Larry Williams Drive

Surface flooding is continuing in the wider Wellington region, with commuters bracing for more downpours. High tides are coinciding with torrential rain to spell a perfect storm of disruption, and motorists are being warned to expect delays. Metservice forecaster Lewis Ferris says the rain is persisting, but the worst should have passed. "It does look like the heaviest of the rain is kind of on that easing trend. There are still some showers around, it's not going to be that same sort of widespread, intense rainfall that we saw around dawn." Meanwhile in Greymouth, landslides fuelled by the recent bad weather have left residents out of power.  About 50 homes are cut off in Arnott Heights - with a second slump this morning adding more debris. Mayor Tania Gibson says contractors have been delivered residents essentials like medication. "But anything that's not essential - I think they're pretty right, we're in close contact - they just need to hold out and wait up there for a bit longer." LISTEN ABOVESee omnyst

ANZ and ASB may have to refund interest to more than 100-thousand customers with home loans. Plaintiffs are seeking the refund after the banks breached consumer rights contracts. The Court of Appeal has ordered affected customers will be automatically included in the case. Class action lawyer Fionnghuala Cuncannon told Heather du Plessis Allan the banks failed to comply with their disclosure obligations. ANZ hasn't opposed the decision, but says it has already rectified the situation with customers, paying out more than 35 million dollars. ASB says it does not comment on litigation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 23 August 2024, Kamala Harris has become the official Democratic nominee in the presidential race. US correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Heather from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Labour's Chris Hipkins has apologised to councils for the prime minister's criticism of their wasteful spending... saying they deserve better. So who read the room wrong? Restaurateur and chef Al Brown weighs in on the question whether there are too many cafes and restaurants around. Plus the Sports Huddle debates this week's All Blacks shock news after assistant coach Leon MacDonald called it quits after just five tests. 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.

It's a tough result for Spark today... reporting a 72% drop in full year net profit... with revenue down 14%.   The big drop comes after last year's results were boosted by the sale of spark's cell tower network... but the company has acknowledged it's been a challenging year in tough economic conditions.   Spark's chief executive Jolie Hodson told Heather du Plessis-Allan it has been a tough year for the company. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the Sports Huddle Heather was joined Oceania Football confederation media manager Matt Brown and Newstalk ZB rugby commentator Paul Allison for a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Why do you think Leon Macdonald left? will the All Blacks be better or worse off for it? How good a storyline would it be if he went to the wallabies? How will Shaun Johnson be remembered in the annals of Warriors history? Should Jannik Sinner have been let off like he was? Is New Zealand going to get in behind the America's Cup? will that kick in during the preliminary regatta or just the main event? How good, having Lulu Sun at the ASB classic? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's Local Government spokesman's pushed back on the Prime Minister's characterisation of councils across the country. On Wednesday, Chris Luxon launched a broadside against local government -- telling them to get back to basics with theirs spending. Chris Hipkins today apologised to councillors and mayors for the PM's attack; and Kieran McAnulty told Heather du Plessis-Allan that Luxon was out of line. He says what Luxon said was patronising and wrong, and it's the Government that sets the system that the Councils have to work in. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Democrats convention has wound up in Chicago with Harris confirmed as their nomination for President. Dad Seymour has been labelled an idiot for his Treaty Principles Bill. Taxpayers Union got it wrong comparing council spending to spending on an international dance competition. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of cafes and restaurants has gone backwards for the first time in more than 20 years according to stats NZ. It's a small drop...to 8958 cafe and restaurants…But that's almost twice as many as in 2000...    Economist Shamubeel Eaqub says there are still too many hospitality businesses in tough economic times like today.    Chef and restaurateur Al Brown told Heather du Plessis-Allan all the people who are operating would think we have too many.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Divers searching the Bayesian, the superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily, have found five bodies and recovered four of them, according to local authorities.  It's believed British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter were among the bodies brought up from the wreck. UK correspondent Enda Brady says investigations are ongoing - and the Kiwi who captained the yacht will be questioned.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Market experts are convinced 2024 will conclude with a soft economic landing. This contradicts initial predictions that a global recession would disrupt things.  Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds unpacks why predictions have changed. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prices have bounced back in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction - with an impressive 5.5 percent increase across the board. The sixth event of the new dairy season, it is the largest percentage lift since March 2021, and a far cry from the the beginning of July when prices plunged 6.9 percent. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains what this means for the primary sector. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has moved on Auckland apartment developer Du Val Group, taking the rare step of placing it in statutory management. The move follows the group of companies being placed in interim receivership on August 2 after an application by the Financial Markets Authority. NZ Herald property editor Anne Gibson says investigations are still ongoing. "We don't really know what's going on here - we know that it is complex and serious."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Prime Minister Chris Luxon has urged local councils to rein in unnecessary spending. This speech has prompted some backlash - why do we think this is? All Blacks assistant coach Leon MacDonald has stepped down after just a handful of tests. Head coach Scott Robertson says this comes down to coaching differences - what do we think? New research reveals a concerning number of five-year-olds are starting school without the ability to form proper sentences - should we be worried? Is this the fault of ECE teachers - or parents? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 22 August 2024, an All Blacks coach quits. Rugby editor Elliott Smith examines what's behind Leon McDonald's shock resignation. Wellington Regional Councillor Thomas Nash is very upset that Chris Luxon told off councils for their spending habits. The Education Review Office has found an alarming number of kids turn up to school without being able to talk properly - where does parents' responsibility come in? The Huddle debates councillors getting a telling off and whether it's good to call it quits quickly if a relationship isn't working. 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.

Kiwibank's net profit increased 15 percent - and it says it is fulfilling its role as a disruptor. The state-owned bank brought in $202 million and grew its lending book by 9.3 percent to $32.4 billion in the 12 months to June 30. Deposits also increased $2.4 billion, or 9.4 percent, to $28.2 billion. CEO Steve Jurkovich says the bank has commited to supporting people as best as it can. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been complaints from local Government officials following the Prime Minister's 'back to basics' speech. Speaking at the LGNZ Conference, Chris Luxon has said councils need to rein in spending, even calling the Takina convention centre hosting the event a 'waste of money'. Regional councillor Thomas Nash slammed the speech on social media as mana-diminishing, paternalistic, and visionless. Nash says he wanted to the Prime Minister to present a vision for the future. "And we need actually to work together - rather than just sling mud at each other." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research suggests many new entrants start school without needed language skills, impacting literacy skills. Nearly two-thirds of teachers surveyed in the Education Review Office's research say Covid has affected children's language development. It's alongside more than two-thirds of parents saying their child had some language difficulty before starting school. Early Childhood Council Chief Executive Simon Laube says language starts with parents. "Yes, you could always improve oral literacy for the children in ECE, but there's a growing number of children who aren't even going to ECE." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An energy boss says predicted rain will take the strain off New Zealand's power supply. Winstone Pulp plans to close its central North Island pulp and saw mills because of spiking electricity prices, putting more than 200 jobs on the line. Transpower is now offering power generators early access to emergency hydro-lake reserves - with levels massively below average for this time of year. Meridian CEO Neal Barclay says rain and snowmelt in spring and summer will raise lake levels. "As soon as the lakes start filling up, we can start easing more into hydro-generation. We'll certainly see stock prices start to soften quite a lot." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's shock across the rugby world as Leon MacDonald exited the All Blacks coaching staff - seemingly out of the blue. MacDonald confirmed his departure today, leaving on the eve of the team's departure to South Africa, just five tests into the Scott Robertson era. ZB sports commentator Elliott Smith says it was likely Razor's decision to axe MacDonald. "If he wanted Leon to stay, he could have said - no, we can figure this out. But Leon's gone, this isn't working. It's Scott Robertson's team, he wants to imprint the way he wants to coach on this team." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has made a case against ACT's controversial Treaty Principles Bill. Peters claimed he wouldn't support the Bill beyond the first reading - and outlined an alternative approach. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacks Winston's arguments. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.