Larry Williams Drive

Are we running this country on Blu-Tack and paperclips?We almost had power cuts again this morning and apparently we need to get used to it because this is just the way our winters are going to be from now on.So what happened was that Transpower issued a grid emergency just before 8am warning that we might not have enough electricity to power the country.Reporters were on the radio telling people to delay charging laptops and cell phones and consider turning off unnecessary lights.Lines companies were turning ripple-controlled hot water systems in people’s homes.Three things went wrong all at the same time: a gas turbine in Stratford failed to spark, one of Huntly’s turbines stopped working properly and the wind dropped which mean the wind farms stopped producing enough power.This is close to a repeat of what happened last year when a bunch of things went wrong all at exactly the same time: some seaweed got stuck in a hydro pump, Huntly couldn’t fire up another generator fast enough and the wind dropped.Last

New Zealand's first alcohol free bottleshop has opened in Auckland.It aims to remove some of the stigmas surrounding people who don't drink alcohol.Power grid problems continue to plague New Zealand winters.Transpower declared a "grid emergency" this morning when there was an unexpected loss of electricity generation caused by a gas turbine extract failing to start, one of Huntly's turbines stopped working and the wind dropped.It's now harder to be a first homebuyer.A new report from Infometrics has revealed that a combination of record house prices and the limited further potential for growth makes this year the worst for first-home buyers since 1957.You now might be able to have your dead grandparents read bedtime stories again.Amazon has announced that it's working on a feature that can synthesise audio clips of a person's voice and reprogram that as longer speech for Alexa.Simon Wilson and Ben Thomas joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on The HuddleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand now has it's first-ever alcohol free bottleshop.AF Drinks (Alcohol Free) opened today on Ponsonby Road.It hopes to remove some of the stigmas attached to those who don't drink alcohol.AF Drinks founder Lisa King joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel Adesanya will not fight in New Zealand again.He made the decision after seeing the treatment of his City Kickboxing teammates by media and police while under Covid-19 restrictions.The Black Caps’ final test in England kicks off tonight.The team will be playing for pride when take on England in their dead rubber test at Headingley in Leeds.Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Polio has been detected in London for the first time in nearly 40 years.A national incident has been declared after UK health officials detected the virus in London sewage samples.Polio New Zealand president and survivor Brian Robinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's likely been passed on from someone jabbed against the virus to another who's unvaccinated.He says it shouldn't be a problem in New Zealand due to our high vaccination rates.“People are vaccinated as babies and then a bit later on with a booster, so we’re probably OK, but it could be a concern for someone who’s not been vaccinated.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This morning's power woes came close to a repeat of the power cuts which occurred in August last year.Transpower declared a “grid emergency” during the period of peak morning demand.It was due to a mechanical failure at one of Contact Energy’s power plants, a sudden drop in wind speeds, and a drop in power from one of the five turbines at Genesis Energy’s Huntly Power Station.Energy consultant Murray Ellis told Heather Du Plessis Allan New Zealand's power system is running too close to the edge on its total capacity.“When things like the wind speed is dropping, it's not exactly unforeseen or unexpected.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A worker from a nearby cafe has detailed the moment bystanders took down a knife-wielding attacker on Auckland's North Shore.Police say the local man is in custody at North Shore Hospital after stabbing and moderately injuring four people at Murrays Bay.He then fled on foot to Mairangi Bay, but was apprehended by bystanders.Montrose Cafe manager Damien told Heather du Plessis-Allan customers coming in filled him in on their witness accounts.“A member of public in crutches tripped him up and a construction worker from the nearby construction site working of the waterway pinned him down and he got hit on the head with one of the crutches.”Police say there were no warning signs of the attack, and it was not planned.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Goodfellow has resigned as National Party President after 13 years at the helm.However, former senior MP Maurice Williamson has criticised the announcement, which came after the party's board nominations had closed, saying it reeks of the "old boys network".Nanaia Mahuta's family members are under investigation.It comes as three of her family members, including her husband Gannin Ormsby, were appointed to Māori advisory rōpū on waste management.The other family members are part of the Ormsby family, and Mahuta was described as the pair's aunty in another contract application.Newstalk ZB Chief Political Reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Wilkinson has offered to not engage in any further commentary on Brittany Higgins or the man accused of raping her, avoiding an injunction order after her Logies acceptance speech delayed the trial.Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019. He was due to stand trial in the ACT Supreme Court next week.ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the court she had “robbed Peter to pay Paul” to ensure the trial would go ahead this year, listing October 4 as the new court date.Defence barrister Steven Whybrow had asked the court to hold off until the beginning of next year, raising concern the “bushfire” of publicity would still be burning in October.“We would like there to be no further issues and delays,” he told the court, adding he had availability issues within the time frame named.However, Justice McCallum said she was confident the media coverage of Ms Wilkinson's speech would dampen by October.“The publicity this week has focused sharply on the ve

Air New Zealand is scrambling to try and recruit staff.The national carrier is offering cash incentives to try and attract people after the Covid exodus.Aviation commentator Irene King told Heather du Plessis-Allan says there is a lot of nervousness about employment in any aviation job at the moment.“There’s just too much uncertainty about: will I have a job in the future? And for how long?”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women who choose to leave the workforce or work part-time after having children could be forfeiting between $58,000 and $318,000 in retirement savings, research by NZIER has revealed.The economic consultancy was charged with looking at the key drivers behind the 20 per cent gap between men and women's average KiwiSaver balances by state-owned KiwiSaver provider Kiwi Wealth.It found labour force participation, the pay equity gap, career gaps and changes because of motherhood and low confidence and knowledge of the retirement savings scheme were behind the gap.Christina Leung, principal economist at NZIER, said it wanted to quantify the effect of each driver and come up with policy solutions that could help ease the shortfalls."We know there is a gap but the extent of it was quite important for us to put a value on each of those drivers so that we are aware... and know which of the policy interventions would get the most bang for your buck."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Based on the available evidence, I can’t see that Fletcher deserves all the hatred it’s copping over the GIB crisis.I know they’re not the most popular corporate from time to time and I suspect there might be some behind-the-scenes stuff we don’t know about, and certainly they should not have 95 percent of the plasterboard market.But, based on what we do know, it seems they are just a convenient whipping boy.There’s a lot of politics going on here.Lots of rumours about things like trademarks that never get seem to get proven.  There are hints that Fletcher has enforced their trademarks to stop plasterboard coming in but no one has come out and said on the record ‘yes it happened to me’. No one. If it was happening, someone would’ve said it by now.There are some competitors who are using this plasterboard shortage to get a bit of good PR.There are a couple of shareholders who have other existing frustrations with Fletcher and are using this crisis to land a few blows.And then there's the Minister Megan Woods u

Fletcher Building has held an investor day today, where it shares its view of where the company is headed.Sam Trethewey from Milford Asset Management was at the briefing and joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there a potential conflict of interest in our reserve bank?The new person elected to the board has close ties to a bank that it regulates.Jenee Tibshraeny, Wellington Business Editor at the NZ Herald joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB Saturday Mornings host Jack Tame and Kiwiblog and Curia pollster David Farrar joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on The Huddle.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Lynne Ogilvie started work at KFC in Rotorua 43 years ago, she was paid $2.47 an hour.As the decades ticked by, not once did she think about leaving.But at the age of 71, the familiar face at the Amohau St restaurant has decided she's cooked her last quarter pack and is looking forward to a quieter life.It was Ogilvie's last day at KFC on Monday and she admits she is leaving with some sadness."KFC has been good to me. I'm pretty proud of these 43 years. It's a happy time but it's also a sad time." Lynne Ogilvie retired from her job working at KFC for 43 years this week. Photo / Andrew WarnerOgilvie was 28 when she applied for a part-time job at KFC's Amohau St site."We needed money. We had a mortgage and two children and in those days it was hard to get a job. I went around everywhere and I ended up getting five jobs so I did five jobs."KFC was a part-time job and she worked full-time as a night porter at Four Canoes Hotel."I used to wake up in the morning and think to myself 'where am I meant to be toda

The debate on Fair Pay Agreements is rife again, with it currently in select committee stage.It's expected to become law by the end of the year, but the likes of Business NZ and Retail NZ remain extremely opposed to it.Retail NZ's Greg Harford who spoke today at select committee joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reg Hennessy, owner of Hennessy's Irish pub in Rotorua, says it is about time Operation Cobalt was extended to other areas, he says gangs are not only a problem in Auckland.Reg Hennessy joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Wandrea "Shaye" Moss testified Tuesday to lawmakers about how her life was upended when former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely accused her and her mother of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase in Georgia.The former Georgia elections worker recounted in a wrenching appearance before the House Jan. 6 committee how the defeated president latched onto surveillance footage from November 2020 to accuse her and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of committing voter fraud — allegations that were quickly debunked, yet spread widely across conservative media.Moss, who is Black, said she received messages "wishing death upon me. Telling me that I'll be in jail with my mother. And saying things like, 'Be glad it's 2020 and not 1920.'""A lot of them were racist," Moss said. "A lot of them were just hateful."The committee also played testimony from Freeman, who sat behind Moss in the hearing room, showing support for her daughter and at one point passing over a box of tissues as lawmakers heard about their sha

Former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has formally apologised to New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis after releasing personal information without her consent, making incorrect statements and for the "distress" the process caused.National Party leader Christopher Luxon has penned an opinion piece in the NZ Herald saying 'Gangs shouldn't decide when to cease fire'.Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.