Larry Williams Drive

The suspect of the shooting outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, has been charged with the attempted assassination of the US President. 31-year-old California teacher Cole Allen was allegedly armed with multiple guns and knives, and written documents suggested he'd planned to target Trump officials. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper addressed the fallout from this incident - and the conspiracies.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, the opposition has called on the federal Government to double minimum fuel reserves and boost storage capacity amid the ongoing fuel crisis. This plan would increase Australia's fuel stocks to a 60-day supply, with at least 1 billion litres of additional storage capacity. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the Government has raised concerns over the costs of this plan.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Greenacre insists the length of contract was no issue in him agreeing to take charge of the Phoenix men in football's A-League next season. The former striker for the Wellington club - and four-time interim manager - has taken the fulltime role on a one-year deal, with an option for the following season. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Black Cap Geoff Allott has been appointed New Zealand Cricket's new CEO. The ex-fast bowler-turned-administrator served as NZC's general manager of cricket from 2008 to 2010, and board director between 2013 and 2021. Allott says the role is 'a huge honour' and he's looking forward to getting stuck in. "I know it's a big challenge, but to be given the reins of New Zealand Cricket - the sport that I love - is a huge honour. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve tried very hard to understand the Government’s decision to essentially cancel SailGP in Auckland next year  and I just can’t. I cannot understand what has gone on here because, as I understand it, this has come down to a few hundred thousand dollars. Let me run you through the timeline. We’ve been fighting for SailGP to stay in New Zealand - particularly in Auckland - for the past few years. In October last year, the Government and Auckland Council agreed to pay a combined $5 million for SailGP to be held in Auckland. That agreement was made in October. Then, in February, SailGP requested additional funding, which would have come out of the Major Events Fund. That request appears to be what prompted Louise Upston to say no. Finding out how much that request was for was incredibly difficult. No one wanted to give me a number. Eventually, I was told it was less than a million dollars and may have been closer to $500,000. If that’s true, then turning down SailGP over $500,000 is frankly nutty. That is

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 24 April, 2026, National Cabinet minister Simeon Brown gives us details about the complaint he's lodged against TVNZ. Sail GP NZ co-chief executive Blair Tuke is gutted the event won't be coming to Auckland but hopes it'll make a comeback. ChristchurchNZ on why the Garden City is the place to be right now, with more people moving there. And on the Sports Huddle, Matt Brown and Jeff McTainsh on a huge weekend of Super Rugby to christen Christchurch's new stadium. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good on Chris Luxon for ditching his regular spot on Breakfast. That’s from Tina. I disagree with Tina. I don’t think Chris Luxon should have given up on Breakfast the way he has, pulling out of his weekly slot. I mean, obviously it’s his prerogative to do it. And the truth is, in New Zealand—and in our media—we actually have more access to our Prime Ministers than in many other countries. Loads of other Prime Ministers—think Australia—do not take the number of questions after news conferences that Chris Luxon does. They don’t turn up to news conferences as often as he does, or as Jacinda did, or Helen did, or John Key did. In some countries, like Canada, you can go a very long time between drinks when it comes to hearing from the Prime Minister. The truth is, Chris Luxon isn’t good at media interviews. A lot of the trouble he’s faced has come from stuffing them up. You had Tova with the “how many Māori ministers do you have?” stuff-up recently. You had Mike Hosking last year with the “will you or will you no

US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to chat about the latest in the fuel crisis and Iran war.  They also discussed the rise of going 'no-contact' as 60% of Gen Z say they will cut contact with friends or family if they face disrespect or negative effects to their mental health.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior National MP Simeon Brown has accused TVNZ news staff of breaching parliamentary rules this week by following National's Stuart Smith into a corridor area and "aggressively banged on" Smith's door for several minutes.  Simeon Brown told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "ultimately what we're seeing here is behaviour which I think most New Zealanders would say is unacceptable." This evening Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has pulled out of his weekly TVNZ interview slot, but it isn't clear if these events are connected.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between tonight's opening of the One NZ Stadium, a booming job market, and lower cost of living Christchurch is becoming a hot spot for kiwis relocating.  ChristchurchNZ Chief Executive Ali Adams told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "things like this don't happen by accident. This is a curated and deliberate team effort ... across the city to really turn things around and to build a city that is really made for economic growth." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Commuters in London face more disruption as a second 24-hour Tube strike starts later this week. No further talks have taken place to settle the dispute and drivers in the RMT union are set to continue industrial action. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this is likely to frustrate commuters.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Victorian Hydrogen is proposing a $3 billion urea plant to be located 30km northeast of Invercargill. The company says it could deliver 1.5 million tonnes a year of urea fertiliser (using 3 million tonnes of lignite), making New Zealand's agricultural sector fully self sufficient. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT leader David Seymour says the Government should stick to a planned increase to petrol taxes, despite the Middle East conflict driving up fuel prices.  Transport Minister Chris Bishop has claimed it's 'unlikely' the taxes will go up by the planned 12 cents per litre early next year. David Seymour says no one knows what the fuel prices will be like by 2027 - and we shouldn't cancel the increase as a result. "The roads do need to be built, they do need to be maintained and the National Land Transport Fund is actually not funded by taxpayers, it's exclusively funded by road user charges and the excise tax on petrol."  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Tō Waha Media's Carmen Parahi and Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The spike in fuel thefts has lead to police encouraging petrol stations to utilise pre-pay in order to bring crime down. Do we think this is a good idea? Chris Hipkins has apologised after making a comment Nicola Willis took objection to. Do we think this was out of line?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 23 April, 2026, Chris Hipkins tells us why Labour took so long to back the India free trade agreement. We talk to ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar about a haka by a former Te Pati Maori president that's been called anti-Indian. We get expert advice on "poo taboo" - children who avoid going to the toilet at school. And on The Huddle, Carmen Parahi and Jordan Williams on whether comments by politicians about Nicola Willis' weight loss is unfair. 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.

What a surprise, Labour has agreed to support the India free trade agreement - although it wasn’t really a surprise when it was announced today. I told you last week it would happen this week and Labour would give it the green light because there was really no other way for them to go. If Labour had said no and blocked the agreement, they would have been accused of stopping New Zealand businesses - like apple growers - from making money that is effectively there for the taking. I think Labour simply dragged this out for political reasons. Saying yes straight away would have meant acknowledging they liked what Todd McClay and National had done. Instead, they dragged it out, looked like they were agonising over the decision and pretended they improved the deal by getting National to hire 14 more inspectors to focus on migrant worker exploitation. All of that was done to give the impression the deal isn’t actually as good as it seems, while still saying yes so businesses can benefit from it. And let me remind yo

The Finance Minister says politicians should see our downgraded Moody's economic outlook as a wake-up-call, as she pieces together her Budget. The rating agency's moved our designation from stable to negative, but reaffirmed our triple A credit rating. Nicola Willis says she's got a clear set of goals for the 2026 Budget - and she's committed to sticking with them even during the ongoing crisis. "The most urgent thing I'm having to do, pretty much every day at the moment, is say no to spending more...many New Zealanders are saying cut the petrol tax, do this for us, do that for us - I get it."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are urging petrol stations to switch to pre-pay only, to stop people stealing fuel. Fuel app Gaspy is pricing 91 at an average $3.28 a litre today, with diesel sitting on $3.44.  Police say they're being called to about 100 more thefts every week, since the fuel crisis began.   Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny says recently, diesel thefts from rural properties have been rising.  "At the beginning of March, it was probably around 20 per week we were looking at, and as of April, we're looking at 50 offences per week - that's a significant increase."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More kids are reportedly feeling nervous about going to the toilet in public, and one expert is looking to explain why this is. A study out of Australia says the fear of using the toilet is getting more widespread, with more kids holding it in during school hours, which impacts their learning.  Psychologist Sara Chatwin says it's important to make sure kids feel comfortable doing what they need to do at school. "If we are, no pun intended, messing things up at this point, it can lead to a lot of physical and psychological problems further down the track." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's launching a new HIV campaign - with the goal of having zero transmission by 2030. The '80's Calling' campaign's looking to correct false information from the AIDS crisis 40 years ago. It claims the stigma against HIV is still felt at some level - by nearly three-quarters of Kiwis. Burnett Foundation CEO Liz Gibbs says there's still plenty of ignorance around the condition, and the organisation welcomes this support. "We really welcome the fact that the Government has invested in this really important campaign."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.