Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The recent Auckland floods may be bad news for the economy. Hundreds of houses will need to be repaired, businesses are grappling with ruined stock, and the damages are estimated to be over a billion dollars. NZ Herald business editor at large, Liam Dann, says the Auckland floods have come at a bad time at this point in the current economic cycle. Liam Dann says the extra stimulus generated by the...

Police are proposing licensed firearms owners pay the costs for their attendance at a burglary. This proposal was included as part of the Arms Regulation: Review of Fees 2022, which was released in December and closes for consultation on 16 February. ACT's Firearms Reforms spokesperson, Nicole McKee says this will price people out of legal firearms ownership. "This actually goes against what's in...

The Motor Trade Association has a warning for people looking to privately purchase second-hand cars. Thousands of Aucklanders and people in Northern regions have had cars caught in this week's devastating floods and will be looking to replace their written-off vehicles. MTA Sector Manager Tony Everett says that it may be hard to spot a flood-damaged car if it's been cleaned and dried out. Tony Eve...

FIFA is facing backlash from Australia and New Zealand's football associations over a possible Saudi sponsorship. FIFA is rumoured to be confirming Saudi Arabia's tourism authority as a sponsor for the 2023 Women's World Cup. This has prompted both organisations to write to FIFA to ask for "urgent clarification". Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says it's unlikely that FIFA will change their mind...

An independent review into land use in Tairawhiti is now locked in. Ex-cyclone Hale left waterways and beaches littered with forest debris and slash a month ago. A forum meeting involving central and local Government, iwi, industry and Federated Farmers reached an agreement to investigate yesterday. Toby Williams from Federated Farmers says it'll be a review into harvesting practices and an opport...

Let’s see if the outraged in football are going to back up their outrage with actual actions this time around. Once again, FIFA has proved it doesn’t care what anyone thinks and it’s chosen money over morals. It’s signed Saudi Arabia on as a sponsor of this Women’s Football World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Without telling Football Australia and New Zealand Football that they’ve done it. And...

FIFA are facing backlash over their rumoured sponsor for the upcoming Women's World Cup. Visit Saudi, the official Saudi Arabia tourism authority may be selected to sponsor the event, despite criticism from human rights groups over the nation's treatment of women. Women's World Cup co-hosts New Zealand Football and Football Australia have written to FIFA to ask for clarification and to urge them a...

Insurers are warning it could be years before all the Auckland flood-related claims are settled. The Insurance Council has had to bring in extra staff to get through the 15,000 claims- and they anticipate that as a start. Insurance Council spokesperson Christian Judge says that the floods were a massive climate event that impacted most of the North Island beyond Auckland. Judge says that the major...

Teachers across England and Wales are expected to strike on the first day of planned industrial action for better pay. It has been estimated that at least 23,000 schools will be closed during these strikes, forcing 4.5 million children to miss a day of education. UK correspondent Kay Oliver says that this is part of a bigger wave of industry strikes, as train drivers and civil servants will be joi...

An economist says an extension of the fuel tax discount is dumb policy. It will be extended until the end of June alongside discounted road user charges and half price public transport fares. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says the Government has done a complete turn around on this. He says it's not directly targeting those worse off and it will benefit the rich more than the poor by a...

January 2023 has presented a strong start to the year for the financial markets. Key players such as The Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq have all reported increases over the last month.   Milford Asset Management's Sam Trethewey says investors have increased confidence in the current market for three big reasons. These include economic hub China reopening, inflation data slowing in both New Z...

There are suggestions the next Official Cash Rate increase will be 50 basis points. Latest figures from the December quarter show the unemployment rate has risen slightly to 3.4 percent, which was higher than expected. It's sparked speculation from major banks that the next OCR hike to cool inflation will be lower, rather than the predicted 75 basis points. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jen...

New data from Centrix shows that 400,000 people ended last year behind on paying their bills. The number of people in debt from missed home loan payments and household bills has gone up by 10 percent from 2021. However, as more people go into debt, charities designed to help low-income Kiwis back on their feet are expecting to lose Government funding by June. Nga Tangata Microfinance chief executi...

On today's edition of The Huddle, Georgina Stylianou, Director of Government Relations firm BRG and Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR joined in on a discussion about the following topics: What do we make of Wayne Brown's ongoing response to the Auckland floods, especially after his latest interaction with a Herald journalist and relationship to the media? The fuel tax discount and half-priced p...

Well as far election bribes go, I’ll have this one, thank you! Good move from Chris Hipkins extending the fuel tax discount through to June. To be fair, he had no choice. He could hardly start adding tax back onto fuel in the middle of cost of living crisis, could he?  Honestly, I’m a little surprised by the conversation this afternoon, to hear how many people are ungrateful and are calling it a s...

There's relief now the sun's shining above Auckland, but the region isn't out of the wet yet. Auckland is still in a state of emergency after Friday's deluge, which closed roads, caused slips, and toppled homes. Auckland Council says more than 2300 rapid building assessments have been completed since Saturday. More than 160 homes have been red-stickered - meaning they aren't safe to enter - and ov...

The storm clouds may have passed Auckland, but the region isn't out of the woods yet. Tamaki Makaurau will remain in a state of emergency for the rest of the week, and road closures and slips are still an issue. The Education Ministry now says schools can open from tomorrow, if possible. Auckland Transport's group manager for Metro Services, Darek Koper says they'll be prioritising school bus serv...

The Reserve Bank may be able to pull back its heavy lifting of interest rates to manage inflation. Unemployment edged up to 3.4 percent in the December quarter with inflation stubborn at 7.2 percent. ASB's Senior Economist says it shows the economy isn't as hot as the Reserve Bank had feared early this year. Mark Smith says factors suggest the labour market will slow more and the economy is due fo...

The Transport Minister says extending the fuel tax discount isn't an election year bribe. It'll continue alongside half priced public transport and discounted road user charges until the end of June. Michael Wood says it's a quick way to directly reduce cost of living pressures for struggling Kiwis. He says the $700 million dollars it'll cost comes from Ministers saving money in their departments...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has extended fuel tax cuts and half-priced public transport until June 30th. This is a reversal of an earlier Government decision to scrap these offerings by the end of March. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this will likely add to inflation, as the extra money saved will be sucked into the economy and drive up prices. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio...

The US is being affected by a nationwide egg shortage, and prices are surging. A deadly outbreak of avian flu has tightened the worldwide egg supply, and inflation has forced up the price of eggs from $2 ($3.11 NZD) to $7 ($10.87). US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says this makes it harder for US consumers to be able to purchase affordable protein, as they had turned to eggs when meat prices shot u...

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has promised that the Wallabies will claim a Bledisloe Cup victory over the All Blacks in August. In his first appearance to the media of his current contract, Eddie Jones says the team is 'after the All Blacks', and if they can take down New Zealand, they'll be in a good position for the Rugby World Cup. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave says this statement is designed...

A supermarket owner-operator has quickly cracked down on cruise ship crew planning to clear their store out of eggs. Four Square Port Chalmers has a one carton per customer limit during the nationwide egg shortage. But a cruise ship sent in the captain and 22 crew members to buy a carton each. Aaron Challis caught on to the ploy - and says it was ethically important to stop the attempt. "When you'...

On last night’s double poll: Really, this is not so much a story about the Labour party’s success as it is about the National party needing a rocket. I mean, sure Labour should absolutely celebrate the bump in their polls, but let’s put this in context. The best this poll bump gives Labour is a hung parliament. That’s a draw. Their big, pre-planned election year reset hasn’t given them an outright...

The UK's Defence Secretary has confirmed the British Army is in decline and is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force. This has come off the back of a US general warning that the British Army's decline needs to be reversed faster in wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this decline is the result of successive conservative governments slashing funding to the Br...