Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Global stock markets have bounced upwards by almost 20 percent in the last six weeks. This has been influenced by global hopes that central banks are slowing down rate hikes and that inflation has peaked and on a decline.  Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds says that this is a sign that the economy is recovering and working through the worst of inflation, but we're not out of the woods yet. Sam Dickie a...

The Big Feed is a rural telethon designed to help hungry Kiwi families this Christmas season, and it's airing on December 15th.  The Big Feed will be hosted by Meat The Need co-founder and vice president of Federated Farmers Wayne Langford. Wayne Langford is also known as “YOLO Farmer” through his mental health support work. Wayne Langford joined up with Siobhan O’Malley to set up the charity Meat...

Oh, I love the cheek of the Public Servants union. Mainly because it gives me a chance to have a crack at public servants. So, the PSA is upset at National. Because National, and Act really, has promised to slash the number of back office bureaucrats if they win the next election. And obviously the PSA has got worried about it. Because based on a couple of polls this week and the self-inflected sh...

Higher debt servicing means Kiwis are looking at an extra $80 being added to household budget costs by 2023, ASB economists predict. That could go up further to $100 by 2024, according to speculation. On top of that, people will need an extra $70 per week to fund outgoing costs unless they adjust their spending patterns. This is due to rising interest rates making the cost of living go up further....

Today on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and Ben Thomas from Capital PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day:  Three Waters has passed its third and final reading and made it into Parliament. Labour was the only party behind the bill, with the Greens withdrawing their support earlier in the reading. What do we think of how this has all gone down? Russian tennis star...

The nation's largest street festival is returning to Wellington after a two year Covid-19 hiatus. CubaDupa is back on March 25th and 26th, with dance and music ensembles, interactive installations, and cultural experiences. The festival's last outing attracted more than 150,000 people, and next year's run promises to be even bigger.  Director Drew James says 28 stages and creative zones will be se...

An app is aiming to get shoppers to work together to help each other get a better deal on their groceries. Sumfood has launched FoodSpies, which will compare prices between supermarkets on different food items using crowd sourced information. Founder Helen Darling says it will be easy for users to participate, because they'll calculate prices based on simple data. "What we do is, we actually take...

Canterbury expresses disappointment as the South Island misses out again on funding to fight youth crime. The Government has launched a $2 million dollar youth crime package in Auckland, Waikato, Northland and Bay of Plenty. It will ensure a support plan is quickly put in place for child offenders, within 24 to 48 hours. Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce chief executive Leeann Watson says i...

The National party have come out against Three Waters legislation and have promised to repeal the bill if they hold power after 2023. Labour, with its majority, passed the Water Services Entities Bill through its final reading today, creating four publicly owned water entities in charge of storm, waste and fresh water. It's the first step in the much debated Three Waters reforms. National Local Go...

The end of the year gives Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern the chance to do a series of interviews with prominent New Zealand media outlets. One of these media figures was ZB's own Barry Soper, who sat down with the Prime Minister in Wellington's Parliament House to reflect on the last political year. Barry Soper says the interview covered Maori co-governance and the Three Waters developments, as wel...

The Australian Government has recently announced they will be reforming their current environmental protection laws and regulations. An independent review into Australia's environmental laws concluded they needed a fundamental overhaul to reflect current concerns. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the original environmental protection laws were written 25 years ago, and experts have been t...

Russian tennis star Anna Blinkova was announced to appear at the upcoming ASB Classic Tournament. Reports from earlier this year said that tournament sponsor ASB Bank would pull their support from the tournament if Russian and Belarussian players were set to play, but this is no longer the case anymore. Nicolas Lamperin, ASB Classic tournament director says ASB has made it clear they will keep the...

Holiday travellers may have to expect disruptions to their upcoming plans after a bad batch of fuel forces airlines to ration. The bad batch was sent out to Z Energy, who have since apologised for not noticing the shipment was faulty until it was too late. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says that this shortage draws attention to the fact that New Zealand doesn't have a huge amount of f...

The Commerce Commission released its final report on the building supplies sector yesterday, giving investors time to respond accordingly.  The Commerce Commission report was focused around rebates and regulation, and stressed the importance of enforcing fairer competition in building supplies. Frances Sweetman, Portfolio Manager at Milford Asset Management observed that Fletcher Building's share...

A gravely ill baby at the centre of a high-profile legal battle will receive the blood transfusion doctors called for. A High Court judge has ruled in favour of Health New Zealand, which asked the court to take guardianship of the six-month-old. The boy's parents refused to let doctors use blood from Covid-vaccinated donors during a heart surgery he desperately needs. Herald reporter George Block...

Online investment company Sharesies is expanding into Kiwisaver next year, by launching its own scheme.  Sharesies has already set up a waiting list for any interested customers over 18 who wish to join up. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshreany says that this is a new system shaking up a crowded market. Jenee Tibshreany explained that this expansion will give consumers a range of f...

On today's edition of The Huddle, Nick Leggett, Chief Executive of Transporting NZ and NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joined in on a discussion on the following issues of the day: Nanaia Mahuta was in favour of the Three Waters entrenchment clause despite Cabinet agreeing against it back in May. National Leader Chris Luxon is calling for her to be sacked because of this- was she out of line?...

A High Court judge has ruled in favour of health authorities who sought court guardianship of a gravely ill baby boy after his parents refused a blood transfusion unless they got blood from unvaccinated donors. Justice Ian Gault ordered the baby to be placed under the guardianship of the court until the surgery and post-operative recovery were completed, with the guardianship lasting until January...

National Party leader Chris Luxon is calling for Jacinda Ardern to show leadership and sack Nanaia Mahuta. Luxon says Nanaia Mahuta's gone against the Cabinet Manual by personally endorsing an anti-privatisation entrenchment clause in the Three Waters legislation and allowing it to be included in the proposed law. "She's clearly breached the Cabinet Manual, she's clearly not in support of somethin...

Fans of The Hobbit are in with a chance to get the ultimate Airbnb experience. Airbnb is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first Hobbit film by giving away three overnight stays at the Hobbiton Movie Set for $10 dollars a night. Hobbiton land-owner, Russell Alexander, says the winners will have a unique stay. He says they'll get a total immersive experience including food, drinks and sleepin...

A good day for one of our top cops. A pair of Gottfried Lindauer portraits have been recovered through an intermediary five years after being stolen from Parnell's International Art Centre. They were jointly priced at about $1 million dollars in 2017. Detective Inspector Scott Beard has overseen prominent criminal cases like the Grace Millane homicide investigation and says this is a rare happy re...

Z  Energy is apologising to customers over a bad batch of aviation fuel it's imported. Over 25 litres of this imported fuel is unusable and airlines are now on fuel rations. The Airline Representatives Board warns it could cause travel disruption. The rations are expected to be needed until December 18. Z Chief Executive Mike Bennetts says the ship was half unloaded when they discovered the issue,...

There are calls for Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta to be fired for breaking the Cabinet Manual and supporting the Three Waters entrenchment, despite Cabinet resolving to oppose entrenchment. National leader Chris Luxon has accused her of defying Cabinet during the vote to entrench part of the Three Waters legislation. Political editor Barry Soper has observed that Nanaia Mahuta had writte...

Democratic senator Raphael Warnock has won a full term in the US Senate against Republican Herschel Walker. The runoff was needed as neither candidate had the required 50 percent of votes in the midterm election, but Raphael Warnock's win gives the Democrats an outright Senate majority. US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson says that Herschel Walker's loss represents another nail in Donald Trump's coffi...

National might be on to something here.  Chris Luxon, just in the last couple of hours, has called on the Prime Minster to sack Nanaia Mahuta for openly defying the Prime Minster. So what’s happened is that a document has emerged that shows that Cabinet collectively agreed back on 30 May this year not to do the Three Waters entrenchment. But then, as we know, Nanania and the Greens stitched up a l...