Larry Williams Drive

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 19 September. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is it that we are having a conversation today about whether Nicola Willis needs to quit her portfolio because of yesterday's shock GDP number? This is crazy.  What happened yesterday is not Nicola Willis's fault. It is the Reserve Bank's fault. It is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact. The Reserve Bank ratcheted up the official cash rate to slow down the economy and engineer a recession, to quote Adrian Orr. It's what he wanted to do. It is what he has actually done successfully. We now have had an enormous recession, and we are struggling to come out of that. That is not Nicola Willis's fault. Now, sure, I can lay some blame at Nicola Willis's feet. I can blame Nicola Willis for not doing enough to fix the state of the government's books.Probably not doing enough to get rundown places like Auckland Central going again, but that GDP number, that is fair and square, largely the Reserve Bank's problem, so she should not quit over what happened yesterday. However, I am prepared to admit that the

China's economy continues to slow down after months of decline, and retail sales and industrial production are at their lowest levels of the year.  Falling property prices are also to blame, with house prices in Beijing down 19% from last year.  Asia business correspondent Peter Lewis says that despite this downturn and the trade war with the US, China's exports have kept at a steady level.  He said that Xi Jinping's focus on expanding markets independent of the US is helping keep the economy moving. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Canada is the last obstacle between the Black Ferns and the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham. The teams will clash tomorrow morning for the third time in the past 16 months.  Former Black Fern Steph Te Ohaere-Fox told Heather duPlessis-Allan that she believes the Black Ferns' record will help the team prevail.  'We've got the mental edge, because we've made it through the finals and won the finals heaps of times.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on the Huddle: Sports commentator Andrew Gordon and One News sports reporter Kate Wells join Heather duPlessis-Allan to discuss the latest sports news.  The Black Ferns have made it to the semi finals of the Rugby World Cup, can they go all the way? Big congratulations are in order for Geordie Beamish who takes steeplechase gold, and what's happening with the Silver Ferns' rotating captains? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concern over predatory parking companies after a man got a ticket for being in a park for eight seconds. Christchurch man Bailey Smith won his case in the Disputes Tribunal, for the 95 dollar parking ticket. Smith says he pulled into the Kauri Street car park and then reversed out again within eight seconds, when he realised it was private. NZ Parking Association Chairman Mike Kelly told Heather du Plessis-Allan operators should be transparent with their rules. He says as soon as you enter a private car park you enter a contract, but it has to be fair and reasonable. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The rising number of people on electronically-monitored bail is being used to explain a surge in absconders. Figures released to Newstalk ZB through the Official Information Act show cases of a breach rose from 64 in 2015, to 832 last year. Corrections Chief Probation Officer Toni Stewart told Heather du Plessis-Allan over the last 10 years the courts have granted more electronically monitored bail.  She says they report signs of breaches to police, and is assuring the public they have a zero tolerance for non-compliance.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ruth Richardson does not want to see Nicola Willis resign. But the Former Finance Minister is calling on the current Minister to take a chainsaw to certain areas of spending. Recent GDP numbers have shown a worse-than expected economic picture - with a 0.9 percent dip in the June quarter. Ex Finance Minister Sir Roger Douglas is calling for the Minister's resignation. But Richardson says Superannuation's unsustainable and a bloated public service. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former finance minister Roger Douglas has called for current finance minister Nicola Willis to resign.  He says that the decrease in the country’s GDP is not in line with the global economic downturn and that Willis should be held accountable.  Senior political correspondent Barry Soper told Heather duPlessis-Allan that a resignation is unlikely.  'You'd have to go back then to the 1930s to find a finance minister who has stood aside from the portfolio.’  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A law expert thinks an injunction suppressing key details in the Tom Phillips case will be difficult to keep in place. Media and authorities have been suppressed from discussing certain details related to the case since the Marokopa fugitive and his children were found last Monday. Media lawyers have been advocating for the right to report and the Wellington High Court will hear the matter again next month. Senior Law Lecturer Nikki Chamberlain told Heather du Plessis-Allan that it's very difficult to stop individuals discussing the details on social media. She says unless you can make each individual subject to the injunction, you'd have to make the entire social media platform a party in the court order. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US President's been treated to a day of processions, gifts and fly-pasts in his second state visit to the UK. Donald Trump's attending a state banquet at Windsor Castle, hosted by King Charles, with about 150 other guests. UK correspondent Enda Brady says Trump is set to meet with Starmer to discuss trade next. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the first time since December.  It's a 0.25 point drop, much lower than US President Donald Trump wanted.  Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers has been quick to label Environment Canterbury’s decision to declare a nitrate emergency as a 'political stunt'. ECan recently carried a motion to declare the emergency at yesterday's meeting. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The GDP drop has sparked concern among experts, and it's prompted many to update their economic outlook. GDP's fallen 0.9 percent in the June quarter - much further than the Reserve Bank and all economists had been expecting. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold says Q3 indicators are already looking better, but the bank's upgraded their October OCR call. "We upgraded our October call from a 25 point cut to a 50 point cut...the GDP number was quite a bit weaker than everybody's predictions." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute and former Auckland mayor Phil Goff joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The GDP results are in, and they're worse than predicted. Are we surprised by this development? Does the Reserve Bank need to try harder to fix this? Should Nicola Willis resign? Self-driving Teslas have officially launched in New Zealand. What do we make of this? Should we be worried? Jimmy Kimmel's show has been pulled following some comments he made about Charlie Kirk's assassination. Is this an overreach? Did Kimmel deserve to get sacked? New data reveals one in three young men feel gender equality has gone too far. What makes our young men feel like this? Can something be done about it?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 18 September 2025, the economy contracted much more sharply than anticipated in the second quarter. Finance Minister Nicola Willis speaks to Heather about just how bad the GDP result is. Self-driving Teslas are officially driving around New Zealand, but nobody knows exactly what the rules are. Motorsport legend Greg Murphy weighs in. A report reveals more than half of us think gender equality has been achieved, but 1 in 3 young men think equality has gone too far. Plus, the Huddle debates whether Jimmy Kimmel deserved to be sacked for his Charlie Kirk comments. 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.

Well, I think it's fair to say that the GDP print has come in at something of a shock. The Reserve Bank was picking a contraction of 0.3 percent. The consensus was a contraction of 0.4 percent. The worst-case prediction from one of the banks was a contraction of 0.5 percent. It's come in at a contraction of 0.9 percent, which is basically twice as bad as most of us thought. Now, the immediate problem that we have is what this is going to do to confidence, because people are already scared. That is why it's taking this country so long to come out of recession, because every single piece of bad news like Trump's tariffs earlier this year freaks us out all over again, so we keep our wallets shut for longer. There are people out there who absolutely can afford to spend more money, but they're choosing not to because they do not know that they can trust that we're through the worst of it. This is part of the reason, if not one of the bigger reasons, why the Reserve Bank's cuts to the OCR are not stimulating the ec

New Zealand-based security company Auror is set to start trialling live facial recognition technology. This latest development will alert retailers when someone who's been flagged for serious offending walks into their business. Global Head of Risk at Auror, Nick McDonnell, says there's plenty of safeguards built into this technology to ensure people's privacy is protected. "There's lots of different ways they can respond - they can greet the person as they walk in or they might not approach at all because the person's been known to be violent or aggressive or carrying a weapon. It just gives them that really critical moment's notice." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicola Willis says uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariffs drove down GDP in the June quarter. But the Finance Minister admits has admitted she was surprised to see the economy's contracted 0.9 percent. She says there was consensus that GDP would drop, but most forecasts had it at 0.3 percent. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crusaders fans are questioning their loyalty after prices for the next season at the new stadium revealed a 40 percent increase. The memberships cover three games at the old Apollo Projects Stadium and 4 at the new Te Kaha Stadium - and fans have balked at the new ticket prices. Sports commentator Nick Bewley says he'd suspected a big price jump was coming, given the stadium costs. "To be perfectly honest, I've felt that this was always going to be a big jump because the stadium costs at least half a billion dollars." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.