Larry Williams Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Wellington Water has copped backlash over spending significant amounts on wellness-based perks for their employees. What do we make of this?  Former Labour leader Andrew Little has announced his intention to run for mayor of Wellington. Is this a good move? Will he get votes?  The Maori Party wants Maori to get NZ Super 7-10 years before everyone else and Labour is refusing to say whether it would agree. The Greens are on board with giving some parts of society Super earlier. Is this the best look? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trump administration has hinted it could be looking into imposing tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the country. Pharmac has since claimed the impact of these tariffs is 'unclear' - as it's unknown how it would affect the price of medicines at this stage. Medicines NZ chief executive Dr Graeme Jarvis says it's too early to tell, and he doesn't want anyone to react too rashly. "Around 20 percent of pharmaceutical manufacture is done in the US, the rest of it they import from global supply chains around the world at the moment." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 16 April 2025, Wellington's worst kept secret is out of the bag: former Labour leader Andrew Little is running for mayor. He tells Heather what he'd do with the much-debated Golden Mile.   Finance Minister Nicola Willis gets a grilling over the Reserve Bank's funding - is the bank getting a budget cut or actually a boost? Why Heather doesn't think cracking down on junk food advertising will do anything to help with kids eating junk food. Plus, the Huddle debates the Māori Party's call that Māori should get the NZ Super 10 years early. 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.

ANZ is speculating interest rates will drop lower than previously expected - as the economy is predicted to need extra help to recover. The bank believes the OCR will bottom out at 2.5 percent, down from the 3 percent low that was previously predicted. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner says it's likely the Reserve Bank will give the economy an additional 'push in the back' to help boost a recovery. "It's too soon to make any concrete judgements on what might happen to our commodity prices or anything like that - but it does seem pretty likely that some pretty full-on uncertainty is going to persist for quite a long time."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Water's boss is defending spending ratepayer money on skincare for staff and mindfulness workshops. The under-fire agency has confirmed it spent more than $10,000 on wellbeing workshops in the recent financial year - including nutritionists and skin checks. Chief Executive Pat Dougherty says it's important to be a caring employer. "Good staff are hard to find - you'll want to attract them and keep them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister is confident in the operational funding she's giving the Reserve Bank.  Nicola Willis has signed the bank up to a new five-year agreement - 25 percent under the billion dollars sought by the central bank. Willis says she's peeled back the $200 million a year the Reserve Bank had budgeted for - to $150 million. "Not just - are we taking it back to that figure? But we're saying, we want you to stop this pattern of the number escalating every year. We want that to hold steady." Willis says the 750-million dollar budget gives the Bank enough to carry out its statutory functions well.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Researchers say junk food advertising needs tighter controls.  A paper has found children aged 2 to 17 see twice as many ads for unhealthy food than healthier options.  The authors want limits on online ads for unhealthy food - and a ban on using cartoon characters in packaging.  Co-author Lisa Te Morenga says such advertising intensifies the desire children already feel for junk food - and the constant barrage of ads makes children want it more. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Labour leader Andrew Little's feeling confident about his odds as he announces a bid to run for mayor of Wellington. He made the announcement this morning - and explained that the capital's in a fragile place and needs strong leadership. Little says he's spoken to people and found that the council has become 'directionless'. "I've just had so many people from across the spectrum and from so many different sort of backgrounds approaching me...I thought I had to think about this again - and I thought I do have a set of skills that can help." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister has unveiled a major reduction to the Central Bank's planned spending. The Government and the Reserve Bank have agreed to reduce operating expenses by a quarter in the coming year. They've signed a five-year funding agreement, allowing $750 million of operating expenses, well below the $1 billion the Bank was asking for. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan unpacks the announcement further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US president is in no rush to reverse the wrongful deportation of a man to Central America. Donald Trump has been meeting with the president of El Salvador at the White House. Despite a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the US must allow for Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return, both leaders are batting away calls. Abrego Garcia entered the US illegally in 2011, but in 2019 an immigration judge withheld his removal due to threats in his home country. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Donald Trump has expressed interest in deporting US citizens who are considered violent criminals to El Salvador - which has sparked further concerns. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new weight division to conquer for boxer Mea Motu as she eyes a return to the ring later this year. The former super bantamweight world champion will move up two weight classes, having lost her IBO title in January against IBF and WBO belt holder Ellie Scotney.  Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One expert has warned Aucklanders should be prepared for the chance of a volcanic eruption. Civil Defence estimates there's a 10 percent risk it could happen in the next 50 years.  It could cost $65 billion in building damage alone.  Victoria University's Dr Finn Illsley Kemp says we'd get a decent warning before an eruption - but every aspect will be expensive, including evacuating the city. "We do think we'll get a warning when it is on the way, because this magma has to come from quite deep - we should be able to see it when it's on its' way, but when it's on the move, it doesn't hang around." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am of the view that it is time for authorities to start cracking down really hard on bad dog owners.  When I was on maternity leave, apart from trying to ignore Donald Trump, I was trying very hard not to read too much news because I was just trying to get away from work a little bit.  But there was one story that I saw pop up on the Herald that I actually had to click on. That was the news report about that Katikati dog attack a few weeks ago. That was where the three dogs killed the four year old boy, and all three of those dogs were unregistered.  I clicked on that news report because, frankly, dog maulings freak me out at the moment in a way that they never have because it's too close to home. I'm constantly trying to keep my 3 year old boy away from dogs that look like they're grumpy, including just yesterday at our local park because they're everywhere now.  I've certainly noticed because I've started to see a pattern here that we've had a spate of more maulings in the last couple

A lengthy strike carried out by bin workers that has left rubbish piling up on Birmingham's streets will continue after union members rejected the latest offer from the council.  The strike action, which began in early March, has resulted in thousands of tonnes of rubbish going uncollected. UK correspondent Enda Brady has expressed concerns about a potential health emergency. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, the RBA says its upcoming May meeting would be an 'opportune time' to reconsider the OCR. Experts believe that the global uncertainty over U.S. tariffs could have significant impact on markets all over the world. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says a lot has changed within the economy - and inflation has dropped down. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All eyes will be on tonight's Global Dairy Trade Auction to see if the tariffs will leave an impact on dairy prices. It's been two weeks since President Donald Trump imposed a set of tariffs impacting multiple countries - and financial markets have been sent into turmoil. The Country's Rowena Duncum explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reserve Bank economist Paul Conway believes there's one upside to the tariff turmoil for Kiwis. Conway suspects the tariffs will likely lead to lower inflation in New Zealand, which will also lead to lower interest rates. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen unpacked the announcement - and explained the ins and outs of the Reserve Bank's new Kiwi-GDP tool. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 15 April 2025,  Police Minister Mark Mitchell tells Heather how the Government's managed to hit its target to reduce the number of violent crime victims four years early. Should a Minister really have to tell the health department to use the term "pregnant women" rather than "pregnant person"? A crackdown is coming for bad dog owners who chain up their dogs for too long - but Heather thinks the Government needs to go much further and crack down on dangerous dogs. Plus, on the Huddle, Stuart Nash's biggest clue yet that he might be looking to become a NZ First candidate. 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.

Tonight on The Huddle, former Labour Minister Stuart Nash and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has directed Health NZ to refer to pregnant women rather than pregnant people. Do we agree with this move? The Government is set to introduce tougher fines for people who chain up their dogs for long periods of time, but is the problem not wider than that?  Just over half of employees think their chances for a promotion are better if they work in the office. Is this not obvious? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One expert is warning people to do their research ahead of a significant change set to impact older devices. One NZ, Spark and 2degrees are all due to shut down their 3G mobile networks by late 2025 - early 2026 at the latest. Associate Professor of Engineering at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Mark Gregory says Australia did the same thing at the end of last year - and it sparked mass confusion. "In quite a few areas, customers lost coverage. So we had pictures of farmers standing in the middle of their farm where they used to have coverage...they've got 3G devices including farming sensors, farm equipment and their own devices." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.