Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

There are concerns about Ashburton's high nitrate levels. Greenpeace undertook free water testing in the region over the weekend and 77 percent of samples had more than one milligram per litre of nitrate. Up to 11 percent exceeded the current nitrate standard of 11.3 milligrams per litre, including one at 25.7 milligrams. Lead campaigner Christine Rose says there’s severe nitrate contamination in...

I totally disagree with anyone seeing any negatives in Australia’s immigration announcement at the weekend, this is one of the most positive and significant changes for New Zealand in the ANZAC relationship. I don’t believe it’s going to lead to a significant brain drain, that brain drain’s already happening. Kiwis have already been moving to Australia regardless of the fact that they couldn’t get...

Race Relations Minister Meng Foon donated $1500 to Kiri Allan's campaign during the last election. ACT Party Leader David Seymour believes that this is a sackable offense for Meng Foon. He said that he wishes Labour could make inflation and crime decrease as quickly as their standards are. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Department of Conservation has blamed a 'function issue' for the repeated crashes of the booking system for the Milford Track Great Walk. Thousands of trampers were left frustrated on Wednesday, spending up to an hour trying to log onto the booking system for the track after the web-page glitched. DOC's Visitor Advice Manager, Lynnell Greer says that they will ensure the system is fully functi...

Nerves are growing among Hamilton businesses as Fonterra looks for new premises. The dairy giant is leaving its central Hamilton building and hasn't committed to staying in Kirikiriroa. Hamilton Business Association General Manager Vanessa Williams says her understanding is the building is no longer fit for purpose. She told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they spend a lot of time welcoming business...

New Zealand's only professional baseball club has entered liquidation. Auckland's Tuatara Baseball Franchise was unfortunately unable to survive both the pandemic and the recent weather events. Tuatara's CEO Regan Wood says that while the club was insured, they have yet to be paid out. He said that if the money had come through earlier, it's likely that they would not have had to go into liquidati...

Criminal charges have been dropped against Alec Baldwin over a fatal on-set shooting in New Mexico. A Cinematographer was killed by a live bullet fired from a prop gun by Baldwin during filming. The Emmy-award winning actor was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. International Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that charges have now been dropped but they co...

I’d say Meng Foon is in a position where he should probably think about quitting his job. It’s been revealed that he’s a Kiri Allan donor.  So, go back to the last election: he and his wife gave her 1500 dollars for the campaign, also allowing her to use an empty shop his wife owned, and only charged her campaign a nominal amount so she basically ended up with a rent subsidy worth around $9200. A...

Security staff at London's Heathrow Airport will be striking next month in a dispute over pay. The strikes will begin on May 4th and continue over the following weekend during an expected uptick in travel to the UK for King Charles's coronation. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the press release from the Unite union promises 'May mayhem', suggesting they picked this weekend to cause maximum damage...

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following topics:  The IPCA report into the police handling of the protests at Parliament was released today. The police were praised for their overall efforts, but Police Commissioner Andrew Coster was condemned for his decisions. Do we think Coste...

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has released plans to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion. This comes as banks are warning the US Government to bring the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling forward. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained that if the US Government's debt ceiling is breached and the limit isn't raised, the Government could theoretically default on its debt obligations. Sam Dickie says r...

Prices exceeded expectations in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, with a 3.2 percent rise across the board. This marks the first increase in two months after the index recently tumbled 4.7 percent. The Country's Jamie Mackay says the value of skim milk power soared as a result of interest from the Middle East, promising an immediate effect on the futures market. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.co...

The lower-than expected 6.7 inflation rate offers some light at the end of the tunnel. This figure is unlikely to change the current outlook, as economists are still predicting the Reserve Bank will deliver another 25 basis point hike to the OCR next month. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann says this inflation rate presents good news after months of inflation being worse than expected....

The Independent Police Conduct Authority today released their report on the response to 2022's Parliamentary protest. The report found that police overall acted appropriately throughout the 23-day occupation, but found that officers were ill-prepared to remove the protestors and lacked sufficient protective gear. ZB's senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Police Commissioner Andrew Coste...

Michael Schumacher's family are planning legal action against a German weekly magazine over a fictitious interview. The magazine ran a fake cover promising the first interview with seven-time Formula One world champion since his skiing accident in 2013. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rising interest rates and a cooling housing market are hard on sellers, but the property downturn maybe over soon. Property research company CoreLogic confirms that mortgage rates are starting to stabilise and total listings are coming down, despite the latest OCR hike. CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson says stock on the market is coming down, net migration has picked up and the l...

Much like in New Zealand, Australians are also facing dangerously long public surgery wait times with a need for more doctors. ABC analysis has found public surgery waiting lists can be up to six years in Tasmania. Australian Correspondent Murray Olds says private healthcare is quicker, but many people can't afford it. "What's the answer? They say throw more money at the public hospital system and...

Dunedin's mayor says the town will notice the loss from hundreds of redundancies at Otago University. The University is looking at making several hundred staff redundant, to help reduce its annual operating budget by $60 million. Enrolments have fallen - down 670 domestic students on last year. Voluntary redundancies are being offered next week, with more to follow. Mayor Jules Radich says it's li...

A prediction the Reserve Bank is unlikely to cut the Official Cash Rate, despite inflation easing. Inflation increased 6.7 percent in the year to March, dipping from 7.2 percent December. Westpac Senior Economist Michael Gordon says it'll be down to easing international pressures on things like shipping prices. He thinks the Reserve Bank won't yet relax the OCR yet, which is now sitting on 5.25. "...

The Police Commissioner says sending in officers without hard body armour to end the anti-mandate protest at Parliament last year was a fine balance, but he stands by it. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has today released its report, finding overall police served the public well. Commissioner Andrew Coster says the day started with 300 protesters, but ended with only about 100 rioting. "I...

At least one Restore Passenger Rail activist has been protesting again while on bail for an earlier protest. Four Restore Passenger Rail protesters glued themselves to Wellington's Adelaide Road this morning before police peeled them off. Four people were charged on Monday after blocking the Terrace Tunnel. Protester Rosemary Penwarden says they don't plan to pause protest action any time soon. "I...

This IPCA report into how police handled the Parliamentary protest last year is not good for Andrew Coster. Frontline police come out of this really well, they clearly did the best they could in really difficult situations. When you read this report and listen again to what happened that day, the bricks being hurled at police, the violence of that hard-line crowd left at the end - it’s hard not to...

Public broadcasters across Europe have accused Russia of planning to sabotage wind farms and communication cables in the North Sea. A joint investigation by media outlets in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland says Russia have a fleet of vessels disguised as fishing trawlers carrying surveillance equipment. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says these reports include input from a Danish counter-intellig...

Tonight on The Huddle, independent journalist Clare de Lore and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following topics- and more! The NZOC has expressed early interest in hosting the 2034 Commonwealth Games- can New Zealand afford this? Is this a good idea? Education Minister Jan Tinetti has announced changes to NCEA level 2 and 3 will be delayed, but new literacy and numeracy...

Infometrics predicts tomorrow's inflation data won't show any slowdown in pricing pressures. The Reserve Bank's February forecast put inflation at 7.3, while Infometrics expects inflation to go even higher than that. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen predicts inflation will rise to 7.4 percent, higher than the expected peak. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...