Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

New research has confirmed Ozempic reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 20 percent - even in patients who weren't severely overweight to start with.  The study, which was led by University College London and published in The Lancet, found that weight loss accounted for only one third of this reduction. Auckland University molecular medicine professor Peter Shepherd says this is proof other factors are behind the slowdown of heart disease. "We know a few of them, we know a bit about how it effects heart tissue growth, we know a bit about the positive effects it has on the deposition of the lipids, but there's still a long way to go to fully understand its effects."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Andrew’s future at Royal Lodge is in doubt after the collapse of a business deal that was intended to provide a financial lifeline. The deal would have allowed the prince to abide by the terms of his lease, by paying for the hugely expensive upkeep of the vast Windsor estate. Without it, he could face eviction from the 30-room property, on which he has not paid rent for 20 years. UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacks the backlash further.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is more than halving the number of entities that need to make climate-related disclosures. It has proposed to only require listed issuers with market capitalisations of more than $1 billion to make disclosures. Currently, the threshold is $60 million. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains the changes further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More financial experts have raised concerns about an AI bubble - and what it could mean for the wider economy. Multiple AI companies are attracting the attention of investors, and this interest is projected to grow, but concerns have been raised. Milford Asset Management Andrew Curtayne explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Is the Government right to get rid of its climate disclosure rules for listed companies? Did anybody actually care? Tomorrow's mega-strike is set to begin. Polls indicate over half of Kiwis support the strike. What do we make of all this?  What's your secret to cooking a good sausage? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche airs his frustrations ahead of tomorrow's mega strike. Immunisation expert Dr Nikki Turner explains why there are concerns that measles is spreading undetected - and it's not just kids at risk. Master Plumbers CEO Greg Wallace explains when you should consider switching from gas to electricity given gas prices are going through the roof. Air New Zealand's new boss took over this week, and already he's hitting turbulence. The Huddle gets into a heated argument over climate-related disclosure rules. Plus, Heather reveals her controversial method of cooking sausages. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's yet another, frankly welcome, sign that the world's climate overhype may be over, or at least correcting. The latest is that the Government has announced it's now easing the rules on how much compulsory climate reporting the big listed companies have to do. Now, I don't blame you if you feel at this minute like your eyes are about to glaze over, but do not let that happen. Because this is actually much more important than it sounds. This goes back to the bad old days of Jacinda and Grant in 2021, when the Ardern administration brought in rules forcing large, publicly listed companies to report to shareholders the impact that climate change may have on them. It was world-leading, it was ground-breaking - and it was incredibly expensive. Turner's, the car company, reckons that their first report, which only runs to seven pages, cost them $1 million to produce. Some companies have told the relevant minister, Scott Simpson, that it cost them $2 million to produce their reports. And the ones who are getting off easy here are still paying apparently close to $10,000. Veteran director Joan Withers famously complained about this in July, when she said that climate reporting was taking up more of her time than preparing financial statements, which is the actual thing that shareholders are interested in - and that is completely nuts. And for all of the money and all of the effort that these businesses were putting into it, not one carbon particle was saved from going into the atmosphere. It did not bring down anybody's emissions and that was not the point of it. It was simply to talk about it. And the money was just wasted on paperwork instead of being reinvested into the business to raise productivity, which is the thing that we should be laser-focused on in this country. Now, I applaud the Government for doing what it has done today, but it does not go far enough, because they've only eased the rules for the smaller companies. So about 88 of them will now not have to report. But 76 of the big ones are still going to be required to do this utterly pointless, expensive, unproductive exercise. If it is pointless and expensive and unproductive for the small companies, it is also pointless, expensive and unproductive for the big companies. And the Government should go further than it has today. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand says it now expects to make a first-half loss of about $30 million to $55 million, before tax. It's just provided a trading update to the NZX. The national carrier says it expected a two to three percent uplift in revenue across domestic and US-bound bookings. However, this hasn't materialised and isn't evidenced in future bookings. NZ Shareholders Association head Oliver Mander says the engine issues and ongoing economic downturn are the main factors behind these changes.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A fund manager says Kiwis deserve to know the impact of their investments.  The Government plans to scrap annual climate disclosures for KiwiSaver funds, and raise the reporting threshold for listed companies from $60 million dollars to $1 billion. Mindful Money founder Barry Coates says these rule changes will reduce transparency.  "We're stepping backwards on what should be information that should be disclosed by companies. If you're investing in a KiwiSaver fund, do you want to know whether that KiwiSaver fund is bearing a high climate risk? I would want to know."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Kiwi company is investing in drone boats able to be used for defence - on home shores and beyond. Robotics company Syos has acquired Tauranga business Bay Dynamics.  Syos CEO Sam Vye says it will strengthen their position in the surveillance and defence market.  He adds underwater sabotage is a growing concern overseas.  "Particularly in the EU around potential sabotage by hostile vessels or vessels from certain countries that might accidentally drag anchor or intentionally disrupt seafloor infrastructure."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.