Larry Williams Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 8 November 2024, Auckland public transport users are set to be hit with huge disruptions as KiwiRail is shutting the entire train network for almost 100 days over the course of the next year.Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the work has to be done. Will Kiwis care if our Government starts cuddling up to Donald Trump to gain trade and defence advantages? Heather reckons we should immediately copy Australia's social media ban for under 16s. Plus the Huddle debates whether the All Blacks can beat Ireland tomorrow morning and why Damien Mackenzie is just not convincing just yet. 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.

European leaders are meeting in Hungary for the European Political Community Summit – with the US election likely top of the agenda. Among the impacts of the election include Donald Trump’s lack of keenness to Europe, and talks of tariffs. But UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Heather du Plessis-Allan the biggest concern is what he’ll do with donating to Ukraine, and whether Europe will need to step up even more. Meanwhile, UK Labour MP Mike Amesbury has been suspended from the party after video emerged of him appearing to punch a man to the ground with a court date looming. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asia is bracing for tariffs from Donald Trump’s election victory. The President-elect is proposing adding up to 20 percent on import tariffs, but is also vowing to impose 60 percent on Chinese imports. But Asia business correspondent Peter Lewis told Heather du Plessis-Allan Asia has been preparing for this for a couple of years now. He says some economists reckon this could knock 2.5 percentage points off of China’s GDP, and Japan and South Korea could also get dragged into the crosshairs. Lewis says there's also a lot of questions around security - as Trump calls for countries to pay more for Taiwan's defence. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions over how New Zealanders will be feeling when the Government starts getting cosy with US Presidential-elect Donald Trump. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark suggested on the radio this morning that it might want to rethink its moves to get closer to the US. She believes it wouldn’t be a popular thing to do to be seen to be strategically realigning with an administration which is volatile and unpredictable on foreign policy. Otago University geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sports journalists Lavina Good and Nikki Styris joined Heather du Plessis-Allan for the Sports Huddle. The All Blacks are set to take on Ireland in Dublin in a rematch of last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal – but will be without Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett due to injury. Formula 1 drivers have lambasted the FIA over its clampdown on swearing, telling president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind his own language. Former rugby league coach Sir Graham Lowe has launched a bid for an NRL license for Christchurch team Southern Orcas – one of three from the South Island trying to form part of an expanded league. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More details are coming to light around the death of ex-One Direction singer, Liam Payne. The 31-year-old died last month in a fall from the balcony of a hotel in Argentina. Three people have been charged in connection with his death – one with abandoning Payne in a vulnerable state before he died – the others with supplying him with drugs. Buenos Aires Herald editor Valen Iricbar told Heather du Plessis-Allan one of those charged didn't travel with him to Argentina. “It sounds, from the information that I received from the prosecutor, that it’s someone who accompanied him when he was in Buenos Aires during his stay.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transport Minister says KiwiRail will be held accountable for any delays in fixing Auckland's rail network. The rail operator's being given $200 million in government funding to carry out the repairs – needed before the City Rail Link opens. There'll be 96 days of full network closures and 24 days of partial - from Christmas to January 2026. Simeon Brown told Heather du Plessis-Allan KiwiRail's committed strongly to that, and there's no room for delays. “In terms of the timing, there is no more time other than what’s been provided.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Irish have a chance for revenge against the All Blacks for last year’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. The All Blacks will go to Dublin missing Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor through injury, while Ethan de Groot has been omitted for failing to meet team standards. Ireland will also be looking to get one over Rieko Ioane, after the midfielder got into a social media spat with Irish legend Johnny Sexton over the fallout from the quarterfinal, which then stretched into his book. Former All Black Ant Strachan joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says he's open to following Australia's lead in looking into banning social media for children. Law-makers across the Tasman will legislate a blanket a ban on social media for children under 16 – including the likes of TikTok, Facebook and X. Christopher Luxon says there's merit to the plan, especially given the incidence of cyber-bullying he's heard about in New Zealand. But Newstalk ZB senior political commentator Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan he has questions over how it’ll be implemented. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed veteran political advisor Susie Wiles as chief of staff for his return to the White House. The 67-year-old becomes the first woman appointed to the role, having been playing an active role behind the scenes in Republican politics. Wiles entered Trump's orbit in 2016 when she ran his campaign operations in Florida, who then used her to help Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott in their campaigns. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks are getting ready for their biggest test of their end-of-year tour against Ireland. The All Blacks will be without Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor in Dublin, in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal. Meanwhile, Formula 1 drivers have hit out at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over controversies about swearing in press conferences. Ben Sulaymen has come under fire for calling drivers ‘rappers’ after Max Verstappen was fined for swearing in Singapore to describe his car. Weekend Sport host Jason Pine joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NCEA exams have been running for one week and already there have been complaints over being too hard. Teachers at Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls have written to NZQA complaining about the Level 2 maths and biology papers. Its head of maths says the writer of the algebra paper was trying to be creative and was a ‘little too far removed from the classroom’. Diocesan principal Heather McCrae joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I reckon we might want to consider doing what Australia's planning to do and banning the kids from using social media until they’re 16. Now at the moment, we don’t have a huge amount of detail on what's being proposed, but we do know that the Australians are planning to put in the highest age limit in the world. And then put the onus on social media companies to make this work, not parents or kids, or even the Government. So there will be an age verification tool, either biometrics or government ID, and the social media companies have to use it. They have to keep the kids off. And if they don’t, they get penalised. And this is exactly how it should work. Because if they aren’t forced to take responsibility, they won’t take responsibility. They will simply blame someone else and so oh it's the parents, it's the Government, they're not doing enough, and if there's one thing we can say with certainty, it's that the social media companies are not taking responsibility now. They know their product is bad for kids,

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sent his congratulations to Donald Trump - and the pair will be looking to meet soon. After a close race, Trump beat out Harris for the US presidency, and Starmer is hopeful he and Trump can maintain the strong relationship between both regions. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the pair first met in New York in September and seemed to hit it off - but there's still lingering questions concerning the UK's interactions with the Harris campaign. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high after Donald Trump swept through the battleground states and won the presidency. Despite the race starting off too close to call, markets picked up after Trump was determined the winner of the election. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explains what happens next. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers have voiced their disapproval with Westpac over their emissions targets for New Zealand producers. The bank's new climate targets will require Kiwi farmers to get their climate targets down to 0.75 tons of carbon per ton of milk - while Australian farmers need to get emissions down to 0.85 tons of carbon. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained the controversy further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump is set to return to the White House - leaving economists everywhere to wonder what comes next. Trump won't take office until next January, but his proposed policies regarding business, trade and tariffs have people guessing. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann explains it could be an interesting four years. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, experts are wondering about the implications that come with a second Trump presidency. Donald Trump has won the US election after securing more than the 270 Electoral College votes he needed to win. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says there's concerns about his trade policy - and people are hoping he'll roll back the tariffs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 7 November 2024, Donald Trump's the new US president-elect, so what does this mean for NZ trade and world peace? A fascinating insight from Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters. Democrats are waking up with a bad hangover - Barack Obama's former speechwriter David Litt hazards a guess where it all went wrong for Kamala Harris. Plus, law expert Randy Zelin on what happens now with Donald Trump's numerous convictions and criminal charges. In other news, the Treaty Principles Bill has been unveiled, the All Blacks team to take on Ireland has been revealed and Heather is feeling very very very smug. 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.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Donald Trump is going to be the next President of the United States. What do we make of it - is it the worst news ever or are people overreacting? Will the Democrats understand why they lost?  The Treaty Principles Bill got released today - how do we see this playing out? Will Luxon change his mind about killing off the bill?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.