Larry Williams Drive

So, North Korea are in the middle a major Covid-19 outbreak. With more than a million people now sick with what officials are calling a 'fever'. Limiting testing capacity has meant that only a few cases have been confirmed as actual Covid. Kim Jong-Un has also imposed a strict lockdown and more than 600,000 people receiving medical treatment. Josh Smith, Reuters senior correspondent covering North Korea, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors are warning urgent work needs to be done to understand the full impact of long Covid on people.  One in five Covid cases still have symptoms three months after they catch the virus... But there are no plans to support them.  Dr Rob Griffiths from the University of Otago joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a doubtful future for hospital care in the Wellington region.  Hutt Hospital's main building has been deemed earthquake-prone – meaning patients and services will have to move out.  The building houses the outpatient unit, maternity and post-natal services, the children’s ward, general surgery, gynaecology and the medical ward. 80 per cent of the hospital's beds are in the building. Campbell Barry is Hutt City's mayor, he joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are National looking to follow Seymour's lead on boosting defence spending to 2% of GDP? Grant Robertson had a very good day in the House – wiping the floor with Luxon: What happened? Act and National are still up and arms over NZ on Air's decision to fund a documentary about Chlöe Swarbrick. Chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The coalition promises to cut spending on a public service if re-elected. Independent candidate in South Australia is in a bit of trouble over a carpark. An Adelaide lawyer is facing court after 34 years on the run in Africa and Europe. Australian correspondent Murray Olds joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All Whites squad has been named for the world cup playoff against Costa Rica. Chiefs have been hit by a second wave of the Rona. Research finds that 78% of Kiwis have witnessed or experienced homophobia in sport. Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has announced a hundred-million-dollar investment into mental health services ahead of Thursday's budget. The money will go towards a number of mental health and addiction services over the next four years. If you think this headline sounds familiar, it's because the Government already pumped 1.9 billion dollars into the mental health sector in the 2019 budget – but subsequent reviews have found that this money hasn't necessarily led to major improvements. Shaun Robinson, chief executive of The Mental Health Foundation, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is something that jumps out at you when you wake up to the news of all the overnight ram raids each morning: how many of these places have been targeted more than once? The Takanini Bottle-O hit at 2 this morning, for the second time in three weeks. The Kingsland dairy ram raided at 3 yesterday morning. The third attack this year. The Mount Eden liquor store ram raided at 4:30 on Saturday morning. It had also been attacked the night before. The Newmarket clothing store ram raided at 1 on Saturday morning. The second attempt in months. The Howick Liquorland ram raided at 6 on Sunday morning. The second attack in five weeks. And then how many times have you woken up to the news that the offenders have been caught? Not even in half the stories I'm reading each morning. It’s really no surprise then that we hear Auckland business owners are buying hockey sticks, baseball bats and in some instances, arming themselves with more serious weapons to defend themselves. But the really concerning thing is that it sh

Nothing quite like a NATO exercise on Russia's doorstep. The Queen made a grand appearance at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Switzerland has voted to boost the availability of transplant organs by making everyone a potential donor after death unless they have expressly objected. UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The farming sector has welcomed today's Emissions Reduction Plan. The Government wants to set up a new centre for climate action on agricultural emissions to find innovative ways to reduce emissions. President of Federated Farmers Andrew Hoggard joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some sad news for the business community today... With the passing of Brian Gaynor. The business commentator, co-founder of Milford Asset Management and backer of Businessdesk.  Someone who knew Brian for decades is NZME's business commentator Fran O'Sullivan. Fran joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a big week for the Finance Minister as he gears up to budget day on Thursday.  Things were supposed to start big today with the release of the Government's Emissions Reduction Plan. But the lack of detail is what really stuck out.  Finance Minister Grant Robertson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was Wellington mayor Andy Foster right to pull the pin on plans to light up a Wellington landmark in Palestinian colours, after a warning he might upset Israel? The big Emissions Reduction Plan – not many specifics, a lot more consultation – has the plan fallen flat? A report into High Performance Sport has recommended the approach needs to be changed to people first – not medals first – after the suspected suicide of Olivia Podmore. But aren't medals what we want our athletes to win? Ramraiders have stepped it up a notch and stolen a digger to burst into a BP. This is getting ridiculous, isn't it? How do we stop it? Is Melania Trump right to be upset that she's the only First Lady who was never on the cover of Vogue? Jack Tame and Trish Sherson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on the Huddle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's mayor is defending his move to put the brakes on a Palestinian commemoration event.  The Michael Fowler Centre was set to be lit up in the colours of the Palestinian flag tonight to mark Nakba Day ... which recognises the impact of a 1948 war with Israel.  However, the capital's mayor vetoed it after MFAT expressed concerns about Israeli sensitivities. Andy Foster told Heather Du-Plessis Allan he was advised the event may offend people. “I thought ‘mmm this has got the potential to be controversial’ so I sought the advice from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and they said ‘yeah, your call but please, please, please don’t do it’.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The findings of the Cycling New Zealand and High Performance Sport inquiry have been released, following the death of Olivia Podmore last August. The report found that there is an inherent tension between well-being and the pursuit of medal success, and recommends cyclists be treated as "people first, athletes second". Issues have also been raised around women's health and male networks in the coaching realm. Olympic gold medallist rower Eric Murray was a close friend of Olivia Podmore. He joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's released its long-awaited plan on how to reduce emissions – but many big decisions have been put in the "for later" basket.  570 million dollars will go towards funding low- and middle-income households to swap their old gas guzzlers for EVs. The Government wants 30% of our cars to be zero emissions by 2035... But hasn't gone as far as banning the import of petrol cars.  A decision on congestion charges has been put off until later in the year and there's no sign of a ban on new gas connections for households and no word on whether public transport costs will continue to be slashed.  Climate Change Minister James Shaw joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The much-anticipated emission reduction plan's been released – what are the highlights and what has been the reaction? There's been a spate of ram-raids again overnight... what's the Government doing about it? NZ on Air's given a $220,000 grant for a film about Chloe Swarbrick – how have they justified that? Chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the final week of the election campaign and it's looking like Anthony Albanese will be the next PM. Andrew Symonds's death continues to rock the cricketing world as the police investigation continues. The North Sydney Bears set to re-enter the NRL – but not in North Sydney. 6PR Perth Live Presenter Oliver Peterson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Podmore report finds that cyclists should be treated as people before athletes. Who's going to be in the Super Rugby final? Sports commentator Phil Gifford joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ramraiders have stepped it up a notch. They used a digger to break into the Wainuiomata BP in Lower Hutt overnight. The seven-tonne digger owned by K & D Contracting was taken from a nearby building site. The company's director Debbie Randall joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.