Larry Williams Drive

There's been some reshuffling in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's team, and it's got experts speculating what it means for Rachel Reeves. With Labour losing favour in the polls to Reform, there's additional pressure on Starmer to make changes, according to new reports. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the economy is 'flatlining' - and it's prompted concerns.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stats NZ came out with the latest trade data for New Zealand - and the results show good news for exporters. Exports were up 9.9 percent in the year to June and imports were up 3.2 percent. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ACT leader wants New Zealand out of the Paris Agreement, unless we get a better deal.  New Zealand signed up in 2016 - and the previous Government later passed the bipartisan Zero Carbon Act to keep us in line with the Paris targets.  The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 2 September 2025, ACT leader David Seymour explains why he wants to pull out of the Paris Agreement if the conditions don't change. Luxury real estate agent Anthony Morsinkhof says his phone's been ringing all day with foreign investors wanting to start buying houses here. Sir Peter Gluckman tells Heather why we need to toughen up our university entry requirements. Amazon's NZ Country Manager Manuel Bohnet explains the company's investment in NZ - but gets unstuck when Heather digs deeper. Plus, the Huddle debates the hideous CEO who snatched a signed cap off a kid at the US Open.   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, journalist Clare de Lore and former Labour Minister Stuart Nash joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  ACT leader David Seymour says the Paris Agreement needs to be reformed - or else New Zealand should walk away. Is he right? Will National get on board for it? Helen Clark and John Key are set to attend China's big military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. What do we make of this? Will Luxon and Winston be glad they don't have to go? The Polish CEO who made headlines after he snatched a child's hat at the US Open has since apologised - do we believe this?  NZI says we have three times as many ministerial portfolios as we need - do we need to make some cuts? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finally, we have a serious party who has spent time thinking about it - and is now seriously suggesting that New Zealand should pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now, that was what came from that ACT Party announcement that I told you would be coming today that you needed to keep an eye out for. ACT says Paris isn't working for New Zealand and it says we should push for the agreement to be reformed - and if it isn't reformed, then we should pull out of it. It isn't working, ACT says, because it's pushing up our food prices and it's pushing up our power prices and it's forcing the farmers off the land to make way for trees. And you can add to that list something that we've seen a lot of this winter and last winter - it is shutting down industry because of those high power prices. Now, there will be a lot of people who hear this from ACT and write it off as nutty climate change denier stuff. It is not. Think about the Paris Agreement critically, right? Set aside, you know, your vibes, whether y

There's hopes the promised 1,000 new jobs created from Amazon's locally based data centres will go to Kiwis. The tech giant's investing $7.5 billion into the Auckland-based centres, which go live today. It'll mean New Zealand customers can use the new cloud region to run workloads and store data locally. Amazon Web Services country manager Manuel Bohnet says they're taking a long-term view with this project. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changes could be in store for gang legislation after a judge handed back a patch to a Mongrel Mob member.  Police were ordered to return the patch after its owner was arrested for wearing it publicly.  Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says he can't comment on decisions of judges, but isn't ruling out changing the law.  "There's a legal process to go through, it may be appealed - I don't know. We'll wait and see how it all plays out, and if we find that we've got a problem, we'll fix it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A luxury real estate agent says there's huge interest only in two areas of New Zealand, with the Government's planned loosening of the foreign buyers ban. By next year, Active Investor Plus visa holders will be able to build or buy homes worth at least $5 million. They’ll still need to invest another $5 million separately to qualify. Forbes Global's Anthony Mosinkhof says Auckland and Queenstown are the main options for foreign buyers. "The problem with this legislation is - the concentration of these buyers will be diverted to those two areas. It's a little bit of a shame that they aren't able to put more into the regions." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A defence of Wellington's City to Sea Bridge as it faces demolition.  Work to demolish the earthquake prone bridge could start this week after the High Court tossed out a judicial review to save it.  Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young says even if people think it's ugly, it does serve an important purpose.  "It's a safety aspect - it's a lovely way to cross over to the waterfront rather than going over a pedestrian crossing." Nicola Young's concerned the replacement bridge will take too long to put in place.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's hopes from David Seymour that he can convince National to get on board with ditching climate change targets.  The ACT leader wants New Zealand to leave the Paris climate change agreement - unless we can negotiate a better deal. But Prime Minister Chris Luxon says leaving the deal will only hurt our farmers, as international consumers value New Zealand's clean brand.  David Seymour says his party is influential.  "We've got a pretty good track record - if you look at the influence that ACT has had over this Government, I think it's profound. So watch this space."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been plenty of debate about New Zealand's future in the Paris Agreement, following some comments made by David Seymour. The ACT leader wants New Zealand to pull out of the global climate agreement, unless the targets are realistic. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon won't withdraw from the agreement - at least not until the 2026 election is over. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police believe Dezi Freeman is receiving additional help as the surge for the alleged gunman continues on. Freeman is accused of shooting Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart at his Porepunkah property, before escaping into the bush. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Freeman was heavily armed when he made his escape - and there's been no sign of him since. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could the All Blacks halfback curse have claimed another victim? Uncapped Wellington and Crusaders number nine Kyle Preston sought treatment for an ankle injury at training this morning ahead of the test against the Springboks at Eden Park on Saturday. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's decided against making university entrance harder in its tertiary education shake-up.  Universities Minister Shane Reti recently announced a package of initiatives to modernise the sector. Reti's refresh only accepts 23 of 63 recommendations made by the University Advisory Group. The group's leader, Sir Peter Gluckman, says they recommended changing up entry requirements, as it would ensure quality.  "We're trying to make sure that we don't see degree inflation - and actually have degrees that maintain New Zealand's high quality in standards globally." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK Government is set to introduce tighter rules for migrants granted asylum bringing their families to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to unveil new  criteria for family members - including tougher English language standards and access to sufficient funds. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says immigration is likely to become a key talking point at the next election, and the Government's feeling pressure from Reform's popularity. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New economic data impacting the US came out last week and it's got experts speculating over whether rate cuts will come. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly explained further. 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! There's growing calls among educators to make learning a second language compulsory for schoolkids - do we agree with this? Foreign buyers can now buy homes in New Zealand - if they have invested over $5 million, they can buy a home worth $5 million or more. Has the Government stuck the right balance here? Cornwall Park in Auckland was shut yesterday afternoon because of the storm. Is this proof we've gone too far with our safety concerns?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 1 September 2025, the $5 million dollar rule. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford tells Heather why foreign investors will soon be able to buy expensive homes in New Zealand.   Should we make learning a second language compulsory? Juliet Kennedy from the NZ association of language teachers tells Heather why we should. Heather asks Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop why Helen Clark and John Key are going to China's big parade - but no current Ministers were invited. Plus, the Huddle debates whether we've lost the health and safety plot, shutting one of Auckland's biggest parks because of some heavy wind. 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.

We've got to talk about Cornwall Park. So over the weekend, it was quite windy in Auckland. If you're in Auckland, you know what I mean - that was some crazy-ass wind that was going on out there, definitely found the drafts of my house. If you're out of Auckland, it was kind of like a day in Wellington, but in Auckland. So it was unusual for us. Now, I don't know where we got to in the end, but the forecast was for gusts of up to 120 km per hour. So the people who run Cornwall Park closed it on Sunday because of flying wood. They were worried that staff and punters might be struck by flying wood, so they shut the gates and they closed the toilets and they closed the café and they closed the creamery, and they closed everything - closed the big store, closed everything - because of the flying wood. Meanwhile, on Sunday, when Cornwall Park was closed, I went to another park, which was Victoria Park in the central city - which is also actually incidentally full of really old trees, and therefore b