Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

An economist has raised concerns over NZ First's proposed reform for KiwiSaver contributions - and claimed they're not feasible.

NZ First recently promised to make it compulsory and increase contributions from employers and workers to 10 percent - offset by a tax cut.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub says he approves of the idea of a compulsory scheme, but warns we can't afford a tax-funded one.

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New Zealand First is backing major changes to KiwiSaver ahead of the election and it's sparked discussion about what this could mean going forward.

The party's announced it will campaign on compulsory employee and employer contributions rising to 10 percent, to be offset with tax cuts.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says this will likely be a significant issue ahead of the election, but she's voiced concerns about the tax cuts.

"Fo...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 8 September 2025, the tragic story of the missing Tom Phillips and his kids has come to a close today. The kids are with authorities, Tom Phillips is dead and a police officer critically injured.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell and former police negotiator Lance Burdett speak with Heather as the situation unfolded.

It was a terrible weekend for Labour, with an embarr...

Stuart Nash turning up at the conference over the weekend - that was quite a coup for New Zealand First.

Now, clearly what New Zealand First is trying to do is emulate what Reform - Nigel Farage's party - in the UK is doing. 

If you've been following what they're up to, they have had a huge number of politicians defect to Reform. And every single time it happens, the news media covers it and it makes Reform look like the party...

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Josie Pagani from Child Fund joined in on a discussion following the issue of the day - and more!

The Tom Phillips saga has been eventful - what did we make of all this?

Stuart Nash has switched over to NZ First and Labour lost big to Te Pati Māori in the Tamaki Makaurau by-election. What does this all mean for Labour? 

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The secondary school teachers union is confident its members will take its advice and reject the Government's latest agreement offer. 

It almost doubles the pay increase included in their last offer, but the union says it's unevenly spread across the teaching workforce and sits below inflation. 

PPTA President Chris Abercrombie says teachers can vote any way they want, but the National Executive's recommending sending the...

The race is on to track down the two missing children of Marokopa man Tom Phillips before the end of the day.

Phillips was shot dead earlier today by police, following a burglary in Waikato's Piopio.

Former police negotiator Lance Burdett says the fact they're children will make the hunt so much tougher for police. 

"They'll be panicking, probably,  and it's unpredictable. They won't stick to tracks and trails...so they c...

Prime Minister Chris Luxon has voiced concerns about the missing children of Marokopa man Tom Phillips.

Phillips was shot dead by police this morning, concluding a four-year manhunt, but two of his children are belived to be unaccompanied in the bush. 

Luxon hasn't been briefed on any specific locations the police think the children might be.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon's reflected on the ...

Triple murderer Erin Patterson will have maximum security in jail due to risks from other prisoners.

The 50-year-old's been jailed for life with a non-parole period of 33 years, after feeding her in-laws beef Wellingtons laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms in 2023.

Patterson's also been sentenced for the attempted murder of the sole survivor of the lunch - Ian Wilkinson.

Australia correspondent Oliver Peterson says Patterson f...

A number of police resources have been deployed to try and find Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips' two missing children before it gets dark - after he was shot dead by an officer in the Waikato this morning.

A quad bike being ridden by him and one of his children was stopped by police spikes after a burglary in Piopio.

An approaching officer was then shot multiple times, including in the head, and is receiving surgery on his eye.

A se...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 5 September 2025, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown is celebrating winning a major battle, getting Auckland Transport defunded.

Sarah Dalton from the senior doctors union explains why they have declined the Health Minister's request to take their pay dispute to arbitration.

Former Springbok Kevin Putt is carrying on with the mind games and says South Africa will beat New ...

Can you please stop letting the Springboks get into your head? Cause that is clearly what they're up to. That's why Rassie Erasmus has expressed all surprise at Razor's selections.

He wants the team to second guess themselves.

Who cares what he thinks?

Now, he said, Oh, I'm surprised Fabian Holland's on the bench. It's designed to make Razor and all the lads think they've got this wrong already.

And this is why he's called in ...

A military parade in Beijing has sent a clear message from China to the rest of the world.  

Asia business correspondent Peter Lewis told Heather duPlessis-Allan that ‘China may be the 2nd largest economy in the world, but it's not happy with that.’ 

He said that China is aiming to be more than a regional power across Asia, but given the abundance of US military bases globally, gaining an inter-continental foothold could ...

Green MP Benjamin Doyle has resigned from parliament – citing threats against them and their family as the reason behind this decision.  

They served as New Zealand’s first non-binary member of parliament and will give their final valedictory on September 18th. 

The fallout from a controversial social media post followed Doyle through their time as an MP, and senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the controversy...

The senior doctors’ union says the Health Minister's proposal of arbitration, would've taken away their members right to decide.

Simeon Brown wanted Health NZ and the union to let a third party decide the terms of the contract.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists rejected this and called his proposal a breach of employment law.

Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Heather du Plessis Allan that there were a lot of unknow...

Green MP Benjamin Doyle's resignation from Parliament was inevitable.

That's according to former MP Peter Dunne - who says it's the right outcome for both Doyle and Parliament.

Doyle - who faced questions over controversial social media posts earlier this year - says they've faced an onslaught of hate and violent threats. 

Dunne says Doyle's made the right choice. 

He says it removes a distraction from Parliament and remo...