Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, broadcaster Mark Sainsbury and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The Government has moved to pause prescription on puberty blockers - what do we make of this?  Winston Peters is celebrating how much money he's saving the country with our new Cook Strait ferries. Do we see the costs blowing out on this one? The Breakers are being criticised for deciding not to wear a rainbow flag on their jersey for the NBL's Pride Round. What do we make of the backlash? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 19 November 2025, Rail Minister Winston Peters says he's saved taxpayers more than two billion dollars with his new Interislander ferry deal. But does the maths add up? Rotorua's days as a emergency housing hotspot are officially over. Mayor Tania Tapsell reacts to news the last people have officially left emergency motel accommodation. Health Minister Simeon Brown explains why the Government is banning transgender kids from accessing puberty blockers. Kiwi families are facing the pinch as Christmas is looming, personal finance expert Mary Holm has some tips how you can stretch the money further. Plus, the Huddle debates whether Winston's ferry announcement is convincing. 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.

There would not be a drama today about the Breakers basketball team not wanting to wear the rainbow flag on their jerseys if the basketball league had stayed out of politics in the first place. Now, if you haven't caught up on this, there is unnecessary upset today because it's emerged that the entire Breakers team will not wear that little rainbow Pride flag on their jerseys during Pride Round next year because some of the players don't want to. And it's for religious and cultural reasons, apparently. So because some of the players don't want to, the whole team won't. Now, as you can imagine, this has absolutely blown up and it has led to accusations of homophobia, accusations of bigotry, accusations of cowardice. And look, I don't know, maybe all those accusations are right, but this didn't have to happen. They didn't have to have this drama if they hadn't tried to get all of the players to wear a symbol that you can guarantee some players wouldn't want to wear, because statistically that had to be a possibility when you had 150 players rostered on for any particular season.Now, I don't think that this kind of rainbow-washing helps anyone. There is no need for a random sports league to run any kind of a week, whether it be Pride Week or Indigenous Week, or Women's Menstrual Rights Week. I don't know what kind of week, you just don't need it. Maybe it sells a few tickets - probably not a lot - but it can backfire and it has backfired in this case. So now instead of looking inclusive to the rainbow community, the NBL looks the complete opposite and has accusations of homophobia coming at it. Now, you would have thought that everyone under the sun would have learned from the massive rugby league debacle three years ago when those seven Manly players refused to wear the Pride jersey. And yet, the basketball league decided to start up its own Pride Week the very next year, having learned nothing. Now, I say this all of the time, and I will say this again - sports needs to stay out of politics. There is no real upside in it and there's way too much downside, and this is a case in point. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New data shows that more Kiwis will have to take on debt ahead of this coming Christmas season. A nationwide survey by MYOB showed 35 percent expected to feel financially better off in a year's time, while 38 percent expected to be about the same, and 24 percent believed they would be worse off. Personal finance expert Mary Holm says more Kiwi households will be struggling to afford presents for their kids, but there are workarounds. "There's buying only op-shop gifts or second-hand books, which could be quite fun, going and rummaging around bookshops to find the right gift for people." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No child will be able to start taking puberty blockers from December 19. The Government says the Ministry of Health has found a lack of evidence for the benefits or risks of gender dysphoria or incongruence treatment - gonadotropin - releasing hormone analogues. Health Minister Simeon Brown says they're putting up safeguards until more evidence is available.  "Effectively, what we're doing is putting in place a restriction on the prescribing of these drugs for this purpose to make sure that those who are prescribing look at the wider range of treatments or things that can be done." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland bars are heaving as Metallica prepares to rock Eden Park tonight - its first Kiwi concert in 15 years. About 40,000 visitor nights have been booked for the sell-out concert, with the city’s hotels at 100 percent capacity. Roads near Eden Park are closed until midnight. Kingsland's Full-Time Bar manager, Shane Don, says business is booming this afternoon. "We're stacked in here, everyone's kitted out like bogans, I'm kitted out like a bogan, and I honestly feel like I've walked back 30 years." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rotorua's mayor is overjoyed the era of emergency housing motels is over - with no families left in them.  At its peak, more than 240 households were living across 13 motels Tania Tapsell says delivering affordable houses has made a huge difference.  She says the city's recent tourism lift has also helped mend its reputation.  "Between building the homes we actually needed, affordable ones, and boosting our economy, it's going to be great. Our tourism industry here is the heartbeat of Rotorua." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters says logic has prevailed, as he confirms our new Cook Strait ferries are coming in under $2 billion dollars.  The new Interislander vessels are expected to arrive in 2029 under budget. The Rail Minister claims it's saved the taxpayer more than $2 billion on the canned mega-ferries project.  Peters says he's confident the Government's done the right thing. "This is common sense we're applying here, there are contingencies in our plan as well. And to cover off any concerns you've got...we've got together a hard-nosed team." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Smokefree 2025 goal was created in 2010 with the hope that fewer than 5 percent of Kiwis will smoke by 2025, but that's looking unlikely. The annual New Zealand Health survey's confirmed rates are stagnating just below 7 percent - and vaping rates growing.  Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump appears to have had his hand forced, over the Jeffrey Epstein files.  A bipartisan bill compelling the Justice Department to release case documents relating to the deceased convicted sex offender has overwhelming Congress support.  The President - who's repeatedly denied links to Epstein - must now sign it into law. US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says it's unknown when these files will be released, but that detail is up to the Department of Justice. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.