Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A growing number of school boards are making public statements confirming their commitment to the Treaty after the Government announced it would cut the requirements. Previously, the Education Act said schools must ensure their plans, policies, and local curriculum reflect tikanga Māori, but the Government's looking to change it. Queens High school board chair Kate Keddell says schools have been weaving in Te Tiriti obligations into curriculums and the standards won't impact students. "We're just continuing on with the focus that we've been asked to do in the last few years...we are weaving it into our strategies."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a growing push for a future relationship between Uber and the unions, including collective bargaining.  Four drivers have officially won their battle to be recognised as employees in a Supreme Court ruling announced today.  Uber argued they were contractors.  Workers First Union deputy secretary, Anita Rosentreter, says the Employment Relations Authority can now calculate how much Uber owes other members.  "But what about the system going forwards? Clearly, it's not been working for people through the collective bargaining process, we really want to improve the Uber system for all drivers."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transport Minister says the Government's focused on getting details right - in a speedy change to the 2023 Clean Vehicle Standard - this week. It originally gave importers credits for meeting carbon targets, and charged them for missing.  The Government will now slash them nearly 80 percent, to prevent charges landing consumers. Chris Bishop says they're focused on rolling out change very quickly. "The take-home point for people listening is that they're no longer going to be slugged with potentially thousands of dollars of extra charges just for buying a car next year." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prices are soaring for food staples, with prices up 4.7 percent on a year ago. Stats NZ data for October shows cheese, instant coffee, eggs and milk had some of the largest surges.  Gas rose 14.4 percent and electricity almost 12 percent Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen says fruit and vegetables are cheaper - but not meat. "A couple of months ago, right, we were talking a lot about butter. Mince is now the new butter in a sense, given that that's increased, I think, $23 a kilo." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's pointing to market changes and consumer costs as motivation for changing 2023's Clean Vehicle Standard.  It gave importers credits for meeting carbon targets, and charged them if they missed.   But Transport Minister Chris Bishop says charges are falling on the consumer, which will now be slashed nearly 80 percent. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Government's wasted no time getting this through.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, Victorian police say they've seized a record number of knives and machetes this year, amid growing concerns about knife crime. Police say at least 15,000 knives, machetes and zombie knives had been taken off the streets and destroyed so far in 2025. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says there's been a targeted push to get rid of bladed weapons, especially following the recent machete ban. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks are doing their best to overcome major disappointment and spark up for their final test of the year. The team arrived in Cardiff from London via bus for the 13th and final match - with a number of changes expected in the side to face the Welsh. Cam Roigard and Beauden Barrett are unlikely to play, although would have expected bench roles at most. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explained further - and unpacked whether Razor should be worried.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MBIE says it's working hard to deal with issues regarding sand products potentially contaminated with asbestos.  EC Rainbow Sand 1.3 kilos, Creatistics Coloured Sand, 1 kilo, and four Kmart NZ Magic Sand products have been recalled. MBIE Product Safety Spokesperson Ian Caplin says they are acting with an abundance of caution - and people shouldn't panic.  "The potential impact of asbestos exposure is a long-term thing, people don't need to take immediate steps to manage their health." Anyone concerned about health effects should call Healthline.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 14 November 2025, we have officially missed our climate goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So why are we sending a massive delegation to the talkfest that is Cop30? Labour's Deborah Russell tells Heather why the trip to Brazil is important. One of the outcomes of the damning McSkimming IPCA report has been the establishment of an Inspector General for the police. But would this have changed anything?   Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson wants to take Government Kiwisaver contributions from the rich to pay the poor. Whitcoulls is being accused of censorship for pulling a raunchy literary journal off its shelves. Folly Journal editor Emily Broadmore speaks to Heather about the publication. The Sports Huddle debates whether being selected as a bench player is just as prestigious as being picked for the starting XV. And will Heather buy a Lotto ticket this week? Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OK, quick quiz for you. Think of the Labour Party. Who is the climate spokesperson? Yeah, no, you didn't get it right because it's Deborah Russell. I know. I didn't think it was that either. I didn't know it. And you know what, it's my job to know this kind of stuff. But to be fair to me, in the entirety of this year thus far, Deborah has only put out 3 press releases on the climate and the third one was today. And guess what it was about? It was announcing that Deborah is going to the annual Global Climate conference, COP 30, and she's gonna be leaving on Sunday and she's gonna be coming back Saturday, which means she's there basically for a week because of course she is, because who doesn't want a week in Brazil on the boss's credit card. I see what Deborah's doing. But let's also see this for what it is, right? Deborah's contribution to the climate this year is 3 press releases and a long-haul flight to Brazil return. So all up, a net negative contribution to the climate, which pretty much is the story though. And just not to pick on Deborah here, because this is what everybody's doing. This is the story of every single COP, isn't it? Thousands of people fly into a place burning up who knows how many emissions, only to have a gab fest, issue a bunch of press releases and really achieve nothing. A massive net negative for the climate. That's what COP is. You know what the big news story out of COP is today? That it's failed. 1.5 is dead. It will not be achieved. This was what we were told we needed to do to save humanity. Hit 1.5, keep the temperature rises to 1.5, no more. We have known for a while that 1.5 is dead. It is now officially dead. So Deborah is flying to a conference that has already admitted that the aim of COP 26, which is four conferences ago, which was to keep 1.5 alive, is actually dead in the water. In which case, it begs the question, why do we keep wasting emissions to go to an annual get-together that fails every single year? I think I've got the answer, because it means a week in Brazil. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.