Larry Williams Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 7 June 2024, Australia has gone back on its word and will re-start deporting Kiwi criminals who spent the majority of their lives in Australia.    Doctors are warning they're seeing more cases of nitrous oxide induced health problems as people use the gas as a cheap high - available from the dairy.  Real life Martha is taking the Baby Reindeer maker Netflix to court. Californian lawyer Joseph Tully tells Heather whether she has a shot.  Plus Heather's very own experience with the nangs - don't try this at home kids!  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.

The woman who claims to be the inspiration behind Netflix’s Baby Reindeer is suing them for at least NZ$274m.  Scottish woman Fiona Harvey first announced she was the inspiration behind Martha, the main character’s stalker, in May.  Criminal lawyer Joseph Tully told Heather du Plessis-Allan “The defence by Netflix will be that they told the truth.”  Tully said “We’re going to have a real-life drama play out before our eyes.”  LISTEN ABOVE.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The European Union Election runs Thursday to Sunday. They're held every five years across the 27-member bloc. This year marks the 10th parliamentary election since the first polls in 1979, and the first after Brexit.  The vote takes place from 6-9 June. Initial results can only be revealed on the evening of 9 June, once polling stations have closed in all member states.  UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Heathe du Plessis-Allan “It’s the second-biggest democratic election in the world, after India.”  Grey said “We are expecting this result to come in favour of potentially far-right partes – in France Belgium and Italy.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 240 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament – not enough to form a government.   National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners won a further 53 seats to drag the coalition over the line.  Modi has kept a dominant presence in Indian politics for the past decade - with outright majorities in previous elections.  Asia Business Correspondent Peter Lewis told Heather du Plessis-Allan “This is not a bad thing at all – despite the panic we saw in the Indian financial markets.”  Lewis said “The government we’re getting now, is not going to look that much different from what we saw before the election.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Te Pāti Māori is asking Police to lead an urgent investigation of allegations made against the Party.   It denies claims Census information collected at Manurewa Marae was used in electioneering.  The Electoral Commission, Stats NZ and Police are investigating - and the Privacy Commissioner is looking into the claims.  Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan “Te Pāti Māori have come out, fists flailing, to say we’ve got nothing to hide”  Soper said the only way to clear this matter up, is by looking into it.   LISTEN ABOVE.       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ANZ Bank has changed its official cash rate (OCR) forecast, now expecting the first cut to arrive in February, rather than May 2025.  Meanwhile, The European Central Bank has cut interest rates for the first time in five years, and the Bank of Canada has become the first G7 nation to cut rates.  ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Heather du Plessis-Allan “Essentially the Reserve bank’s mandate is to get inflation under control.”  Zollner said “It’s the mix of inflation that matters – oil price is the biggie, which they can’t influence. But homegrown inflation is very slow to fall.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight, on the Sports Huddle with Andrew Gourdie & Matt Brown: The future of Super Rugby Playoffs  Newshub Sports Presenter Andrew Gourdie told Heather du Plessis Allan “I prefer to have a top six, give the top two a week off, three through six playoff, then semifinal.”  Gourdie said “The competition bosses would like to get an extra week out of this – a bit more money, more bums on seats.”  LISTEN ABOVE.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a recent NCEA literacy exam, Year 10 students were asked to read four memes and discuss which two had the most similar underlying themes.  Sociolinguist Julia de Bres told Heather du Plessis-Allan “I was extremely surprised and delighted by this development.”  De Bres said “You can think of memes as ‘static images’ - ads, and cartoons have been around for a while.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's Immigration Minister Andrew Giles issued ‘Direction 110’ on Friday, which means non-citizens with violent criminal records can be deported, even if they'd lived their whole lives in the country.  Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says "it's just not right".  Australian Correspondent Murray Olds told Heather du Plessis Allan “This is Politics 101, and Labour’s only got itself to blame.”   Olds said “Let’s be honest: it’s not about parking tickets – it's about serious criminals – rapists, sex abusers, murderers for God’s sake.”  Old said "These are the people that Australia doesn't want... where are we going to take them? Send them back to New Zealand." LISTEN ABOVE.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The police have been referred to an investigation into National MP for New Plymouth David MacLeod's failure to report $178,394 in donations.  MacLeod - a backbench MP - unveiled this last month, and was stood down from the Environment and Finance select committees.  Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan “There’s a lot of question to be answered – you can’t just say ‘look, I’ve forgotten.”  LISTEN ABOVE.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend Hallie is testifying in his federal gun trial.  Hallie described to the court how she found a gun in his truck, his drug use and how he got her into drugs.  Biden is charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of a gun in 2018.  US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan “Joe Biden has released a statement saying if his son is found guilty – he won’t pardon him.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand will make its annual payment of $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as scheduled - Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has confirmed.  "This follows careful consideration of the UN's response - including through external & internal investigations - to serious allegations against certain UNRWA staff being involved in the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel," Peters said in a tweet.  Former Prime Minister and Head of UN Development Agency, Helen Clark, told Heather du Plessis-Allan “They had to conclude that Israel’s case is completely unproven, because they never provided any evidence.”  Clark said “Every big barrel of apples, will have a bad one somewhere – but as a smear of an organisation is quite wrong.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This weekend, the Fijian Drua will play the Blues at Eden Park in their second quarterfinal in a row.   Meanwhile, The Melbourne Rebels are closing up shop – bringing Super Rugby’s finals system down to a six-team playoffs next year in an 11-team competition.  SportsTalk Host Jason Pine told Heather du Plessis-Allan “I don’t think the Rebels or the Drua will beat the Hurricanes or Blues games.  Piney said “There’s a possibility of the Chiefs coming down against the Reds.”  LISTEN ABOVE.       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland woman who can no longer move her legs after inhaling nitrous oxide - otherwise known as 'nangs' or 'laughing gas -  is urging the government to regulate the sale of the gas.   Nitrous oxide has been used as an anaesthetic for over than 150 years, but it’s also popular as a recreational drug.  Auckland City Hospital Neurology Registrar, Dr Shilpan Patel, told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We’ve seen people inhaling hundreds of canisters a day come in with injuries – as well as people who’ve only had a handful.”  Patel says “It’s quite a serious condition that can have long-lasting consequences for otherwise young, fit and well people.”  LISTEN ABOVE.       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian change of heart on the 501s didn't last long did it, ay?  They flipped their position today. They've issued a new directive. Now, what this is going to do essentially is it's going to force decision-makers when they’re considering whether to send a 501 back to New Zealand, or wherever else: they now have to put more emphasis on Australian safety when they make their decision.   Previously, they had to put emphasis on whether the person actually had a connection to Australia. So basically, in a nutshell, what it means is that we're probably going to go back to the ‘bad old days’ of the 501s arriving here. The kind of person who hasn’t lived in New Zealand since they were like 2-years-old or something like that. Not our problem really, but com in anyway.  Of course, the Aussies had a change of heart. This was always going to happen. There was no way it was going to be a political winner for anyone over there to keep Kiwi-born bad guys in New Zealand when they could just simply send them away. And

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday 6 June 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown details his $4 billion spend to fix and prevent potholes on the nation's roads.  With further calls for an investigation into Te Paati Māori and alleged misuse of personal information, the issue has reached a point where a broader inquiry can be justified.  The Huddle considers if Covid tests should be free.  Plus, male contraception is on the way to shoulders around the world.  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.

New information has been revealed about Christian Brueckner, the lead suspect in the long-running Madeleine McCann case.  German police have claimed Brueckner had an email account containing messages related to the killing of McCann.   UK Correspondent, Enda Brady told Jack Tame “Police have discovered a Hotmail account and external hard drive, which they say link him to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.”  Brady says “We’ve long suspected the German police know a lot more than they’re going to tell the public – but this is the first time that they’ve acknowledge this link.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Infometrics predict the official cash rate (OCR) won’t move until February next year - rather than this November.  Non-tradeable inflation (inflation that is domestic and not influenced by international factors) has caused issues for the Reserve Bank – say business commentators.   It makes up almost 60% of the consumer price index (CPI), which the Reserve Bank is trying to reduce.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Jack Tame “We kept looking out at the economy and we can’t support our previous view.”  Olsen says “You’re not going to use monetary policy to get local government rates under control, or insurance premiums.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

University of Otago research revealed last year that twice the number of under 30-year-olds living in rural areas die compared to those in cities.  It’s the strongest evidence yet that the health of rural Kiwis is worse than those who live in the city.   The Country Host Jamie Mckay told Jack Tame “The rural male suicide rate is 64% higher than in cities.”  Mckay said “Māori living rurally are twice as likely to die of preventable causes than their urban counterparts.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good news for motorists: the price of oil has gone down around 7 percent in the last week.  The Brent Crude oil price dropped below US$80 a barrel at the weekend, after OPEC+ came to a deal to extend voluntary production cuts.  NZ Business editor-at-large, Liam Dann told Jack Tame “That’s good news for motorists – and good news on the inflation fight.”  Dann said “We want to see renewable energy – but everything in the economy is underpinned by the price of oil.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.