Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

ASB recently agreed to pay $135.6 million to settle a class action for allegedly breaching the  Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act. ANZ has refused to settle, and it's prompted concerns over recent proposed banking reforms are at risk. Banking Reform Coalition convener Kent Duston explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major new report is warning that more than 1000 seaside homes could suffer significant damage from extreme weather by 2060. And hundreds of thousands of homes worth an estimated $180 billion are located in flood-prone areas, according to Our Marine Environment 2025 from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ. Alison Collins from the Ministry for the Environment says many of these homes are in low-lying coastal communities and on flood plains. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 8 October 2025, the Reserve Bank has pulled out the big guns and cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points today. Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr speaks to Heather. Former National Party staffer Ben Thomas says National polling in the 20s is not good news for Chris Luxon. NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson explains why rugby unions across the world don't want players playing for a new rival league backed by Saudi Arabia. New Zealand's best big airport is .... Queenstown Airport! Heather is surprised? She speaks with Queenstown Airport Chief Operating Officer Todd Grace. Plus the Huddle debates that poll and Tory Whanau's final speech as Wellington mayor - surprising? 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.

Good news - the Reserve Bank has finally done the thing many of us thought was necessary, and they've gone for a double cut in the OCR of 50 basis points. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've been forced to do it because they didn't do it earlier, as in, they haven't cut as quickly as they should have. I mean, think back to July when they actually chose not to cut at all, which was clearly a mistake at the time - but became even more of a mistake when we saw the shock GDP number that followed. We saw that in the three months before that decision, the economy had actually contracted by a whopping 0.9 percent and the Reserve Bank hadn't really noticed at all. And the bad news, I suppose, again, is that they could have done a double cut last time when two of them on the Monetary Policy Statement said we should go double cut. But more of them said, no, let's just go with the single cut. So they've gone with a double cut today - vindication for two, it would seem. We're gonna stick to the good news though, which is that, finally, the Reserve Bank has caught up with the rest of us. The economy is cooked, and we need to do something, so they have delivered it. They admit that this is a signal. The signal is it's okay to go out and spend and invest - because they've realized, finally, that people are freaked out, right? There have been too many predictions of green shoots just before the economy falls again, which freak people out, and there have been too many bad surprises which freak people out. Business confidence is shot, look at the QBSO yesterday. Consumer confidence is also slightly increasing, but still really negative. People are holding on to their money, they're saving instead of spending, they're worrying instead of investing. And this cut is a circuit breaker that's supposed to snap us out of our fear. Now, there are some who worry that we are actually already so freaked out that even this cut, given how big it is, could spook us all over again. It's possible, maybe it could happen. But I think what's more likely is that it's going to give the assurance that people need. And the assurance is that the people in charge of the economy actually realize how bad things are - and are prepared to be bold. And I'll tell you what, it's better late than never. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eight international rugby unions, including New Zealand, have warned players that they won't be eligible for high-level selection if they switch to the proposed Rugby 360 league. There have been rumours of monetary offers directed at high-level rugby and league players for the competition, which is being promoted by former England international Mike Tindall. NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson says many of the other unions haven't been as clear or public as New Zealand's has, because of the scrutiny, but they wanted to make things clear. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queenstown Airport is flying high, thanks to a surge in visitors. It's been named Large Airport of the Year at the national awards - with judges praising its strong safety record, commercial success, and community engagement. They were also impressed with its new end-of-runway safety system. Chief operating officer Todd Grace says the airport's seen strong growth since Covid. He says they're the only airport in New Zealand operating back past pre-Covid levels. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's claims a rebounding economy could propel National to another election win. But a former senior National staffer also says next year's election is looking like a toss-up. The recent Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll has the party on just 29.6 percent - one of its lowest results since returning to Government.  Ben Thomas says that's not a good place to be.  "That is a psychological threshold - we used to be thinking that anything in the middle-low 30s was a disaster for a National Party leader." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's 50 basis point OCR cut could go some way to getting our economy growing again. The Reserve Bank's slashed the cash rate to 2.5 percent. ANZ has lowered its floating and flexible rates, on top of all major banks already lowering fixed term offerings. Kiwibank chief economist, Jarrod Kerr, says he's been calling for a 2.5 percent cash rate for two years. "We knew it needed to go below neutral, which is three, and we needed to get some stimulus into the economy to really ignite the recovery." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank has cut the OCR by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent, despite acknowledging inflation is still above where they'd like it. Finance Minister Nicola Willis says they've factored in broader economic conditions. She says the central bank clearly thinks any fluctuation in inflation will be constrained by spare capacity in the economy. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this will come as good news as more people are set to roll into lower mortgage rates. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Locking down a new trade deal is front of mind for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he met for talks with US President Donald Trump.  Negotiations have been ongoing since August, when Trump imposed 35 percent tariffs on Canadian goods.  Canada remains the only G7 country without a deal - something Trump attributes to a 'natural conflict' stemming from their proximity. US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says this meeting appeared to be a positive one, when compared to their previous discussion.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.