Larry Williams Drive

D'arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive to discuss, the All Blacks vs South Africa game and more. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is as bad for Sam Uffindell and it is bad for National.  Sam Uffindell has admitted today that he was a bully at school and this was not an isolated incident. It was the worst of its kind he says but there are others who might also reveal publicly that he assaulted them.  Of course he shouldn’t’ be punished as a 38 year old for what he did as a 16 year old.  16 year olds make bad decisions.  That’s why they mostly don’t’ go through the adult court system.  It’s why we don’t’ let them vote.  It’s why we don’t’ let them buy alcohol. But Sam is being punished because of the party he belongs to.  Which brings me to national. This is bad for national because for the second week in a row we’re not talking about all of Labour’s stuff ups which affect kiwis’ lives.  We are talking about National’s stuff ups. And this is National Party’s stuff up because they should not have selected Sam Uffindell at this point in time. They know they have a PR problem for recently selecting badly behaved young men: Andrew Falloo

Questions are being raised around a spike in student drop out rates. Ministry of Education figures released to Stuff show one in three first-year polytech students quit last year. New national polytech agency, Te Pukenga, is under fire for a ballooning deficit and falling enrolments. But Tertiary Education Union President, Tina Smith, told Heather du Plessis-Allan students drop out for a range of reasons. She says it could be because of personal circumstances or because they've been approached by a business who wants to take them on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National MP Sam Uffindell was asked to leave King's College while he was a student after he was involved in a late-night violent beating of a younger boy, according to one report. Aged 16 as a Year 11 student at the Auckland boarding school, Uffindell and three others reportedly jumped on the boy and began beating him with what was believed to be unscrewed wooden bed legs, according to Stuff. It was reported the now MP for Tauranga apologised to his victim 22 years after the attack and nine months before he revealed his political aspirations. Sam Uffindell joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yummy Fruit Company General Manager, Paul Paynter joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss Nationals' new welfare and youth employment policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB Sport News Director Matt Brown joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to wrap the day's sporting news, plus look ahead to the final day of action at the Commonwealth Games.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Sydney High School has seen a 90 per cent drop in behavioural issues since banning mobile phones.  Davidson High School made the change two months ago.  Principal David Rule told Heather du-Plessis Allen the positive impact is clear. He says the kids are more engaged in the playground, sitting around talking to one another or playing games and it’s become more relational.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Bank of England announced its biggest interest rate increase in 27 years on Thursday as it forecast that the war in Ukraine would fuel further inflation and tip the U.K. economy into a prolonged recession. Soaring natural gas prices are likely to drive consumer price inflation to 13.3% in October, from 9.4% in June, the bank said. That will push Britain into recession later this year, with economic output declining each quarter from the fourth quarter of 2022 through the fourth quarter of 2023, bank forecasts show. Those pressures persuaded the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to boost its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, the biggest of six consecutive increases since December. The rate now stands at 1.75%, the highest since the depths of the global financial crisis in late 2008. Gov. Andrew Bailey defended the move, which will increase borrowing costs for consumers, saying the bank has a duty to control price increases that disproportionately affect the poorest in society. “I recognize the sig

A big payday for tech entrepreneur Sir Peter Maire. His company Invenco, an EFTPOS systems company, has been sold to an overseas buyer for $127 million.  It's also part-owned by interests associated with NBR Lister Greg Tomlinson. Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has now left Taiwan after a controversial stop in Taipei which enraged China. China has now been firing missiles near Taiwan as a result of the trip in what's being called a "live fire training mission". Asia business correspondent Peter Lewis joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian Tamaki, as we know, is planning another protest tomorrow which starts in the Auckland Domain. Protests that start there generally have a tendency to spill over into Newmarket. This especially angers the local business association. Newmarket Business Association CEO Mark Knoff-Thomas joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ian Foster could be out if the All Blacks lose both games in South Africa. An exclusive from the Herald found a meeting between Foster and Mark Robinson and Chris Lendrum, where Foster could go if they don't win one game. One of the changes he laid out in the meeting was axing John Plumtree and Brad Mooar, and bringing in Jason Ryan. Lewis Clareburt just gets better and better. Clareburt won his third medal of the Commonwealth Games with bronze in the 200m medley yesterday. And Eddie Osei-Nketia's coach is calling for a review into Athletics New Zealand selection criteria. It comes as the sprinter missed out on selection for Birmingham, where his coach also thinks he could've medalled. Lavina Good and Matt Brown joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the week's sports newsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's pretty high stakes for Ian Foster for the All Blacks in South Africa. If Foster doesn't win at least one game, he's gone. But the question is whether the All Blacks have the capability to turn it around after the series loss to Ireland. Kiwi-born former Springbok Kevin Putt joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The growth of print books is matching the growth of e-books. The latest book industry report shows paperbacks still accounts for 90 percent of the market. Publishers Association of New Zealand president Graham Cosslett told Heather du Plessis-Allan the report covers bookshops and exports. There's also been a growth in Maori language books. “We've seen in the last year a 40 percent year on growth of total unit sales, and that's actually on the back of 24 percent growth the previous year.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia might've won a Commonwealth Games silver medal if he'd been allowed to go to the Games. This is according to his coach who says Athletics NZ qualification standards are too high. His coach Gary Henley-Smith joined Heather du-Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All eyes will be on Chris Luxon going into his first National Party Conference as party leader. However, it hasn't been a good week for the National Party, with doubts from commentators on his leadership. And the Party President role is up for grabs, with Peter Goodfellow stepping down. It also wasn't a good week for James Shaw. Shaw was the only candidate named for their leadership contest, there are questions over whether he will get past the 75 percent threshold to retain his leadership. Rotorua locals are standing up to their council. More than 3600 submissions have been received on the issue of using motels for emergency housing. Newstalk ZB Political Editor Barry Soper joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The boss of Wellington Water accepts more money's needed to fix the city's pipes. It comes amid reports severe water restrictions could be in force this summer largely due to leaks. That may include total residential outdoor water bans. Colin Crampton told Heather Du Plessis-Allan they're fixing water leaks as quickly as they can - but the number is increasing. He says they need some big cash. “At the moment, our manual budget for operations is about $100 million a year, so it’s going to be in the millions, isn’t it?” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than US$4 million ($6.35M) in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Today marks the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the deadliest school shooting in US history was a hoax. The Austin jury must still decide how much the Infowars host must pay in punitive damages to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 children and six educators who were killed in the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut. The parents had sought at least US$150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jones' attorney asked the jury to limit damages to $8 — one dollar for each of the compensation charges they are considering — and Jones himself said any award over US$2 million "would sink us". It likely won't be the last judgment against Jones over his claims that the a

The All Blacks head into the first test against South Africa on the back of multiple changes to the team. Caleb Clarke is returning on the pitch, but off the pitch, Jason Ryan has come in to the team with John Plumtree and Brad Mooar out. And in the Commonwealth Games, Tom Walsh has said Jacko Gill may challenge him in the shotput. The Black Sticks Women are also taking on England in the hockey semifinal on the back of the White Ferns and Silver Ferns struggling against England. Sportstalk host D’Arcy Waldegrave joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There will be some firefighters on deck to dampen flames when union members strike later this month. All members of the Professional Firefighters Union will walk off the job for an hour on August 19, and again the following week.  They want improved working conditions, better maintenance of equipment and higher wages. Professional Firefighter Union's Wattie Watson told Heather du Plessis-Allan FENZ has contingency plans in place. “So there’ll be very few of the career firefighters to be available. There will be commanders because they’re not generally part of our agreement, and of course, there’s volunteers.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.