Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Harry and Meghan have taken a four-day tour to Australia, where they've been combining visits to charitable causes alongside money-making events. This is the pair's first time in Australia since 2018, where they visited as part of an 'intense' royal tour. UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacked the reactions further.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inland Revenue has claimed New Zealand needs higher taxes, building off earlier arguments made by Treasury. It sees scope to increase the goods and services tax (GST) rate - offering a cash transfer to low-income earners - and tax more capital gains. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shares in A2 Milk dropped this week after the company downgraded their earnings forecast - after the business was hoping to increase their net profit for the June year. A2 Milk has cited supply chain issues, partly relating to the conflict in the Middle East. Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland councillor Maurice Williamson and former Green MP Gareth Hughes joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Bunnings is set to begin rolling out facial recognition technology in some stores in order to combat retail crime. Do we think this is the way to go? Will other big stores follow suit? Has the Government made the right call with the four-stage national fuel plan? Are we worried they're not taking things seriously? Moana Pasifika is likely to shut down at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby season - what do we make of this? What do we think went wrong here? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 15 April, 2026, a top economist explains why the Government's not properly preparing for a fuel crisis. A nutritionist disputes Donald Trump's claim that diet drinks kill cancer cells. Former All Blacks captain Taine Randell tells us why he wants to be the New Zealand First MP for Tukituki. And on The Huddle, Maurice Williamson and Gareth Hughes discuss the demise of Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby. 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.

If you haven’t watched the Bunnings video yet showing its staff being attacked, I recommend you go and watch it - especially if you feel uneasy about the company using CCTV for facial recognition. It’s a compilation of incidents that have occurred in its stores. The first incident shows a man pulling a knife on a staff member and threatening them so he can walk out the door with two trolleys’ worth of stolen goods. That happened at the Porirua store. The next incident shows a man holding a box who runs at and knocks over a staff member, while another man behind him tries to steal a second box. That happened at the Takanini store. The incident I found hardest to watch is a man approaching a staff member at their car in a mostly empty car park. He sidles up to them, then smacks them in the head when they’re not expecting it. He then chases the staff member as they run away and trip because they are so frightened. Now, let’s be clear about what’s going on here - Bunnings is releasing this video as part of a PR campaign. It’s trying to convince us that it needs to use facial recognition technology in two of its Hamilton stores. What blows my mind is that it has to go to these lengths. It's been trialling facial recognition since 2018. It's fought its way through a tribunal process in Australia. It's had the Privacy Commissioner here, and the equivalent over the ditch, watching them. It's engaged a Māori digital sovereignty expert. It's released at least two of these video compilations. And all of this, so far in New Zealand, is just for permission to operate in two stores. Not all stores - just two. Two Hamilton stores. That’s because there are still enough people worried that Bunnings will take our biometric data and sell it, lose it or wrongly deny entry to some innocent person. I would have thought this was a slam dunk. I would have thought the answer would be: yes, absolutely - go ahead and use facial recognition if that’s what you need to do to keep your staff safe. Because sure, something might go wrong one day with the CCTV. But go and watch those videos. Things are going wrong right now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Kiwi startup designed around rethinking the way we sleep is getting international recognition. Do Not Disturb Sleep Company, an Auckland manufacturer of premium sleep products, has secured a multi-million-dollar distribution, sales, and marketing agreement in the US. Founder Chris Larcombe says the brand's grown and evolved over the years, and this is great news. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Repeat offenders are the target of the recent Bunnings facial recognition technology rollout. It's turning on scanners in Te Rapa and Hamilton South today, before later rolling them out countrywide. Threats have more than doubled in the hardware retailer's stores in the past four years, 34 percent from repeat offenders. Bunnings New Zealand general manager Melissa Haines says data on regular shoppers won't be kept. "If someone comes into our stores, there's a very quick scan of the face - if there's any match to a person that's previously committed serious harm in our stores, then that's where we're using it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ex-All Blacks captain Taine Randell says he's joining New Zealand First for this year's election, after a long dance with the party. An announcement by leader Winston Peters was scheduled at a public meeting in Hastings on Sunday, but cancelled because of Cyclone Vaianu.  Randall's likely to become Hawke’s Bay official candidate in coming weeks.  He says he's fortunate to have had a great rugby career - but his eyes have now turned to the state of the country.  "Right, now the next phase of my life - I'm pretty keen to contribute to New Zealand."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An employment expert's raising his eyebrows over Xero investigating complaints against the newly crowned New Zealander of the Year. The tech company's reviewing a decade-old accusation of inappropriate behaviour from former chief executive Sir Rod Drury - which has come to light, and he denies. Employment relations specialist Max Whitehead says Xero can't do much. "It's a mystery why Xero are taking any action, there's a 90-day limit on taking a personal grievance. The other thing is that maybe the Human Rights commission - but there's a 12-month limit on that."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fears the Government isn't taking the fuel crisis seriously enough. We have 56.3 days of petrol, 45.4 days of diesel, and 47 days of jet fuel, either landed or on the way. Simplicity chief economist, Shamubeel Eaqub says there seems to be a lack of certainty the fuel will actually arrive. He says we should be conserving supplies more.  "Because any time we buy now gives us more resilience."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former All Blacks captain Taine Randell will stand as a New Zealand First candidate at this year's election. He's reportedly set to  contest the Tukituki seat, currently held by National's Catherine Wedd. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explains why this is big news for NZ First. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world could pay a high price for the US launching war on Iran. Global shipping's in turmoil as Donald Trump's naval blockade in creases uncertainty - although he's hinting peace talks could resume. The International Monetary Fund's warning a prolonged conflict could tilt the global economy towards recession.  US correspondent Dan Mitchinson unpacked the concerns further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moana Pasifika's inaugural head coach is saddened by the franchise's uncertain Super Rugby future. The Pasifika Medical Association owners will not fund another campaign - leaving Moana in limbo. Sportstalk host Elliott Smith speculates further about the side's future. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

United States President Donald Trump has claimed that diet soft drinks could potentially eliminate cancer cells. This was revealed in a podcast interview with Dr Oz, who heads Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nutritionist Nikki Hart has disputed this claim - and says it's 'alarming' that the US President is saying this.  "We know that non-nutritive sweeteners in diet drinks - there's no cause or link to cancer, but then you can't just flip it and go, oh well, I can drink lots of this because it kills cancer." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former US president Barack Obama has revealed Queen Elizabeth II didn't approve of the Brexit referendum. The new book, The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History, revealed that the late monarch questioned why a major political decision would be left to a public vote. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the Queen also voiced concerns with Donald Trump's presidency. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ongoing Middle East conflict has seen Australia business confidence hit lows not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. The US has today moved to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, and the supply shock is likely to hit households hard, according to experts. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute and Tō Waha Media's Carmen Parahi joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  More people are planning to boycott road user charges as the Middle East conflict continues and fuel prices go up. Do we think this will become a serious movement?  There's warning an OCR hike could come as soon as next month, with the Strait of Hormuz blockade generating concerns. How worried should we be?  After 30 years, the Crusaders will be ditching the matchday horses ahead of the big stadium move. How gutting is this? What could replace the horses? Trump's feud with Pope Leo continues - whose side are we on? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 14 April, 2026, a leading economist warns interest rates could go up as early as next month. We talk to a religious expert about how insulting it is to see Donald Trump depicted as Jesus. Why there's no room for the Crusaders' horses at Christchurch's new stadium. And on The Huddle, Carmen Parahi and Tim Wilson come up with alternatives to the horses. 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.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has begun and we now have a clearer picture of how it’s going to work. It doesn’t just cover the strait itself. It runs along the entire Iranian coastline, out through the Gulf of Oman, which the strait feeds into, and then further again into the Arabian Sea. At least two ships have already been turned back. One of them, unsurprisingly, was headed for China. Now here’s the key point. If - and it is a very big if - the United States can successfully keep oil tankers away from Iran, the impact could be fast and severe. We’re talking 10 to 20 days. Iran can apparently store only around 13 days’ worth of oil production. Once those tanks are full, they’re forced to start shutting oil wells. And that’s something they really don’t want to do. Shutting down an oil well can permanently damage its production capacity. There’s no guarantee you ever get it back to where it was. Restarting wells is expensive, risky and slow. Beyond that, there’s the wider economic hit. Around 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports go through Hormuz - and they’ve continued exporting despite the war. In fact, they’ve been earning more, not less. Iran has no real alternative route. So if exports stop, so does the cash. No oil money means no imports, the currency falls, inflation explodes and you start seeing cascading economic problems very quickly. The oil production damage is pretty much a slam dunk. The bigger debate is how fast the broader economy feels it. Because there’s a counter‑argument here: Iran may already have as much as 160 million barrels of oil floating at sea. If that’s right, China keeps getting its oil, Iran keeps getting paid, and this can drag on through to mid-July. And that’s the worst-case scenario for the rest of us. Because then this isn’t a short, sharp shock - it’s a long siege. And that hurts globally. Even the small amount of Iranian oil that’s been leaking onto the market in the past six weeks has been helping to keep prices down. The Economist is calling this a big gamble and that’s exactly what it is. This has the potential to cripple Iran quickly - or to strangle the world economy very slowly. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.