Larry Williams Drive

There is something that jumps out at you when you wake up to the news of all the overnight ram raids each morning: how many of these places have been targeted more than once? The Takanini Bottle-O hit at 2 this morning, for the second time in three weeks. The Kingsland dairy ram raided at 3 yesterday morning. The third attack this year. The Mount Eden liquor store ram raided at 4:30 on Saturday morning. It had also been attacked the night before. The Newmarket clothing store ram raided at 1 on Saturday morning. The second attempt in months. The Howick Liquorland ram raided at 6 on Sunday morning. The second attack in five weeks. And then how many times have you woken up to the news that the offenders have been caught? Not even in half the stories I'm reading each morning. It’s really no surprise then that we hear Auckland business owners are buying hockey sticks, baseball bats and in some instances, arming themselves with more serious weapons to defend themselves. But the really concerning thing is that it sh

Nothing quite like a NATO exercise on Russia's doorstep. The Queen made a grand appearance at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Switzerland has voted to boost the availability of transplant organs by making everyone a potential donor after death unless they have expressly objected. UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The farming sector has welcomed today's Emissions Reduction Plan. The Government wants to set up a new centre for climate action on agricultural emissions to find innovative ways to reduce emissions. President of Federated Farmers Andrew Hoggard joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some sad news for the business community today... With the passing of Brian Gaynor. The business commentator, co-founder of Milford Asset Management and backer of Businessdesk.  Someone who knew Brian for decades is NZME's business commentator Fran O'Sullivan. Fran joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a big week for the Finance Minister as he gears up to budget day on Thursday.  Things were supposed to start big today with the release of the Government's Emissions Reduction Plan. But the lack of detail is what really stuck out.  Finance Minister Grant Robertson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was Wellington mayor Andy Foster right to pull the pin on plans to light up a Wellington landmark in Palestinian colours, after a warning he might upset Israel? The big Emissions Reduction Plan – not many specifics, a lot more consultation – has the plan fallen flat? A report into High Performance Sport has recommended the approach needs to be changed to people first – not medals first – after the suspected suicide of Olivia Podmore. But aren't medals what we want our athletes to win? Ramraiders have stepped it up a notch and stolen a digger to burst into a BP. This is getting ridiculous, isn't it? How do we stop it? Is Melania Trump right to be upset that she's the only First Lady who was never on the cover of Vogue? Jack Tame and Trish Sherson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on the Huddle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's mayor is defending his move to put the brakes on a Palestinian commemoration event.  The Michael Fowler Centre was set to be lit up in the colours of the Palestinian flag tonight to mark Nakba Day ... which recognises the impact of a 1948 war with Israel.  However, the capital's mayor vetoed it after MFAT expressed concerns about Israeli sensitivities. Andy Foster told Heather Du-Plessis Allan he was advised the event may offend people. “I thought ‘mmm this has got the potential to be controversial’ so I sought the advice from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and they said ‘yeah, your call but please, please, please don’t do it’.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The findings of the Cycling New Zealand and High Performance Sport inquiry have been released, following the death of Olivia Podmore last August. The report found that there is an inherent tension between well-being and the pursuit of medal success, and recommends cyclists be treated as "people first, athletes second". Issues have also been raised around women's health and male networks in the coaching realm. Olympic gold medallist rower Eric Murray was a close friend of Olivia Podmore. He joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's released its long-awaited plan on how to reduce emissions – but many big decisions have been put in the "for later" basket.  570 million dollars will go towards funding low- and middle-income households to swap their old gas guzzlers for EVs. The Government wants 30% of our cars to be zero emissions by 2035... But hasn't gone as far as banning the import of petrol cars.  A decision on congestion charges has been put off until later in the year and there's no sign of a ban on new gas connections for households and no word on whether public transport costs will continue to be slashed.  Climate Change Minister James Shaw joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The much-anticipated emission reduction plan's been released – what are the highlights and what has been the reaction? There's been a spate of ram-raids again overnight... what's the Government doing about it? NZ on Air's given a $220,000 grant for a film about Chloe Swarbrick – how have they justified that? Chief political reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the final week of the election campaign and it's looking like Anthony Albanese will be the next PM. Andrew Symonds's death continues to rock the cricketing world as the police investigation continues. The North Sydney Bears set to re-enter the NRL – but not in North Sydney. 6PR Perth Live Presenter Oliver Peterson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Podmore report finds that cyclists should be treated as people before athletes. Who's going to be in the Super Rugby final? Sports commentator Phil Gifford joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ramraiders have stepped it up a notch. They used a digger to break into the Wainuiomata BP in Lower Hutt overnight. The seven-tonne digger owned by K & D Contracting was taken from a nearby building site. The company's director Debbie Randall joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not entirely sure what James Shaw has been doing with his time. But whatever it is, it certainly wasn’t spent nailing down a climate plan. What he’s released today is very short on detail. Very short. This is supposed to be a big day for the Government by the way. The PM’s called climate change the nuclear-free moment of our generation. Her government had copped it for doing very little about that for five years but this was going to fix all that. This plan was so big it would make the economic upheaval of Rogernomics look like “a trial period”. It was so complicated, James Shaw had to delay its release by five months to today to finish all the work on it. So, it’s fair to say expectations were high. In which case this will be a huge disappointment to the climate crowd. It’s more notable for what’s missing than what’s actually in it. The congestion charge that was expected to be in this announcement isn’t. That decision has been delayed until later this year. They need to do some policy work. The expected

The number of fines issued over breaches of coronavirus regulations at British government offices, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official residence, has expanded to more than 100, London’s Metropolitan Police force said Thursday.Johnson admitted last month that he was among dozens of people who paid a police fine for attending lockdown-breaching parties and gatherings, making him the first British leader to be sanctioned for breaking the law while in office.Revelations that Johnson and other senior officials gathered illegally in government buildings in 2020 and 2021 - when millions in the country were told to restrict their lives to slow the spread of COVID-19 - has angered voters and triggered calls for Johnson to resign.Johnson has apologized for attending his own surprise birthday party at 10 Downing St. in June 2020, but insisted that it “did not occur” to him that the gathering, which he said lasted less than 10 minutes, was a party.Johnson’s wife, Carrie, and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak also

A 90-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal, a singer and at least two others have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security, in an action widely condemned as a further sign of Beijing's erosion of rights in the city.The arrests further expand a blanket crackdown on all forms of dissent in the city that appears increasingly vindictive in prosecuting actions performed prior to the enactment of the national security law. The crackdown is penetrating further into the city’s long-respected economic, religious and educational institutions, along with non-governmental organizations, many of which have closed down their Hong Kong operations.A police statement said arrests were made Wednesday against two men and two women between the ages of 45 and 90 who were trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid to people who took part in 2019 pro-democracy protests that were quashed by security forces.Another person, identified only as

Climate Change Minister James Shaw revealed his emissions budget this week and has been backed by both Labour and National.The budgets will see New Zealand have to reduce emissions quite significantly this decade.The Emissions Reduction Plan will be released on Monday which will outline how we get there.Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russia has threatened to retaliated against Finland after the country’s president and prime minister said they wanted to join NATO without delay.Finland and Sweden are expected to make their NATO applications official on Sunday.NATO’s general secretary Jens Stoltenberg expects the process to membership to be quite quick.Russia has responded by saying it will be forced to take retaliatory steps in order to neutralise the threats to national security that might arise.Former Ambassador to Russia Ian Hill joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brendon McCullum has been named test coach for England.The former Black Caps captain will take up the role ahead of the Black Caps test series against England in June.In other cricketing news, the Black Caps have announced their 20-man contract list.The most notable omission was fan favourite Jimmy Neesham, while Michael Bracewell was offered a contract for the first time.The Blues CEO has taken a crack at Super Rugby.Andrew Hore has said the competition has got to have a balance from being a high-performance product that underpins the All Blacks back to a fan-centric model.The Rugby World Cup is heading stateside.The men’s edition will be held in 2031 while the women’s tournament will be held in 2033.Jason Pine and Andrew Alderson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the week’s sports newsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brendon McCullum has been named the new England test cricket coach.The former Black Cap captain will take the reins for the test side ahead of the series against the Black Caps in June in a deal worth $3.9 million over four years.McCullum currently coaches the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.Former Black Cap Craig Cumming joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.