Larry Williams Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute and Labour candidate for Wellington Bays Craig Renney joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  The Government has confirmed it plans to make major changes to regional councils, including axing regional councillors and replacing regional councils with groups of local mayors. Do we think this is a good idea?  New reports show more universities are giving out more 'A' grades and it's prompted concern from some. Are we diluting excellence?  Black Friday's coming up this week, but the deals are already in full swing. Are we getting into it? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has announced this afternoon that it is scrapping regional councils - and I reckon you need to put this on your list of some of the best news that you have heard in a long time for turning this country around. Regional councils have got to go. It's not so much the elected councillors, right? I mean, obviously they have to go as well.  But we simply don't need that layer of bureaucracy with regional councils, when we already have city and district councils and we already have central Government. It's just far too much. But scrapping the elected guys, that's only gonna save us a little bit of money. We're talking peanuts here. The real money is going to be saved in the stuff that happens in the back office at the regional councils, the stuff that's done by the unelected officials and the consultants that they bring in. And when I'm what I'm talking about here is the plans. Now let me tell you about the plans - you probably don't realize it because this stuff is so boring it will pu

The Reserve Bank is set to deliver their final Monetary Policy Statement for 2025 tomorrow, and reports indicate the OCR will be cut further. Economists are widely expecting the OCR to drop 25 basis points to 2.25  percent - with room for further cuts down the line.  HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham speculated further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fonterra's forewarning farmers falling global dairy prices could hit their bottom lines. The dairy co-op recently cut its seasonal farmgate milk payout midpoint forecast - from $10 to $9.50. It paid out $10.16 last season. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newly elected regional councillors are in for a big change, with sweeping Government reforms. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop recently unveiled plans to replace the country's 11 regional councils with boards consisting of local mayors.  He suggests this will streamline decision-making, planning and infrastructure across regions. LGNZ Regional Sector Chair Deon Swiggs says the mandate for mayors is different, so they wouldn't have expected to be on a regional board.  "There might be some mayors that go - great, yep, we want to get our hands on that regional council. There will be others who go - this is not my jam, I don't want to do that, what are you thinking?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's revelations a rise in top grades at universities may not be down to New Zealanders getting smarter. Analysis by the New Zealand Initiative reveals 'A ' grades have increased from 22 percent to 36 percent of all grades since 2006. B grades have fallen from 47 percent to 38, while C grades have dropped from 20 percent to 17. NZ Initiative research fellow Dr James Kierstead says 'A' grades are becoming the most common grade for university assignments and that shouldn't be the case. "It's not really something we want to follow the US in, because grade inflation's been a big deal in the states and it's helped undermine half a dozen universities there." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's belief from experts that efforts to launch a single electronic medical record are 'well overdue'. The Government is embarking on a 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan to improve Health New Zealand's digital infrastructure.  The single record would replace 6,000 different systems currently in use. College of GPs Medical Director Luke Bradford says it's needed.  "We've been doing fragmented, piecemeal, bespoke solutions that don't get delivered for years, so this is something that we can at least build towards." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is proposing one of the biggest reform packages around local Government in decades. Ministers are launching consultation on major proposals - including replacing regional councils with boards made up of mayors from the region's city and district councils.  It would aim to streamline decision-making, planning and infrastructure across regions - and boards would prepare a regional reorganisation plan within two years of being set up. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says it's time to re-examine local Government and make changes. "It would be the biggest shake-up since 1989, but we think, given we're going to make these changes to the way in which we do things locally anyway, now's the time to basically do it all." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian politician Pauline Hanson has been suspended from Parliament for seven days after refusing to apologise for wearing a burqa in the Senate. The One Nation leader caused outrage yesterday when she walked in wearing the religious garment. Just five senators voted against the motion to censure her.  Australian correspondent Murray Olds unpacked the reactions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's proposing to abolish regional councils, and replace them with boards made up of mayors from the region's city and district councils. The proposals would deliver the most significant reforms to local Government since 1989. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says more details will be revealed later down the line.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not much changes between formats for Blair Tickner, who's included in the 14-strong Black Caps squad for next week's opening cricket test against the West Indies in Christchurch. The 32-year-old, who performed well when called on across the white ball fixtures against the Windies, has spent the past two English County seasons playing for Derbyshire. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A-pluses all round for a nationwide maths trial. The $40 million Government programme targeted 1500 Year 7 and 8 students needing extra support, through small-group tutoring up to four times a week.  Education Minister Erica Stanford says early indicators show students averaged one to two years progress.  "It tells me that there's no substitute for excellent, explicit teaching in a structured way. And what that shows is that when we have a curriculum that supports that and professional learning and development that supports that, then you get these results."  All schools who requested to be part of the programme have been accepted.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ukrainian officials are expressing their thanks to the US, following disgruntled comments from the US President. Officials from both sides are negotiating details of the proposed 28-point peace plan in Switzerland,  which includes Ukraine ceding territory and reducing its military. Earlier this morning, Donald Trump accused Ukrainian leaders of showing zero gratitude over US peace efforts. UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacked the ongoing discussions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank is set to make an announcement this week, and experts are expecting at least one more cut to the OCR. Markets are projecting the OCR will be cut down to 2.25, and they've priced it in accordingly. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, lawyer and political commentator Liam Hehir and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  New reports claim New Zealand's wasting 1.2 million tonnes of food every year - but most of it is thrown away during production before it makes its way to the supermarket. What do we make of this? Ahead of the election, National is promising to increase KiwiSaver contributions by 2032 as part of their election campaign. Will this get votes? Speaking of the election, new polls show prospective voters are in favour of adjusting any capital gains tax for inflation. Labour has no plans to take this on board - should they consider this? Plenty of media commentators have outlined their concerns with Air New Zealand this week. Do we agree Air New Zealand needs to improve themselves? Will more Kiwis jump to Jetstar?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 24 November 2025, if you're building a new home or doing a biggish renovation you'll soon be forced to buy a building warranty in case of building faults. Building Minister Chris Penk talks to Heather about the details. Koura's Rupert Carlyon says employers should be stopped from decreasing salaries to accommodate higher Kiwisaver contribution rates. The eye-watering amount of food that gets thrown away every year - and the surprising worst offender. Finance Minister Nicola Willis hits back at suggestions that Prime Minister Chris Luxon might get rolled by one of his MPs. Plus, the Huddle debates why we're so fed up with Air New Zealand, its service and especially its prices! 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.

New surveys show Auckland business confidence is on the up, with reports indicating businesses are feeling less pessimistic ahead of the new year. Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges says the latest November survey shows the city isn't 'out of the woods' but it's no longer 'stuck in the darkest part of the forest'. Bridges says there's room for the economy to improve, but the OCR's coming down and farmers are making more money - and things are feeling more hopeful. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's growing speculation that National is looking to oust Chris Luxon as leader ahead of the election, but Finance Minister Nicola Willis is disputing these rumours. Reports have claimed National is looking to replace Luxon with Chris Bishop, but this is mostly speculation. Nicola Willis says the party has a Prime Minister who's delivering significant reforms - and making good on the promises National campaigned on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let's talk about Air New Zealand. Look, if I was Air New Zealand, I would feel pretty beaten up after the weekend's opinion pieces. Bruce Cotterill  wrote a piece in one newspaper complaining that if Air New Zealand want to charge as much as they do, then they have to do the job better and be on time more often. And then, Sam Stubbs wrote a piece in another newspaper telling them to stop overcharging domestic travellers. Now, I cannot explain the timing. I can't explain why both those guys wrote harsh pieces about the same airline on the same weekend. But what's weirder about it is that I almost did exactly the same thing.  I almost had a bit of a rant about Air New Zealand myself this weekend, because I had to pull out of an event on account of their ticket prices. What it was is the husband and I were planning to go to a thing in Wellington. We started doing all the organizing, had the babysitter covered, organized to work out of Wellington for the day - and we went to book the flights and sa

New Zealand farms and food producers appear to be outpacing other countries when it comes to reducing food waste. A report commissioned by the Ministry of Environment reveals more than 1.2 million tonnes of food is wasted or thrown away here every year. The total proportion of food wasted is between 5 and 10 percent - considerably lower than the global estimate of 30 to 40 percent. University of Otago nutrition professor and report author Sheila Skeaff says household food waste is still as high as most other countries, but producers are ahead. "We produce a lot of food and we're pretty good at making sure that we make the best use of that, particularly on farms and in processing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.