Larry Williams Drive

A health education expert says draft new curriculums don't address mental health - we get a response from Erica Stanford. You'll find out what TVNZ will charge you - for all the matches at football's World Cup. And on The Huddle, Josie Pagani and Maurice Williamson debate whether people like strong women. 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.

Judith Collins has two weeks left as an MP and she’s given an exit interview to Audrey Young at the New Zealand Herald in which she says people don’t like strong women - obviously referring to herself. Now, I don’t disagree with Judith that she is a strong woman. She’s formidable. But I do disagree with her that people don’t like strong women, because what is Helen Clark if not a strong woman? So strong, they used to say that the softest part of her was her teeth - and yet she was elected and re-elected by the New Zealand public three times. That’s more than Jacinda Ardern achieved and Jacinda Ardern is not what I would call a strong woman. Now, look, I realise there are too many variables to ever make a truly fair comparison across elections like that. But if you did strip everything else out, you’d look at it like this: Helen, the strong woman, won three elections, compared with Jacinda - the milder personality - who won two and only really won the second because of COVID. Judith Collins doesn’t explicitly

There's some concerns about cost blowouts on the new Cook Strait ferries, but Minister Chris Bishop isn't too worried. A Treasury briefing from September warned of risks costs could overtake the budgeted $1.8 billion dollars. Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop says the Government's working at pace on this project and the new ferries are on their way. "It's going to be tight, there's no doubt about that. But things are going pretty well."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's claims the Ministry of Education hasn't delivered on key promises.  Specialist teachers are slamming the draft curriculums for music, PE, science, technology and history.  Auckland University Associate Health Education Professor, Darren Powell, says there are positive elements. But he says he's concerned there's too long between introducing students to concepts, and expanding them further. "When they've talked about carefully sequencing content across those 10 years, there's large gaps. It hasn't really been sequenced very well at all."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TVNZ has recently announced how much it'll cost Kiwis to watch all 104 matches in the upcoming FIFA World Cup on TVNZ+. Ahead of the tournament starting next month, TVNZ has unveiled their new $44.95 all-tournament pass for app users. TVNZ Head of Sports and Events Melodie Robinson says the broadcaster did plenty of research on what Kiwi sports fans would be willing to pay.  "We're really pleased with reactions so far, but actually, we did a whole lot of work with Kiwis, testing them on what they would pay in the environment that we're in."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ferry Holdings' chair insists buying two new Interislander ferries and improving docks to accommodate them won't blow out costs.  In a Treasury briefing last September, officials raised concerns building portside infrastructure could exceed the budget. But chair Chris Mackenzie says that briefing was premature.  "You've got to remember that this report that was done last September was done before we'd even started detailed negotiations with the ports."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning US ships could encounter mines, missiles and small boat attacks if they try to shepherd commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump has announced 'Project Freedom' - a plan that will involve 15,000 service members and 100 military aircraft.  Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies' John Battersby says there are many unknowns.   "We can't guarantee that they can protect from that kind of attack, and that's going to weigh on commercial operators. Do we run this risk? Have we got enough confidence in the Americans that we're safe?"  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A first of its kind agreement to secure New Zealand fuel. Prime Minister Chris Luxon and other ministers are in Singapore, for the signing of a fuel and food security Memorandum of Understanding. Singapore will supply us fuel in times of crisis - and New Zealand's will supply food - in a mutually beneficial deal. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained the significance of this deal.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The upcoming by-election for Sussan Ley's former regional seat in Farrer is set to take place this weekend, and there's speculation about what it could mean for One Nation's future. One Nation is seeing more support, with a new poll showing 11.7 percent of respondents assigned a the party a rating of 10. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this will come as a huge boost for the party's controversial leader, Pauline Hanson.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland FC boss Nick Becker hopes the crowd for their semi-final first leg against Adelaide United next Saturday is better than last night's elimination final. 11,351 went through the Mt Smart gates and saw Auckland FC keep their season alive on penalties over Melbourne City. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walk Without Fear Charitable Trust is running a two-day anti-violence programme tomorrow, for up to 120 South Auckland secondary students. The Trust plans to roll out national school programmes, which will include lessons to avoid coward punches. Chair Eugene Bareman says kids are taught self-control, de-escalation and how to protect themselves.  "Just how to approach a situation calmly when they're under pressure, just responding rather than reacting." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So I was in Christchurch giving a speech to part of Local Government New Zealand - the South Island arm - so the room was full of mayors and councillors from across the South Island. One of the topics up for discussion was what councils around the country need to do, or could do, to win back public approval. I have to be honest: I left that room - and you know my views on councils - feeling just a little bit sorry for the councillors and mayors I met. The ones I spoke to seemed to be honestly trying. They admitted they’ve got more to do and that there are stupid costs they need to cut as well. But what they told me is that they’re up against it. They’re dealing with things they can’t change: national laws like the RMA that tie their hands, and unelected staff who just go ahead and do their own thing. And sure enough, there’s a story that illustrates at least some of that perfectly. Wellington City Council staff have spent $130,000 on new art for their flash new building - a building where they’ve hogged the t

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 1 May, 2026, former Defence Minister Ron Mark explains why he wouldn't  be rushing to help the US open the Strait of Hormuz. An Australian reading expert tells us why New Zealand can be world leading in literacy. One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris outlines what went wrong with an internet outage. And on the Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Clay Wilson debate whether Papua New Guinea's got an unfair advantage in recruiting NRL players. 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.

One billion dollars in cash has appeared in Kiwi wallets since last year.  The Reserve Bank said that in March of 2025, there was $8.59 billion worth of physical cash in circulation. Now, that number has risen to $9.57billion.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the cause of this is likely due to global instability.  "I wouldn't be surprised if the Iran war through the month of March, cause some people to think that, you know, there was some pretty big issues out there and maybe they wanted to have a little bit more physical cash with them." He likened the jump in the amount of cash to a similar increase that happened at the start of the COVID pandemic.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m inclined to think that at some stage and in some way we will be helping the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It’s been revealed by American media that Trump has told US embassies around the world to pressure governments to help. Australia is considering assistance and so are we. It’s early days at the moment. It appears both we and Australia are simply asking for more information at this point, probably along the lines of what help is actually required and under what circumstances. Those circumstances are important because I would imagine New Zealand would not want to agree to help if there were a hot war underway — meaning shots being fired. I’d expect we would only be willing to help if there were an active and sustained ceasefire in place. That said, I think that in the end we will still say yes because we’ve already indicated this is what we plan to do. We’ve already signed a joint statement with countries including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, saying we are ready to provide appropriate help t

NRL teams, including the Warriors, have voiced their concerns on the fine print of Papua New Guinea's first team joining the league.  The Papua New Guinea Chiefs’ are set to join the league in 2028, but they have a significant leg-up over the competition when it comes to recruitment.  An agreement between the Australian and PNG governments over the Chiefs’ admission into the NRL allows the club to offer tax-free contracts to players willing to relocate for 10 years.  Former Warriors Coach Tony Kemp told Heather du Plessis-Allan that this was a 'politically-based' decision between Governments, not clubs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One New Zealand says a widespread internet outage this morning was caused by one of its technology partners.  Ninety cell towers were taken down by technical problems - leaving some customers in the South Island and lower North without service or internet. The company says the outage began about 1:30 this morning and it took hours to be fully resolved.  One NZ Chief Executive Jason Paris told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the issue was caused by a bug in one of their vendor's software.   He says it tried to roll back the update it had made, but the bug didn't go away.  The outage also affected 2 Degrees customers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANZ is bracing itself for more variability - on the back of a lift in economic activity.  The bank's posted a $1.2billion half year net profit - a 2% increase on the 6 months prior.  It also saw a 2% rise in loans, and a 4% rise in deposits.  But Chief Executive Antonia Watson says there's a lot of uncertainty ahead, with conflict in the Middle East tanking business and consumer confidence.  She says some customers will be impacted more than others depending on fuel usage.  Watson says we're already seeing some customers cutting back on discretionary spending due to prices at the pump, which isn't good for businesses like retail.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says its not clear how New Zealand could meaningfully support reopening the Strait of Hormuz.  The US has formally provided an initial plan to New Zealand for the Government to consider - but Foreign Minister Winston Peters says more detail's needed.  Mark told Heather du Plessis Allan that our defence forces have reduced capability - and he could only see us helping with aerial surveying.  He says we are strategically irrelevant right now - and there's no way he could see us deploying a frigate.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Australian Language expert is praising New Zealand's new approach to teaching literacy.  The Government mandated state schools to teach a specific structured literacy curriculum to new entrants from the beginning of last year.  Education data showed increasing improvement in learning outcomes across the four school terms in 2025.   Professor Pamela Snow told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the new approach used the best possible techniques -- and calls the direction 'world leading'. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.