Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

US President Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for his much-anticipated state visit.  He's being welcomed by King Charles at Windsor Castle, and will also meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. UK correspondent Gavin Grey explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on the Huddle, political commentator and lawyer Liam Hehir 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! There's another case of a judge ordering police to give back a gang member's patch. Is there a loophole that needs fixing here? Rawiri Waititi made headlines after he only answered questions in te reo Māori in Parliament. What do we make of this? Should we make it easier for overseas born kids with Māori heritage to gain citizenship? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is looking to move forward with plans to change who is liable for defective building work, and it's raised questions about what this could mean going forward. For decades, all parties involved in a build have been jointly liable for problems, with local councils mostly picking up the tab. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christchurch-headquartered Brooksfield Homes is looking to bring a new style of townhouse to Auckland.  Reports claim the company's planned eight new Pt Chevalier homes on two sites, with a projected end valuation of $11.6 million. Brooksfield Homes managing director Vincent Holloway says a lot of people want to live in similar heritage properties found in Grey Lynn or Ponsonby - but prices keep many out of reach. "People are wanting that in a home, so we aim to do that in a smaller scale in a cheaper area, basically."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 17 September 2025, Oscar nominated Kiwi actress Keisha Castle-Hughes tells Heather why she wants Maori who are born overseas to have easier access to citizenship.   Singer Tiki Taane explains why he's taken his songs off global streaming platform Spotify. Royal historian and consultant to Netflix' "The Crown" Robert Lacey speaks to Heather about the pomp and circumstance being prepared for Donald Trump's big state visit at Windsor Castle. Plus, the Huddle debates whether the gang patch ban needs tightening after a second case of an empathetic judge handing a Mongrel Mob member his patch back. 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.

So, Shanan Halbert from the Māori Party doesn't like the fact that Rawiri Waititi answered all his media questions about Takuta Ferris in te reo Māori. Now, if you haven't caught up on this, this is what happened yesterday when the Māori Party came face to face with the press gallery. It was the first time since Tākuta Ferris has doubled down and then tripled down for his anti-immigrant comments and then ignored his leader's orders to delete the video. And then the leaders started, by the looks of things, ignoring media requests for interviews. So yesterday, when the media finally had a chance to ask Rawiri about it for the first time, he refused to speak English and he would only answer in Māori, because he said it's te reo Māori week. And Shanan Halbert from the Labour Party didn't like it because he thinks that Rawiri is creating an "exclusive bunch" of Māori. Which is presumably Māori who can speak Māori, and that, by the looks of things, excludes him. Well, tough bickies. If Shanan doesn't want to feel left out, he should go and learn Māori like everyone else who's spending their Wednesday nights in Māori language classes. Look, just for the record, so before you think I'm now on Rawiri's side, I'm not. I don't like that Rawiri is doing this, because he's obviously weaponizing the language and hiding behind it to avoid answering tough questions, and then is pretending that he's doing it for some noble reason of celebrating Māori language week. That's not what he's doing. But set aside his childishness, he is entitled to speak Māori exclusively if he wants to. It is a national language and the man is fluent in it. If this was a multilingual European nation instead of predominantly monolingual New Zealand, this would not be a problem. I mean, to be fair, Rawiri probably wouldn't be able to do what he's doing because the press gallery would also be multilingual and would be able to understand what he's saying. But Shanan's complaint is a uniquely New Zealand complaint, isn't it? Which is - don't speak the language because I can't understand it. Again, tough bickies. It's really weird for me to hear this from a Labour Party MP, by the way. And I would encourage Shanan to take up some Māori language classes with his free time, which there is a lot of, because he's not doing a lot in opposition. And maybe if there is a silver lining in Rawiri being this juvenile, it is a gentle reminder to the rest of us that if we also don't want to feel like Shanan - left out - there are classes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of New Zealand's biggest musicians are boycotting Spotify and ditching the platform amid accusations of exploitation. Tiki Taane and The Bats are among the big names getting behind Boycott Spotify NZ and other Kiwi bands like Carb on Carb, Synthetic Children and Recitals have signed the statement calling for better treatment.  Taane has cited greed, corruption and investment in European defence technology company Helsing as some of the key reasons why he's walking away. "I love music, I love creating music, but I also have to take a stand against corruption, against greed, against war, against murder - the easiest thing for me to do to help support that is to take my music off the platform and cancel my subscription."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There could be more cases of judges handing back seized gang patches to gang members convicted of wearing them in public.  Law professor Al Gillespie says the law allows discretion for judge, and they'll use it.  This week, a judge ordered police give back a patch seized from a Lower Hutt gang member.  Police Minister Mark Mitchell calls the decision disappointing and confirmed police are appealing. But Gillespie says the judge was within his rights to make the decision.  "We could see more, I think that's quite possible. And if you do disagree with it, that's fine - but change the law." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes is getting behind a push to change citizenship access for Māori born overseas.  The Waitangi Tribunal's considering a claim by Australian born John Ruddock, which calls the fact his children can't get citizenship, unconstitutional. Ruddock, who's descended from a Treaty of Waitangi signatory, has citizenship by descent.  Castle-Hughes she has given evidence, after she struggled to get citizenship for her own daughter. "Aotearoa is the only place that she can go to kura kaupapa, that she can go to kohanga reo, that she can participate in life as a tangata whenua in that capacity." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A security analyst's surprised the Chinese Embassy is taking such issue to one of its citizens being searched. It says a Chinese citizen was subject to an interrogation and harassment at a New Zealand airport - with their personal devices taken away. Foreign Minister Winston Peters says the embassy's statement is no risk to the NZ-China relationship. Security analyst John Battersby says there's some surface level tension on display. He says it does follow a threat environment report highlighting China, which it disputed. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.