Episodes
-
More than 65,000 Airbnb listings in Spain are set to be shut down amid a row over runaway house prices in the country.
The Government has come under increasing pressure to tame a surge in house prices and rents, which have doubled in less than a decade in some tourism hotspots.
Airbnb listings have been partly blamed for swallowing up the housing stock in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia - and mass protests have started up ahead of the summer season.
UK correspondent Gavin Grey says many young people have been locked out of the housing market as a result of over-tourism - and there's growing calls for change.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Budget 2025 is set to be revealed to the nation tomorrow - and Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised it will be a “No BS Budget” with “some surprises”.
Willis will take a step towards unwinding the expansion of Government that accompanied (and followed) the pandemic - while growing the economy.
NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny outlines some questions she hopes to see resolved.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Episodes manquant?
-
Tonight on The Huddle, Conor English from Government relations firm Silvereye and broadcaster Mark Sainsbury joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
Should Tonkin + Taylor sack the staffer who was caught heckling Winston Peters?
Waitakere Hospital ED raised some eyebrows when they started handing out vouchers for patients to go to urgent care clinics. What do we make of this?
It's Budget Day tomorrow - what do we hope to get out of it?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Mastercard has recently released a survey showing a significant amount of Kiwis want credit card surcharges banned.
The data shows 61 percent of respondents would support a ban and 75 percent don't believe surcharges are fair - and 44 percent feel retailers should absorb the costs.
Consumer NZ's Acting Head of Research and Advocacy, Jessica Walker, says the surcharge debate is a complicated topic.
"Businesses are charged a fee for using these payment networks - and of course, Visa and Mastercard are going to benefit from surcharges being banned, because it means more people will use Visa and Mastercard."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
A record number of businesses have sought advice about redundancies in the first three months of the year, according to new Employers and Manufacturers Association data.
EMA’s AdviceLine received 403 queries from businesses on the topic of restructuring and redundancies last quarter - almost double that in the same period two years ago (204).
EMA’s head of advocacy and strategy Alan McDonald says this reflects many years of tough economic conditions.
"The last resort play for a lot of businesses when they look at their costs is - well, we're going to have to restructure the number of people. And that's what's happening."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 21 May 2025, is international pressure on Israel having an effect? Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall tells Heather so far no aid has got through to starving people in Gaza.
The Revenue Minister explains why the Government will no longer try to make big tech companies like Google and Meta pay more tax.
Sad news as iconic Auckland retailer Smith & Caughey announced it will close forever after trying to save its business for over a year.
Plus, the Huddle debates whether Tonkin & Taylor should sack the naughty employee who had a very public go at Winston Peters.
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.
-
Free speech advocates says Tonkin + Taylor doesn't need to apologise for an employee allegedly heckling the Deputy Prime Minister.
A man appearing to be wearing a company lanyard yelled and swore at Winston Peters after an announcement on rail funding at Wellington's train station.
The engineering firm has since apologised and says it'll investigate.
The Free Speech Union's Nick Hanne says there's a line between work and personal expression.
"This is an issue that isn't actually directly related to the work that their employee does - and of course to what they do as a company - so it just seems like complete over-reach."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
A strong primary sector performance has produced a billion-dollar monthly trade surplus - for the first time in five years.
Stats NZ data reveals it sat on $1.4 billion dollars in April, compared with a $12 million dollar deficit for the same time last year.
Export NZ Executive Director, Joshua Tan, says it's a team effort across the food and fibre sector.
He says dairy, red meat, fruit and wood exports have all risen by millions of dollars.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
There's a shifting international view of Israel as its war on Gaza shows little sign of relenting.
After global pressure, including from the US, Israel has relented on a months-long blockade and let in limited aid - but none's been distributed so far.
It's also continued firing on Gaza, where more than 53,000 people have died to date.
Sky News' Alistair Bunkall says there's a strong sense - even among Isarelis - that the country has taken this too far.
"There is a political dynamic to it for Netanyahu's own political reasons - and they are opposed to it and the damage that it's doing on their nation's reputation internationally."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The Revenue Minister says Donald Trump was a factor in scrapping the incoming Digital Services Tax Bill.
A legacy of the last Government, it would've imposed a three percent tax on revenue from Kiwis - earned by the likes of Facebook and Google.The US President has called such legislation 'overseas extortion', and said he'd act against it.
Simon Watts says they considered recent developments, including in the US.
"But at the end of the day - I took a look at this tax, we've been looking at it a bit and it's got some real drawback - and we've made the decision to pull it from the agenda."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Winston Peters is doubling down on criticising a passer-by who heckled him yesterday after an announcement on rail funding.
Environmental and engineering firm Tonkin + Taylor says it's looking into a report a man wearing a staff lanyard swore at the minister.
The Minister said he doesn't care if he loses his job.
Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls explains further.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Joe Biden's earlier announcement that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer has revived questions about what health issues the former US president was facing while in office.
President Donald Trump recently claimed he was 'surprised' the public wasn't notified a long time ago - and this doctor also earlier said Biden was cognitively fine.
US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says people are curious about why more wasn't revealed sooner.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
An admission from Super Rugby officials that the refereeing panel made a mistake disallowing a Moana Pasifika try to Millennium Sanerivi in their victory over the Blues last weekend.
A try can only be overturned if there is an infringement in the final attacking passage of play - but they went back for a foot in touch earlier.
Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
There's a widespread global shortage of ADHD medication - and it's hitting Kiwis hard.
A survey by ADHD New Zealand of people prescribed with ADHD medication found that over half were struggling to get what they needed - and one third of respondents were worried they would lose their jobs if they weren't properly medicated.
ADHD New Zealand spokesperson Darrin Bull says people in schools and universities are also struggling under the current shortage.
"This is a global issue - it's just not New Zealand, there are particular issues in the UK and Australia as well. It's a supply chain issue."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Was Tonkin + Taylor right to apologise to Winston Peters for the employee heckling him?
Of course they were! They don't want to be associated with this kind of behaviour. The guy was wearing their work lanyard, it clearly identified him as a staffer and I had his name and photo land in my inbox at 4:41 yesterday afternoon.
Which is to say - people had already figured out who he is and who he works for. And if Tonkin + Taylor said nothing, rightly or wrongly, - there would be people who would assume they were fine with his behaviour or shared his views.
So it was a reputational risk for them to remain quiet. And they were right to publicly distance themselves from him - and an apology to Winston Peters seems like a perfectly reasonable way of doing it.
Also, it’s perfectly reasonable for them to call Mr Bollocks into the office and remind him not to embarrass them while he’s wearing a work lanyard. I think that seems fair.
But I think that’s where it has to end. The Free Speech Union raises some decent points - he should not be punished or fired for it, he's entitled to his views and he’s entitled to make a dick of himself in his own time if he wants to, which he clearly does.
His free speech should be defended, but so should the free speech of his chief executive, who didn’t like what she saw and wanted to say she was sorry on behalf of her company.
Free speech cuts both ways.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The UK is hailing a new era of relations with Europe, as they seek closer ties on trade and defence.
The new deal signals a resetting of ties with the European Union post-Brexit, and could mean significant trade benefits for Britain.
It'll be easier to trade food across the border, and allow the UK to access EU funds for defence development.
UK correspondent Enda Brady says this development puts an end to the 'little Britain' experiment.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
New reports indicate a critical part of the Government’s plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years appears to have fallen over.
A huge chunk of the Government’s climate success rests on a single project, which the owner now says probably won’t happen because it doesn’t stack up commercially.
The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
It's less than two days to go until Budget Day 2025, and experts are outlining their predictions.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hinted this won't be a 'lolly scramble' and plenty of cuts will have to take place.
Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen explains further,
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Tonight on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
The suspension debate for the three Māori Party MPs has been postponed until June 5 in a surprise move. Do we think this is the right call?
It's been revealed Auckland Council spent $3 million on communications and advertising for the green food scrap bins - do we need to scrap them for good?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Well, that ended up being a fizzer, didn't it?
I mean, wow, here we were. We were expecting this big debate over the Māori Party punishments to drag on for days, if not weeks, and overshadow the Budget - and the blinking thing didn't even last an hour. It got postponed to next month.
What happened was, in retrospect, very simple and very obvious, just a move from the Government.
It came to the Government's turn to talk about it - and up pops Chris Bishop, Leader of the House. He says - hey, I move it gets postponed, and guess what, it gets postponed because the Government has the majority in the House, so they simply voted for that, and there we go, clear air for the Budget.
Most relieved, I would say, would be the Government, because it means that they do get clear air for the Budget on Thursday.
Most bummed out, I would imagine, would be the Māori Party - who'd even gone to the effort of organizing a protest on the full court of Parliament.
So basically, what's happened is we put this thing to bed for a few weeks because of a checkmate move from Chris Bishop.
But while we've got this pause, can I just make an observation?
It's quite remarkable how quickly this has gone from being a thing about the deliberate flouting of rules consistently by a party doing it as part of a PR strategy to being a thing about the National-led Government using parliamentary process to banish MPs they don't like, thereby turning us into a "banana republic".
This is the kind of reportage that I'm reading at the moment. Suspending the Māori Party MPs threatens democracy.
It is a drastic step that looks, on the face of it, undemocratic. Those are two different articles, by the way - it seems to be a theme that's emerging.
But hang on a minute here, because it's going to take a lot to convince me that this is the case of a heavy-handed Government silencing innocent dissent - because I haven't forgotten how we got here.
I haven't forgotten that the Māori Party planned to disrupt Parliament that day. They planned to disrupt it - and then they carried out that plan.
I haven't forgotten that Debbie Ngarewa-Packer pointed her fingers in the shape of a gun at another MP and that the Māori Party refused to turn up to the Privileges Committee when they were asked to - and when they were supposed to.
I haven't forgotten that that the Māori Party refused to apologize and accept they've done anything wrong and that the Māori Party then leaked the recommendations of the Privileges Committee, which is against the rules, and that the Māori Party co-leaders have said that they will do this again - most likely with the Regulatory Standards bill.
I haven't forgotten any of that stuff. And it's remarkable to me how quickly people want to turn this into a bad Government story instead of a bad opposition story.
And it's also remarkable to me how quickly people have forgotten what this party did to end up here today.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Montre plus
