Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

New Zealand is facing a shortage of school board members, as only 60% of the 10,000 required spots have been filled.  School Board Association President Meredith Kennett says that it’s up to community members to get involved.  She told Heather duPlessis-Allan that, ‘it's important that communities continue to get engaged in their school.’  Although the numbers look sub-par now, Kennett says she is expecting a boost in numbers over the weekend.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump's flown back to the US after a brief visit to Scotland, but he's revealed he's not done with the region just yet. Trump expressed interest in leading Scotland after he's done with America - and said Scotland was full of 'fine people'. UK correspondent Enda Brady says it's important not to underestimate Trump - given how the last 8-9 years have panned out. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2025 is nearly halfway over - and it's been a memorable one for the markets so far. Between new developments in AI, ongoing economic uncertainty and Donald Trump's string of tariff announcements, investors have had to contend with a lot of unique factors. Fisher Funds expert Sam Dickie explains further - and reveals what investors can expect for the months ahead. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest Farmer Confidence survey shows farmers are seeing one of the highest lifts in confidence in recent memory. The July survey shows the rural mood has improved significantly this year, rebounding from record lows 12 months ago. The Country's Hamish McKay explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!   Did Emergency Management go overboard with their alerts regarding the tsunami? Or is it better to be safe than sorry?   The Chief of Navy has ordered Kiwi sailors to stop drinking irresponsibly, saying alcohol substance misuse is undermining the organisation. Do we agree with this? The leader of Gloriavale is officially a sex offender after pleading guilty to 12 charges mid-trial. Is it time to shut down Gloriavale for good?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland company is part of a consortium which has secured nearly $18 million in UK Government funding to help Jaguar Land Rover recycle old EV batteries. Mint Innovation, along with LiBatt Recycling and Warwick University, will help develop technology to extract lithium, nickel and cobalt from used batteries. Mint Innovation CEO Dr Will Barker says the company is scaling to be one of the leaders in recovering valuable metal from e-waste.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 31 July 2025, Civil Defence Director John Price has defended emergency warnings sent out across the country - and says there continues to be a tsunami risk. Minister for Defence and Intelligence, Judith Collins, explains why the FBI is opening its own office in Wellington. Oil and gas exploration has been officially unbanned - Energy Resources Aotearoa is hopeful that this will actually lead to some exploration. Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp weighs in on a warning by the Chief of Navy to his sailors to stop the excessive boozing. Plus, the Huddle debates whether now is the time to shut down Gloriavale after its leader pleaded guilty to assault charges. 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 the national emergency alarm that bugged a nation was the big talking point in New Zealand today. There's a million stories about the alarm, and here's mine:  The first alarm yesterday afternoon at 4:30pm I welcomed. I'd been out and about and didn't know about the Russian earthquake. So I looked up the story and quickly ascertained there were hours before this could become a problem. This was important because my partner was commuting home on a ferry at 5:40pm and we needed to know if anything would happen. I checked the AT app and phoned her and the day continued on as normal. The next alarm this morning was interesting. We knew of the threat and we knew that it was around about then that waves would arrive. So I expected an update on the wave strength after tsunami monitoring across the oceans. None of that info was there. It was the same alert as last night. So, again, we looked up the story and again, we decided it would be fine so Helen went off to catch the 8am ferry. As she left, she said if there's going to be a wave then she'd rather be on a big boat than on the esplanade. I think that was a joke.   As it turned out everybody ignored the alert this morning. People walked dogs on beaches. The north-western motorway causeway did not close. Nor did Tamaki Drive. Then the Minister came on with Kerre to explain why we had these alarms. I thought the main takeaway from that was so that we could make an informed decision. Which my family did. So I don't mind the alerts. I'd rather have a false alarm than no alarm at all in a dangerous decision. But the fear here is that people will begin to ignore all alerts and not make informed decisions - and that could end badly. But my main concern is that the information did not seem to be updated in the 12 hours after the earthquake hit.  I wonder if our ocean monitoring is working - and if it isn't, then that's the real concern. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government crossed the final hurdle of overturning the oil and gas exploration ban as of today. The bill passed 68 votes to 54, with all coalition parties in support and the opposition parties opposed. Energy Resources Aotearoa CEO John Carnegie has voiced support for this change. "We've all felt the effect of an energy shortage over the last couple of years - in terms of the threat of electricity blackouts, factory closures and high prices, and actually, we don't need to stay on this path. This bill reflects a change of path."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Defence Minister is commending the Navy Chief's stance on irresponsible drinking. A directive from Rear Admiral Garin Golding points to multiple alcohol-related incidents in the past month at various levels, domestically and internationally. It says alcohol undermines health, wellbeing and decision-making across the Navy. Current Defence Minister Judith Collins says no Chief should have to deal with it. Wayne Mapp says this order will tackle the issue at its core. "Changing expectations, giving briefings, giving counselling - getting the things done that actually reduces these problems." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.