Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

R360 has reacted to the eight nations who have agreed to ban any players defecting to the rebel rugby competition. They've claimed this new league is designed to work around the global calendar...not against it. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 300 people are being made to re-sit their practical driving test - following fraud allegations at an Auckland VTNZ. Police and NZTA are looking into claims testing officers at the Highbrook branch took money in return for passing applicants, over several years.   Five officers have been sacked for misconduct - and the branch has stopped offering tests in the meantime. Transparency International NZ executive director Julie Haggie says they need to figure out how this was possible. "Behaviour and the training and the culture that was existing and whether any of those things had an impact on people feeling like - I can get away with it. And they have felt like they can get away with it and make profit out of it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK police say they've cracked down on an international gang suspected of  smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China over the last year. In what authorities claim is the UK's largest ever operation against phone thefts, 18 suspects have been arrested and more than 2,000 stolen devices discovered. UK correspondent Enda Brady reveals more about this case. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade Minister Todd McClay has confirmed trade negotiations with India are progressing - but there's still a ways to go. New Zealand and Indian trade negotiators met in Queenstown last month for a third round of formal negotiations for a free trade agreement. The Country's Hamish McKay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson and CTU economist Craig Renney joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! NZ Post today revealed they'll be cutting services down, including fewer delivery days and fewer post offices. Do we mind this change? Who still sends post?  Winston Peters' home got vandalised last night - is this a sign the protests have gone too far? More than 200 people will be elected unopposed at this weekend’s local elections. Is this ridiculous? Do we need an overhaul?   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We need to talk about why we're persisting with having so many local body politicians. We clearly have too many positions, don't we? I mean, just look at how many people are winning their seats at the moment. The elections are this weekend - look at how many people are winning their seats without any elections, without anybody standing against them. With more than 200, that's 1 in every 7 council races. So Hurunui already has its mayor, even though the elections are this weekend. It's Marie Black, no one's standing against her. Manawatū already has its mayor, Michael Ford, no one's standing against him. There are more than 80 councillors who are already elected across the country, there are several on the Southland Regional Council already elected. Lower Hutt, Southland, Buller, Stratford, Marlborough councils, two of Auckland's councils already elected - unopposed - as well as 3 of Christchurch's. There are also empty seats that no one wants to fill in community boards in the Rotorua Lakes, New Plymouth's Kaitake, Clifton as well, rural Hastings, Hanmer Springs, Twizel, and Mataura. What that tells you is that you have more positions to fill than you have people who want to fill those positions. Now, please have a look at your voting papers and vote if you can. I voted in Auckland already, right? I had 1 vote for mayor, I had 1 vote for council, and then I had up to 7 votes for my local board. I didn't vote 7 times for my local, I didn't know who all of those people were. I knew about 5 of them and at least 2 of them I knew for bad reasons, so I didn't want to vote for them. So, you know, I think we clearly are asking too much. And by the way, in Auckland, we have 172 local board politicians by the end of this process, and I'm not even counting the local licensing board. The most junior of which, the ward councillors, get paid more than $54,000 each. Now, I think looking at all of this, we are well overdue tipping all of this up and changing it and massively reducing the number of people that we're paying to do probably not a lot. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 7 October 2025, Palestine protestor Acacia O'Connor says she doesn't regret making Winston Peters' home address public, despite a person smashing his window as a result. Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill wins his bet with Heather - and calls off a restructure of rural police. Lawyers of a class action lawsuit against ANZ are calling on the Government to walk back retrospective banking reform. It comes after ASB agreed to settle their own dispute for more than $135 million . Former All Black Mils Muliaina has joined the Auckland Business Chamber to become its first Pasifika director - he tells Heather about the Pasifika economy. Plus, the Huddle debates whether we should cut the number of elected local body politicians after news that 1 in 7 candidates will get the job unopposed. 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.

Former All Black Mils Muliaina is set to trade rugby fields for the boardroom as he steps into his new role. He recently joined the Auckland Business Chamber board, becoming its first Pasifika director in the organisation's history. Mils Muliaina says this new role came to him as a surprise, but he's welcoming the new opportunity.  "I'm supposed to provide a voice for the communities, especially for the Pacific community, in finance and insurance and I suppose economic matters. So I'm pretty chuffed." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ASB has agreed to pay $135.6 million to settle a class action after it was accused of breaching its disclosure obligations under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act. The case against ASB alleged failures to provide compliant written disclosure of loan variations to a significant number of customers. ANZ is still hanging on as the remaining defendant of the class action. Scott Russell, the lawyer representing bank customers in the class action, says the lawsuit against ANZ hasn't been dropped. "We remain fully committed to our claim against ANZ...ANZ customers deserve a positive outcome similar to that." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand Post is moving to review its offerings amid a recent move to cut back on services. A new Government agreement will let it close almost 400 postal outlets, and reduce mail deliveries. They'll now only be required two times a week for most areas, down from three - and can fall from at least five times weekly in rural areas, to three. NZ Post CEO David Walsh says these changes reflect New Zealand's changing communication habits. "Our role is to deliver the services New Zealanders need - we'll keep delivering mail and we'll have to respond to the circumstances we're facing, but that's our job." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.