Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A former New South Wales School principal is at the centre of a fatal siege in Australia that left two police officers dead. Four others are dead- a neighbour, and three alleged offenders, after a check up by four officers on a missing person report in rural Queensland turned deadly. Courier Mail court and crime editor Kate Kyriacou says Nathaniel Train was a missing person, and that's how this st...

ACT Party leader David Seymour is brushing off an insult from the Prime Minister. Speaking under her breath today in Parliament today, Jacinda Ardern called him an arrogant prick, but it was picked up by Parliament's microphones. Ardern texted Seymour to apologise, saying she shouldn't say such things, and he replied wishing her a Merry Christmas. David Seymour says the comment isn't a big deal in...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recently come under fire after calling Act's David Seymour an 'arrogant prick' in Parliament. Ardern has since apologised to David Seymour for her comments via text. This comment was made as David Seymour was asking the Prime Minister about Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta’s performance and hate speech reforms. Political editor Barry Soper observed that David Seymour took...

Pita Gus Sowakula has signed up with the French rugby club Clermont after not being selected to play with the All Blacks in 2023.  Pita Gus was recently added to the All Blacks line up in July 2022 and debuted in the All Black's test match against Ireland. Despite a successful start, he hasn't been selected for 2023. Pita Gus Sowakula is saying he hasn't given up hope for next season, but Sportsta...

Questions continue to swirl over what prompted a deadly attack on police in Queensland. Six people are dead- two officers, a neighbour, and three alleged offenders after a check up by four officers on a missing person report turned fatal. They were looking for a former New South Wales school principal at the property owned by his brother and sister in law, where the shootout took place. Australian...

Consumer NZ is alarmed by how many people are cancelling house insurance because of cost. That's 17 percent of those without contents insurance, and 7 percent of people without house insurance. Consumer NZ's Rebecca Styles says a review of the insurance industry is well overdue to ensure it remains competitive and works for Kiwis. But she says despite the industry's shortfalls, house and contents...

Four children in the UK are in critical condition after falling through an icy lake in Birmingham. The children were reportedly in cardiac arrest after the accident and were taken to hospital shortly after. They were believed to have been playing in the surrounding area. Witnesses say there were six children involved, but only four have made it to hospital and the remaining two have yet to be foun...

One economist is suggesting that the TVNZ-RNZ merger could be shelved within the next few days. The Government is putting out their budget policy statement on Wednesday, which sets out where the Government wants to spend their money in the coming months.  With the 2023 election in mind, Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says the Government will be prioritising a limited range of interests...

New moves to get extra cash into the pockets of our nurses. Te Whatu Ora's asking the Employment Relations Authority for interim orders to fix pay equity rates for nurses. It would increase pay for most by more than 14 percent, putting Kiwis on a par, or even above, their Australian counterparts. Health New Zealand's chief executive, Margie Apa says an agreement was settled in principle, to offer...

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has recently announced Auckland Council's joined-up plan that focuses on shifting the Port of Auckland and building Light Rail. This plan was devised after Wayne Brown and Transport Minister Michael Wood made an agreement to put aside their differences and collaborate on their priorities. NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says this was a pragmatic move on Michael...

Turns out, Wayne Brown is the guy who says one thing before the election and then says something else afterwards. I was a little surprised at the weekend to see Auckland’s mayor h as struck a deal with Transport Minister Michael Wood to call a truce on transport, quit the fighting, and let each of them get their pet projects done.  Wayne Brown’s pet project is the Port. He wants to move it, the Go...

Today on The Huddle, former Labour Press Secretary Kaine Thompson and David Farrar, Kiwiblog writer and Curia Pollster joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day: Nurses have finally been added to the Green List and can get immediate residency into New Zealand 7 months after the Green List was first created. Why did it take the Government so long to make this change? Labour's...

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson still has confidence in Labour for the 2023 election, despite Labour's loss in Hamilton West. National's Tama Potaka beat out Labour candidate Georgie Dansey in the Hamilton West byelection, but Grant Robertson doesn't see this as an indicator for how the 2023 general election will go. Grant Robertson says that the Hamilton West byelection is a different ballg...

The Government has announced that they will be expanding the Green List to allow nurses, midwives, and specialist doctors immediate residency into New Zealand. The Green List has been around for several months and nurses being excluded from the immediate residency category was the subject of criticism.  Immigration Minister Michael Wood says that the previous two year residency commitment for nurs...

The Crusaders have been named the best sporting team in Australasia by Australian analytics firm Gain Line. Gain Line have awarded The Crusaders a $10,000 dollar grant, which they have since donated to charity. Gain Line's General Manager of Sport, Simon Strachan says that Gain Line takes the progress of many teams into account and that long term, consistent success is a defining factor on what ma...

Just 13 businesses have been kitted out with anti-ram-raid equipment by the Government. The figure comes from a written Parliamentary question to the National Party, which shows just 5 new installations in shops in the past 6 weeks. The Government's Retail Crime Prevention programme offers vulnerable businesses help, including fog cannons and bollards. National's police spokesperson, Mark Mitchell...

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has been investigating hundreds of complaints made about the Government's approach to MIQ during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Chief Ombudsman found the creation of a "lottery" system failed to emphasise individual circumstances, limiting fundamental human rights. Peter Boshier says there was no evidence of evolving policy advice from MBIE to the Government...

In the last post-Cabinet briefing of 2022, the Government announced some new changes to immigration settings. Specialist doctors, nurses, and midwives will now be granted immediate residency, and these medical professions will be added to the Green List immigration category. This comes after months of people criticising the Green List for leaving nurses off the pathway to immediate residency in Ne...

The Australian Government has recently announced they will be putting New Zealand Visa applications on hold for the next six months. The Government has said this will be better for New Zealanders, as it will allow them to process the current set of Skilled Independent visas from the New Zealand stream quicker. Futher changes to Australia's current immigration system are expected to be announced on...

NZ Rugby has declined Beauden Barrett's request to play overseas but still take part in All Blacks test matches. According to Weekend Sport's Jason Pine, NZ Rugby would have set a dangerous precedent by letting Barrett get away with this request. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police say they're not publishing the new speed camera threshold, which they had updated last week without making a public announcement. It's resulted in tens of thousands more speeding tickets for drivers breaking the limit by one to eleven kilometres. Inspector Pete McKennie says drivers used the ten kilometre threshold as their speed limit and that NZ Police wanted to reduce those figures, as l...

I managed to watch one and a half episodes of Harry and Meghan’s whingefest and do you know what?  I feel sorry for them  It hasn’t changed my mind about them. I still think she’s conniving. I still think he’s completely out of touch with what real world problems are. I still think the pair of them are hypocrites and dishonest for denying they leaked friendly media then got busted doing that. And...

Transmission Gully resurfacing is causing disruption for businesses, in the lead-up to Christmas. After just eight months of being open, parts of the major highway are being resurfaced to prevent future damage, reducing stretches of the road to one lane. Kapiti Coast Chamber of Commerce co-chair Heather Hutchings told Heather du-Plessis Allan that businesses are going through enough stress at this...

Drivers need to stop thinking they have a 10-kilometre buffer, when it comes to speeding. Police told RNZ thresholds on speed cameras have been set in closer proximity to limits. It's apparently resulted in tens of thousands of more fines being issued. AA's road safety spokesperson, Dylan Thomsen says he believes people should know what the tolerance is. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

It's been heavily built-up, hugely anticipated — but critics are divided over whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new series is good television. The first three episodes of the royal couple's Netflix series dropped last night, promoted as an unprecedented and in-depth documentary series on the couples lives. LA Entertainment Reporter, Sean Mandell says the focus on their love story will appea...