Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Over the weekend, the Government confirmed it wouldn't recognise Palestinian statehood - for the time being. Winston Peters made the announcement at the UN General Assembly, saying conditions weren't yet right.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis has defended this move - and says no matter what happened, one side would have taken issue with their choice. "We, as a Cabinet, decided to do what we believed was an independent, New Zealand-based decision - based very much on the facts in front of us what we thought was the best thing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New World worker's taken to social media to complain about an incoming water bottle ban.  A Reddit user made a post stating their store's banning staff from having their bottles at checkout, with management telling them they can drink during breaks.  Rudd Hughes from the Workers First Union says this isn't the first time they've seen this, and might stem from customer service concerns.  "But actually, if you've got hydrated people who are comfortable and happy, they're going to give much better customer service than people who are dying for a drink." A Foodstuffs spokesperson says policies vary between stores, but they expect store teams to be reasonable.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Dame Noeline Taurua coaching saga could be near an end after the Silver Ferns wrapped up their series against South Africa 3-nil. Game-day captain Grace Nweke took the microphone in the post-match ceremony and called for Taurua to return from her stand down period while under internal review. She said the coach is missed and they want her back in charge. Former All Blacks Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens has voiced his support for Grace Nweke's speech. "I thought it was well-said and I certainly support everything she said in last night's speech." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been quick to confirm his party would recognise Palestine as a state if Labour leads the Government after next year’s election. On Saturday, while at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced New Zealand would not recognise the state of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Hipkins says Israel's actions are 'unacceptable' and not recognising Palestine sends Israel a message that New Zealand is okay with the 'unfolding genocide.' "New Zealand cannot stand by and cannot turn our backs on what's unfolding in Palestine. It is unfolding genocide, people are being starved to death." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A shake-up to the quake-prone building standards could be a reprieve for iconic properties facing large retrofit bills. The Government's loosening the regime to only capture buildings genuinely posing a risk to life in medium and high seismic risk zones.  It'll mean only 80 will need full retrofits and 15,000 will still need some remediation.  Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says there'll be a lot of places now off the hook for having expensive work. "A large number of buildings that will remain caught by the system to some extent, but will only need a targeted retro-fit, or maybe just a securing of a façade."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says New Zealand remains committed to the peace process in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Winston Peters has told the UN our Government won't be recognising a Palestinian state.  Chris Luxon says we can't acknowledge a state whose de facto Government is the designated terror group, Hamas. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Peters delivered a 'well-argued and well-positioned speech' and New Zealand has always had its own foreign policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian telco giant Optus  is investigating another network outage that led to nine failed triple-0 calls on the NSW south coast. Optus has issued a statement saying the problem stemmed from a mobile phone tower site in Dapto. It affected calls between 3am and 12:20pm on Sunday, including calls to the triple-0 network. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this incident will cause significant damage to the relationship Optus has with its customers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

United States golf captain Keegan Bradley has taken full responsibility for his side's Ryder Cup defeat to Team Europe. Team USA threatened the greatest recovery in the event's history, winning eight and a half points from 12 singles matches on the final day only to lose 15-13 in New York. Sportstalk host Jason Pine recapped the action. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's open to legislating to over-rule court decisions on incorporating tikanga Māori. That's from the Prime Minister - echoing comments last week from his Justice Minister.  Paul Goldsmith claimed at a Law Association meeting that including concepts of Māori customs and values in law could cost the country investment. Former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says the Law Commission had been doing a substantial amount of work on tikanga. "I would have thought that what the Crown should be doing is taking a good look at that report and trying to provide some definition of where and when tikanga would apply. So there's no point in just having a sort of group lamentation about it, it's within the ability of Parliament to knuckle down and do something about it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 26 September 2025, police have revealed they came across Tom Phillips and his missing kids several times during their period in the bush. Former police negotiator Lance Burdett is surprised they weren't able to confront him sooner. Former Wellington mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast has met with Wellington Council's boss for a please explain after her old mayoral desk turned up at a second hand shop with a huge number of confidential documents in it. Former Wallaby Tim Horan says Australia really needs to win at least one of the upcoming games against the All Blacks - can they break the fortress? Plus, the Sports Huddle debates the Bledisloe and whether Noeline Taurua is likely to get her job back! 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.