Larry Williams Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 12 December 2024, Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC explains why she rewrote the much criticised prosecution guidelines - and why race doesn't feature in the new ones. ACT leader and Associate Finance Minister David Seymour talks about the new ferries - and how much exactly they will cost. Plus, the Huddle weighs in on news that Wellington's in for another crazy rate hike after the council failed to save enough money.   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.

Tonight on The Huddle, Infrastructure NZ's Nick Leggett and Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The Solicitor-General has revised her prosecution guidelines - saying people misunderstood what she meant when she told prosecutors to 'think carefully' before charging a person who is Māori. Do we agree with this move? 24 hours on from the Government's infamous ferry announcement - what do we think?  Wellington City Council is in damage-control mode after the latest draft budget proposed a 15.9 percent rates rise for the next financial year. Mayor Tory Whanau says she wants to bring that down - does this seem believable? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cost of the Government's new Cook Strait ferries is still unknown - but ACT's David Seymour has offered up some clarity.  On social media, David Seymour said it'd cost 'approximately half' of Labour's proposal - which was projected to be between three and four billion dollars.  But Winston Peters says that's not accurate.  Seymour says people have taken his words too literally.  "When I said half, what I meant is - it's going to be a lot less, like when someone says it's half the price. Often, they don't literally mean half, they mean it's just a lot less, and that's what it will be." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A defence and security expert says the Kiwi 'bumbling jihadi' is New Zealand's problem, but it's difficult to get him.  Mark John Taylor is believed to still be in Syria - but has been charged in Wellington today under the Terrorism Suppression Act. Massey University security expert John Battersby says the ISIL supporter has no travel documents and New Zealand has no representation in Syria.  "The possibility of us being connected back with him is actually pretty remote." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Solicitor-General's spoken out over public pressure to change the prosecution guidelines.  Una Jagose had advised prosecutors to think carefully about particular decisions when a person is Māori. She's now scrapped any mention of race in the official guidelines.  In a rare media interview, Jagose says the previous version simply lacked clarity. "It led people to understand that I was saying there were two different approaches - one for Māori and one for everyone else. That was quite the opposite to what I was intending to say." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A city councillor says more can be done to stop Wellington's rates rising further. Draft council budget figures predict 15.9 percent rises for the 2025-26 financial year - with a portion for wastewater treatment included, dubbed the sludge levy. Councillor Tony Randle says there's still time to make cuts, or ratepayers will feel the pain. "This is just bad news for a council, really, that says it's trying to make hard decisions - but it hasn't made hard decisions." Mayor Tory Whanau is promising staff are aiming to reduce the increase. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters has fired back at speculation about how much the new Cook Strait ferries. The Government won't reveal how much they'll pay to replace the service - but ACT's David Seymour claimed it would cost approximately half of the cost of Labour's proposal. Newstalk ZB political correspondent Barry Soper says this is an especially challenging time for Winston Peters.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being overweight or obese has overtaken smoking as the top risk factor contributing to health problems in 2024, new data shows. The Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 estimates that Australians lost 5.8m years of healthy life due to living with illness and injury - or premature death. While smoking has previously been the lead factor contributing to poor health later on in life - being overweight has since beaten it out. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says experts are calling for sugar taxes and less marketing of junk food to children. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Papua New Guinea will have an NRL team from 2028, becoming the first-non-Australian-based club since the Warriors were established in 1995. Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V'Landys says the majority of the $660 million investment into the PNG side will be spent on the development system. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas and New Year's leave has been cancelled for military personnel set to cover for striking from non-uniform staff. The Defence Minister last month invoked the Defence Act, letting uniformed servicemen and woman fill the gaps. Advocacy group Mission Homefront has written to Judith Collins - saying that's unprecedented and unacceptable. Co-founder Hayden Ricketts says uniformed staff already give so much. "You know, those uniformed staff have worked their butts off during the Covid-19 response, they occupied and looked after our country and MIQ and the managed isolation facilities, they've done their best through Cyclone Gabrielle." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's growing concern about a wave of newly-released British jihadists returning to the UK from Syrian prisons. The UK Government is keeping a close eye on the possibility of any of the British jihadists detained in camps returning to UK shores. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says there were potentially 'dozens' of British jihadists that had been captured while fighting for the Islamic State group. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2024 is nearly over - so which companies did the best on the New Zealand stock exchange for the year? Tower Insurance leads the pack, off the back of a series of upgraded earnings and regained inclusion back in the NZX50 Index. Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton unpacked the winners and the losers for the year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A significant decision from the Court of Appeal could see Gloriavale shut down its' operations for good. The court has thrown out an injunction that prevented BNZ from closing the West Coast Christian community's accounts. BNZ attempted to stop doing business with Gloriavale in 2022, after the community's child labour usage breached its human rights policy. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny unpacks the wider implications of this verdict. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! What do we make of the the ferry announcement-for-an-announcement? There's still a lot of lingering questions following the Government's latest update - how much will they cost? What do we make of this process? And what does it mean for the coalition?  Labour's Chris Hipkins is inferring racism after noting only Māori MPs got sent to the Privileges Committee following the haka in Parliament? What do we think of this? Why do we think people are fawning over the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO? Is this glorifying violence? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 11 December 2024, there's more questions than answers after the Government announced it will buy two new Cook Strait ferries. Newly appointed Minister for Rail Winston Peters tells Ryan Bridge why he's not saying how much they'll cost though. The PSA is taking legal action against the Government for limiting working from home for public servants, so what's it got to do with women? Plus, the Huddle talks about the hype and celebration around the man accused of murdering a health boss in broad daylight in New York. 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.

The latest card spending data from November indicates Kiwis are keeping their expenses down for another month. Kiwibank reports claim the value of spending dropped 2.5 percent in November and new ANZ data shows a drop of 1.2 percent year on year. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says there's hope for the economy - as we're seeing early green shoots ahead of the Christmas season. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's concern among petrol station owners, following BNZ signalling its lending period for fossil fuels is ending. BNZ has informed one business lending to petrol store owners will end - and the bank needs all debt repaid by 2030.  The bank says it's an economic decision, as they're foreseeing people switching to electric vehicles.  An anonymous owner of multiple rural petrol stations says the decision hurts farmers, who will still need diesel. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport has unveiled the scale of the delays today following an IT issue. A fault with a fibre network provider's domains cut the internet to a number of businesses, including international check-ins. It meant airlines had to manually check people in, causing several flights to be delayed. The airport's chief operating officer, Chloe Surridge, says it caused a lot of disruption, until switching providers fixed the issue. "There were 40 airlines running on delays in departures - and that kinda has a knock-on effect to probably about 20 arriving slightly delayed as well." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters is tip-toeing around whether New Zealand First will get the rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries it campaigned for. The Government has announced it'll set up a new company to procure new Interislander vessels - and has made Peters the Minister for Rail.  It's almost a year since the coalition scrapped Labour's contract for buying two mega-ferries that would have joined up rail across the two islands. Nicola Willis says the new ferries will be smaller and rail-capable, but not fully rail enabled. Peters says he's conceded nothing. He says he's taken on railways in the past - and dramatically turned them around - and people should ask the Maritime Union if they have confidence in him. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are school prizegivings harmful or helpful? Discussions have surfaced as the school year comes to a close.  Auckland Grammar headmaster, Tim O'Connor, says prizegivings are an opportunity to celebrate student achievement. He says it doesn't mean everyone should get an award.  "It's a ritual or a trait of education where, actually, we should learn how to be a contributing member of our community - and that includes being able to respect high-level achievement." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.