Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

There's only three months until New Zealand's first Ikea store opens its doors in Auckland's Sylvia Park. The Swedish furniture giant's 34,000 square metre store will host seven-and-a-half thousand products. It'll also see its restaurant open with foods like its famous Swedish meatballs.  Ikea NZ Market Manager Johanna Cederlöf says they've already hired 200 people, with 320 more joining soon. "Every week, it's going to be very busy - so approximately 30 to 80 people joining and onboarding themselves to what will be ahead of them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK Government is planning a new law in England to stop anyone under the age of 16 buying energy drinks from supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, vending machines and other retailers. Up to one third of UK children are thought to consume these types of drinks every week, despite protective measures existing in some stores. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says experts have linked energy drinks to headaches, sleep deprivation, heart problems and seizures - and concerns have been raised. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A busy reporting season has concluded for the NZX-listed companies, with some doing better than others. A2 Milk stood out as a success story from this season, but other listed businesses haven't fared so well. Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are fears the Government’s proposal to change who is liable for shonky buildings risks leaving homeowners in the lurch. The Government is proposing to prevent local councils from being lumped with big bills if they consent buildings that turn out to be leaky or defective. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny reveals why homeowners have voiced concerns. 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!  Yesterday's big Amazon announcement turned out to be a big pile of nothings, according to new reports. Does this mean we need to be more careful when overseas companies come in making big promises?  Voter turnout in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection is abysmal so far, with just 3700 of the almost 44,000 eligible voters casting their vote. What do we make of this?  Nearly 60,000 people have signed a petition to get NZ-born neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell deported back to NZ. Is he their problem or ours? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 3 September 2025, we've chosen a shipyard to build our new Interislander ferries - but Ferry Holdings' Chris Mackenzie explains they're not quite ready to reveal who will do the honours. Almost 60,000 Aussies have signed a petition calling for Kiwi born neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell to be deported back to New Zealand. But Australian senator Lidia Thorpe tells Heather deporting one nazi won't get rid of Australia's wider problem. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts tries to explain why we shouldn't quit the Paris Climate Agreement - even though ACT and NZ First are both advocating for it. Plus, the Huddle debates that PR stunt of an announcement from Amazon and how a grandfather might have got himself banned from pick-up duty for life. 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.

Questions have been raised over New Zealand's future in the Paris Accord, with National holding steady in support for the agreement. Yesterday, ACT's David Seymour said New Zealand should leave unless the terms are changed, but Prime Minister Chris Luxon said backing out would mean we aren't a trusted partner on trade - and would punish our farmers. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says the Government has no plans to pull out, and they're committed to the emissions targets.  "The reality is, is that we're a major export nation. I've just come back from Beijing on Friday, speaking with the Chinese Minister, they're committed to the Paris Agreement."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, we need to talk about that Amazon announcement yesterday. These guys have taken us for fools in this country. They've looked at us in New Zealand and they've gone, let's take these guys for fools. That $7.5 billion wasn't new, it was already announced by Jacinda 4 years ago. It's not even actually a convincing number, because it looks like what they've done here is included their power bills. Now power bills are not an investment, they're an operating cost. The 1000 jobs that Amazon now tells us that they're supporting also looks questionable. It looks like they've included people who already work in the electricity sector - and some say the real number is more likely a few dozen jobs. Amazon's not building anything. All the data centres they tell us are now live, have actually been built by other companies, which means that you could argue that they haven't actually added anything material to the New Zealand economy. Because if they didn't use those existing data centres, someone else would just be using those existing data centres.  In fact, you could argue that Amazon running those data centres is actually not the best outcome for New Zealand, because Amazon does not pay tax on all of their revenue here, which means if another local company used those data centres and paid full tax like they do, we'd all be better off. We'd be better off than Amazon using the centres and then sending hundreds of millions of dollars overseas like Google and Facebook do. Now, being critical of that announcement by Amazon yesterday is not the same as being ungrateful for the good that they're doing. I think you should interrogate an announcement just a little bit more than simply taking it at face value, because that is what Amazon wants you to do. They want to play us for fools. They want to make us believe that they're doing good when what they're actually doing is just making money off us. And that's fair. I don't mind them making money off us, they're a business, we're customers, but let's see it for what it is. Let's not be grateful for them doing business. I still like Amazon's product, but to be honest with you, I like it a little bit less than I did yesterday when they assumed that this country was full of stupid people who would just simply believe anything. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before he died, rugby star Shane Christie sent a secret NZ Rugby report to the NZ Herald, claiming its findings needed to be released to keep future rugby players safe. The report describes a detailed safety-net of measures Christie insisted be explored in the hope NZ Rugby would improve player safety. NZ Herald investigative reporter David Fisher received the report - and he weighed in on the secrecy around the data. "There were many things that were raised in there that Shane was very keen to have explored." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland local board chair is concerned children are using large nitrous oxide canisters. The gas is sold legally for whipped cream use, but can also be used illegally as a psychoactive substance.  The canisters are 3.3 litres, about the same as 300 smaller canisters - known as nangs. Manurewa Local Board Chair Matt Winiata says after seeing one, he's spotted them littered across streets in his local area.  "On a 10-minute drive, I came across another 9 of them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.