Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

It's being reported the UK Government considered using Iraq to process asylum seekers - similar to the Rwanda scheme. This move could have seen people sent from the UK to a country the Government advises against travel to. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Iraq was willing to move forward without a formal or public agreement, according to leaked documents. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand universities are urging Immigration to figure out a quick solution to approving student visas. 18 percent of student visas remained unconfirmed by the time universities started for the 2024 year. Immigration NZ visa director Celia Coombes says a number of student visa applications were sent in too late to process. "We provided advice recommending people apply 3 or 4 months ahead of travel, but we were quite clear over the summer period to please allow for at least 8 weeks." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's hopes Auckland's water deal with the Government can be replicated in the Wellington region. The Government and Auckland Council yesterday announced an agreement to help Aucklanders avoid a previously-signalled 25.8 percent water rates hike. Carterton mayor Ron Mark says they've agreed to working collaboratively to producing a regional water plan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is pumping $1.9 billion into bolstering prison capacity, staffing and criminal rehab programmes. The Budget investment will add more than 800 extra beds at Waikeria Prison and deliver 685 more frontline Corrections staff, including 470 prison officers. ZB political correspondent Barry Soper says it's unclear if the extra cash boost is all coming out of the Government's savings program. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qantas has been slapped with a hefty fine over flight cancellations. Australia's consumer watchdog sued the airline, claiming in 2022 it sold thousands of tickets for 'ghost flights'. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the airline will have to pay millions of dollars extra to the affected customers, beyond their $120 million dollar fine. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Warriors have been left lamenting another sloppy performance after their winless run in league's NRL extended to four matches. A lack-lustre effort in Newcastle has ended in a 14 to 8 defeat to the hometown Knights. Sportstalk's Jason Pine explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 6 May 2024, Detective Inspector Chris Barry tells Heather a manhunt is underway for the "extremely dangerous" man accused of fatally shooting another man on Ponsonby Road on Sunday night. The Resident Doctors Association says they will push ahead with their 24-hour strike in solidarity with at least 300 doctors facing a pay cut. The OECD has delivered a warning to the Finance Minister three weeks out from Budget Day, Nicola Willis tells Heather what she makes of it. The Huddle debates whether snobby dog owners need to pick up their dog's poo rather than leave it behind in protest. Plus, Heather's new, very surprising, and very questionable favourite song. 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.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Auckland Councillor Richard Hills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has called out disgruntled residents of high-end Auckland suburbs who left poo bags scattered around local parks to protest the removal of the bins. Do we agree with this? Are we shocked by last night's fatal shooting in Ponsonby? Do we have to get used to more violent crime in the region? MP Jamie Arbuckle plans to also hang on to his role as a Marlborough councillor. Can a politician do two jobs at once? Can the Greens bounce back from the Julie Anne Genter controversy? The disgraced Green MP will be working from the Chatham Islands this week - will she get away with this? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister says today's OECD report reinforces what the nation needs ahead of the 2024 Budget. The OECD's biennial report has warned inflation is likely to be persistent - and the Government should set polices to reduce the deficit. Minister Nicola Willis says it's clear New Zealand needs to get spending under control and invest in crucial areas. "Get policies in place that will boost business, ensure that we sort out our education system, our planning system, our overseas investment regime so that we can grow our economy and go for wealth again." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pay increases for corrections staff from a $1.9 billion Budget boost. The Government says the funding will go into more than 800 extra beds at Waikeria Prison - and 685 more frontline Corrections staff, including 470 prison officers. Millions will go into rehab for the 45 percent of prisoners on remand. Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says this money will bolster frontline staff and keep Kiwis safe. "$442,000 of it is going to be transferred from back office and reprioritised to the front line. The other $1.5 billion is new money." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award-winning Māori musician Ria Hall has announced she's running for the Tauranga mayoralty. She's up against former deputy mayor Tina Salisbury, who announced her interest last week. Ria Hall says the Tauranga region desperately needs change - and she's ready to step up. "There's some real excitement on the ground - there's lots of murmurs happening in the community. Everyone's getting ready for this election coming up in July, so we're ready for it. I'm ready for it." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The OECD has released its detailed biennial report on New Zealand's economy, ahead of the 2024 Budget. It lays out suggestions to improve productivity - highlighting competition. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says the OECD thinks the Government could more aggressively break up monopolies and duopolies, like supermarkets. "It did recognise that, in a small country like New Zealand, we have some of these big players dominating key sectors. They have such control over the market - that does stymie the innovation." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police say there's no indication a deadly shooting on Auckland's Ponsonby Road last night is gang related. A man who was part of a group was killed after getting out of a car, shot by a man who'd reportedly been denied entry to a bar. He's described as dangerous, and is of a large build, with dark hair, a beard and moustache - and a large tattoo on his left forearm. Detective Inspector Chris Barry says it's difficult to explain the suspect's motivation behind the shooting. "At this stage, our priority is on locating this person - we believe he is dangerous, obviously he carried out this attack and our concern is to get him into custody." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2,500 resident doctors are striking across the country at 7am tomorrow, for 25 hours. Mediation with Health New Zealand did not result in a settlement last week. More than 2,000 doctors had been offered raises of up to 25 percent, but about 300 would have had a 12 percent pay cut. Resident Doctors Association President James Anderson says the offer would have reduced their hourly rates. "I think it's probably being used as a way to pay for the pay increases - I suspect they're trying to juggle the money around a little bit." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have a young producer working on this show called Jack, who’s recently moved over from London. He asked us today why we're all so worked up about this one shooting on Ponsonby Road - and why if you open any of the local newspapers' websites today, it’s right there at the top of the front page. As Jack says, this happens all the time in London, it's no big deal. He even watched a guy get knifed in a park in front of him while he was out having a durry not long before he moved here. He then went back inside to work at the radio station - and the knifing wasn’t even worth putting in the bulletin. I can answer that question for Jack - the reason we are so worked up about this is because this is still new to us. We can all remember a time when this kind of thing didn’t happen in nice places like Ponsonby. And it wasn’t that long ago - five years ago, maybe? But then in the last few years, there was the shooting in Dr Rudi's on the Viaduct in Auckland, and the shooting in the Sofitel lobby in Wynyard Quarter, and there was the guy on the scooter who shot the other guy on Queen Street, and then the guy who took a gun to work and shot his co-workers on the construction site in Auckland CBD. And it's still rare enough that the significant shootings in Auckland can still be recalled and counted on a hand - but I think we suspect that those, by contrast, innocent days are over. We now have guys going out for a drink on a Sunday night with a firearm in a Guess manbag draped over their shoulder. And I think we know why this has happened - because the Australians have deported hundreds, if not thousands of criminals, that are way harder and way more trigger happy than the ones we’ve gotten used to. And unfortunately for us, they like going to the bars we go to. Nice people go to those bars - and so do these guys with the guns in their manbags. It's a bit freaky, isn’t it? And the most honest amongst us will admit it’s probably only a matter of years before we have the same reaction as Jack - and don't find it scary or interesting anymore. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political Correspondent Barry Soper wraps the political week. The Deputy Prime Minister's facing defamation accusations from former Australia Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr, following comments Peters made about Carr's relationship with China. Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan ‘Winston has been terribly diplomatic overseas, and maybe the diplomacy has gotten too much for him. Peters says he was simply defending NZ’s foreign policy. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's Victoria University's controversial free speech debate is back on, with more speakers added. A panel discussion around the role of universities in free speech was meant to be held on Monday, but it was pushed to the end of May, after opposition from some students. Victoria University Vice Chancellor Nic Smith told Heather du Plessis-Allan they've added more people than anticipated. Smith said there’s now two debates - “People with a viewpoint, and people who are more interested in the principles and regulations of what speech is.” LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julie Anne Genter shouted at Wellington florist, Laura Newcombe about cycleways in Wellington. Newcombe told Heather du Plessis-Allan that she could tell Genter didn’t really want to buy flowers and came in with a big attitude. “It’s common knowledge that I was opposed every single car park removed from the shopping precinct.” Newcombe said “Perhaps she just wanted to come in, and sort me out.” LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I reckon Bob Carr might be wasting his time and money sueing Winston Peters for defamation. If he was hoping that he would scare Winston into silence... he hasn't. Winston just hit twitter today and doubled-down. Calling Bob Carr a shill. A shill is someone who is a bit of a hustler... who tries to convince other people to think something is great. Suggesting he’s either shilling for the NZ Labour party who invited him... Or shilling for China. Like in many examples of defamation cases... it often backfires. because bob got himself all worked up about Winston first said... which was basically to call him a pawn for China. How many of us hit the google to find out why Winston said that? And then found the AFR article “how Bob Carr became China's pawn” But... On the broader argument which is actually about AUKUS. Labour might need to just calm the farm a little bit. AUKUS is not quite the public flashpoint they seem to think it is... judging by the effort they’re putting in. I reckon most people don’t care or understand, and all they're seeing is the Labour Party getting hysterical. Like them accusing Winston of embarrassing the country with this spat with Bob Carr - that's just dumb. Winston hasn’t embarrassed the country. Bob Carr doesn't hold office. He's just a citizen who flew here from Australia to tell us what to do. So, if anything, Winston stands to win this argument simply because he’s our guy being pushed around by an Australian. And no one really likes being pushed around by their big brother, do they? Anyway... Ijust wonder if Bob Carr’s underestimated Winston Peters. He loves a fight, and clearly, he’s loving the fight with Bob. And Bob might be wise to give up while he's ahead. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UK local elections are underway - and Rishi Sunak's fate is hanging in the balance. Polls indicate Sunak is losing, and his party stands to lose approximately 50 percent of their council seats. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this could open up a discussion about Sunak's standing ahead of the election. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.