Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A Christchurch documentary maker is throwing her support behind a bill aiming to ban under-16s from social media after completing a 'distressing' social media experiment. Nadia Maxwell set up pages on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat posing as a 13-year-old - and was quickly bombarded with content related to eating disorders and mental health issues.  She says she attempted the experiment before and after new safeguards for teens were introduced, but didn't notice much of a difference. "The only positive difference that I saw was that in part one there was a lot of oversexualised content - and so that's dropped down. But in terms of the sort of content you'd want your average 13-year-old sitting down in front of every day, there's so much heavy and distressing stuff."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TVNZ has opened a new 'game-changer' battleground with Sky TV - it will launch a pay-TV offering, starting with next year’s FIFA World Cup. TVNZ recently confirmed  it had successfully won the rights to the world’s biggest sports tournament, starting next June in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It confirmed it will screen All Whites matches and other selected games free - but for access to the full schedule of matches, people will need to pay for an event pass on TVNZ+. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People convicted of crimes in England and Wales could find themselves barred from going to pubs, concerts and sports matches under proposed new rules. The Government is looking into making changes to new sentencing rules, which will give the courts more power to enforce bans.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey explained that these changes could be a deterrent to criminals.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has indicated rate cuts could be on the cards soon. Powell indicated the tariffs were making an inflationary impact, but he explained the impact could still be temporary. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Campervan company Tourism Holdings has reported a bottom line net loss, which they're claiming reflects the economic situation in the US. Despite the weak results, the company's hopeful about incoming future growth, which is supported by  forward rental bookings showing double-digit percentage revenue growth in all markets except the US Tourism Holdings CEO Grant Webster explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani and Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  New data shows older police officers are concerned about the skills demonstrated by the younger graduates - is this a case of older cops projecting on young people or are their concerns valid? Housing Minister Chris Bishop recently said it was a good thing that house prices were dropping - what do we make of this?   Prime Minister Chris Luxon recently claimed he would have liked the Reserve Bank to cut the OCR more. Was this out of line?  Do we go on holidays with our friends?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'll tell you what I found interesting over the last few days it's the enormous surprise at the start, and now the debate about Chris Bishop saying it's a good thing that house prices are falling. He was asked about this on Friday and he said, yes, it's a good thing and that we've got to decouple the idea that the New Zealand economy is driven by house prices - labelling it 'artificial wealth'. The immediate response to that was shock that anyone could say it, but especially a National Party minister.  And now, 3 days later, there are still newspaper pieces expressing surprise that he's got away with it - in contrast to for example, Metiria Turei, who got smacked down for it, and Jacinda Ardern, who wouldn't go there. And what's more, the surprise is that the Prime Minister has now apparently contradicted him and said, no, he does want some modest and consistent house price rises. Look, Chris Bishop has got away with it because he's right. It is actually a good thing that house prices have come back. It sucks. It sucks right now quite badly, doesn't it? Cause none of us feel wealthy as our house prices drop. And it is definitely prolonging the recession because we're not spending like we normally would when our house price values increase, which makes us feel wealthy. But it is the short-term medicine that this economy needs for improvement, because we cannot keep plowing our money into property - we should be putting it into productive investments, for example, buying shares in Pic's or whatever. Now, I know people who are actually changing their behaviour because of what is going on with house prices. I know a woman who earlier thought about buying an investment property, but didn't - and will put her money into shares instead because it's much of a muchness now. To answer the question of why Chris Bishop can get away with it, when Metiria Turei got punished for it and when Jacinda Ardern wouldn't even go there for fear of public backlash - is because it is already happening. He's not threatening to do it to us like those two birds might have. It is already happening to us. He's actually said it before, by the way, so he is consistent. And maybe, just maybe, enough of us have already realized that this is the pain we have to go through - as much as we hate it right now - for the sake of future generations. And also, by the way, I like the fact that he said something that he truly believes in, rather than saying something that he might have thought we all want to hear. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 25 August 2025, did the PM overstep when he said he thinks the Reserve Bank should have cut the OCR more than they did? Finance Minister Nicola Willis says no but banking expert Dr Claire Matthews says yes! The Police Association's Chris Cahill says senior police officers are being too harsh on their new young colleagues - after a survey found the oldies don't think the young ones are not up to scratch. A concert promoter and a hospitality boss weigh in on what we should do to attract more big events to NZ. Pic Picot tells Heather why he decided to sell a 51% stake of his brainchild Pic's Peanut Butter to an Australian company. Plus, the Huddle debates whether house prices need to fall, and whether Chris Bishop is just a brave politician saying it out loud. 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.

Further work on tackling the supermarket duopoly is in the wings. The Finance Minister claimed an update is imminent on plans to improve competition in the supermarket sector. She says this has been an issue for decades - and she'll have more to say in coming weeks. Nicola Willis says the announcement won't be a 'silver bullet' but it will reveal what the Government's been working on. "I'm not going to be announcing an international supermarket chain with 50 stores that's going to be opening up next month." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The police union says senior police officers' apparent lack of confidence in incoming cops will provide an opportunity for development.  Senior officers have criticised the quality of new officers in a police college survey. More than half believe new staff were 'barely' or 'not at all' well equipped with procedures around making an arrest. Police Association President Chris Cahill says it demonstrates where effort is needed. "We've always said over the years that the group after us aren't as good as we were and there's an element of that in there, but it certainly gives a steer where they need to put more resources in LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.