Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A former police negotiator says police would have had to take a balanced approach to finding Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips and his three children. They've revealed today they spent thousands of hours searching for him but knew it was unlikely he would surrender easily. Former Police negotiator Lance Burdett told Ryan Bridge they probably didn't want to overplay their hand.  He says it was a balancing act between causing physical, emotional or psychological distress to the children. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government is expected to make a major announcement on the energy sector next week. This announcement comes as more and more Kiwis are calling for reform. Senior political correspondent Azaria Howell told Ryan Bridge that, according to a survey on energy reform, 62% of respondents support the government underwriting the cost of new electricity generation. 49% of respondents also said that they would be in favour of separating electricity generation and retail.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Late enrolments aren't the reason for a slow election vote count.  That's according to constitutional lawyer Graeme Edgeler, who agrees with comments from the Electoral Commission that changes to voting rules won't speed up the process.  The government's ending same-day enrolments and requiring people to enrol 13 days before polling day.  But Edgeler told Ryan Bridge that it won't solve the delay.  He says checks for people on the unpublished roll or voting out of their electorates also delay the process.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's rumours in the UK a new competitor could challenging Keir Starmer to become the Prime Minister. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, says Labour MPs are urging him to take over Starmer's role. UK correspondent Enda Brady says Burnham has claimed the Labour Party needs a plan - but it's difficult to roll a leader. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's economy has been shrinking, but our largest company has seen profits surge. Fonterra's announced a 13 percent rise in annual operating profit. Its cash return to shareholders is up 30.6 percent, and its final farmgate milk payout to farmers has reached a new record high of $10.16 per kg of milk solids. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and Infrastructure New Zealand CEO Nick Leggett joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Teachers say they're seeing an alarming rise of students with extreme ideologies, including misogynistic views promoted by Andrew Tate. How can we handle this?  The oil and gas ban has been reversed and the applications are rolling in. Can this fix our energy crunch?  Chlöe Swarbrick was spotted flying business class and the rest of the Greens are outraged. What do we make of this? Budget airline Ryanair is banning paper boarding passes - and some travellers think it's disgraceful. Do we use them? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than one-third of farmers say their mobile coverage has gotten worse over the past year - and it's negatively impacting their work environment and overall safety. New reports show only 57 percent of farmland gets coverage, and there's been no improvement since 2022. Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesperson Mark Hooper says the situation is likely to get worse with the 3G network shutting down, and they're trying to get a handle on things. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 25 September 2025, Fonterra has delivered one of its best results ever. Chief Executive Miles Hurrell speaks to Ryan Bridge about the outlook for the next year.   Half of us are buying less fruit and veggies because of the cost, but chef Mike van de Elzen says it doesn't have to be so! Teachers say they're seeing an alarming rise of students with extreme ideologies, including misogynistic views promoted by Andrew Tate. What should be our approach to deal with "Trump boys" who promote "trad wives"? It took less than two hours for the first application for oil and gas exploration to be lodged. John Carnegie from Energy Resources Aotearoa says it's a very promising start. Plus, the Huddle debates kids' political views and whether Ryanair is right to ban paper boarding passes. 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.

So the teacher's union is warning about a rising tide of extremism in our schools. I've read the story - what's the actual problem? That's what I'm trying to figure out here today. Apparently, some kids say they're 'Trump Boys' - i.e. like a majority of Americans, a few kids here support the Republican party or MAGA movement. The other problem apparently is some school girls saying they want to be trad-wives, or traditional wives - to have children and stay at home to raise them. Now, that's about as much detail as I could get from this particular story. And the moral of this was - the Government needs to take action on this, according to the unions. Here's the problem - children are allowed to have political views and societal views of their own and teachers are not there to police politics. Your job is apolitical, and we need to encourage critical thinking, not legislate against it. There will be people who read that story and think: here we go again with the brainwashing thing. Your job is education, not indoctrination. The reality is, not all girls will go on to be Reserve Bank Governors and not all boys will grow up to Reserve Bank Governors, either. Not all boys will grow up to marry women… hello!  Everyone's different, that's my point. But you can’t embrace kids changing genders with gay abandon then demand state intervention when a girl says she wants to get married and have kids. I'm no conservative. Far from it. But I do hear a lot from parents who've lost faith in the education system, or at least some teachers within it. If a girl wants to grow up to be a mum, is that radical? Or is that her choice? And if a kid wants to support Donald Trump, is that radical, or is that a choice? Should they be branded an extremist for holding those views, or should those views be used as a springboard for a healthy debate about society? Could this not be an opportunity to introduce and encourage critical thinking in young people? Obviously, if there are specific misogynistic comments being made, then they should be dealt with through a disciplinary process. But the problem with today's story is that they don't appear to be any examples of that actually happening. I do not agree with the views these kids hold, but does that mean they shouldn't be able to hold them? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new survey has revealed a significant number of Kiwis want the Government to prepare for catastrophic events that could bring about the end of the world. New University of Otago research shows two-thirds of respondents believe the Government should draft action plans for threats such as a nuclear war, bioweapons or mass famine and supply chain collapse. Professor Nick Wilson, senior researcher at the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Public Health, says New Zealand's well-placed to weather out a nuclear winter - but there's plenty the nation's not prepared for. "Although we're a great producer of food, all that food production relies on diesel, which is imported. So we haven't got a single biofuel refinery that could keep our agricultural machinery going, for example."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.