Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made it clear that the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is not up for discussion. Argentina's new Prime Minister Javier Milei recently claimed it was time to 'get them back' and his Government would work to get sovereignty. In a 2013 referendum, the people of the Falkland Islands voted 99.8 percent in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory. UK Prime Minist...

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!  Nicola Willis has confirmed she won't be the Deputy Prime Minister, and Luxon said she was never in the running. Is this true? Who are our picks for the role? The incoming Government will have to find a quarter of a billion dollar to...

There's early signs that mortgage rates could be on the downswing again. New Zealand's wholesale interest rates have fallen sharply over the last month- and both the two-year and ten-year swap rates have dropped. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says banks still have yet to move their rates down, despite these early signs. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Nvidia's latest quarterly results have surpassed expectations amid increased demand for AI. Demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units has been exceeding supply, and the company has tripled its year on year revenue.  Milford Asset Management's Felix Fok explains why the company is thriving amongst the AI wave.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon says he didn't lobby for his party deputy, Nicola Willis, to be Deputy Prime Minister. The role remains one of the last sticking points of Coalition negotiations, with policies and other ministerial positions largely agreed. Willis today said she wasn't in the race and Winston Peters or David Seymour are likely to get the job. ZB political editor Jason Walls says it's looking likely th...

Elon Musk has confirmed that advertising revenue from X, formerly Twitter, will be donated to war-torn Gaza and the hospitals in Israel.   The move comes amid increased backlash against Musk, after he posted support for anti-Semitic content on the site.  US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Apple, Disney and IBM have already paused advertising on X. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

A fruitful season's in the wind for Kiwifruit growers this year. Zespri's seasonal November forecast projects record returns for all its fruit crops. The fruit company is putting it down to growers' efforts to improve quality, despite harsh conditions in recent years. Zespri Head of Global Public Affairs Michael Fox says strong market demand, respect for the brand and strong supply chain partnersh...

Used car distributor Turners Automotive has gone from strength to strength in recent months. The company saw revenue increase 16 percent to $213.9 million, while its after-tax profit rose by 8 percent. Chief Executive Todd Hunter says the combination of a shifting market and a successful ad campaign is helping the company sell more cars. "It's the Tina effect, it's been very good for our lead gene...

Experts are firing back at the assertion that the perfect steak can be cooked in the microwave. One scientist recently made the bold claim that the best way to prepare a steak is to skip traditional cooking methods- and heat it with a microwave. Beef + Lamb Chef MacLean Fraser says it's unlikely that microwaving a defrosted steak will produce the best result. "There's a few things you should never...

The new Government needs to find a quarter of a billion dollars to settle a pay parity deal with early childhood teachers. A previous cost estimate for the settlement was found to be vastly too low. NZEI says the outgoing Government committed to paying teachers. National Secretary Stephanie Mills says problems in the sector must be sorted - or things will only get worse. "If we want to stop the re...

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited today confirmed that SailGP has chosen not to stage their March 2024 event in Auckland. The unavailability of Wynyard Point land as a spectator facility proved to be a barrier, as the land had been contaminated by oil tanks from the old tank farm. Chief Executive Nick Hill says it was always going to be a long complicated process to get that land back. "You need to get to...

Israel has agreed to a hostage swap with Hamas, but it's unclear where all the people kidnapped from Israel are. The assault on Gaza will be paused four days, in exchange for 50 women and children kept by the Palestinian military group. Israel says it will return three Palestinians for every hostage - and each 10 hostages released will extend the pause on hostilities another day. Times of Israel U...

Auckland's hosting of a SailGP event next March on Waitemata Harbour has come off the foils. The unavailability of Wynyard Point land as a spectator facility proved an insurmountable barrier for the event owners. No alternative option has been offered yet after Lyttleton hosted this year. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explores some possible solutions. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener f...

A tech commentator is warning people to apply due diligence to Black Friday shopping. Price comparison service PriceSpy found last year, about 15 percent of goods were on 'fake sale'. It found some retailers increased product prices in the weeks before the sale, then discounted them back to normal levels. Commentator Tim Provise says the tech sector is the main culprit. "Especially more niche stuf...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying the Government should have 'let people die' rather than impose a second lockdown, the Covid national inquiry heard. Former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance noted on October 25, 2020 that Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, was against further lockdowns and dismissed the impact Covid had on the elderly. UK correspondent Enda Brady sa...

Tonight on the Huddle, former National staffer Ben Thomas and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Waka Kotahi is under fire for spending thousands on pies for construction workers working on the Mt Messenger bypass project in Taranaki. Is this worth the outrage? The post-election talks have turned to delegatin...

Federated Farmers are calling on the incoming Government to repeal David Parker's controversial freshwater reforms. The advocacy group believes repealing the current freshwater regulations will be the quickest way to restore farmer confidence- which is at a historic low. The Country's Jamie Mackay says farmers are waiting with bated breath for these reforms to be scrapped. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystu...

Online auction site TradeMe posted a $4.7 million net profit after tax for the year to June, turning around earlier losses. Experts believe the return to profit came from the site raising their prices- especially in its property arm. BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie explains how this increased net profit impacts TradeMe's overall earnings. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for...

New Zealand's trade deficit appears to be getting smaller, according to the latest data. A new report from Stats NZ says imports were down, falling $1.2b to $7.1b compared to October last year. Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado says increased interest rates are restraining demand and causing imports to fall. "We actually saw that our imports surged during the post-Covid period when we had quite a...

Belief opposing views could be behind the ousting of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. At least 700 of 770 staff at the company famous for creating Chat GPT have penned an open letter calling for the board's resignation after it fired Altman. Tech commentator Paul Stenhouse says no one knows for sure why Altman was shown the door in the first place. "This comes from CNN tech contributor Kara Swisher-...

The country's top court has turned down appeals from two water bottling companies in Canterbury. Cloud Ocean Water and Rapaki Natural Resources had extracted billions of litres from Christchurch's aquifers each year under a decades-old consent granted for industrial use. The Supreme Court sat in Christchurch for the first time earlier this year, and yesterday released its decision dismissing their...

New Plymouth's mayor is hitting out at those opposing the Mount Messenger bypass project. A decision by Waka Kotahi to give construction workers pies has been under the spotlight and deemed wasteful by the Taxpayers Union. Waka Kotahi prices the pies at $400 a month. But mayor Neil Holdom says the pie criticism is a storm in a teacup. "And it's a reflection of the desperation, because most New Zea...

Electronics have been found to be the most likely product to come from modern slavery. World Vision has found New Zealand households spend $77 per week on average on products implicated in modern slavery. This includes clothing, toys, coffee, bananas, furniture, phones and laptops. Head of Advocacy and Justice Rebekah Armstrong says EVs, e-bikes and solar panels are also impacted. "It's really int...

A former Deputy Prime Minister disagrees the role's largely ceremonial. Prime Minister-elect Chris Luxon has confirmed policies have been settled in Coalition talks - and negotiations have turned to ministerial roles. ACT's David Seymour made a public pitch for Deputy, but Luxon has downplayed the role's importance. Sir Don McKinnon was the deputy to Jim Bolger in his National Government, under th...

A prominent Auckland businessman has threatened legal action against Auckland Council if it votes to sell the Downtown Carpark building. Precinct Property was selected as the preferred buyer in September last year- and it plans to use the space to build apartments and office towers. Andrew Krukziener says the Downtown Carpark is a crucial asset to the city centre. "To take it away will diminish bu...