Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

BP, Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Total Energies all earned $219 billion in 2022. All these major oil companies benefited from the surge in oil and gas prices that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This marks a turnaround for the oil and gas industry, as they suffered profit losses in 2020/2021 following a reduced demand for energy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Liam Dann, NZ Herald business...

Today on The Huddle, Nick Leggett, Chief Executive of Transporting NZ and Neale Jones from PR firm Capital joined in on a discussion about the following topics:  There has been a 30 percent uptick in truck and bus drivers having micro-sleeps at the wheel, according to Autosense data. This is concerning- what do we think?  What do we think of the Talbot Mills poll showing National is ahead of Labou...

There is an increase in Auckland truck and bus drivers briefly falling asleep while driving. Autosense has installed 4600 camera units in commercial vehicles to track how widespread this problem is. The company has observed a 30 percent increase in drivers having micro-sleeps that last around 1.5 seconds. Autosense chief executive Charles Dawson says they've tracked 150 micro-sleep events per day...

The NZ Super Fund paid out $16.2m in bonuses to staff at the end of 2022. The amount paid in bonuses increased by 50 percent, with four staff members receiving between $355,000 and $560,000. The NZ Super Fund was forced to justify this to Parliament's Finance and Expenditure select committee, including National's Simon Watts. Simon Watts says that paying an extra $500,000 to highly paid public ser...

A tech commentator says Kiwis will be furious Netflix is giving account-sharing the boot. The company says every account will need one primary location and users will have to regularly log in at that location. Bill Bennett says the move's already faced a backlash on social media and subscribers will delete their accounts when these changes kick in He says in the past, the company encouraged accoun...

Hamiltonians are being warned to avoid the city centre tomorrow, with speculation swirling online about a potential mass brawl. Mayor Paula Southgate says she understands it's planned at the city's transport centre and could pit communities against each another. There's also online chatter that weapons could be brought along. Southgate says this appears to be a legitimate threat and has advised th...

Brad Olsen was on the show late in the Business Hour yesterday arguing the Government had to hike the minimum wage by a full $1.50 yesterday. Because it had to be in line with the annual inflation rate. If you look at the minimum wage in the isolation of one year, yes that’s an easy trap to fall into. But you have to look at the minimum wage over the duration of the last six years of this Governme...

Unions are relieved about Chris Hipkins' announced increase to the minimum wage. The Prime Minister announced that minimum wage would increase by a further 7 percent on April 1st to $22.70. E Tu Assistant National Secretary Annie Newman says that many Kiwi businesses already pay their staff an accredited living wage, which is close to the increased minimum wage already. Annie Newman says that an i...

The latest corporate poll from Talbot Mills shows National is ahead of Labour by three points. The poll had Labour at 33 percent, behind National which was on 36 percent. However, the poll shows that Labour had the numbers to form a Government with Te Pāti Māori’s backing. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says these numbers are consistent with the recent polls run by TVNZ and TV3. S...

The Australian Government says it will remove installed Chinese-made security devices amid security concerns. This comes after an audit discovered hundreds of cameras, intercoms, and video recorders manufactured by China were placed on defence sites. Defence Minister Richard Marles says the Government will remove these devices, as they pose a security threat. Australian correspondent Murray Olds s...

Dane Coles is the latest All Black to announce plans to step down from the team. Coles has confirmed he will retire from the sport of rugby at the end of the 2023 season.  This will conclude a 17 year career representing Wellington, the Hurricanes, Māori All Blacks and the All Blacks. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says Dane Coles had a fantastic career playing for all these teams, but new bloo...

Concerns about Wellington City Council's spending plans. Mayor Tory Whanau's penned an editorial claiming one of her top priorities is helping the capital's creative sector. The council is expecting to hike rates up 12.8 percent this year. Councillor Ray Chung says it seems the council feels no hesitation about spending money. He says companies and people all run on budgets, but councils and Gover...

The death toll in Monday's Syria-Turkey earthquake has risen further two days after the fact. The combined death toll has surpassed 8000, making it the deadliest earthquake in over a decade. UK correspondent Kay Oliver says rescue teams are still pulling survivors out of tangled metal and concrete and over 600 thousand buildings have collapsed. Kay Oliver says that King Charles has also sent messa...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced the minimum wage will go up by $1.50 in April. This will bring the minimum wage up to $22.70 in order to keep in line with inflation. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says that the the Government had to hike up minimum wage in order to keep up with inflation. Brad Olsen explains that while businesses aren't pleased, the minimum wage increase is...

Global inflation appears to have peaked and may start heading down in the coming months. Central banks across the world are also predicted to slow down their rate hikes soon. Milford Asset Management's Mark Riggall says that 2022 was focused around addressing excessive global inflation and the share-markets will have an easier time ahead.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has axed a series of policies in today's Cabinet meeting. The biofuels mandate and TVNZ-RNZ merger are no more and the proposed income insurance scheme will be placed on hold. Chris Hipkins said it isn't the right time to put extra financial strain on Kiwis and the policy will be revisited when the economy improves. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny...

Four University of Technology Sydney (UTS) students have created a house rental platform aimed at young renters. Nesteek is an Airbnb-style website that allows young renters to list their properties while they travel by getting guest to cover the rent duration of their trip. Keith Schembri, Nesteek co-founder and CEO says the company has been doing better than expected, and that they plan to expan...

Chris Hipkins announced that the TVNZ-RNZ merger will stop going forward. Hipkins said that Radio New Zealand and NZ On Air will be given additional funding to support public media content. Newstalk ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Hipkins also came close to criticising Jacinda Ardern's administration. Barry Soper says Chris Hipkins' claimed the Government had been doing "too m...

In this edition of The Huddle, Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The minimum wage is going up by $1.50 in the biggest increase in 16 years. Can businesses afford this on top of everything else? The TVNZ/RNZ merger has been scrapped- why did it take so long? Did the Government figure o...

The police's latest cocaine drug bust isn't the first time drugs have been intercepted in the Pacific. Working alongside the Defence Force and Customs they were able collect 3.2 tonnes of cocaine bobbing in the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand. The drugs were believed to be destined for the Australian market. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says there have been other examples of drugs of d...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has raised the minimum wage by $1.50 to $22.70 per hour by April 1. Hipkins has conceded that small businesses will find the minimum wage increase "difficult". Employers and Manufacturers Association head Brett O'Riley says that this wage increase will be implemented at a tough time for businesses. "When we are so close to the beginning of the next financial year for m...

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has been hinting that NZR plans to make an announcement about the All Blacks coaching role. Robertson claimed Wednesday that the rugby-based governing body will appoint a new coach "in the next few days". NZR followed up with a statement confirming that an announcement on the process of selecting an All Blacks coach is not imminent. NZ Herald rugby writer Liam Napie...

The Prime Minister can't yet put final figures on how much has been spent on policies he's now scrapping. The TVNZ-RNZ merger is gone, and the social insurance scheme is on ice. Work on hate speech laws is also being withdrawn and won't be progressed this term - and the Biofuels mandate will be stopped. Chris Hipkins says changes to Three Waters will be considered soon. He says about 23 million's...

Absolutely none of us should be surprised that criminals think they can get away with committing crime in front of people in broad daylight at the moment. I don’t need to list the examples, you know them. The people walking a supermarket trolley of groceries out of Countdown in Papakura on Sunday. The guy who took $20K from the safe of a New Plymouth café while the worker was inside and distracted...

President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address to mixed reception from Congress. Biden touched on positive economic developments including lower unemployment and easing inflation and called for unity within the divided Government. The President was also heckled and booed as he addressed the Republicans proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson sa...