Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Synlait has confirmed the sale of its loss-making factory at Pōkeno to US company, Abbott. The infant-formula company is selling the site and related assets for $307 million, and will use the proceeds to pay down debt. Harbour Asset Management expert Shane Solly unpacks the data further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government recently confirmed they were going to overhaul the assessment of earthquake-prone buildings - a move welcomed by property owners and building engineers alike. The changes will leave just 80 buildings needing full retrofits and 1500 buildings will still need some remediation - many of them in Wellington. Property Institute CEO Leonie Freeman has welcomed these changes and claimed they'll help communities grow. 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!  A big shake-up of our earthquake strengthening laws that's said to reduce significant costs for building owners was announced today. Do we think these changes are the way to go?  Did the Government make the right decision to not recognise a Palestinian state until certain conditions were met?  Producer Laura's food waste bin wasn't collected last week because it was too heavy. Is this another mark against the green bins? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 29 September 2025, Building Minister Chris Penk reveals how his huge overhaul of earthquake building rules is going to re-balance risk and practicality. Labour leader Chris Hipkins says a Government he leads would recognise the state of Palestine. Silver Ferns star Grace Nweke has publicly called for coach Dame Noeline Taurua's return. Former All Blacks Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens says it's a huge show of support and questions whether Netball CEO Jennie Wyllie should be in the job. Plus, the Huddle weighs in on the Palestine question and producer Laura's food scraps bin dilemma. 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.

Can I just come to the defence of Winston Peters for a minute? Winston has been labelled a coward for the position that he took on Palestine on Saturday, which I do not think is fair because it appears to me that what he's done is actually the opposite of cowardice. The easy thing would have actually been for him to just go with the crowd, just say, yep, we recognize the Palestinian state, because that's what everybody else is doing. The hard thing for him to do is go against the crowd and go against what everybody at the UN is doing, go against the domestic media opinion, go against the commentator's consensus. So actually, when you think about it, he's not being cowardly at all - and I agree with his analysis at the moment. Set aside whether there should be a Palestinian state - because of course there should be a Palestinian state, and I think most of us think that, right? If it's possible, it should happen. But that's not what this is about. It is about whether you do that right now, because doing it right now is rewarding Hamas and they themselves have made it clear that they see the recognition of a state of Palestine as a vindication of the massacre that they carried out on October 7th. You cannot reward terrorists for taking innocent lives, but also, and probably more importantly, it's not gonna do anything to end the war. If you really want to end the war, if Trump's current peace plan fails, then what we need to do is punish Israel for what they're doing. They should be sanctioned and they should be isolated from the international community until they stop. And we've been saying this for weeks on the show. For every day that we talk about whether we recognize a Palestinian state, we are wasting a day that we could be talking about what we actually should be doing, the things that would actually end this war, like punishing Israel for what they're doing - which again, is another day that we've wasted talking about the wrong thing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.