Larry Williams Drive

There's no guarantee businesses will honour unredeemed vouchers from GrabOne, which has gone into liquidation. The online deals website won’t be issuing refunds for unused purchases - and has told customers to directly contact vendors. Some sellers have indicated they’ll recognise GrabOne deals, but others say they may not be able to. Parakai Springs general manager Dion Tilson says they will honour vouchers, but customers could lose-out at other companies. "I've spoken to a lot of businesses, restaurants and so forth, hotels - they may not be in a position to be able to offer it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Gloriavale leaver is recalling the confronting impact of child discipline practices used in the sect.  Police have issued two formal warnings to the community after investigating allegations parents would cover the noses and mouths of crying children.  A Herald investigation has revealed officers conducted more than 100 interviews. Virginia Courage says in one instance, a little boy was brought to her unconscious. "He wasn't breathing, and his father just threw him at me. I don't even know if he said anything, I just went into get-this-kid-breathing mode." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim Bolger's first Finance Minister says the former Prime Minister - who died yesterday aged 90 - sometimes sold himself short.  Bolger served as an MP from 1972 and led the country for seven years.  Ruth Richardson says in recent years, Bolger criticised some neo-liberal policies he oversaw. She says Bolger made tough decisions at a tough time.  "His hand was forced by dreadful economic circumstances that we faced - a real baptism of fire. We did what was right." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A flurry of tributes from current and former politicians for former Prime Minister, Jim Bolger, who died yesterday. The 90-year-old died peacefully, surrounded by family.  He served as Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper looked back on some memories with the former leader. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's unemployment rate jumped to 4.5 percent in September - up from 4.3 percent in August, according to new reports. This is the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate recorded since November 2021. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says this will likely put extra pressure on the Reserve Bank to make another interest rate cut. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

League great Billy Slater reckons the 10 year bans for players who defect to the rebel R360 rugby competition are a bit extreme. ARL Commission chair Peter V'landys has accused R360 officials of pirating the game for financial gain. Sportstalk host Elliott Smith explains the backlash further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Minister has accused the senior doctors' union of crossing an 'ethical line' at the expense of patients. Members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists will join next week's mass strike. Tens of thousands of union members, across health, education, and the public sector, are walking off the job. Sarah Dalton from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says many were shocked at the way Simeon Brown chose to characterise this strike action. "And I guess his refusal to contemplate all of the many things in the health system that get in the way of them being able to see and treat patients, other than a four-hour strike next week." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new book, The Incidental Feminist, has claimed former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly had two affairs. Thatcher, who held the role from 1979 to 1990, is remembered as having a stable marriage to her husband Denis - but the book claims Thatcher got involved with a former MP and had an earlier affair at the start of her career. UK correspondent Gavin Grey weighs up the validity of these claims. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank recently disputed the idea that Covid-era money printing programme caused sky-high inflation, which cost the Government billions. Staff at the bank have published new research that concludes the bank’s $55 billion Large-Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programme didn’t 'meaningfully' contribute to above-target inflation following the pandemic. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ongoing US Government shutdown is set to have wide-reaching effects, with economists raising concerns over the impacts. Missed pay cheques and the absence of billions of dollars of Government services will likely reverberate beyond federal workers and sting the broader public. Milford Asset Management's Brendan Larsen explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster David Farrar 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!  It's been a controversial couple of days for the Māori Party. Do we see the party splitting apart? Do we think Labour will officially rule out working with them before next year's election?  A new poll in the Post has indicated Chris Bishop is the successor in waiting for Luxon - what do we make of this? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen, go on and tell me that any of the allegations that we've heard about the Māori Party in the last 36 hours surprise you. Does it shock you in any way to find out that one of their MPs allegedly paid her son $120,000 of taxpayer money, that she couldn't apparently balance her own budget? And that her son allegedly abused parliamentary staff so badly that he was trespassed from the grounds? No really, right? Not really a surprise. And this feels exactly like the kind of stuff you would expect to be happening when a political party pulls together a collection of activists who have no respect for the rules - which they demonstrate on a seemingly weekly basis by not showing up to their jobs in Parliament, who can't even do up a pair of leather shoes to go to work, and who think nepotism is just another way of showing love to your family. Their words, not mine. Now, do you really think that that alleged incident where Eru Kapa-Kingi shouted at parliamentary staff and threatened to knock one out happened

Spark's becoming the first New Zealand telco to block all child sexual abuse images made with artificial intelligence. It already stops access to photo-realistic material made by AI, but this move will extend to images which have a cartoon or artistic style. The website list comes from the Internet Watch Foundation which has seen a 400 percent increase in this type of material. Spark Sustainability Director Leela Ashford says it blocks the sites automatically. She says the list can include tens of thousands of websites.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 15 October 2025, shocking video footage from Gaza shows Hamas publicly executing a number of people. The Australian's Greg Sheridan tells Heather it's impossible for peace to continue with Hamas' involvement.   Hospitality NZ's Sam McKinnon tells Heather the stupidest rule in hospitality that needs fixing by the Ministry for Regulation. Why does the AA want your speeding ticket to get more expensive? The Broadcasting Standards Authority has been accused of acting like Soviet era stasi by Winston Peters - what's going on? Plus, the Huddle debates whether the Maori Party's latest antics will hurt them - and whether we might see the party break up. 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.

There's growing calls to evaluate the future of fees-free university after a recent review labelled the policy 'deadweight'. The policy was originally introduced under the Jacinda-led Labour Government in 2017, with the current coalition moving the policy to cover a student's final year of university instead of the first. AUSA president Gabriel Boyd says dismissing the policy is 'unfair', as it's helped students save money. "I think the $12,000 that students saved, that they can then put towards accommodation, food, transportation, with this cost of living - does make a huge impact." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hospitality New Zealand is throwing its support behind a Government inspection of sector rules. Its wide-ranging review will investigate rules for everything from bars, to restaurants - to market stalls. Regulation Minister David Seymour says existing rules change frequently and are inconsistently applied. Hospitality NZ's Sam MacKinnon says the sector has to work through a 'myriad' of regulations just to operate - and this review presents a good opportunity.  "While there are some of these really stupid rules that are in place, the opportunity for the industry to be able to have a comprehensive look at all of the different areas that cut across what it takes to run a hospitality venue is the real opportunity here."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mooove over dairy and beef cows, for a new hybrid breed on the block. Pāmu and Livestock Improvement Corporation have created a new cattle breed - called the Synegizer. About 350 first-cross beef-on-dairy calves were born this year, and limited frozen insemination will available next spring. Pāmu CEO Mark Leslie says dairy farmers won't use Synegizers for milking. "These bulls will be used to go over maybe some of the cows they don't want to keep the replacements out of - and they'll use these to generate animals that can then go off into the livestock centre." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas holds - but looks shaky, with eight of the 28 dead Israeli hostages returned. Israel is reportedly reopening the Rafah border for aid, despite threatening delays after the slow delivery of remains by Hamas. Foreign editor at the Australian, Greg Sheridan, says videos have emerged on social media, showing Hamas publicly executing several Palestinian men.  "Hamas still has the guns, it's plainly not interested in disarming. I also think it looks like a breakdown of the process for about two days." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent polls show Prime Minister Chris Luxon's popularity has taken a nosedive, prompting speculation about his future in the National Party. With the election set to take place next year, there's growing speculation Luxon's leadership role might not last. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this discussion is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it's likely there could be mood for change. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump's warning Hamas will have their weapons taken off them - even if it falls to him to make it happen.  Talks are underway in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on the second phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.  US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Trump hasn't given Hamas a hard deadline as of yet, and it's unclear how this will go. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.