for the Kiwi team. Weekend Sport host Jason Pine says history indicates the Warriors have no chance against the Storm, but their impressive current season increases their odds. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Times have been tough for the rural sector, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Rural cost inflation came in at 15.3 percent in the December 2022 quarter, but economists are predicting a sharp drop. Westpac Senior Agri Economist Nathan Penny predicts rural cost inflation will fall to 4 percent come December 2023. "There's some big costs that have already started falling, like fertilis...

A group of Restore Passenger Rail protesters have been arrested after blocking Wellington's State Highway One. The protesters glued themselves to Vivian St at the intersection of Cuba St and were swiftly removed by police within 30 minutes. Transport Minister Michael Wood says it was good to see them moved on by police and was pleased with the robust response. "I'm concerned about the disruption t...

Deep frustration from Hawke's Bay locals at the Red Cross's slow spend of its Cyclone Gabrielle fund. More than $21 million was raised from donations in the immediate aftermath, but only $4 million has been dished out so far. Cyclone Recovery Local Advocate, Chloe Johnson says there's a lot of places the organisation's help is needed, but silt clean up is the most obvious. "It's not that we want t...

A new global study has pitted artificial intelligence tools against accounting students. It found students performed about 20 percent better on average than ChatGPT. The study used 25,000 questions and also found the AI tool often made up facts while providing descriptive explanations for them. A co-author, Auckland University's Ruth Dimes says the findings do come with some caveats. "The study we...

There are warnings New Zealand will need to level the playing field to avoid a major brain drain to Australia. From July, New Zealanders living across the ditch will be able to gain dual citizenship if they've been in Australia at least four years. The managing director of a recruitment agency says it will make Australia even more attractive for would-be expats. Hays New Zealand's Adam Shapley say...

Questions over the logistics of Australia's defence strategy announcement. Their Government has agreed to all 62 recommendations from a review, conceding its Defence Force isn't up to scratch. The plan will cost $19 billion dollars (Australian) over the next four years, including $7.8 billion in reallocated funding. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says there's a lot of mathematics involve...

Predictions we're on the pathway for commissioners to be called in at Gore District Council. An independent review's been sought following ongoing issues between mayor Ben Bell and his Chief Executive Stephen Parry. Massey University expert Jeff McNeill says there's been a fundamental breakdown between the two and things just aren't working. "The way out is going to be- get somebody else in to bre...

There are concerns about Ashburton's high nitrate levels. Greenpeace undertook free water testing in the region over the weekend and 77 percent of samples had more than one milligram per litre of nitrate. Up to 11 percent exceeded the current nitrate standard of 11.3 milligrams per litre, including one at 25.7 milligrams. Lead campaigner Christine Rose says there’s severe nitrate contamination in...

I totally disagree with anyone seeing any negatives in Australia’s immigration announcement at the weekend, this is one of the most positive and significant changes for New Zealand in the ANZAC relationship. I don’t believe it’s going to lead to a significant brain drain, that brain drain’s already happening. Kiwis have already been moving to Australia regardless of the fact that they couldn’t get...

Race Relations Minister Meng Foon donated $1500 to Kiri Allan's campaign during the last election. ACT Party Leader David Seymour believes that this is a sackable offense for Meng Foon. He said that he wishes Labour could make inflation and crime decrease as quickly as their standards are. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Department of Conservation has blamed a 'function issue' for the repeated crashes of the booking system for the Milford Track Great Walk. Thousands of trampers were left frustrated on Wednesday, spending up to an hour trying to log onto the booking system for the track after the web-page glitched. DOC's Visitor Advice Manager, Lynnell Greer says that they will ensure the system is fully functi...

Nerves are growing among Hamilton businesses as Fonterra looks for new premises. The dairy giant is leaving its central Hamilton building and hasn't committed to staying in Kirikiriroa. Hamilton Business Association General Manager Vanessa Williams says her understanding is the building is no longer fit for purpose. She told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they spend a lot of time welcoming business...

New Zealand's only professional baseball club has entered liquidation. Auckland's Tuatara Baseball Franchise was unfortunately unable to survive both the pandemic and the recent weather events. Tuatara's CEO Regan Wood says that while the club was insured, they have yet to be paid out. He said that if the money had come through earlier, it's likely that they would not have had to go into liquidati...

Criminal charges have been dropped against Alec Baldwin over a fatal on-set shooting in New Mexico. A Cinematographer was killed by a live bullet fired from a prop gun by Baldwin during filming. The Emmy-award winning actor was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. International Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that charges have now been dropped but they co...

I’d say Meng Foon is in a position where he should probably think about quitting his job. It’s been revealed that he’s a Kiri Allan donor.  So, go back to the last election: he and his wife gave her 1500 dollars for the campaign, also allowing her to use an empty shop his wife owned, and only charged her campaign a nominal amount so she basically ended up with a rent subsidy worth around $9200. A...

Security staff at London's Heathrow Airport will be striking next month in a dispute over pay. The strikes will begin on May 4th and continue over the following weekend during an expected uptick in travel to the UK for King Charles's coronation. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the press release from the Unite union promises 'May mayhem', suggesting they picked this weekend to cause maximum damage...

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following topics:  The IPCA report into the police handling of the protests at Parliament was released today. The police were praised for their overall efforts, but Police Commissioner Andrew Coster was condemned for his decisions. Do we think Coste...

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has released plans to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion. This comes as banks are warning the US Government to bring the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling forward. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained that if the US Government's debt ceiling is breached and the limit isn't raised, the Government could theoretically default on its debt obligations. Sam Dickie says r...

Prices exceeded expectations in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, with a 3.2 percent rise across the board. This marks the first increase in two months after the index recently tumbled 4.7 percent. The Country's Jamie Mackay says the value of skim milk power soared as a result of interest from the Middle East, promising an immediate effect on the futures market. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

The lower-than expected 6.7 inflation rate offers some light at the end of the tunnel. This figure is unlikely to change the current outlook, as economists are still predicting the Reserve Bank will deliver another 25 basis point hike to the OCR next month. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann says this inflation rate presents good news after months of inflation being worse than expected....

The Independent Police Conduct Authority today released their report on the response to 2022's Parliamentary protest. The report found that police overall acted appropriately throughout the 23-day occupation, but found that officers were ill-prepared to remove the protestors and lacked sufficient protective gear. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Police Commissioner Andrew Coste...

Michael Schumacher's family are planning legal action against a German weekly magazine over a fictitious interview. The magazine ran a fake cover promising the first interview with seven-time Formula One world champion since his skiing accident in 2013. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.