Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Schools are again dealing with staffing issues as Covid-19 cases increase. Auckland's Carmel College has gone back to online learning until the end of the week, citing staffing issue. Post Primary Teachers Association President Melanie Webber told Heather du Plessis-Allan anecdotally they're hearing a huge number of schools are having to modify timetables. “It’s sort of a bit all or nothing in tea...

Jacinda Ardern and Anthony Albanese are expected to meet at the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum at the end of the week in Sydney. It will be the first time the Forum has taken place in person since the pandemic. It will also be attended by ministers Damien O'Connor (trade and export growth), Stuart Nash (tourism and small business), Willie Jackson (Māori development), Michael Wood (immigrat...

One of the candidates in Auckland's mayoral race says trams are out, buses are in. Viv Beck wants to scrap the Government's $14 billion light rail project and build new busways and bus lanes instead. If elected, she would push for a city-wide rapid transit network, including a fully separated busway alongside the Northwestern Motorway, rapid transit from the airport to Botany, $110 million in upgr...

Danish police believe a shopping mall shooting that left three people dead and four others seriously wounded was not terror-related. They said Monday that the gunman acted alone and appears to have selected his victims at random. Copenhagen chief police inspector Søren Thomassen said the victims — a 17-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, both Danes, and a 47-year-old Russian man — were killed whe...

Grant Robertson hopes to get to Australia for talks this week if he recovers from Covid-19. The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister is expected to join Jacinda Ardern in Australia on Thursday. Robertson told Heather du Plessis-Allan he'll meet with his finance counterpart Jim Chalmers. “Start to get into a bit more detail about how we take forward what’s called the single economic market, w...

I feel sorry for hospitality especially, and business in general in New Zealand at the moment. You heard what Michael Wood said. Does that sound like a minister who wants to help businesses? No. These guys in government are not all dumb. They know that the lack of workers in this country will cause businesses to close. If you can’t find a chef, you can’t sell food, and you can’t pay your bills. Th...

Michael Wood will not apologise for his comments about the hospitality and tourism industry. He has accepted some concerns the sector has raised over foreign worker shortages but says businesses should be considering how to make low-wage jobs with insecure working conditions more attractive places to work. A Qantas flight to Wellington was forced to divert to Christchurch because of the city's ove...

The Maori Council are distancing themselves from Matthew Tukaki. They say that back in 2019 and 2020, some of their members expressed their concern with the way that he represented the organisation. It comes after 1 News says that his CV wasn't checked before he was appointed to a key Government role with Oranga Tamariki. Maori Council National Secretary Peter Fraser joined Heather du Plessis-Alla...

A call for the Government to tighten up on rules on free-range defecation. The Responsible Camping Association wants changes to a law that allows people to poo in public if they think they're not being watched. Spokesperson Bob Osborne told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's a defence to avoid being prosecuted for defecating in public. “Actually, people seeing others actually doing that is not the prob...

Qantas passengers who flew from Sydney to Wellington last night were diverted to Christchurch at the last minute. This was due to Wellington Airport's curfew, where international flights can't land between 1am and 6am. The passengers were left to spend the night in the Christchurch Airport terminal and were given a $15 food voucher. Mike, one of the passengers, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LIS...

The Immigration Minister is sticking by comments he made about the hospitality and tourism sectors. Michael Wood says businesses with low wages need to raise them to attract more workers here. He's been blasted by opposition parties, with ACT’s Chris Baillie labelling his remarks an attack on business. But Wood told Heather du Plessis Allan there's no need to apologise. “I’ve talked to some worker...

Three Labour MPs have joined their peers in testing positive for Covid-19. Grant Robertson, Nanaia Mahuta and Andrew Little are the latest victims, leaving only 4 members of Cabinet yet to get the virus, including Covid-19 Minister Ayesha Verrall. For Mahuta, it means she won't be attending the Pacific Islands Forum later this week. Jacinda Ardern is back in Australia. She will spend the first leg...

Authorities have pleaded with residents to cancel holidays and avoid floodwaters, as parts of NSW and the Illawarra continue to be inundated with rescue requests. In a press conference on Monday morning, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said that a massive 71 evacuation orders and 64 evacuation warnings were in place, with 83 flood rescues and 1593 requests for assistance lodged since 9pm Sunday. Whi...

Andrew Little thinks the hospital system is coping, but is it? Roshni Bhola is lucky to be alive after being sent to palliative care at Middlemore Hospital essentially to die. Roshni survived, but her daughters say this all happened because an overstretched health system meant she wasn't properly cared for. One of Roshni's daughters Roma Pinkham joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See om...

Ian Foster's job as All Black's coach might be safe - for now. The All Blacks put in a strong performance in their 42-19 victory over Ireland on Saturday, and while it wasn't the perfect performance, it was enough to silence the critics for the weekend. It was the perfect homecoming for the Warriors. The struggling side snapped their 7-game losing run with a 22-2 victory over the Wests Tigers in f...

Well, that’s a rubbish free trade deal. I think we can accept that as fact given pretty much everyone who knows anything about what they’re talking about is unimpressed with it. Meat and dairy have been shafted. There is nothing to celebrate in this for them. Beef exporters are only allowed to provide 0.1 percent of the meat that Europeans eat. Cheese exporters are only allowed to provide 0.14 per...

A Danish Parliament-appointed commission has harshly criticized the country's government for its decision to cull millions of healthy mink at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to protect humans from a mutation of the virus. The 2020 decision to wipe out Denmark's entire captive mink population had stirred strong controversy, particularly as the necessary legislation to allow such a drastic mo...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived Thursday in Hong Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the British handover of a city that his rule has transformed from a global hub known for its political freedoms to one that is much more tightly controlled by the Communist Party. In a staged event carried live on Chinese TV, students and others lined the platform of a high-speed rail station and packed a...

New Zealand and the EU has signed a free trade agreement. The Government say this will grow exports to the EU by $1.8 billion a year by 2035. However, meat and dairy aren't happy with it, given how much they are allowed to provide Europe from their respective sectors. Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank has said the tide has turned against housing being a one-way bet for investment. And once again, the central bank is also predicting a drop in house prices. This time, they're predicting a drop of around 15 percent. Housing commentator Ashley Church joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks' first test of the year takes place this weekend against Ireland. The team will be without Will Jordan, David Havili, Joe Moody, Anton Lienert-Brown, Akira Ioane and Ethan Blackadder to Covid, with Scott Barrett forced to play at No 6 this weekend. The Irish have won the last 3 out of 5 tests, but the All Blacks remain unbeaten at Eden Park for 28 years. The Warriors are making thei...

The All Blacks play Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday in their first test of the year. Recent results favour the Irish with 3 wins out of the last 5 against the All Blacks, but Ireland have never beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand. To make it even harder for the Irish, the All Blacks still haven't lost at Eden Park since 1994. Irish rugby commentator Michael Corcoran joined Heather du Plessis-All...

Countdown has decided to start phasing out single-use plastic produce bags. They're the bags used to pick up fruit and vegetables in the produce section in supermarkets. They'll start this process by trialling in a selection of stores. Countdown spokesperson Pieter de Wet joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOUT See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Business leaders say it's fair for the dairy and meat sectors to be disappointed in the new free trade agreement. It's been struck between the EU and New Zealand, but dairy and meat will still face tariffs and much lower quotas than they hoped for. NZ International Business Forum's Stephen Jacobi told Heather du Plessis-Allan the EU simply isn't willing to open its market to those sectors but a ca...

Assurances health services won't be disrupted in the middle of a winter rush as the system restructures. The nation's 20 District Health Boards were officially scrapped today to make way for one centralised agency – Health New Zealand. The Maori Health Authority has also launched, and will be responsible for ensuring the system works well for Tangata Whenua. Meanwhile, hospital emergency departmen...