Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Amid an ongoing shortage in professional therapists, Kiwis are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for help with their mental health issues. Minister Matt Doocey has claimed up to 20 percent of New Zealand's unmet mental health needs could be solved using chatbot services like ChatGPT. Clinical psychologist Jaqui Maguire says the technology is helpful in some cases - but it's unlikely it can completely fill the gap. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 16 June 2025, Foreign Minister Winston Peters tells Kiwis in Iran and Israel to get away from the "arc of danger" but the ways out are limited. Are your sick leave entitlements on the chopping block? The Government walks back the PM's claim that the entitlement might soon drop from 10 to 5 days. Roles reversed? Heather gets a telling off from Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Plus, the Huddle debates whether National is turning out to be Labour in a blue jacket and the taste of tearless onions. 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.

This morning, the Prime Minister was asked about the 2000 public servants that had lost their jobs. 2000 are out but 64,000 remain. Chris Luxon saw nothing wrong with that.   That right there is part of the reason why this Government is polling so poorly, because it's all talk, isn't it, bugger all action. Now I'm sorry. I realize this is a lot to start the week with - we're starting strident. I don't mean to continue like that - but were you as surprised as I was to hear that we've only cut 2000 public servants? And were you even more surprised that the Prime Minister's explanation is no more than a verbal shrug? This, I think, will be profoundly disappointing to a lot of people who expected this Government to get public spending under control. And cutting public servants is part of getting that spending under control. There is no reason why we have as many public servants as we have today. 63,000 - there is no reason why we have more than double the 30,000 public servants that we had in 2001. Our population hasn't doubled since 2001. It's gone up about 37 percent. If you adjust accordingly, then we should have 41,000 public servants, not 63,000 public servants. Now, I would have expected that the Prime Minister would have a better explanation than simply saying - at least it's not as bad as Labour. Well, maybe so, but I hoped for better. I hoped for a Government that was gonna actually turn this around. Certainly more than a Government that just feels like it's actually Labour dressed in blue clothing. And isn't this just the latest example of talk from this Government that is not being matched by action? They promised to cut spending every year, and they spend more than Grant Robertson. They promise to get on top of debt every year, and they add more to the debt. They promise to stop the race-based policies - and we just keep finding them. They keep waving them through unless we bust them at it. I think this, in part, answers the question that we were asking last week, which is why is it that 3 polls in a row were so tight that it wasn't actually clear if this Government would win an election if an election was held today. This is why they're not brave enough. They should be braver. In fact, if they were braver, they might be more popular. It's worth remembering that for all the hard decisions that were taken by the 4th Labour Government, which is definitely the most transformational that we can think of, right? For all those tough decisions taken in the first 3 years, they actually came back with a bigger majority in 1987. So maybe, you get rewarded for doing what you say you'll do, tough as it may be, rather than just talking tough and then doing very little. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister made it clear she was unimpressed with the way the RBNZ handled public communication around Adrian Orr’s departure. Reserve Bank board chair Neil Quigley recently revealed he 'regretted' the time it took to release information around Orr's surprise resignation. Nicola Willis says the central bank could have provided some clarifying statements more promptly than they did. "As soon as they'd worked through what they could say with the former governor, there was obviously significant public interest in that information. And it would have been in everybody's best interests for them to share that at an earlier junction."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors specialising in menopause have expressed relief following Pharmac's recent u-turn.  Pharmac has announced it'll fund both the Estradot and Mylan brands of hormone replacement patches from December, after public consultation. It follows backlash in response to its decision to switch suppliers  Menodoctor Clinical Director Dr Linda Dear says this is the news they needed to hear.  She says it's good to have these options because one may work better for some women than the other - and added losing Estradot recently was devastating. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's questions over how well vaping regulations will be monitored. New rules come in tomorrow, including stricter advertising restrictions for vape retailers and a ban on disposable vapes Aspire Aotearoa Tobacco Control's Doctor Jude Ball says non-compliance is a problem overseas. But she says the number of enforcement agents has increased, so she's expecting the rules to be enforced. "These measures are designed to protect children and young people from a predatory industry, so without that enforcement, they're really meaningless." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Workers may soon be eligible for different amounts of sick leave based on the hours they work.   This morning, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon revealed the Workplace Relations Minister is looking at altering the current 10 day entitlement. Brooke van Velden says Cabinet has already agreed to develop a pro-rated sick leave system.  "Is it fair that someone who works maybe one day a week, maybe two days a week gets the same sick leave entitlements as someone who works full-time? We would say no, as a Government."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters says the Government's providing the best possible advice to New Zealanders in Iran and Israel.  This afternoon, the Foreign Affairs Minister called the escalation of tension in the Middle East the most 'uncertain' geopolitical circumstances he's ever seen.  At last count, there are 50 Kiwis registered as being in Iran, and 80 in Israel.  Peters says leaving could be challenging, given that airports are closed.  "It's the evolving and possibly worsening situation that will make people's minds up - all we can do is give them the best advice possible, on an hourly basis sometimes."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon claimed today that changes were coming to existing sick leave terms. In 2021, Labour and the Greens doubled statutory sick leave from 5 to 10 days as part of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Christopher Luxon said Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden is working on new changes - but it prompted concerns from some. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese is set to meet US President Donald Trump face-to-face for the first time at the G7 summit in Canada. It's expected Albanese will use these discussions to make the case for an exemption to trade tariffs and talk up the AUKUS agreement. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Trump will use these discussions to encourage Australia to boost up their defence spending. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.