Larry Williams Drive

Tiger Woods turned down an offer worth approximately US$700-$800 million to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, according to the tour's CEO Greg Norman. During an interview on Fox News that aired on Monday, former world No. 1 Norman was asked by Tucker Carlson if it was true that Woods was offered $700-$800 million to join the LIV Golf series. "That number was out there before I became CEO," Norman replied. "So, that number's been out there, yes. Look, Tiger's a needle mover, right? "So, of course, you're going to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO, so, yes, that number is somewhere in that neighbourhood." Previously, Norman had told the Washington Post in June that Woods was offered huge money to participate but turned it down. Norman said the Woods proposal was "mind-blowingly enormous; we're talking about high nine digits." The controversial tour has attracted some big names from the golfing world to leave the established PGA Tour and the DP World Tour

A top historian believes the Alexander Turnbull Library has another fake on its hands. Paul Moon has been researching British painter Augustus Eearle, who painted scenes of Māori life when visiting New Zealand in 1827. He thinks a painting held by the library called against truth is a forgery. Paul Moon joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Africa is planning to tell the world in three months that they want to start drilling for their vast reserves of oil and gas  Never mind the climate, they need the resources. The Guardian is reporting that the leaders of African countries are planning to make the announcement at COP27, the global climate change meeting in November in Egypt.  If they do this, it apparently makes it close to impossible for the world to keep temperature increases to below 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels. But the African leaders reputedly argue that they should be allowed to do what the rest of developed countries have done, and build their nations on the back of fossil fuels. They say if we care so much about the climate then we developed countries should go ahead and take the lead on sharp cuts to our emissions.  This means China, India and Africa are potentially burning way, way more than little old New Zealand could ever reduce. So answer me this: do you really think we’re doing the right thing spending so much m

More than 70 percent of diesel drivers buying up large amounts of discounted fuel are thought to be rorting the system. Purchasers were only meant to buy the number of units they'd typically use over a three-month period. But spot checks by Waka Kotahi on large purchases reveals 73 percent are likely to be excessive. Transporting NZ CEO, Nick Leggett joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A full review will investigate an overnight rooftop protest by six teen inmates at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison. Two climbed down this morning, and the last four finally surrendered to corrections officers. The stand off apparently kicked off when the group weren't allowed in the sports area yesterday. There is damage - including broken windows. Corrections Chief Custodial Officer Neale Beales told Heather du Plessis-Allan the prison negotiation team talked the young men down without further intervention. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dust has now settled on Andrew Little's healthcare workforce announcement. The industry have come out strongly, saying more financial support is needed to keep nurses and doctors here as well. None of the announced measures solve the problem of being able to earn significantly more in places like Australia.  Jenny Carryer, executive director of the NZ College of Nurses joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Charles is facing more questions over his charities after a newspaper reported that one of his funds accepted a £1 million ($1.96m) donation from relatives of Osama bin Laden. The Sunday Times reported that the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund received the money in 2013 from Bakr bin Laden, patriarch of the large and wealthy Saudi family, and his brother Shafiq. Both are half-brothers of the former al-Qaida leader, who was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011. The newspaper said advisers had urged the heir to the throne not to take the donation. Charles' Clarence House office disputed that but confirmed the donation had been made. It said the decision to accept the money was taken by the charity's trustees, not the prince, and "thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation." The fund's chairman, Ian Cheshire, also said the donation was agreed "wholly" by the five trustees at the time, and "any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate". The Prince of Wales

Michael Hill has become the first major retailer in Australasia to become an accredited seller of lab-grown diamonds. The jewellery chain has been selling synthetic diamonds since 2020. But now they can officially say they are carbon neutral and be accurately traced back to their source of manufacturing. First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinda Ardern has spoken at the China Business Summit this morning. She said she is looking forward to the resumption of ministerial visits with China as Covid allows, and she hoped to lead a business delegation herself "to renew and refresh in-person connections”. She’s also called for "diplomacy, de-escalation and dialogue”, which comes after Chinese threats to US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. NZME Business Commentator Fran O’Sullivan joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defence for the cost of living payment after some overseas residents and former migrants receive the first deposit. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says some living overseas will get the boost, but it's not worth trying to recover the payment. People can opt out, and Inland Revenue confirms nearly 1000 have so far. Acting Finance Minister David Parker told Heather du Plessis-Allan says there's no exact figure on how many people overseas will receive the payment, but it's a small percentage. “And we’ve known that from the start - our only alternative being an application-based process that would have required 2.1 million people to apply, which would’ve cost more than saved until they had the payment.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Around 2.1 million people will have received the first of the three cost of living payments today. However, some of the money has gone to overseas expats, some of which will have shocked some who have returned to their home countries. The owner of a Christchurch brewery is calling for prices to be removed from advertising. Three Boys Brewery's Ralph Bungard reckons that doing so will help curb our drinking problem. Electric Kiwi and Consumer NZ are having a war of words. It comes as the independent power company refused to pay commission fees to feature on Powerswitch, which saw the company removed from the website. Cas Carter and Nick Mills joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on The HuddleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's offering to pay overseas nurses their course costs to lure them to the country. It's part of a tranche of measures to bolster our health workforce, including paying former nurses to sign back up. The Government will also cover international doctors' salaries during training - and double the nurse practitioners being trained. Health Minister Andrew Little told Heather du Plessis-Allan imported nurses can get up to $10,000 to help them get here. “The overseas nurses - they’ve got to do their competency assurance programme, and there’s quite a variety of different fees that they have to pay, so we will pick up the cost.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Christchurch brewer wants prices removed from alcohol advertising to help curb binge drinking. Three Boys Brewery won Exhibitor of the Year at this year's New Zealand Brewers Guild Beer Awards. Owner Ralph Bungard believes most problems with alcohol over-consumption are linked to low prices. Bungard told Heather du Plessis-Allan retailers use it as leverage to get people in stores to buy other products. “If you advertise the price of alcohol, it certainly drives down the price and increases the volume that’s sold.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A reminder of the need for better awareness of domestic violence. The College of GPs says it wants more training for GPs to treat victims. Women's Refuge CEO Ang Jury told Heather du Plessis-Allan some are falling through the cracks. She says often women go to the doctor with symptoms which aren't recognised as abuse. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Australian citizen says she and her partner have been given New Zealand's cost of living payment, despite having returned home after less than a year here. PM Jacinda Ardern has confirmed some people overseas will get the boost, but the cost of trying to recover payments would outstrip the benefits. Kelly McGuire told Heather du Plessis-Allan her payment was a surprise. She says her partner earned more than $70,000 during their time in New Zealand. “We didn’t even know about the cost of living payment policy until we received the emails on the weekend to say that we were going to get the money.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is again opening its arms to tourists and students from China, as the borders fully re-open today under Covid management. She said she is looking forward to the resumption of ministerial visits with China as Covid allows, and she hoped to lead a business delegation herself "to renew and refresh in-person connections". In a veiled reference to China's threats of "resolute and forceful measures" over a possible visit by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, Ardern called for "diplomacy, de-escalation and dialogue". She also called on China to use its interest in the region to deal with climate change and to use its influence with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking at the China Business Summit in Auckland this morning, including Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong, she said New Zealanders were natural hosts. "Manaakitanga streams through our veins and we open our arms to tourists and students including from China – which prior to 2020 was New Zealand's larges

The medals keep coming for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games. The Black Ferns Sevens had to settle for bronze after a shock loss to Australia in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, triathlete Hayden Wilde is aiming to appeal the penalty that cost him the gold medal. Jeff Wilson has come out swinging against Scott Robertson. On The Breakdown on Sky, Wilson criticised Robertson's comments about NZ Rugby on a podcast. Wellington sports reader Adam Cooper joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A war of words has broken out between Electric Kiwi and Consumer NZ over the running of a power comparison site. Powerswitch was set up with Government funding to help consumers find the best power deal using independent advice. However, Electric Kiwi plans have been removed after the company refused to pay commission fees. Electric Kiwi chief marketing officer Andy Cooper joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Turns out the Government’s giving the $350 cost of living payment to expat Kiwis who live overseas and foreigners who might’ve only briefly lived in New Zealand as temporary migrants and who might’ve been here years ago. We don’t know how many. The Government doesn’t know how many or it does and it won’t say how many.   I’m not angry about this because you can only really get angry if you expected better. I didn’t. But I’m going to explain how this happened. There are three key things that created this snafu. The first thing is that Labour really didn’t want to do the one thing that would’ve avoided this and that was to give us all a tax cut instead. I think the motivation here was good because Kiwis are struggling with the cost of living. But the obvious thing was always to let us keep more of our money rather than take it off us and then give it back to only some of us. But Labour didn’t want to do that because that would mean giving $350 to everyone and they think people earning over $70,000 are too wealth

Lincolnshire Police are investigating the stabbing of a nine-year-old girl in a shopping centre. German city Hanover shuts off its hot water supply with a gas shortage looming. Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral is on course to re-open by 2024. UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.