Larry Williams Drive

The 2025 Budget has come and gone, but the Finance Minister has confirmed raising the superannuation age was still on National’s radar after they campaigned on it in the last election. She's explained it was not on their mandates or the coalition agreement - but changes need to be phased in. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen weighed in on the ongoing debate. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Have police and the Government made a mistake saying every crime will be investigated after yesterday's controversial memo leak? Should they have tried to clarify? A teenager has died after a combative run it straight-style game with friends went wrong. Should we try and crack down on this - or is it too late?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 27 May 2025, Police Minister Mark Mitchell fronts up on the show to calm some nerves. Retailers are worried about a police memo that indicated police won't investigate shoplifting below a certain value. Tragedy in Palmerston North where a teenager has died after a run it straight type event. But is a ban the answer to preventing more harm? Labour leader Chris Hipkins responds to Winston Peters ruling out any NZ First-Labour coalition as long as Hipkins is the leader. Does that mean his days as party leader are numbered? Plus, the Huddle debates *that* shove from the French president's wife that was caught on camera. 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.

I think Winston Peters ruling out ever going into coalition with Chippy after the next election is actually more significant than many people will realize. Because Winnie was actually Chippy's only credible path back to being prime minister again. Without Winnie, Chippy is completely stuffed, because the alternatives are not real options. The alternatives are: One - being in a coalition with a couple of loony parties, which centre voters are absolutely not going to go for. So you can forget about that. The other is that Labour is returned as a majority Government again, which is, after what happened last time, not going to happen for a very long time again. So basically, there is no way back for Chippy. He will not be Prime Minister after 2026, if ever. Now a lot of people would say to me at this juncture - well of course not, National were always going to win the next election anyway, so this is just a completely spurious argument. But I would say to you is - Labour's chances are actually a little bit b

The use of AI has become more widespread, with 77 percent of New Zealanders using it over the past year. Despite this, the new One NZ AI Trust Report found that nearly half don’t trust large companies to use AI ethically. Furthermore, 62 percent say they would stop using a company if they had concerns about its AI use, with top concerns being the misuse of personal data, job losses, and unfair decision-making. One NZ CEO, Jason Paris, says there's 'massive' opportunities that come with AI - across all facets of business and life. "But it needs to be done transparently, and sometimes corporates aren't as transparent as they need to be - and therefore, there's a question on trust." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Labour MP Stuart Nash has suggested the party needs to have some conversations about its future. NZ First leader Winston Peters has ruled out working with Labour after the 2026 election if Chris Hipkins is still in charge. Nash says this doesn't necessarily mean Peters has ruled out working with Labour - and the party will need to make some big decisions. "You go into politics to be in Government - so it is a really interesting dilemma. Now it may be that the situation doesn't arise, but I can see a situation where the Labour caucus has to make a very important decision."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand is bringing domestic jets back to Hamilton, for the first time in 25 years. Airbus A320 Jets will fly the airline's Hamilton-Christchurch route from September. It'll add about 25,000 seats a year between the cities. The airline's general domestic manager, Kate O'Brien, says it's one of their fastest growing regional routes. "We've had a number of our aircraft out - we're starting to see some of those aircraft come back into the fleet, which means that we can look to grow some of our domestic routes." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister is attempting to clarify the meaning of a memo to staff on lower-value retail crime cases. The nation-wide directive told staff not to investigate shoplifting worth less than $500 dollars - and less significant petrol, online and retail theft.  Mark Mitchell says that's not explicitly what the memo intended. He's promised police will respond to crime, and says the directive should have been worded better.  "And it could have been much clearer in the way it was written - it did create some confusion, I totally understand and get that." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have revealed more about the death of a teenager, after a combative run it straight-style game with friends on Sunday.  It involves people running fill tilt into each other, with no protective gear. The 19-year-old died in hospital yesterday, and our newsroom's been told he's Ryan Satterthwaite. Manawatu Area Commander Inspector, Ross Grantham, has outlined more details. "I understand he hasn't banged his head into anything...it's the action of his head that has caused the injury." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister expects the Commissioner to continue to tackle retail crime.  Police staff have been directed to not further investigate theft below $200, petrol drive-offs below $150, shoplifting under $500, and online fraud below $1000 dollars.  But Mark Mitchell is promising retailers officers will always turn up when they have the resources. Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls explains why Mark Mitchell needed to clear this up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new police task force has been established to address an increase in gang violence in Sydney after two were shot dead in broad daylight in the city's west. Taskforce Falcon will be led by the State Crime Command and will investigate shootings, arson attacks and kidnappings as far back as late 2024. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says there's been a notable increase in violence in Sydney over the last few months - and something need to be done. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 19-year-old has died after suffering a head injury during a tackle game - known as run it straight - with friends on Sunday.  Police say the impromptu event was based on a social media-driven competition, where people run into each other for full-contact collisions without protective gear. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's leader thinks talk of potential coalitions is premature. New Zealand First leader and veteran politician Winston Peters has ruled out working with Labour post next election if Chris Hipkins is still in charge. Peters has described a potential trio of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori as a 'woke circus'. Chris Hipkins says Labour will set out bottom lines before the election. He's taken the chance to take a swipe at the Coalition. "We're not just going to allow the smaller parties to call all the shots in the way that Christopher Luxon and the National Party currently are doing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump has agreed to extend a deadline to negotiate tariffs with the EU until July. Last week, Trump expressed frustration with the pace of talks and threatened to raise the tariff rate to as high as 50 percent as soon as June 1. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says this will be a significant relief to parts of Europe. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank is set to make another Monetary Policy Statement on Wednesday, and experts have predicted another 25-basis-point cut. The cut, priced in by financial markets and widely expected by economists, would take the OCR to 3.25 percent. Despite this, Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr believes the Reserve Bank should cut the cash rate down to 3 percent - saying the economy needs stimulus. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on the EU from June 1 due to slow progress on discussion. He also threatened to put a 25 percent tariff on Apple (-3%) and other device makers if they don’t start moving production to the US. Harbour Asset Management spokesperson Shane Solly revealed how the markets responded. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  RNZ reports police staff have been directed to not investigate shoplifting below $500 and online fraud below $1000. There's also a new 'value threshold' to determine which retail crimes will be investigated - what kind of message does this send? Nicola Willis raised some eyebrows over her choice of outfit on Budget Day - does this really matter?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 26 May 2025, Superintendent Blair MacDonald explains why police are no longer going to attend shoplifting crimes where less than $500 was stolen unless there's good reason to. Health Minister Simeon Brown says prefab hospital buildings are the way to go to build a cheaper (and faster) hospital in Nelson. Finance Minister Nicola Willis reveals what's not written in her diary for Saturday - the day David Seymour takes over as Deputy Prime Minister. The Huddle debates why we're so obsessed with Nicola Willis' Budget outfit and whether it's appropriate we even talk about it. Plus, what happened when Heather asked ChatGPT if she looks hot? 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.

Nicola Willis says National still hasn't decided on its superannuation policy ahead of next year's election. The Finance Minister says keeping eligibility at 65 is increasingly expensive - and Prime Minister Luxon has expressed interest in making changes. Willis says discussions will need to take place about the matter as a caucus. "What that will look like will be different from the last election - because, obviously, 3 years have gone past since then. New Zealand, as we have pointed out in the past, is quite an outlier." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dame Marilyn Waring says a high-powered committee of 10 former MPs has the know-how to lead debate on the Government's revamped pay equity system.  Waring's established the 'people's select committee' to do the job she says Parliament failed to carry out by passing impactful pay equity law changes under urgency.  That includes receiving submissions, and interviewing oral presenters. She says it'll be in the interests of both the Government and the opposition to have the proper evidence going forward.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.