Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and former Labour Minister Stuart Nash joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! 

ACT leader David Seymour says the Paris Agreement needs to be reformed - or else New Zealand should walk away. Is he right? Will National get on board for it?

Helen Clark and John Key are set to attend China's big military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and Kim Jon...

Finally, we have a serious party who has spent time thinking about it - and is now seriously suggesting that New Zealand should pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Now, that was what came from that ACT Party announcement that I told you would be coming today that you needed to keep an eye out for.

ACT says Paris isn't working for New Zealand and it says we should push for the agreement to be reformed - and if it isn't reformed...

There's hopes the promised 1,000 new jobs created from Amazon's locally based data centres will go to Kiwis.

The tech giant's investing $7.5 billion into the Auckland-based centres, which go live today.

It'll mean New Zealand customers can use the new cloud region to run workloads and store data locally.

Amazon Web Services country manager Manuel Bohnet says they're taking a long-term view with this project.

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Changes could be in store for gang legislation after a judge handed back a patch to a Mongrel Mob member. 

Police were ordered to return the patch after its owner was arrested for wearing it publicly. 

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says he can't comment on decisions of judges, but isn't ruling out changing the law. 

"There's a legal process to go through, it may be appealed - I don't know. We'll wait and see how it...

A luxury real estate agent says there's huge interest only in two areas of New Zealand, with the Government's planned loosening of the foreign buyers ban.

By next year, Active Investor Plus visa holders will be able to build or buy homes worth at least $5 million.

They’ll still need to invest another $5 million separately to qualify.

Forbes Global's Anthony Mosinkhof says Auckland and Queenstown are the main options for foreign buy...

A defence of Wellington's City to Sea Bridge as it faces demolition. 

Work to demolish the earthquake prone bridge could start this week after the High Court tossed out a judicial review to save it. 

Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young says even if people think it's ugly, it does serve an important purpose. 

"It's a safety aspect - it's a lovely way to cross over to the waterfront rather than going over a pedestr...

There's hopes from David Seymour that he can convince National to get on board with ditching climate change targets. 

The ACT leader wants New Zealand to leave the Paris climate change agreement - unless we can negotiate a better deal.

But Prime Minister Chris Luxon says leaving the deal will only hurt our farmers, as international consumers value New Zealand's clean brand. 

David Seymour says his party is influential.&nb...

There's been plenty of debate about New Zealand's future in the Paris Agreement, following some comments made by David Seymour.

The ACT leader wants New Zealand to pull out of the global climate agreement, unless the targets are realistic.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon won't withdraw from the agreement - at least not until the 2026 election is over.

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Police believe Dezi Freeman is receiving additional help as the surge for the alleged gunman continues on.

Freeman is accused of shooting Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart at his Porepunkah property, before escaping into the bush.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Freeman was heavily armed when he made his escape - and there's been no sign of him since.

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The Government's decided against making university entrance harder in its tertiary education shake-up. 

Universities Minister Shane Reti recently announced a package of initiatives to modernise the sector.

Reti's refresh only accepts 23 of 63 recommendations made by the University Advisory Group.

The group's leader, Sir Peter Gluckman, says they recommended changing up entry requirements, as it would ensure quality. 

"We'...

The UK Government is set to introduce tighter rules for migrants granted asylum bringing their families to the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to unveil new  criteria for family members - including tougher English language standards and access to sufficient funds.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says immigration is likely to become a key talking point at the next election, and the Government's feeling pressure from Reform'...

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!

There's growing calls among educators to make learning a second language compulsory for schoolkids - do we agree with this?

Foreign buyers can now buy homes in New Zealand - if they have invested over $5 million, they can buy a home worth $5 million or more. Has the ...

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 1 September 2025, the $5 million dollar rule. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford tells Heather why foreign investors will soon be able to buy expensive homes in New Zealand.  

Should we make learning a second language compulsory? Juliet Kennedy from the NZ association of language teachers tells Heather why we should.

Heather asks Associate Finance Minister Ch...

We've got to talk about Cornwall Park.

So over the weekend, it was quite windy in Auckland. If you're in Auckland, you know what I mean - that was some crazy-ass wind that was going on out there, definitely found the drafts of my house.

If you're out of Auckland, it was kind of like a day in Wellington, but in Auckland. So it was unusual for us.

Now, I don't know where we got to in the end, but the forecast was for gusts ...

There's plenty of solutions being suggested to clear up the current energy crisis - and the former head of Mercury Energy has just unveiled a potential idea.

Fraser Whineray recently suggested the time has come to drop the carbon price that we've put on coal through the ETS in order to bring power prices down. 

He says the ETS is designed to encourage people to use green alternatives, but there isn't a green alternative applic...

Former New Zealand Prime Ministers John Key and Helen Clark will attend a large Chinese military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the Chinese victory against Japan in World War Two.

The ceremony in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday will also feature leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. 

National Minister Chris Bishop says he thinks the invitation reflects the historical circumstances of their Governments.

"Helen Clar...