Larry Williams Drive

This is the “block of cheese and cup of coffee” budget. Because that’s all you’re going to be able to buy with that extra $27 a week. One block of $21 tasty cheese and one $6 cup of coffee. And that’s only if you earn below $70K a year. As I said earlier, I think the first reaction low-income Kiwis will have is to be pleasantly surprised but that will probably wear off pretty quickly. Once you realise how little you’re getting and that you’re only getting it for three months. You’ll get it for August, September and October and then you’ll lose it just before Christmas when you probably need it the most. There are a bunch of things I don’t understand about the decision to helicopter this amount of money into the accounts of only some Kiwis and for only three months. First of all, why so little? It’s just big enough to be better than a poke in the eye, but just small enough to feel miserly. Second, why exclude pensioners? Pensioners buy groceries too. They’ll be running out of money too. Telling them to use the

There's big drama on the set of Dancing with the Stars. Eric Murray and Rhys Mathewson have both got Covid and have had to bow out of the competition paving the way for Alex Vaz and Newstalk ZB’s very own Kerre Woodham to return. Kerre joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Addressing the cost-of-living crisis was at the forefront of today's budget. Anyone earning less than $70k will get a one-off $350 over three months from August – $27 a week. But beneficiaries and pensioners miss out.  Public transport will stay half price and the fuel tax reduction will continue for another two months. Finance Minister Grant Robertson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The winners – the losers?  What's been the reaction?  How do you rate Robertson today and Luxon's response? Chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says the Government is taking New Zealanders backwards with its budget. They say Grant Robertson spent too much money while Kiwis are continuing to fall behind every week.National Party leader Christopher Luxon joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Barrett is working with psychologists to avoid getting any more red cards. What's in the budget for sport? Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health is at the forefront of this budget. Billions are being put aside to wipe DHB debt, Pharmac’s getting almost 200 million dollars over two years and the new Māori Health Authority is up for 168 million over four years. But what's in this budget for those on the front line? I'm talking doctors, and nurses ... remember we've got 4,000 nursing vacancies right now. Paul Goulter, CEO of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the UK, an unnamed Conservative MP (from the party of government) has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. The UK government announces a new law will be introduced to change the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland.  Plus, a UK charity shop worker found a foreign banknote worth £140,000 – but he didn't keep a penny for himself.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the eve of budget day and everyone's got their wishlist.  Whether it's health, cost-of-living relief or climate change. We'll find out the Government's priorities tomorrow.  NZ Herald’s Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The border is opening but there's concern international students aren't exactly queuing up to return to New Zealand. International education used to be our fourth-biggest export earner, bringing in 5 billion dollars a year. But it's feared new changes to post-study work rights for international students could be putting students off coming here. Chris Whelan, chief executive of Universities New Zealand, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Act right to be upset with Anne Tolley for announcing what she thinks Tauranga's priorities are for the by-election candidates? She's not an elected official but she seems to be doing a good job for Tauranga – so shouldn't she be able to give her take? Police this afternoon released a statement, saying they're concerned that apathy or acceptance of gun crime might be setting in in some communities. Who is to blame here? What do you want from the Budget tomorrow? Bostock apples are still exporting to Russia saying it's a humanitarian issue. Is it? Clare de Lore and David Farrar joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on the Huddle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tauranga doesn't have a mayor at the moment as you know but Anne Tolley, the commission chair in charge of running the city, has penned a letter with some priorities for the city for the candidates of the by-election next month.   She said three infrastructure projects need to be top of mind for candidates... Hewletts Road/Hull Road/Totara Street improvements, State Highway 29 grade separation and the Port of Tauranga extension. She also said early commentary from byelection candidates has been “out of touch” with the real needs of the constituency. Act and National have taken offence with Anne Tolley's comments. National Party candidate Sam Uffindell joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many people drive around in a sleep-deprived state. Auckland University scientists are researching how much sleep people can go without before starting to lose control of their impulses. They found even sleeping one hour less than usual immediately impacts reaction times. Auckland University's Arne Niewenhuys told Heather Du Plessis Allan another issue is whether people can still halt inappropriate actions. “For instance, you’re driving a car, like you kind of see the light go to green, you make a left turn but suddenly you see in your rearview mirror like a cyclist or a pedestrian walking and you kind of immediately take your foot back off that pedal.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grant Robertson and Nicola Willis face off on the eve of budget day. Jacinda Ardern is back and working from home. When are we going to see pre-departure testing scrapped? Chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katey Martin retires after nineteen years as a White Fern. Two more All Black front-rowers are headed to France. Tiger Woods has a crack at Phil Mickelson. Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US President has met grieving families of victims of the Buffalo shooting. An 18-year-old gunman shot 13 people, and killed 10 in a racially motivated attack on Saturday. He claimed to have been inspired by Christchurch's mosque shootings. Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis Allan Joe Biden warned a "hateful minority" mustn't be allowed to distort the nation, whose diversity is a strength. “He was very emotional and Joe Biden is, by nature, a very emotional person, wears his heart on his sleeve and he called this an act of terrorism.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We will hear a raft of company profit announcements in the next two weeks. Is the New Zealand share market performance, down over 5% so far this month, telling us investors expect poor results? We have results from a few retirement operators this week and this has been one of the weakest sectors this year with share prices all off over 20%. Is this the weak housing market and what are you expecting in terms of news here? And let's pivot to the budget, anything to be nervous about from tomorrow’s announcement? Frances Sweetman, Milford Asset Management, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've finally got to the bottom of how we’ve ended up in the ludicrous situation in last week’s immigration reset where nurses are not on the highest priority list for new migrants. If you heard our interview with the Aged Care Association last night, you’ll already know this seems to be the result of a massive stuff up. Turns out that – as suspected – the Aged Care Association asked the Government to bump nurses down from the highest priority list and instead put them on the list where they need to work for two years before they get their New Zealand residency. But the association also asked for nurses to be bonded to their employer for those two years so that the nurses wouldn’t come here to work for the aged care sector which pays less and immediately quit and go work for a DHB, which pays more. Problem is, that the Government only gave the association half of what it asked for: they only bumped the nurses down the priority lists but they didn’t bond them to employers. So, they’ve left the aged care sector

Assurances removing Covid testing requirements for travel won't put New Zealand at risk.  Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins says pre-departure testing is now a lot less important in our protection framework.  He's indicated the requirement will go earlier than August – as had been announced. Auckland Airport's chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui told Heather du Plessis-Allan other barriers remain in place. “Such as RATs on arrival or requirements in the system that prevent people with symptoms from getting on planes that don’t rely on pre-departure tests.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unease we're becoming a bit blasé about shootings. Police are investigating two gang-related shootings within days of each other in Wairoa – including one where a child's bedroom window was destroyed by a shotgun blast. They say several people had heard the gunshots and not reported them. Police Association President Chris Cahill told Heather du Plessis-Allan he thinks it's because we're seeing so many firearms incidents reported every day. “It’s why we’ve been arguing for so long about the need to have much better gun control in New Zealand because this is the outcome of it, it becomes the norm.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.