Larry Williams Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 27 February, 2026, we talk to the secondary school teachers' union about teacher shortages. A Wall Street Journal reporter on the significance of Netflix walking away from a deal with Warner Brothers Discovery. Weta maestro Sir Richard Taylor tells us about his new robot project after receiving his latest international award. And on the Sports Huddle, Nicky Styris and Jeff McTainsh discuss the mess the Wellington Phoenix are in. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tell me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that every single year the Anglican Church in this country delays repairing the Christchurch Cathedral, the public cares a little less about seeing it restored. And yet again, the Anglicans are asking for money to fix the thing. You might recall that 18 months ago they asked the government for $60 million. They got a no. So this time, they’re targeting Christchurch ratepayers. They say they’ve stopped any meaningful fundraising and they’re asking ratepayers to plug the gap — a gap of about $45 million. This will now go out to consultation. If ratepayers say yes, the additional cost will simply be added to rates. Whatever your rates are now, expect that cost on top. I don’t rate the Anglicans’ chances here because rates in Christchurch — like everywhere in the country — are already at record highs. And in Christchurch, they’re proposed to rise another 8% this year. On top of that, the Canterbury Museum has also just asked for another $260 million for its rebuild. There

Premium apple demand is at the core of a strong financial result for T&G Global. Its revenue has increased by 14% to $1.6 billion and its net profit after tax is $16 million, up from a loss of $9.9m. Global Chief Executive Gareth Edgecombe told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the Chinese and US markets in particular have been buying more of the premium Jazz, Jolie and Envy apples. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist says benefit sanctions aren't working.  The traffic light system was introduced last year and beneficiaries who failed obligations like taking part in Work and Income assessments.  Infometrics principal consultant Rob Heyes says the number of beneficiaries has continued to rise after they were introduced.  He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that it's goal of getting people into work hasn't come to fruition, and says the job market has been tough with vacancies drying-up.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No individual has had more of an impact on modern Hollywood visual effects than Sir Richard Taylor.  The Co-Founder and Chief Creative force behind Weta Workshop has now received well deserved recognition from his peers, as he has won the Visionary award from the Visual Effects Society in LA. Sir Taylor told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he wasn't expecting to win the award. "I was a little overwhelmed when I heard that I was going to collect this. I actually thought maybe they'd made a mistake, but it turned out they hadn't." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netflix has backed away from its proposal to buy Warner Bros Discovery, clearing the way for Paramount Skydance to win the months-long bidding war. Warner Bros, which put itself up for sale last year, says Paramount's latest bid was superior to Netflix's, which in turn refused to raise its offer. The massive media company owns Harry Potter, DC Comics and CNN. Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint told Heather du Plessis Allan that there are now concerns about major job cuts in the impending merger. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Students may be short changed by a lack of secondary school teachers. The latest Ministry of Education figures show a predicted shortfall of just over seven hundred high school teachers this year.  Post Primary Teachers Association President Chris Abercrombie says the Ministry of Education's prediction that the gap will be filled by 2028 is overly optimistic.  He says we need to take the politics out of teaching and get down to a solution with a long term plan for staffing.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is disagreement between the ACT and NZ First leader over the Government's stake in Air New Zealand.  ACT Leader David Seymour proposed selling the Government's stake, which Winston Peters called 'economic lunacy'. Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan that, 'David Seymour and Winston Peters have never seen eye to eye at all and it's remarkable really that both have been part of the same cabinet for two years.'  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government wants to see regional routes kept, despite Air New Zealand's poor financial showing. Some regional flights could be axed or scaled back in response to the company's $40million half-year loss. Act leader David Seymour has called for the Government to sell its majority shareholding in the airline, which New Zealand  First's Winston Peters calls economic lunacy. Associate Transport Minister James Meager told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Air New Zealand should consider efficiencies.He says there are some commercial decisions they could make, and hopes scrapping regional connectivity is not one of them LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One key member of the UK's Labour party is warning that the nation only has three years to prepare for war. Al Carns gave an interview to the Times today and said that a major conflict was coming, and indicated Russia would be a likely source. UK correspondent Enda Brady explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 26 February, 2026, we talk to Air New Zealand's boss about its net loss of $40 million and ask if David Seymour's right when he says: "Go woke, go broke." How much the Government's making from clamping cars when people fail to pay fines. We look at why men are far more likely to own the home they live in than women. And on The Huddle, Clare de Lore and Ali Jones discuss why many people are happy to see Jacinda Ardern living in Australia. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour politicians dusted off their gumboots and went down to the farm for their  annual meeting with Federated Farmers today. Federated Farmers started the get-together three years ago to better the relationship with the party. President Wayne Langford said some 'solid' discussions took place earlier, but no new policies were unveiled. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's looking to be a rough season for our meat processing sector, with companies struggling to compete with abundant grass and a turbo-charged store stock market. Some companies have dropped published lamb and beef schedules by 10c/kg, and the decline has prompted concerns.  The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So David Seymour’s right about Air New Zealand - but he’s also wrong about Air New Zealand. Before we get to why, let me bring you up to speed on what’s happened with the airline today, because the news is not good. Air New Zealand has posted a half-year result showing a $59 million pre-tax loss, which is slightly worse than expected. And to be fair to Air New Zealand, a lot of this really isn’t their fault.  They’ve had not one, but two engine types in their fleet causing them trouble. And the economic downturn we’re experiencing in New Zealand - the worst in most of our lifetimes, you have to go back more than 50 years to find anything as bad - directly affects their earnings.  If we don’t have money, we’re certainly not spending money on flights. But some of this is their fault. They’re squandering customer loyalty with poor on-time performance and a tired, diminished Koru Club offering. And this is where David Seymour is right when he says, “Go woke, go broke.” Because part of the reason Air New

Tonight on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Air New Zealand recently posted a multi-million net loss, and it's prompted David Seymour to urge the Government to sell down shares in the airline. Do we think this is the right move? What's gone wrong here?  New data from Cotality shows women are lagging behind men when it comes to home ownership. Why do we think this is? Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made the jump across the ditch and has been spotted house-hunting in Sydney. What do we make of this?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky TV says even though it's had a strong first-half financial year result - the television market remains challenging. It's reported a $52 million net profit, turning around a $1.7 million loss last period. Its revenue rose eight percent, to about $414 million. Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney says revenue for traditional TV was softer than expected. "The TV side does seem to be suffering a bit more than others, so I do think it's incumbent on us to make sure that we're talking about that value and allowing our clients to see the benefits." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should first responding volunteers be covered for post-traumatic stress caused by the job? ACC currently covers the responders for broad physical injury cover - but not for mental health harm. A petition to change the legislation with more than 36,000 signatures was unsuccessful last year. Land Search & Rescue chief executive Wendy Wright says most of their workforce are actually volunteers. "We can provide short-term support for them, but it's for those that have long-term PTSD - and it's that longer-term support that we are unable to provide."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women are continuing to lag significantly behind men when it comes to home ownership. Data from Cotality shows more than half of Gen Z men surveyed own their own home, while just a third of women do.  The disparity also exists amongst the millennial and Gen X age groups. Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson says it's not an attitude issue.   "Females actually rate property ownership more important than males, pretty much across the spectrum. So this is about other things, monetary factors, there's unfortunately still that gender wage gap across New Zealand." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand's assuring it's on track for economic stability. The national airline's announced a first-half before-tax loss of $59 million. CEO Nikhil Ravishankar says the result's driven by challenges from aircraft being grounded, a softer recovery than expected - and rising costs.  But he says they'll be well on the road to recovery over the next two to three years.  "One of the key reasons I say that so confidently is for the first time in six years, we've got new aircraft coming back into the fleet and we're solving engine issues."  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's celebrating a substantial drop in the number of victims of violent crime. Data from the latest Crime and Victims Survey shows there were 49,000 fewer victims of violent crime in the year to last October, compared to the two previous years.  Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this is good news, especially considering how frequent violent incidents and ram raids were in earlier years.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.