Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A survey of roadworkers has found many face routine abuse, attacks, and some are even purposely hit by cars, according to new reports. The survey, which was run by Temporary Traffic Management Industry Steering Group, included 667 workers across New Zealand who described their experiences with verbal abuse and physical assault. Pipeline & Civil Ltd owner Hugh Goddard says he's heard his staff have been yelled at, almost hit by vehicles - and nearly faced physical abuse. "I wasn't involved in the development of the survey, but I know over 700 TTM workers in New Zealand who responded in the survey, which is a significant sample. And that's the feedback that's coming through, so it's very much a real issue." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A rare daylight robbery has been executed at the world's most visited art museum.  Items of 'incalculable' value were stolen in a seven minute heist at the Louvre museum in Paris - just after it opened.  The thieves rode a basket lift up the museum's facade, forced a window and fled with France's Crown and Napoleonic jewels. UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacked the ongoing investigation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A multi-million-dollar class action against ANZ New Zealand over historic disclosure obligations looks likely to go ahead. ASB earlier this month settled its part in the four-year class action for $135.6 million - without conceding liability or wrongdoing. ANZ Chief Executive Antonia Watson has voiced disappointment with the development. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent Stats NZ data shows annual inflation hit three percent in September - the upper limit of the Reserve Bank's target range. This has sparked mixed reactions from the Government, but it's unclear if New Zealand avoided another technical recession. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly unpacked the market responses. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  How many more dirty secrets are we going to find out about Prince Andrew? Could the royals have done more to get a handle on this? Labour has unveiled their first big policy promise ahead of the election with their newly-proposed Future Fund. What do we make of this?  Do we really need giant blueberries? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 20 October 2025, inflation is up three percent - driven by large increases to electricity and rates bills. Kiwibank's Jarrod Kerr says this shouldn't stop the Reserve Bank from cutting the OCR further. Labour's Chris Hipkins explains his party's first new policy in two years - the NZ Future Fund. The scandals keep coming. Prince Andrew has promised he won't use his royal titles but should the UK Government go further and completely take them off him? Wellington Phoenix boss David Dome explains why his club is supporting New Zealand's first sports school. Also - Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop on the cost of speeding ticket and ANZ boss Antonia Watson on having the rug pulled from under her by the Government. Plus, the Huddle debates Labour's Future fund and whether we really need a new giant blueberry. 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.

Well, even I didn't expect Prince Andrew to lose the use of his titles that fast. It was about 5pm on Friday afternoon that I said that he would lose them - and about 7am the next morning, the news broke that he had. But then again, I suppose we can see why it happened so fast, right? Because since that happened, it has just been one revelation after the other involving him. First, the police are looking into reports that he tried to get his personal protection officers to dig up dirt on Virginia Giuffre, his accuser. Then came the news that Fergie and the girls were among the first to welcome Epstein out of jail, and she kept trying to borrow money. And now you've got the creepy detail emerging from Giuffre's book about how Andrew behaved. Now, that is why the announcement about Andrew's titles came so quickly, because King Charles needed it to happen before the newspapers started printing excerpts from the book so that the stuff that came out didn't hurt the royals by association. But honestly, I don't know that King Charles has done enough, because Andrew hasn't actually lost anything. Which might be news to you, because the palace has done an epic spin job in trying to make it look like Andrew's given up all of his titles. He actually hasn't. He is still the Duke of York, he just has agreed not to use it in public. And I don't know about you, but we saw how that went with Meghan and Harry, didn't we? They were also promising not to use the HRH titles, and then Megs was busted using it in a private note to someone. So what's happening now is that all the UK newspapers are unsatisfied and they're calling for complete stripping of the titles. You've got the MPs coming under pressure to confront the royal family - just the sheer volume of coverage that this is getting at the moment over in the UK suggests that this could go on for days. That is not what King Charles wants, because in a couple of days he's got a meeting with the Pope, and he will not want that meeting to be overshadowed by his playboy brother and all the revelations coming out. I would say, watch this space. I reckon there's a better than average chance that Andrew hasn't even got his full punishment yet. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drivers are likely to have to cough up for travelling on the Government's Roads of National Significance. NZTA's board has endorsed the investment cases for all the roads.  Transport Minister Chris Bishop says the default will be to toll the new roads in order to establish a clear revenue stream. "Once you've built a road, it's all very well to have it there, but you've got to look after it as well." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Andrew allegedly asked a police officer to 'dig the dirt' on his accuser before the publishing of a now infamous photograph of the two. Andrew's given up the title Duke of York amid turmoil surrounding his alleged involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It's believed he tried to obtain personal information about his deceased accuser Virginia Giuffre. Royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter says it's likely there's more details to come. "The reason there's been this renewed interest in Prince Andrew is... the news just keeps on coming ever since that Newsnight interview in 2019. But there's been renewed focus because of this posthumous memoir."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's first-ever specialised elite sports school is set to open its doors next year, giving future athletes a space to study while building their sports careers. This charter school will be run by the New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa and be based at Upper Hutt's NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport. Wellington Phoenix general manager David Dome says plenty of research was carried out into developing this programme.  "We looked at how the Americans did it, how they did it in Europe and Spain and Italy, and it was really combining education and sports - and it was really hard for us to do that at the time, given that there was only the state school alternative that we couldn't really be part of." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.