Larry Williams Drive

New Zealand Cricket has announced they'll now be paying women cricketers just as much as the men.A five-year pay deal has been agreed between the NZC, the Players Association and the six regional cricket associations.It means that White Ferns can now earn as much as $160,000 a year.White Ferns captain Sophie Devine joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First, it was public hospitals warning of staff and bed shortages.And now aged care is joining in the calls.A new report released shows that there isn't enough funding to care for patients and they are increasingly in need of care.NZ Aged Care Association clinical advisor Rhonda Sheriff joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An outspoken critic of TikTok says it needs to take responsibility for harmful trends circulating on the app.The parents of two children are suing the social media company after their kids died from taking part in the 'blackout challenge' – in which users choke themselves to the point of unconsciousness.Socialife Chief Executive Alex Ford told Heather du Plessis-Allan its algorithms are designed to promote this type of content, which gets reactions on the platform.“There’s an element where parents do need to hold responsibility and educate their children, but I don’t think we can really blame 8 or 9-year-old kids for doing these challenges.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The business community is feeling downbeat.Business confidence is back down to March 2020 levels, with 62 percent of businesses expecting economic conditions to deteriorate.New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Principal Economist Christina Leung says worker shortages are troubling Kiwi firms.She told Heather du Plessis-Allan border restrictions loosening could change that.“So we do expect that recovery in net inflow and the labour shortages being alleviated to some extent as firms do bring in workers from other countries.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nick Kyrgios haters are wrong.  He’s great for tennis.It’ll surprise no one that there’s been more Nick Kyrgios controversy overnight.This time over his red Nike sneakers. The dress code at Wimbledon as we know is strictly all white. Nothing else.But not for Nick Kyrgios. He walked onto Centre Court wearing a bright red cap and bright red Jordans, the Nike sneakers. A reporter hit him up about it in the press conference after the match and this was Nick Kyrgios’ reply: "Because I do what I want." This stuff drives the traditionalists bonkers. Australian tennis great Pat Cash has accused Kyrgios of dragging the game to new depths, the reporters are getting tetchy with him in the press conferences, columnists are calling him a narcissist and calling for him to be deported from Australia.And this is exactly why Kyrgios is great for tennis: Because we can’t stop watching.For many, it’s the only reason they know Wimbledon is on. Because Kyrgios is in the news every day: Wearing the wrong gear, spitting at a sp

No plans to move back into Red just yet.It comes as Jacinda Ardern, who was in Melbourne, was asked about the possibility with the rise in Covid cases here, Ardern said there was "no expectation" to move into Red.Meanwhile, Ardern had a touching base meeting with Daniel Andrews.She spent the morning at a business breakfast hosted by ANZ focusing on sustainability and climate change, with ANZ's New Zealand chief executive Antonia Watson.NZ Herald Political Editor Claire Trevett joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's more rain on the way for Sydney.Australian correspondent Murray Olds says more than 100 areas are subject to evacuation orders, as months worth of rain has bucketed down in the space of 48 hours.He told Heather du Plessis-Allan it is likely to be Sydney's wettest year ever recorded.“The last time it was this much was 1950. They've had nearly 1.8 metres of rain in some parts of Sydney already in 2022. That's not much short of 2 metres of rain in the first six months of the year.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's professional men and women cricketers will be paid the same.The five-year deal, the first in which the men's and women's professional environments have been combined in one agreement, will see the White Ferns and domestic women's players receiving the same match fees as the men across all their formats and competitions in an agreement struck between NZC, the six Major Associations, and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association.Nick Kyrgios has powered through to the Wimbledon quarters.He managed to beat American player Brandon Nakashima 4-6 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-2 while battling a shoulder problem.Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Schools are again dealing with staffing issues as Covid-19 cases increase.Auckland's Carmel College has gone back to online learning until the end of the week, citing staffing issue.Post Primary Teachers Association President Melanie Webber told Heather du Plessis-Allan anecdotally they're hearing a huge number of schools are having to modify timetables.“It’s sort of a bit all or nothing in teaching. It’s not like you can go: ‘I’m going to take things a bit easier, I’m going to go in to work a bit later’ – that’s not how it works with teaching. People are back full in.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinda Ardern and Anthony Albanese are expected to meet at the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum at the end of the week in Sydney.It will be the first time the Forum has taken place in person since the pandemic.It will also be attended by ministers Damien O'Connor (trade and export growth), Stuart Nash (tourism and small business), Willie Jackson (Māori development), Michael Wood (immigration), Ayesha Verrall (Covid-19 response), James Shaw (climate change) and Grant Robertson (finance) – provided he has recovered from Covid-19.NZME Business Commentator Fran O'Sullivan joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the candidates in Auckland's mayoral race says trams are out, buses are in.Viv Beck wants to scrap the Government's $14 billion light rail project and build new busways and bus lanes instead.If elected, she would push for a city-wide rapid transit network, including a fully separated busway alongside the Northwestern Motorway, rapid transit from the airport to Botany, $110 million in upgrades to the Northern Busway and ramping up bus lanes on the light rail route from the CBD to the airport.Auckland mayoral candidate Viv Beck joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Danish police believe a shopping mall shooting that left three people dead and four others seriously wounded was not terror-related. They said Monday that the gunman acted alone and appears to have selected his victims at random.Copenhagen chief police inspector Søren Thomassen said the victims — a 17-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, both Danes, and a 47-year-old Russian man — were killed when the gunman opened fire on Sunday afternoon in the Field's shopping mall, one of Scandinavia's biggest.Four other people — two Danish and two Swedish citizens — were treated for gunshot wounds and were in critical but stable condition, Thomassen said. Several other people received minor injuries as they fled the shopping mall, he added.Thomassen said police had no indication that anyone helped the gunman, identified as a 22-year-old Dane. He said while the motive is unclear, there is nothing suggesting terrorism, and that the suspect would be arraigned later Monday on preliminary charges of murder.“There is nothing i

Grant Robertson hopes to get to Australia for talks this week if he recovers from Covid-19.The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister is expected to join Jacinda Ardern in Australia on Thursday.Robertson told Heather du Plessis-Allan he'll meet with his finance counterpart Jim Chalmers.“Start to get into a bit more detail about how we take forward what’s called the single economic market, which is one of the projects that been underway for many, many years between Australia and New Zealand.”Robertson will also attend the Australia New Zealand leadership forum.He says he wants to focus on how the countries can better coordinate infrastructure projects at the forum.He says they need to make sure projects are sequenced as much as possible so specialist workforce is available and the countries aren't working against each other or pushing up prices.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel sorry for hospitality especially, and business in general in New Zealand at the moment.You heard what Michael Wood said. Does that sound like a minister who wants to help businesses? No.These guys in government are not all dumb. They know that the lack of workers in this country will cause businesses to close.If you can’t find a chef, you can’t sell food, and you can’t pay your bills. That’s you done.They know that. But they’re not going to help.It feels like they actually believe business owners and bosses are bad guys. They’re so steeped in union ideology they seem to believe that bosses are constantly screwing workers instead of understanding or caring that you need bosses to have jobs for workers.And the reason I think that is that this is not the first comment from a Labour government minister basically suggesting they don’t give a toss about businesses.Remember Iain Lees-Galloway?  He got in trouble for saying back in 2018 that “if a small change to the minimum wage is going to be that detrimenta

Michael Wood will not apologise for his comments about the hospitality and tourism industry.He has accepted some concerns the sector has raised over foreign worker shortages but says businesses should be considering how to make low-wage jobs with insecure working conditions more attractive places to work.A Qantas flight to Wellington was forced to divert to Christchurch because of the city's overnight curfew.Passengers were forced to spend the night in the terminal and were given $15 food vouchers.A woman had to save her mother's life in Middlemore Hospital after she was put into palliative care.She says her mother is lucky to be alive, but blames the situation on an overstretched health system.Hairy MacLary author Lynley Dodd has hit back at accusations the book is outdated and lacks diversity.It comes as a study from Perth has suggested that Hairy MacLary is one of several children's books that "perpetuate outdated stereotypes".Ali Jones and Nick Leggett joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on The HuddleSee omny

The Maori Council are distancing themselves from Matthew Tukaki.They say that back in 2019 and 2020, some of their members expressed their concern with the way that he represented the organisation.It comes after 1 News says that his CV wasn't checked before he was appointed to a key Government role with Oranga Tamariki.Maori Council National Secretary Peter Fraser joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A call for the Government to tighten up on rules on free-range defecation.The Responsible Camping Association wants changes to a law that allows people to poo in public if they think they're not being watched.Spokesperson Bob Osborne told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's a defence to avoid being prosecuted for defecating in public.“Actually, people seeing others actually doing that is not the problem. The problem is the visual aftermath of it.”The association wants to ensure waste is buried properly and at least 50 metres from the nearest waterway.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qantas passengers who flew from Sydney to Wellington last night were diverted to Christchurch at the last minute.This was due to Wellington Airport's curfew, where international flights can't land between 1am and 6am.The passengers were left to spend the night in the Christchurch Airport terminal and were given a $15 food voucher.Mike, one of the passengers, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Immigration Minister is sticking by comments he made about the hospitality and tourism sectors.Michael Wood says businesses with low wages need to raise them to attract more workers here.He's been blasted by opposition parties, with ACT’s Chris Baillie labelling his remarks an attack on business.But Wood told Heather du Plessis Allan there's no need to apologise.“I’ve talked to some workers from that sector whose experience sometimes is a really poor one. I think this is a really strong sector, there is work to do to make sure that paying conditions are improved.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three Labour MPs have joined their peers in testing positive for Covid-19.Grant Robertson, Nanaia Mahuta and Andrew Little are the latest victims, leaving only 4 members of Cabinet yet to get the virus, including Covid-19 Minister Ayesha Verrall.For Mahuta, it means she won't be attending the Pacific Islands Forum later this week.Jacinda Ardern is back in Australia.She will spend the first leg attending business meetings and events, while the second leg will see her meet with Albanese, along with Immigration Minister Michael Wood meeting with Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil.Newstalk ZB Deputy Political Editor Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.