Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 28 August 2025, Nicole McKee tells Heather why the Government is loosening liquor licensing rules. Air NZ boss Greg Foran has delivered his final annual result before he leaves the airline - and he hints at his next job. Will a few new Costcos around the country really result in cheaper groceries? Former Costco NZ Managing Director Patrick Noone speaks to Heather. Plus, the Huddle debates whether Grey District Councillors were completely out of line for breaking out in laughter after a question about critics of the 13% rates rise. 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 it's fair to say World Rugby's copping it today, even more so than yesterday. This is following the death of Shane Christie, the former Highlander who had the headaches and the memory loss and all those other symptoms that were consistent with CTE from too many head knocks. A former Wales #8 with early onset dementia, Alex Popham, has gone straight to World Rugby and the All Blacks' Twitter accounts and told them they've got blood on their hands.  And our very own Scotty Stevenson has written a piece saying it's time to stop spending money on PR - this is obviously for rugby - and start spending money on helping the former players with these symptoms. Absolutely. I mean, there is no doubt that World Rugby could be doing more, right? The stand down period for a professional rugby player for a suspected concussion is - what do you think? 12 days. That's ridiculous.  In boxing, it's 30 days. And if they actually lose consciousness and they know they've lost consciousness, it could be anywhere from 6 months up that they're forced to stand down. I think we've all seen pretty gnarly cases of head knocks recently or players talking about migraines over the summer period, only for them to be back on the field when they, if you were being careful, should not be back on the field. And who knows what World Rugby will be forced to do once these lawsuits are successful. But here's the thing - our ability to keep blaming the rugby bosses is going to run out, if it hasn't already. No player in 2025 can blame World Rugby if they end up with these symptoms in years to come. No one playing rugby in 2025 doesn't know that if you take repeated knocks to the head, you are opening yourself up to future problems. We know that. In fact, we already knew it when Shane Christie was playing professionally, even if we didn't know it as widely as we do today. It is terrible that this may be the thing that has happened to him and it is terrible that it is undoubtedly happening to rugby players playing today, but personal responsibility is now very much in play here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pāmu, formerly Landcorp, is seeing a significant financial turnaround, having reported a net profit after tax of $120 million for the year ended June 2025, which will see it return a $15 million dividend. It's a significant turn compared to last year's results, where the company posted a loss of $26 million. Chief executive Mark Leslie says he's 'thrilled' to be reporting these results. "It's great to post the result - but equally, I'm thrilled for all our people as well because there's a lot of people right through the organisation who work hard every day." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's frustrations over yet another delay to a possible extension of the Port of Tauranga wharves.  The Stella Passage development fast-track application has been halted, days before an expert panel was due to begin discussions.  A High Court judge has directed it must not be considered, pending further orders from the court. Tauranga Business Association CEO Matt Cowley says this is down to the application missing a few words.  Cowley explained the judge therefore ruled it didn't fit the scope, adding it's amazing a sand dune has impacted millions coming into the economy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's new reforms are being welcomed by the alcohol industry body. The Government's proposing making businesses have further zero and low alcohol products on sale, to meet growing demand. It's also allowing businesses to respond to objections on licensing, and permitting wineries and breweries to have both an on and off license. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explains why many are welcoming these changes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government hopes businesses will be in favour of an alcohol regulation shake-up. It's allowing breweries and wineries to have both an on and off license - and is also letting businesses respond to objections around them having a license. Objections need to come from the local community. Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says it's important for people to have concerns to have a real voice - but there's been plenty of outside perspectives. "The majority of New Zealanders that drink, drink responsibly. And I want to make sure they have the opportunity to do that. We want to re-grow our sector, it means also having tourism and having people being able to go out there and enjoy a night out." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new $35-million-dollar supercomputer is levelling up the country's weather predictions. Earth Sciences New Zealand says the new Cascade system is three times more powerful than its predecessor - helping provide earlier and more frequent forecasting. It's hoped the computer's advanced modelling capabilities could mitigate the impact of severe weather events. Spokesperson Jess Robertson says the machine is an 'absolute beast'. "It'll do more calculations in a day than you could do in 30 million years, and that mean's we're going to be able to run higher resolution forecasts quicker and get them out to people sooner." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former supermarket leader agrees New Zealand's lacking competition. The Government's aiming to put supermarkets that would improve competition up for being fast-tracked in new reforms. It comes as the Minister of Finance confirms there's been talks with Costco to potentially expand across the country in the coming years. Former Costco NZ managing director Patrick Noone says their West Auckland store's provided some savings. "In that same precinct, we had Pak’nSave, we had Woolworths across the street and we were able to operate and be extremely competitive with the local market." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Victoria police say the search for a man who shot and killed two officers will take longer than expected.  The two men were gunned down on Tuesday while attempting to serve a search warrant at a rural property in Porepunkah - 300 kilometres outside of Melbourne.  A major police operation is underway to find accused gunman Dezi Freeman - who could still be armed.   Australian correspondent Murray Olds says hundreds of officers are tracking the suspect down - and helicopters are on the scene. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A change of luck for Super Rugby playoff sides. The 'Lucky Loser' format for the top-six has been tweaked after just one season, with the highest-ranked first round loser sliding to bottom seed for the remainder of the finals. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.