Larry Williams Drive

Don Tricker will return to New Zealand Rugby on a permanent basis as the governing body's high performance director. He'll start in November, once he's finished commitments with the San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Half of all renal services nationally are operating above capacity, with Auckland services operating at 150 percent. According to the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry survey for 2025, there's a shortage of units, meaning more people are missing out on essential care. Kidney Health NZ general manager Madi Keay says hospitals are turning to 'band-aid' solutions, including offering shifts at off-peak time slots. "We're seeing a range of other solutions being proposed, but really, we want to be providing better resourcing so people can dialyse within the adequate service times."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three people have died as a result of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the WHO. The outbreak was reported aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, and there's five more suspected cases under investigation. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the World Health Organisation is working to co-ordinate matters on board the ship.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump has floated the idea of the US guiding neutral ships out through the Strait of Hormuz, and it's made an impact on the oil markets. The Brent oil price was little changed above $108 a barrel, after falling as much as 2.4 percent at the open - below last week's $118 high. Harbour Asset Management expert Shane Solly explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Critics of the Government's new draft curriculum have raised concerns that it's skipped over some key areas, and the Education Minister is looking to clear things up. Earlier, Auckland University's Darren Powell earlier claimed knowledge vital for students' understanding of mental heath, food and nutrition and sexual education is absent from the draft. Erica Stanford says the curriculum covers health, wellness, tolerance and consent, and the Government was very careful in planning this out. "Everything in the curriculum, all the way up, is about mental health and building resilient kids and doing it in a wonderfully positive way. It is a wonderful curriculum and it just indicates to me, frankly, that a lot of these people who are speaking out have not actually read the curriculum."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani and Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Educators have raised concerns with the Government's planned changes to school curriculums - what do we make of the backlash? Did we need these changes to fix declining achievement rates? Do the teachers have a point? Judith Collins has claimed people don't like strong women in a recent interview with Audrey Young. Do we think this is really an issue?   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A health education expert says draft new curriculums don't address mental health - we get a response from Erica Stanford. You'll find out what TVNZ will charge you - for all the matches at football's World Cup. And on The Huddle, Josie Pagani and Maurice Williamson debate whether people like strong women. 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.

Judith Collins has two weeks left as an MP and she’s given an exit interview to Audrey Young at the New Zealand Herald in which she says people don’t like strong women - obviously referring to herself. Now, I don’t disagree with Judith that she is a strong woman. She’s formidable. But I do disagree with her that people don’t like strong women, because what is Helen Clark if not a strong woman? So strong, they used to say that the softest part of her was her teeth - and yet she was elected and re-elected by the New Zealand public three times. That’s more than Jacinda Ardern achieved and Jacinda Ardern is not what I would call a strong woman. Now, look, I realise there are too many variables to ever make a truly fair comparison across elections like that. But if you did strip everything else out, you’d look at it like this: Helen, the strong woman, won three elections, compared with Jacinda - the milder personality - who won two and only really won the second because of COVID. Judith Collins doesn’t explicitly

There's some concerns about cost blowouts on the new Cook Strait ferries, but Minister Chris Bishop isn't too worried. A Treasury briefing from September warned of risks costs could overtake the budgeted $1.8 billion dollars. Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop says the Government's working at pace on this project and the new ferries are on their way. "It's going to be tight, there's no doubt about that. But things are going pretty well."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's claims the Ministry of Education hasn't delivered on key promises.  Specialist teachers are slamming the draft curriculums for music, PE, science, technology and history.  Auckland University Associate Health Education Professor, Darren Powell, says there are positive elements. But he says he's concerned there's too long between introducing students to concepts, and expanding them further. "When they've talked about carefully sequencing content across those 10 years, there's large gaps. It hasn't really been sequenced very well at all."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TVNZ has recently announced how much it'll cost Kiwis to watch all 104 matches in the upcoming FIFA World Cup on TVNZ+. Ahead of the tournament starting next month, TVNZ has unveiled their new $44.95 all-tournament pass for app users. TVNZ Head of Sports and Events Melodie Robinson says the broadcaster did plenty of research on what Kiwi sports fans would be willing to pay.  "We're really pleased with reactions so far, but actually, we did a whole lot of work with Kiwis, testing them on what they would pay in the environment that we're in."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ferry Holdings' chair insists buying two new Interislander ferries and improving docks to accommodate them won't blow out costs.  In a Treasury briefing last September, officials raised concerns building portside infrastructure could exceed the budget. But chair Chris Mackenzie says that briefing was premature.  "You've got to remember that this report that was done last September was done before we'd even started detailed negotiations with the ports."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning US ships could encounter mines, missiles and small boat attacks if they try to shepherd commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump has announced 'Project Freedom' - a plan that will involve 15,000 service members and 100 military aircraft.  Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies' John Battersby says there are many unknowns.   "We can't guarantee that they can protect from that kind of attack, and that's going to weigh on commercial operators. Do we run this risk? Have we got enough confidence in the Americans that we're safe?"  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A first of its kind agreement to secure New Zealand fuel. Prime Minister Chris Luxon and other ministers are in Singapore, for the signing of a fuel and food security Memorandum of Understanding. Singapore will supply us fuel in times of crisis - and New Zealand's will supply food - in a mutually beneficial deal. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained the significance of this deal.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The upcoming by-election for Sussan Ley's former regional seat in Farrer is set to take place this weekend, and there's speculation about what it could mean for One Nation's future. One Nation is seeing more support, with a new poll showing 11.7 percent of respondents assigned a the party a rating of 10. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this will come as a huge boost for the party's controversial leader, Pauline Hanson.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland FC boss Nick Becker hopes the crowd for their semi-final first leg against Adelaide United next Saturday is better than last night's elimination final. 11,351 went through the Mt Smart gates and saw Auckland FC keep their season alive on penalties over Melbourne City. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walk Without Fear Charitable Trust is running a two-day anti-violence programme tomorrow, for up to 120 South Auckland secondary students. The Trust plans to roll out national school programmes, which will include lessons to avoid coward punches. Chair Eugene Bareman says kids are taught self-control, de-escalation and how to protect themselves.  "Just how to approach a situation calmly when they're under pressure, just responding rather than reacting." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So I was in Christchurch giving a speech to part of Local Government New Zealand - the South Island arm - so the room was full of mayors and councillors from across the South Island. One of the topics up for discussion was what councils around the country need to do, or could do, to win back public approval. I have to be honest: I left that room - and you know my views on councils - feeling just a little bit sorry for the councillors and mayors I met. The ones I spoke to seemed to be honestly trying. They admitted they’ve got more to do and that there are stupid costs they need to cut as well. But what they told me is that they’re up against it. They’re dealing with things they can’t change: national laws like the RMA that tie their hands, and unelected staff who just go ahead and do their own thing. And sure enough, there’s a story that illustrates at least some of that perfectly. Wellington City Council staff have spent $130,000 on new art for their flash new building - a building where they’ve hogged the t

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 1 May, 2026, former Defence Minister Ron Mark explains why he wouldn't  be rushing to help the US open the Strait of Hormuz. An Australian reading expert tells us why New Zealand can be world leading in literacy. One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris outlines what went wrong with an internet outage. And on the Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Clay Wilson debate whether Papua New Guinea's got an unfair advantage in recruiting NRL players. 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.

One billion dollars in cash has appeared in Kiwi wallets since last year.  The Reserve Bank said that in March of 2025, there was $8.59 billion worth of physical cash in circulation. Now, that number has risen to $9.57billion.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the cause of this is likely due to global instability.  "I wouldn't be surprised if the Iran war through the month of March, cause some people to think that, you know, there was some pretty big issues out there and maybe they wanted to have a little bit more physical cash with them." He likened the jump in the amount of cash to a similar increase that happened at the start of the COVID pandemic.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.