Larry Williams Drive

An Auckland local board chair is concerned children are using large nitrous oxide canisters. The gas is sold legally for whipped cream use, but can also be used illegally as a psychoactive substance.  The canisters are 3.3 litres, about the same as 300 smaller canisters - known as nangs. Manurewa Local Board Chair Matt Winiata says after seeing one, he's spotted them littered across streets in his local area.  "On a 10-minute drive, I came across another 9 of them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Australian politician says a New Zealand-born neo-Nazi leader shouldn't be deported here, despite a nearly 60,000 strong petition. National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell was arrested yesterday, after gate-crashing a press conference with the Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe says he's allegedly been committing hate crimes and should face the music in Australia. "I don't think sending a white supremacist to my Māori brothers and sisters of Aotearoa is going to solve anything here." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those in charge of buying our new Interislander ferries are confident a good deal has been reached.  The yet-to-be-named preferred supplier has signed a letter of intent, and agreed with Ferry Holdings on a fixed price.  Chair Chris Mckenzie says  they're now at the technical negotiation stage.  "We now negotiate what's inside that boat - arrangements even down to what sort of sinks we have in the kitchens - and then a final contract will be signed before the end of the year."  The 200-metre long ferries will have road and rail decks, and room for 1500 passengers each. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China's showed off its newest weapons in a major military parade in Beijing marking the end of World War Two. President Xi Jinping oversaw the event in Tiananmen Square, with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin by his side. Former Prime Ministers Sir John Key and Helen Clark were in attendance. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper discussed the event. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump says reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated. The US President addressed media in the White House after his recent absence from the spotlight over the weekend sent social media into a tailspin. Health rumours have been ramping up since his diagnosis of a chronic vein condition, with photos of his bruised hand circling online. US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says Trump claimed he was active over the weekend - and he wasn't aware of the death rumours. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey has defended his decision to join Team Rugby for next January's T20 Black Clash in Tauranga. The man known as 'Mr Cricket' follows the West Indies pairing of Chris Gayle and Brian Lara as marquee international recruits for the event. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A global affairs expert says there was a clear difference in the guest list at China's military parade today, compared with previous years. Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin joined Chinese President Xi Jinping for the World War Two commemorations. Former Prime Ministers Sir John Key and Helen Clark were also there. Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller says previous parades had lots of western leaders. He explained the global south was over-represented, with leaders from Africa, Asia and former soviet republics. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been some reshuffling in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's team, and it's got experts speculating what it means for Rachel Reeves. With Labour losing favour in the polls to Reform, there's additional pressure on Starmer to make changes, according to new reports. UK correspondent Enda Brady says the economy is 'flatlining' - and it's prompted concerns.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stats NZ came out with the latest trade data for New Zealand - and the results show good news for exporters. Exports were up 9.9 percent in the year to June and imports were up 3.2 percent. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ACT leader wants New Zealand out of the Paris Agreement, unless we get a better deal.  New Zealand signed up in 2016 - and the previous Government later passed the bipartisan Zero Carbon Act to keep us in line with the Paris targets.  The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 2 September 2025, ACT leader David Seymour explains why he wants to pull out of the Paris Agreement if the conditions don't change. Luxury real estate agent Anthony Morsinkhof says his phone's been ringing all day with foreign investors wanting to start buying houses here. Sir Peter Gluckman tells Heather why we need to toughen up our university entry requirements. Amazon's NZ Country Manager Manuel Bohnet explains the company's investment in NZ - but gets unstuck when Heather digs deeper. Plus, the Huddle debates the hideous CEO who snatched a signed cap off a kid at the US Open.   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.

Tonight on The Huddle, journalist Clare de Lore and former Labour Minister Stuart Nash joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  ACT leader David Seymour says the Paris Agreement needs to be reformed - or else New Zealand should walk away. Is he right? Will National get on board for it? Helen Clark and John Key are set to attend China's big military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. What do we make of this? Will Luxon and Winston be glad they don't have to go? The Polish CEO who made headlines after he snatched a child's hat at the US Open has since apologised - do we believe this?  NZI says we have three times as many ministerial portfolios as we need - do we need to make some cuts? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finally, we have a serious party who has spent time thinking about it - and is now seriously suggesting that New Zealand should pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now, that was what came from that ACT Party announcement that I told you would be coming today that you needed to keep an eye out for. ACT says Paris isn't working for New Zealand and it says we should push for the agreement to be reformed - and if it isn't reformed, then we should pull out of it. It isn't working, ACT says, because it's pushing up our food prices and it's pushing up our power prices and it's forcing the farmers off the land to make way for trees. And you can add to that list something that we've seen a lot of this winter and last winter - it is shutting down industry because of those high power prices. Now, there will be a lot of people who hear this from ACT and write it off as nutty climate change denier stuff. It is not. Think about the Paris Agreement critically, right? Set aside, you know, your vibes, whether y

There's hopes the promised 1,000 new jobs created from Amazon's locally based data centres will go to Kiwis. The tech giant's investing $7.5 billion into the Auckland-based centres, which go live today. It'll mean New Zealand customers can use the new cloud region to run workloads and store data locally. Amazon Web Services country manager Manuel Bohnet says they're taking a long-term view with this project. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changes could be in store for gang legislation after a judge handed back a patch to a Mongrel Mob member.  Police were ordered to return the patch after its owner was arrested for wearing it publicly.  Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says he can't comment on decisions of judges, but isn't ruling out changing the law.  "There's a legal process to go through, it may be appealed - I don't know. We'll wait and see how it all plays out, and if we find that we've got a problem, we'll fix it." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A luxury real estate agent says there's huge interest only in two areas of New Zealand, with the Government's planned loosening of the foreign buyers ban. By next year, Active Investor Plus visa holders will be able to build or buy homes worth at least $5 million. They’ll still need to invest another $5 million separately to qualify. Forbes Global's Anthony Mosinkhof says Auckland and Queenstown are the main options for foreign buyers. "The problem with this legislation is - the concentration of these buyers will be diverted to those two areas. It's a little bit of a shame that they aren't able to put more into the regions." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A defence of Wellington's City to Sea Bridge as it faces demolition.  Work to demolish the earthquake prone bridge could start this week after the High Court tossed out a judicial review to save it.  Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young says even if people think it's ugly, it does serve an important purpose.  "It's a safety aspect - it's a lovely way to cross over to the waterfront rather than going over a pedestrian crossing." Nicola Young's concerned the replacement bridge will take too long to put in place.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's hopes from David Seymour that he can convince National to get on board with ditching climate change targets.  The ACT leader wants New Zealand to leave the Paris climate change agreement - unless we can negotiate a better deal. But Prime Minister Chris Luxon says leaving the deal will only hurt our farmers, as international consumers value New Zealand's clean brand.  David Seymour says his party is influential.  "We've got a pretty good track record - if you look at the influence that ACT has had over this Government, I think it's profound. So watch this space."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been plenty of debate about New Zealand's future in the Paris Agreement, following some comments made by David Seymour. The ACT leader wants New Zealand to pull out of the global climate agreement, unless the targets are realistic. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon won't withdraw from the agreement - at least not until the 2026 election is over. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police believe Dezi Freeman is receiving additional help as the surge for the alleged gunman continues on. Freeman is accused of shooting Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart at his Porepunkah property, before escaping into the bush. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says Freeman was heavily armed when he made his escape - and there's been no sign of him since. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.