Larry Williams Drive

There's pressure on Hamas to agree to a US-led Gaza peace plan.  The proposed deal includes ending the war, returning hostages, and pulling out Israeli troops. An interim Palestinian Government would be led by Donald Trump and include experts like former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.  A number of western and gulf state leaders have welcomed the deal. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced support for the plan - but he questioned what would happen if Hamas didn't agree. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently confirmed he invited LuLu Hypermarket to set up in Australia while on a visit to the United Arab Emirates. This comes as Australia looks to develop a new free trade agreement with the Middle Eastern nation.  Australian correspondent Murray Olds says a new player in the grocery market would help break up the current duopoly.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's cautious optimism within the Black Caps about the prospect of a New Zealand team in cricket's Big Bash T20 league. NZ Cricket are investigating whether joining the Australian competition is viable. Sports commentator Nick Bewley revealed what we know so far. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kāinga Ora is under fire after Wellington's Dixon Street Flats were re-sold for almost triple the price. The Government housing agency initially sold the flats to Taranaki Whanui earlier this year for just over $1 million. Nearly three weeks later, the flats had been re-sold to a prominent Wellington developer for $3 million - a move Kāinga Ora has gone on to defend. Wellington City Councillor Ben McNulty says this won't be good for the taxpayers - but the opportunity cost of potentially bartering for ages was higher. "From a Wellington perspective, we're just glad to see something happening." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The organisation behind the Eurovision Song Contest has confirmed it will hold a vote to determine whether Israel will participate next year. The European Broadcasting Union confirmed it will invite 68 member countries to give their view at a general assembly meeting in November. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says other countries - including Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Spain have all said they would consider dropping out of the contest if Israel was allowed to stay involved.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Synlait has confirmed the sale of its loss-making factory at Pōkeno to US company, Abbott. The infant-formula company is selling the site and related assets for $307 million, and will use the proceeds to pay down debt. Harbour Asset Management expert Shane Solly unpacks the data further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government recently confirmed they were going to overhaul the assessment of earthquake-prone buildings - a move welcomed by property owners and building engineers alike. The changes will leave just 80 buildings needing full retrofits and 1500 buildings will still need some remediation - many of them in Wellington. Property Institute CEO Leonie Freeman has welcomed these changes and claimed they'll help communities grow. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on the Huddle, Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani and Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  A big shake-up of our earthquake strengthening laws that's said to reduce significant costs for building owners was announced today. Do we think these changes are the way to go?  Did the Government make the right decision to not recognise a Palestinian state until certain conditions were met?  Producer Laura's food waste bin wasn't collected last week because it was too heavy. Is this another mark against the green bins? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 29 September 2025, Building Minister Chris Penk reveals how his huge overhaul of earthquake building rules is going to re-balance risk and practicality. Labour leader Chris Hipkins says a Government he leads would recognise the state of Palestine. Silver Ferns star Grace Nweke has publicly called for coach Dame Noeline Taurua's return. Former All Blacks Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens says it's a huge show of support and questions whether Netball CEO Jennie Wyllie should be in the job. Plus, the Huddle weighs in on the Palestine question and producer Laura's food scraps bin dilemma. 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.

Can I just come to the defence of Winston Peters for a minute? Winston has been labelled a coward for the position that he took on Palestine on Saturday, which I do not think is fair because it appears to me that what he's done is actually the opposite of cowardice. The easy thing would have actually been for him to just go with the crowd, just say, yep, we recognize the Palestinian state, because that's what everybody else is doing. The hard thing for him to do is go against the crowd and go against what everybody at the UN is doing, go against the domestic media opinion, go against the commentator's consensus. So actually, when you think about it, he's not being cowardly at all - and I agree with his analysis at the moment. Set aside whether there should be a Palestinian state - because of course there should be a Palestinian state, and I think most of us think that, right? If it's possible, it should happen. But that's not what this is about. It is about whether you do that right now, because doi

Over the weekend, the Government confirmed it wouldn't recognise Palestinian statehood - for the time being. Winston Peters made the announcement at the UN General Assembly, saying conditions weren't yet right.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis has defended this move - and says no matter what happened, one side would have taken issue with their choice. "We, as a Cabinet, decided to do what we believed was an independent, New Zealand-based decision - based very much on the facts in front of us what we thought was the best thing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New World worker's taken to social media to complain about an incoming water bottle ban.  A Reddit user made a post stating their store's banning staff from having their bottles at checkout, with management telling them they can drink during breaks.  Rudd Hughes from the Workers First Union says this isn't the first time they've seen this, and might stem from customer service concerns.  "But actually, if you've got hydrated people who are comfortable and happy, they're going to give much better customer service than people who are dying for a drink." A Foodstuffs spokesperson says policies vary between stores, but they expect store teams to be reasonable.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Dame Noeline Taurua coaching saga could be near an end after the Silver Ferns wrapped up their series against South Africa 3-nil. Game-day captain Grace Nweke took the microphone in the post-match ceremony and called for Taurua to return from her stand down period while under internal review. She said the coach is missed and they want her back in charge. Former All Blacks Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens has voiced his support for Grace Nweke's speech. "I thought it was well-said and I certainly support everything she said in last night's speech." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been quick to confirm his party would recognise Palestine as a state if Labour leads the Government after next year’s election. On Saturday, while at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced New Zealand would not recognise the state of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Hipkins says Israel's actions are 'unacceptable' and not recognising Palestine sends Israel a message that New Zealand is okay with the 'unfolding genocide.' "New Zealand cannot stand by and cannot turn our backs on what's unfolding in Palestine. It is unfolding genocide, people are being starved to death." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A shake-up to the quake-prone building standards could be a reprieve for iconic properties facing large retrofit bills. The Government's loosening the regime to only capture buildings genuinely posing a risk to life in medium and high seismic risk zones.  It'll mean only 80 will need full retrofits and 15,000 will still need some remediation.  Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says there'll be a lot of places now off the hook for having expensive work. "A large number of buildings that will remain caught by the system to some extent, but will only need a targeted retro-fit, or maybe just a securing of a façade."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says New Zealand remains committed to the peace process in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Winston Peters has told the UN our Government won't be recognising a Palestinian state.  Chris Luxon says we can't acknowledge a state whose de facto Government is the designated terror group, Hamas. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Peters delivered a 'well-argued and well-positioned speech' and New Zealand has always had its own foreign policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian telco giant Optus  is investigating another network outage that led to nine failed triple-0 calls on the NSW south coast. Optus has issued a statement saying the problem stemmed from a mobile phone tower site in Dapto. It affected calls between 3am and 12:20pm on Sunday, including calls to the triple-0 network. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this incident will cause significant damage to the relationship Optus has with its customers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

United States golf captain Keegan Bradley has taken full responsibility for his side's Ryder Cup defeat to Team Europe. Team USA threatened the greatest recovery in the event's history, winning eight and a half points from 12 singles matches on the final day only to lose 15-13 in New York. Sportstalk host Jason Pine recapped the action. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's open to legislating to over-rule court decisions on incorporating tikanga Māori. That's from the Prime Minister - echoing comments last week from his Justice Minister.  Paul Goldsmith claimed at a Law Association meeting that including concepts of Māori customs and values in law could cost the country investment. Former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says the Law Commission had been doing a substantial amount of work on tikanga. "I would have thought that what the Crown should be doing is taking a good look at that report and trying to provide some definition of where and when tikanga would apply. So there's no point in just having a sort of group lamentation about it, it's within the ability of Parliament to knuckle down and do something about it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 26 September 2025, police have revealed they came across Tom Phillips and his missing kids several times during their period in the bush. Former police negotiator Lance Burdett is surprised they weren't able to confront him sooner. Former Wellington mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast has met with Wellington Council's boss for a please explain after her old mayoral desk turned up at a second hand shop with a huge number of confidential documents in it. Former Wallaby Tim Horan says Australia really needs to win at least one of the upcoming games against the All Blacks - can they break the fortress? Plus, the Sports Huddle debates the Bledisloe and whether Noeline Taurua is likely to get her job 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.