Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

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With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

  1. 6H AGO

    Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's the real issue impacting local councils

    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 top floors and shoved the mayor downstairs, where he’s staring at a wall. Now, the thing is, they don’t need art. They have no money and they’re going hard on Wellington ratepayers. They do not need to be spending on art. They’ve already got an extensive collection they could draw from, which includes Colin McCahon, Toss Woollaston, Ralph Hotere, Dick Frizzell - Pablo Picasso, for goodness’ sake.Judging by the criticism from elected councillors, it seems those councillors didn’t even know the unelected staff were splashing out on fancy art. That’s what these people are up against: bureaucrats who treat ratepayers like a bottomless ATM. That is a major problem. Now, I’m not making excuses for elected councillors or mayors - they have their own part to play in big spending. But some of them are genuinely trying. They’re just up against decades of ingrained largesse like this. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min
  2. Full Show Podcast: 01 May 2026

    2D AGO

    Full Show Podcast: 01 May 2026

    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 ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 40m

  3. 2D AGO

    Brad Olsen: Infometrics Principal Economist on an extra $1bn physical cash in Kiwi wallets

    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 ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    4 min

  4. 2D AGO

    Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: It's a matter of time before we head to the Strait

    I’m inclined to think that at some stage and in some way we will be helping the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It’s been revealed by American media that Trump has told US embassies around the world to pressure governments to help. Australia is considering assistance and so are we. It’s early days at the moment. It appears both we and Australia are simply asking for more information at this point, probably along the lines of what help is actually required and under what circumstances. Those circumstances are important because I would imagine New Zealand would not want to agree to help if there were a hot war underway — meaning shots being fired. I’d expect we would only be willing to help if there were an active and sustained ceasefire in place. That said, I think that in the end we will still say yes because we’ve already indicated this is what we plan to do. We’ve already signed a joint statement with countries including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, saying we are ready to provide appropriate help to reopen the strait. Now, I don’t think this is going to be popular when the time comes. I don’t think it will be popular in this country. There are now multiple polls and surveys showing consistently that Kiwis want nothing to do with a war started by the US. However, I think we can — and should — separate the war from the oil. Helping in the war is one thing but helping to reopen and keep the strait open is also helping ourselves because we need that oil to flow. We need diesel to keep food on our supermarket shelves. Of course, we do have another option: we could simply leave it to other countries to do the hard work for us. But that would be a bad call because if there’s one thing we know about Donald Trump, it’s that he is transactional — and if we don’t help, he will remember. So I would say that now the request has come in, it’s only a matter of time. And if the strait stays closed, I’d almost guarantee  New Zealand will be heading there. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min

  5. 2D AGO

    Tony Kemp: Former Warriors Coach shares worries over Papua New Guinea's involvement in NRL

    NRL teams, including the Warriors, have voiced their concerns on the fine print of Papua New Guinea's first team joining the league.  The Papua New Guinea Chiefs’ are set to join the league in 2028, but they have a significant leg-up over the competition when it comes to recruitment.  An agreement between the Australian and PNG governments over the Chiefs’ admission into the NRL allows the club to offer tax-free contracts to players willing to relocate for 10 years.  Former Warriors Coach Tony Kemp told Heather du Plessis-Allan that this was a 'politically-based' decision between Governments, not clubs. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    5 min

  6. 2D AGO

    Jason Paris: One New Zealand Chief Executive explains widespread internet outage

    One New Zealand says a widespread internet outage this morning was caused by one of its technology partners.  Ninety cell towers were taken down by technical problems - leaving some customers in the South Island and lower North without service or internet. The company says the outage began about 1:30 this morning and it took hours to be fully resolved.  One NZ Chief Executive Jason Paris told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the issue was caused by a bug in one of their vendor's software.   He says it tried to roll back the update it had made, but the bug didn't go away.  The outage also affected 2 Degrees customers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min

  7. 2D AGO

    Antonia Watson: ANZ Chief Executive discusses economic uncertainty as Middle East war continues

    ANZ is bracing itself for more variability - on the back of a lift in economic activity.  The bank's posted a $1.2billion half year net profit - a 2% increase on the 6 months prior.  It also saw a 2% rise in loans, and a 4% rise in deposits.  But Chief Executive Antonia Watson says there's a lot of uncertainty ahead, with conflict in the Middle East tanking business and consumer confidence.  She says some customers will be impacted more than others depending on fuel usage.  Watson says we're already seeing some customers cutting back on discretionary spending due to prices at the pump, which isn't good for businesses like retail.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min

  8. 2D AGO

    Ron Mark: Former Defence Minister says there's too much uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz

    Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says its not clear how New Zealand could meaningfully support reopening the Strait of Hormuz.  The US has formally provided an initial plan to New Zealand for the Government to consider - but Foreign Minister Winston Peters says more detail's needed.  Mark told Heather du Plessis Allan that our defence forces have reduced capability - and he could only see us helping with aerial surveying.  He says we are strategically irrelevant right now - and there's no way he could see us deploying a frigate.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    5 min
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With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

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