Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Māori All Blacks will be hoping to repeat their heroics of the first instalment as they face the Irish for a second time in Wellington tonight.  Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave joined Andrew Dickens for a preview of the match, and to look ahead to the series decider between the All Blacks and Ireland on Saturday. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leaked documents show Kainga Ora is facing 60 years of unmanageable debt. For that reason, the documents also show Housing Minister Megan Woods has been urged to reject new funding requests from Kainga Ora. Megan Woods was unavailable to speak, but says no decisions have been made on the recommendations. Lawyer Adina Thorn, who has been taking on Kainga Ora and how they operate for a while now joi...

It was a sobering listen this morning hearing Kerre Woodham's callers list crisis after crisis after crisis in the Health and Education sectors It was nothing we didn't already know, we've been talking about this for decades. A lack of funding for training, l lack of funding for pay, iniquitous pay relativity which sees junior engineers receiving more money than a junior doctor for far less respon...

Detailed reports on the future of Christchurch's stalled stadium have been made public -including the successful negotiation of fixed-price contract for its construction. And it has emerged that if the project is stopped, $40 million in "sunk costs" will be lost entirely and the budget will rise further if there is any pause on the build. The Christchurch City Council today confirmed the total bud...

Sky Stadium may be running short of up to 200 staff during its biggest event in years this weekend. The All Blacks vs Ireland match on Saturday has sold out the stadium, which hasn't happened in three years, chief executive Shane Harmon said. But Harmon asked fans to be patient and kind with staff, who were likely to be operating under capacity this weekend. "The stadium has had the same issues th...

The race for UK Prime Minister is heating up, with 11 candidates in the running. New files have been revealed about Uber courting top politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron. And the UK is expected to experience its hottest day of the year. UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conservation groups have concerns a new fisheries bill will rule out public consultation when it comes to decisions made about fishing by MPI. The new reforms would mean that MPI can make decisions about any fishing rule without input from the public. MPI will only have to give an update to the public without including them in discussion. Deep Sea Conservation Coalition spokesperson Karli Thomas j...

The dust has settled on Jacinda Ardern's trip to Australia. The initial signs are that the trip went well for both sides due to the commonality between both governments. Australia has also pledged an easier path to citizenship for Kiwis by Anzac Day next year. Both leaders now head to the Pacific Islands Forum this week. The forum is not off to the best of starts with Kiribati already pulling out....

The cost of fuel is hitting the trucking industry. The industry body for trucking says the rise in cost of fuel has put a number of businesses on the verge of collapse. Transporting NZ surveyed 400 transport companies and found that a fifth of them are unable to pass any more of their fuel costs onto customers.  Transporting NZ CEO Nick Leggett joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

Consultation has opened on Wellington's Golden Mile. It goes all the way down from Lambton Quay from Parliament, up Willis Street heading south, over into Manners Street and then into Courtenay Place, where they’re talking about only allowing pedestrians and buses to use it. This year's Pacific Island Forum is already in disarray. Kiribati has left the forum over a leadership dispute with forum Se...

Wellington’s Golden Mile is one step closer. It goes all the way down from Lambton Quay from Parliament, up Willis Street heading south, over into Manners Street and then into Courtenay Place, where they’re talking about only allowing pedestrians and buses to use it. The fourth round of consultation of Let’s Get Wellington Moving has opened today and feedback is wanted on the stretch. Wellington M...

A Christchurch Lego Master is making a scale model of Christchurch pub Dux De Lux. The premier city venue has been closed since the 2011 earthquake.  Centuri Chan has so far spent about 150 hours creating the model, which will be part of this weekend's Christchurch Brick Show. He told Andrew Dickens it's about a metre by metre - and he's working to include architectural details to make it as close...

After being told funding wouldn't be increased, Health NZ has agreed to meet with nursing schools whose proposal for more funding would see gaps in the workforce filled. Nine nursing schools joined forces in May and came up with a programme to create practitioning nurses. They needed a bit more funding and reckoned if they got that, they could train up twice as many nurse practitioners from next y...

Great potential to reduce competition across the sector. Newstalk ZB has obtained memos between Tertiary Education Commission deputy chief executive Gillian Dudgeon and Education Minister Chris Hipkins. They reveal concerns about the financial position of the new national polytech body, formed by merging our 16 institutes. Tertiary Education Union president Tina Smith told Andrew Dickens something...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his country "doesn't respond to demands" after China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a four-point list of actions to repair relations between the two countries. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with Yi on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali last week, where she said they had a "full and frank" discussion after a more than two-year-lo...

Kiribati has withdrawn from the Pacific Island Forum. It’s due to a leadership grievance over the forum’s Secretary General Henry Puna’s appointment, which had been seen as a snub of their own candidate for the role. The switch from Orange to Red might be on the table. It comes as the country struggles with Covid cases and a struggling health sector. NZ Herald Political Editor Claire Trevett joine...

A mixed week for New Zealand’s clashes against Ireland. Saturday saw the All Blacks thoroughly between by Ireland in Dunedin, in the visitor’s first win against the All Blacks on home soil in 117 years. Confusion over cards saw the team play with 14 for 50 minutes, which saw Ardie Savea controversially taken off. The 23-12 loss to Ireland has seen the team slip to fourth in World Rugby rankings, t...

The school holidays haven't begun well for air travellers. 12 Auckland and Christchurch flights have been cancelled today because of staff shortages, technical difficulties and weather. E tū Union Head of Aviation Savage says aviation employers are dealing with staffing issues all over the place. He told Andrew Dickens they won't be solved overnight. “And then when they’re getting staff in, it tak...

Your bank may soon be able track your carbon footprint. The software does this through tracking transactions, which they can then understand what the likely carbon footprint is. It was developed in the UK, and Westpac already have something similar here. Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Conservative leadership contest will take place in coming weeks after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday he is resigning as the party's leader — though he will continue to serve as prime minister until a successor is elected by party members. The attorney general of England, Suella Braverman, and lawmaker Tom Tugendhat have publicly announced they would seek the position. A...

Residents of parts of Shanghai and Beijing have been ordered to undergo further rounds of COVID-19 testing following the discovery of new cases in the two cities, while tight restrictions remain in place in Hong Kong, Macao and other Chinese cities. Shanghai has only just emerged from a strict lockdown that confined most of its 24 million residents to their homes for weeks and the new requirements...

A visiting expert on China is concerned that we're too dependent on China. These comments come as Jacinda Ardern urges diplomacy with China over Pacific tensions. China visiting expert Jeremy Goldkorn joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A survey has found Aussies view Kiwi exporters as "informal", "unsophisticated" and "bad at long-term relationships". The survey is from the government body NZ Story. They asked Australians how they viewed New Zealanders as trading partners. NZ Story CEO David Downs joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Warriors have their man for next year. Penrith Panthers assistant Andrew Webster will take on the head coach role from 2023 on a three-year deal. Meanwhile, Reece Walsh will head back the other way, joining the Brisbane Broncos to stay with his family. NZC has agreed to pay its male and female cricketers the same. In a deal struck between the NZC, the Players Association and the six Major Asso...

The Warriors have found a brave new man to take over the leading coach role. Penrith Panthers assistant coach Andrew Webster will take on the new role from 2023. He's signed on a three-year deal and interim coach Stacey Jones will likely stay on as an assistant. Warriors CEO Cameron George joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.