Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

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

Labour's Chris Hipkins has confirmed the party won't reveal their stance on the FTA with India until next week. Why do we think they're waiting?

ANZ has forecasted three OCR hikes before the November election as the Middle East conflict is likely to drive up inflatio...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 13 April, 2026, ANZ thinks the Reserve Bank will raise the OCR as early as July. Chief Economist Sharon Zollner gives us their reasons why.

Labour is being coy on whether it will agree to support the Fair-Trade Agreement with India, Chris Hipkins explains.

Did we over-hype the effects of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Vaianu? And if so, who's to blame?

Plus, Trish Sherson and...

Right, here’s a question I’d like to answer: Do we all have strange priorities in this country, or is it just the evening TV news that does?

Last night, I sat through 13 minutes of TV One telling me nothing had happened with the cyclone before we finally got to the Iran situation, where something actually had happened.

First, One News took us to a reporter in the Bay of Plenty, who told us a tree had come down on the main stre...

Concerns have been raised over the new Wellington water entity, as its board members will be paid twice as much as their Wellington Water counterparts.

The group's new chair will be paid $110,000 - a higher figure than the $60,000 Wellington Water's previous chair was paid.

The entity's CEO will also be paid $645,000 - a higher amount than the previous Wellington Water CEO got.

Wellington mayor Andrew Little says this is disappoint...

There's growing concern about the impact of the Middle East conflict, and at least one major bank has forecasted increases to the OCR.

ANZ has revised its outlook, with forecasted increases to the OCR bringing rates up to 3 percent by October.

Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop says skyrocketing fuel prices will have a flow-on effect on the New Zealand economy - and it's likely inflation will spike too.

"That's an unfortunate ...

Labour's leader is demanding clarity on spending commitments in the India free trade deal - and isn't sure whether the party will back it. 

The deal lives or dies on Labour's decision, with Coalition party NZ First refusing support. 

Chris Hipkins says he's concerned about a clause he claims requires Kiwi businesses to invest $30 billion in India over 15 years. 

He says he wants to see legal advice before making a fi...

A warning Iran has more ways to inflict economic pain if war resumes with the US, other than in the Strait of Hormuz.

Donald Trump's threatening a navy blockade of the shipping lane from 2am NZT after talks in Pakistan have brought no deal.

Iran says military vessels approaching the Strait will be dealt with severely.

Reuters Middle East correspondent Alexander Cornwell says UAE and Saudi Arabian oil terminals could be at risk.

"Th...

Concern from pharmacists over revelations Chemist Warehouse is planning to double its sites in the next decade. 

BusinessDesk reports a confidential briefing for Regulations Minister David Seymour shows it's aiming to have 140 stores.

Independent Pharmacy Group Co-founder John Saywell says corporate chains are squeezing out small local chemists.

"Bigger and cheaper isn't always better, and in healthcare, it's a good idea to ke...

The country's largest bank is now forecasting three Official Cash Rate hikes before the election.

ANZ is predicting three consecutive increases in July, September, and October - bringing the OCR from 2.25 percent to 3 percent.

A week ago, most economists were expecting the central bank to keep the OCR on hold until December.

But the Reserve Bank's hawkish tone is prompting most to change their forecasts.

ANZ chief economist Sharon ...

The Wall Street Journal reports Donald Trump is considering resuming strikes on Iran, with no deal reached in Pakistan yesterday.

The US President's announced his navy will blockade the Strait of Hormuz from 2am NZT.

Iran says any military vessel approaching the Strait will be dealt with severely. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon has confirmed New Zealand hasn't been approached about any possi...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is travelling to Brunei and Malaysia to boost the nation's fuel supply amid the ongoing crisis.

Malaysia and Brunei are key diesel suppliers to Australia, and Albanese has warned these nations could limit supply if the conflict continues. 

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Albanese will leverage Australia's offerings to the regions - including natural gas.

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Rory McIlroy has joined an exclusive group of four to win the Masters back-to-back.

The Northern Irishman has claimed a one-stroke victory to successfully defend the title that he won last year to claim a career grand slam.

He joins Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in winning consecutive titles at Augusta.

Sportstalk host Jason Pine recapped the action further.

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MetService is defending its Cyclone Vaianu warnings, saying it still believes it could have been deadly. 

It's now entirely off-shore and moving away from New Zealand, with all watches and warnings lifted.  

Before it arrived, forecasters warned of 'life-threatening' winds and flooding. 

Meteorologist John Law says the winds were incredibly strong - and some places had more than a months' worth of rainfall. 

"We...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 10 April, 2026, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown signs the country's first city deal. He tells us why he couldn't get the bed levy across the line this time.

Judge Ema Aitken gets to keep her job. Former Attorney General Chris Finlayson tells us if that was the right call.

What was Melania Trump up to with that press conference? Bo Erickson is Reuters US Politics corresp...

Hands up—who knew the ANZ Premiership starts tomorrow?

This is netball.

I’m guessing not many hands went up, which is a worry. It’s somewhat forgivable, given the state of netball’s head office at the moment. It doesn’t have a permanent CEO, and the chair and several board members have recently resigned. So you can understand why things are a bit of a mess and the communication strategy isn’t quite working.

But it’s also not forgiv...

A new alliance has formed to oppose the proposed LNG facility including groups like Master Electricians, Consumer New Zealand, and the Sustainable Energy Alliance.

Smart Energy Alliance spokesperson Gareth Williams told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "our view is that it's very short-sighted, that it doesn't really address the real challenges that New Zealand's electricity system faces."

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First Lady Melania Trump made a seemingly unprompted announcement earlier today denying any ties with Jeffrey Epstein. 

Speculation has arisen online that she made this statement to get ahead of some news that may come out about her, but Reuters White House press correspondent Bo Erickson believes it's just an important issue to her. 

"Obviously this has been bugging her, and the way that she did it is very exceptional wh...

A conduct panel has decided not to stand Judge Ema Aitken down from her position as District Court Judge following an incident at Auckland’s exclusive Northern Club in 2024

Aitken was investigated after she, and her husband, crashed a NZ First event and allegedly shouted at the speaker. 

The panel called her actions “a serious breach of comity" but did not find grounds to revoke her position. 

Former Attorney General Chri...