Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog's David Farrar and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! David Seymour says the coalition isn't saving as much money as ACT would have. What do we make of this?  Police Commissioner Richard Chambers gave an interview to the NZ Herald saying we should feel lucky to live in New Zealand. What do we make of this?  A Wellington restaurant is asking people to sign a contract before taking leftovers home.. to ensure they're not liable for any food safety issues. Is this over the top? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 21 August 2025, no more embarrassing plane-breakdowns! Defence Minister Judith Collins tells Heather she's gone shopping for new helicopters and planes with a total bill of $2.7 billion. You're now allowed to tell everyone what you're being paid.. but is that a good thing? Stacey Penn lost her job after she was injured while struggling with a pit bull that had charged into a jewellery shop. She says the dog was already a known troublemaker. Has the lucky streak run out? SkyCity boss Jason Walbridge discusses the company's capital raise and the big profit drop. Plus, the Huddle debates whether restaurants asking you to sign a food safety waiver are OTT. 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.

I'm gonna say thank you to the Police Commissioner, Richard Chambers, for maybe reminding us to be grateful for what we have. He gave an interview to the Herald today and he said he thinks there is a fair bit of punching down on New Zealand going on at the moment. And he thinks that's unfair. He says: "With the world going a little crazy, I count us lucky that we are where we are." Now, given how much doom and gloom there is at the moment, it may surprise you to know that the accompanying poll in the Herald article actually agrees with him - as unscientific as it is. Most people rate their experience of living in New Zealand as 8 out of 10. 20 percent of people say they have an 8 out of 10 experience. Then the next one up is 10 out of 10. That's 15 percent. 7 out of 10 comes next, and 13 percent of us say that.  So, 7, 8, 9, and 10 out of 10 account for 58 percent of the votes. Way more than half of us think that we are living in a pretty great place. Now, as I say, it's not scientific, but it is a nice reminder that actually most of us do know how good we've got it. It's really easy to fall into the trap of thinking the grass is greener on the other side, which is why so many of us are leaving and heading off to places like Australia. Actually, if the other side is Australia, once they get there, they are going to realize it's not that much greener.  They're gonna go through the same stuff with the economy that they were going through back here in New Zealand.Life over there is expensive as well. And if the other side is Europe, it's definitely not greener over there. It's actually tens of thousands of refugees arriving on your doorstep. It's huge unrest over migrants in the UK. It's the threat of war just across the border. And it's cost of living problems there too. Now, I'm not Pollyannaish at all about New Zealand. I know life is expensive, I know there are people who have never had to budget who are now having to budget. I can see that the Government books definitely need tidying up, and we're completely overdue structural economic change. But at least most things are headed in the right direction. Education for our kids has been sorted out, red tape is being cut, the economy is turning around, the days are getting longer, and we live in a safe place with a good work-life balance where our kids can grow up fairly healthy. So thank you to the Police Commissioner, of all people, for reminding us of that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SkyCity is pushing forward with a new capital raise, after confirming a significant drop in profit. Underlying profit's plummeted 42 percent, according to new reports. Costs have also been rising, particularly for regulatory compliance, online gaming, and the soon-to-open Auckland convention centre. SkyCity CEO Jason Walbridge says he believes they're acting in the best interests of the company - despite the concerns. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ACT leader has promised less spending and fewer public servants. It comes after numerous redundancies in the public sector, following calls for efficient spending as the coalition's budgets were being delivered. David Seymour says the Government is not cutting costs as much as ACT would. "We said that we wanted to reduce the number of public servants back to pre-Labour levels, and we also said that we wanted to reduce spending by about 8 or 9 billion each year." Seymour's reiterating the comments made yesterday when reacting to a further OCR cut. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Defence Minister says it's important for New Zealand to have the right equipment as the Government unveils its newest defence spend. The Government is set to invest $2.7 billion into two new Airbus A321 planes and five new MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to replace the Air Force’s Boeing 757s and the Navy's older Seasprite helicopters. Judith Collins explained that it was important to get the right equipment at the right price range. "We're a bit faster than some people getting them because we're doing this less-to-buy program with a very large supplier - or someone who buys an awful lot of brand-new planes - and we're on that sort of system so we can get them a bit earlier." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's belief the job losses at the Eves Valley Sawmill will have a significant impact on the area.  Manufacturing company Carter Holt Harvey is proposing to close the mill, which would result in 142 jobs lost. It's wanting to consolidate its structural timber manufacturing to one site - in Bay of Plenty's Kawerau. Tasman mayor Tim King, lives next door to the mill and says there's no chance to change the company's mind.  "The most significant impact - and most immediate - is on those 142 people employed at Eves Valley, but there is a wide range of other businesses that support the Eves Valley sawmill, it's a big component of the forestry sector in this region." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Workers are now able to speak freely about their salaries, and it's got experts speculating about what this means for Kiwis. The House passed a new law last night preventing employers from taking legal action against workers talking about their pay.  The bill, introduced by Labour's Camilla Belich, essentially renders pay secrecy clauses unenforceable.  Employment lawyer Jordan Boyle says New Zealand already has a culture of keeping pay private.  "People may feel a little bit more freedom to ask, but you don't have to share. People may choose to share, employers may face some difficult conversations." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's speaking about the importance of deterring threats, as it confirms a multi-billion dollar defence spend. It's investing $2.7 billion dollars for two new Airbus A321 planes to replace ageing planes that have broken down numerous times. The new planes will be delivered in 2028. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper talks about the potential implications of this spend. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tensions between Israel and other nations have escalated, with Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Australia's Anthony Albanese of 'betrayal'. Australia is standing by its decision to recognise a Palestinian state, with a formal declaration to be made at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Netanyahu also accused Albanese of 'abandoning Australian Jews', prompting further concerns. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.