Larry Williams Drive

The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 3.2% and wage growth is accelerating but is still well below inflation. Gareth Kiernan from Infometrics joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up to now, because he’s a beginner, Luxon’s been given a relatively easy run on little slip ups and own goals. But I suspect that’s going to start changing. Three polls now, including last night’s, have put National in the lead. Which means Luxon is now a possible or probable winner at the next election. And he’s going to start facing the kind of scrutiny that comes with being a possible or probable Prime Minister. I suspect the runway for making mistakes is running out perhaps faster than he might think. I'm not suggesting voters will be harsh.  Clearly, they're being anything but, because despite a string of mistakes recently like calling for a public holiday to be cut to swap out for Matariki and getting confused on public transport subsidies, he went up more than 6% in the preferred Prime Minister poll last night. But the thing he won’t get away with is not knowing his mind or sounding like he doesn’t know his mind. There's too much of that lately. The most obvious example is Luxon trying his hardest to a

First, he dished them out, then he's taken some back... Trevor Mallard's trespass notices have landed the Speaker in hot water. It's led to outrage from around the traps. Including Alastair Boyce, owner of the Backbencher Pub. Alastair Boyce joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a bit of uproar over some comments by an NZ business leader... CEO of DGL group Simon Henry.  Henry was interviewed by the NBR and was disparaging about My Food Bag's IPO last year when he said this: "I can tell you, and you can quote me, when you've got Nadia Lim, when you've got a little bit of Eurasian fluff in the middle of your prospectus with a blouse unbuttoned showing some cleavage, and that's what it takes to sell your script, then you know you're in trouble." Cecilia Robinson, co-founder of My Food Bag, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are warnings that we could see more construction companies collapse because of high costs and a lack of skilled labour. Trevor Mallard's backdown took just 24 hours... but how much damage has he done and should the PM sack him? Auckland Transport is looking to spend 2 billion dollars on cycleways over the next ten years... they're looking to get rid of carparks for teachers and get teachers to teach kids how to cycle, is this futureproofing or crazy? Simon Bridges is holding his valedictory speech in Parliament tonight – Christopher Luxon is soaring in the polls.. but he still seems like a rookie in many areas. What do you make of his leadership so far?  Ali Jones, Christchurch Community Board member and PR consultant at Red PR, and Trish SHerson, Sherson Willis PR, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan for the Huddle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Construction Minister says she's working hard to fill skill shortages in the sector.  There's an estimated gap of more than 200 thousand construction workers. Poto Williams says the government will be making changes to immigration settings to favour them.  She told Heather du Plessis-Allan the government has other measures in place. “We have 43,000 apprentices in New Zealand in apprenticeship schemes and we’ve got the apprentice boost program as well to support employers.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anyone who has checked their Kiwisaver account recently will be aware that returns have slowed down somewhat recently, with losses across funds from conservative to growth.To provide an insight into what’s going on in the investment world at the moment, Mark Riggall from Wilford Asset Management joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An educator thinks removing teachers' carparks wouldn't be popular.  An Auckland cycling plan includes such ideas as mandatory bike training in schools and limiting staff parks. It's also understood to include public subsidies to help people buy bikes .... and abolishing company car tax deductions. Secondary Principals Association President Vaughan Couillault told Heather du Plessis Allan it's not clear why the parks would need to go. “I’m not quite sure the population of teachers in the country is significant enough to make a real dent in our carbon footprint to be fair.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Minister says private hospitals want to help slash dire hospital waiting lists – but it's unclear what capacity they have.  Andrew Little's today unveiled a plan to manage backlogs – saying a special task force will deliver a plan by September.  He told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's a distressing wait for Kiwis who need these procedures and appointments. “Do we just let people linger and wait on the waiting list or do we actually do something about it? There are thousands of health professionals who actually want to do something about it.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says it lost faith in the Speaker a long time ago. Winston Peters is calling for a vote of No Confidence – after Trevor Mallard trespassed five former MPs from Parliament, then withdraw it just days later.  National MP Chris Bishop told Heather du Plessis-Allan his Party's wanted him gone for a while. “We have a motion of No Confidence before the parliament but Labour will not let us debate that in parliament, we sought leave to move it a few times and it is always denied by the Labour Party, and unfortunately because Labour is the government and they have an absolute majority, they can do that.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trevor Mallard's U-turn. Health Minister Andrew Little announces a plan to deal with hospital waitlists. Simon Bridges will give his valedictory later tonight. Political reporter Aaron Dahmen joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Supreme Court looks to overturn abortion rights... But the fact that this is even public is a bit of a scandal in itself. Some elections in Ohio and Indiana will give an idea of how well Donald Trump's influence is holding up. And the concert so loud it registered as an earthquake. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are reportedly planning yet another crackdown on unlawful behaviour by gangs. The New Zealand Herald is reporting that Operation Cobalt (not to be confused with Operation Tauwhiro) will monitor gang runs and tangi processions, and prioritise bail checks and arrest warrants for gang members. A source says the objective is to put pressure on the gangs, so the public can see it. Denis O'Reilly is a lifetime Black Power member, he joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Look I've got to agree with Winston Peters, I think Trevor Mallard has lost the plot.  I cannot actually believe that he believes that it's ok to trespass Winston Peters from parliament for two years.  It's not because it's Winston Peters – it's not because I have a soft spot for Winston Peters – and it's not even really about what we think about Winston Peters.  It's about the fact that he's a former Deputy Prime Minister of this country for god's sake, and he's not allowed to go to Parliament for two years because Trevor decided.  What did Winston do wrong?  He turned up to the protest. He went to the protest as a politician, talked to the protesters for maybe an hour. He didn't pitch a tent, he didn't dig up cobblestones to throw at police, he didn't set tents on fire, so what are the reasons for trespassing him?  And by the way, I feel much the same about the fact that a similar trespass notice might be coming for former ACT Party MP Stephen Franks. Who was told by Trevor Mallard to expect one when he ran

It's the 15 year anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. A fake priest gets into Windsor Castle. A legendary British runner has been beaten by an amateur who works in a sports shop. UK correspondent Enda Brady joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rates are officially on the move up in Australia as well.  The RBA this afternoon lifted the OCR by a quarter of a percent... To 0.35%. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe signalled this is just the start of a series of raises after Australian inflation came in at 5.1%.  HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new fiscal responsibility rules. What do you make of them? You have a theory Labour is actually preparing to take a tax reform package to the election next year. Pattrick Smellie from Businessdesk joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamie Mackay has some timely and worldly words of house-husband advice for Barry when it comes to looking after little Iggy! What do you do with a problem like Winston? What's going to happen at tonight's GDT auction with Putin, Covid, Chinese lockdowns and rampant inflation conspiring against us? Host of the Country Jamie Mackay joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's concern we're witnessing the start of a wave of construction businesses fall over in the middle of a building boom. Wellington construction company Armstrong Downes has gone into liquidation. And liquidators have taken control of the company's construction sites.  Rick Herd is a member of the Vertical Construction Leaders Group and the chief executive of Naylor Love, he joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A father and son are on trial for their treatment of an alleged burglar of their home. They are accused of cutting part of his finger off... they went well past what would be considered reasonable didn't they? Did Trevor Mallard go too far sending trespass notices to Winston Peters & co? There's a Newshub poll out at 6... what are you tipping? Would you buy books you don't intend on reading, just to have them on display and make your shelves look good? Tim Wilson, Maxim Institute, and Hayden Munro, Government Relations Firm Capital, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on the Huddle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.