Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

There's concerns over whether the costs for the new Waikato University medical school will blow out and be passed on to taxpayers. Cabinet will contribute $80 million to the $230-million-dollar Waikato University school, which is expected to open in 2028 for 120 trainees.  University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley says the university is on track for a surplus of $20 million this financial year. "The university is in really good financial shape, enrolments have risen very quickly this year...and we have no debt at the moment either." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 22 July 2025, Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney tells Heather why she bought Three for $1. Foreign Minister Winston Peters says enough is enough in Gaza, but what will it really take to end the war? Reserve Bank Governor Neil Quigley gets a grilling after new claims about the events that led to ex-Governor's Adrian Orr's resignation. Why are we seeing such a huge rise in gym related injuries? Plus, the Huddle debates a new poll that suggests the Government will lose power at the next election - and NZ First voters are keen on Labour again. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The big news of the day is another $1 deal in the media, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the state of the industry. But this is, on balance, good news for everyone - I would have thought. It's good for you, for viewers, good for Sky, and good for Three. And I'm gonna work backwards on that - Let's start with TV3. It's good news for Three and for the people who work there, because Three continues to exist. A very real alternative must have been for Warner Brothers Discovery, the owners, to shut Three down completely. Now that they've sold it for $1 to Sky, it continues. It's good news for Sky, because it gives Sky TV a chance to make money again off stuff that they already own. For example, and I'm just picking this randomly, let's say White Lotus. Sky TV buys the broadcast rights for the country to White Lotus, they earn the money off White Lotus by sticking it on Sky TV, sticking it on Neon, and we pay a subscription to watch it. Now, they can wait a few months, maybe until all of us who've paid for it have watched it, and then they can dump White Lotus for free on TV3 and Freeview - which is TV3's app - and then they can make money off White Lotus all over again through advertising around the free content. Now, they can already do this with their Sky Open channel, which is a free-to-air channel they already have, but who even knows where on the TV Sky Open is? I have no bloody idea what number it is. Never even watched it before in my life. And does it have an app? Wouldn't know. I know everything you need to know about TV3, I've got the TV3 app, I know where to find it. There is a very strong brand attached to Three. More importantly, I would have thought for Sky TV - this strengthens its arm for sports, right? Sky TV has now got to be the only real choice in town for sports content. Beforehand at least domestically, TVNZ was a real competitor, at least for the free-to-air portion, given so many people watch TVNZ - both its on-air channels and its app. But now, Sky TV's got Three - same same. It doesn't need to have anything to do with TVNZ. Finally, it's good for you and me that this deal was struck today, because who doesn't want excellent free content landing on an app that you already have or a TV channel that you already watch? So good day all round, I would say. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A pohutukawa tree on Auckland's North Shore has sparked controversy, with residents of an impacted apartment complex calling for a solution. The tree fell over into the complex's property and has been lying in place for three years - and there's growing demand to move it. Former ZB broadcaster Murray Deaker is one of the impacted residents and he says the tree's a safety hazard for residents and their families. "There's a hearing on the sixth of August... and people can go along and put their submissions in. And I think that'll be an interesting one."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government believes only a negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope in Gaza. Foreign Minister Winston Peters has signed New Zealand on to a long and growing list of nations calling for a permanent end to the conflict. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper speculates about the impact of this statement. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland property developer doesn't believe changes to rules on building granny flats will add the 13,000 extra dwellings claimed by the Government. Easing resource and building consents requirements for structures 70 square metres or less - was one of the Government’s first moves in office. David Witburn says the number is more like 3,000. "The reality is, it's a niche accommodation type, a granny flat. It's not everyone's dream to live in a granny flat, it can be very useful for extended whanau living." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A childcare centre director who employed her convicted child sex offender husband as a groundskeeper has been sacked. There is no allegation he offended against children at the centre, and investigations are ongoing. Australian correspondent Sam Emery says this story will prompt questions about child safety as Parliament returns. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky TV recently bought TV3 - and it's got experts speculating about what this could mean for the future of New Zealand sport. It's taking over Warner Brother Discovery's New Zealand television arm - including other linear and streaming channels, like ThreeNow. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global condemnation of Israel is growing, over killing Palestinians and restricting aid. New Zealand is demanding a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, along with dozens of other countries.  Foreign Minister Winston Peters told the House the international community's united in revulsion over what's happening Peters says having the European Union on board will build pressure - hopefully with success. He explained it's brought on by frustration countries have long been engaged in helping with the humanitarian crisis - with still no solution.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky TV is promising it won't shake the boat too soon after buying TV3 and ThreeNow - for a dollar.  Warner Brothers Discovery has sold its Kiwi TV arm, including a range of linear and streaming channels.  Sky TV says, for now, Sky Open will continue operations as normal and Three News will be kept at the six o'clock slot.  Chief executive Sophie Moloney says they might even still negotiate with TVNZ on sports.  "I think it's actually really important for the local media ecosystem that you do have two vibrant opportunities for sport partners and beyond." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A steep rise in gym-related ACC claims for injuries could be down to strength training's rising popularity.  Accident Compensation Corporation data shows it accepted about 50,000 gym-injury claims last year - worth about $50 million dollars. It notes training and gym activities now account for the most claims. Body Torque Personal Training founder, Alex Flint, says training with weights can result in shoulder and lower-back injuries. "Sometimes with that increase and uptake in a new type of exercise comes over-enthusiasm." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The water sector for England and Wales is set to undergo a significant overhaul following the release of a new report. The Independent Water Commission sets out 88 recommendations to get the industry back into shape after years of notable controversies.   UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacks the findings. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stats NZ  recently reported annual inflation increased to 2.7 percent in the three months to the end of June, and it's sparked concerns among experts. Economists had all been expecting annual inflation would be recorded at 2.8 percent or 2.9 percent - close to the Reserve Bank's 3 percent target band. Harbour Asset Management spokesperson Shane Solly revealed what this could mean for the economy going forward. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Website infrastructure company Cloudflare has announced moves designed to stop AI from scraping digital content for free. Going forward, website owners can choose if they want AI crawlers to access their content - and decide how the content gets used. Cloudflare chief strategy officer Stephanie Cohen says websites want control over who uses their output - and they can charge or block AI platforms if needed. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! There's growing calls to scrap NCEA - and the Government is looking to make some changes to the qualification. What do we make of this? Coldplay's Chris Martin is now warning adulterers to disentangle before the kiss cam comes on. What do we think of this saga? Should the CEO have had to resign?  The Government has confirmed the new Waikato medical school is under way - do we see the costs blowing out? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister says the costs involved in building a new medical school at Waikato University have been through a thorough business case. Construction will begin this year - with the school providing 120 doctor training places a year, focused on primary care and rural health. The Government's chipping in $83 million dollars, and the university and philanthropic investors will contribute $150 million. When asked what would happen if the others can't come up with the money, Nicola Willis was clear. "I'm going to say - well, you said you would, so you're in trouble now and you're going to have to find the money." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 21 July 2025, Health Minister Simeon Brown on giving the green light for the new Waikato Medical School - and how the Government managed to cut a significant amount of money from the original proposal. Inflation is up again to 2.7 percent but the Finance Minister Nicola Willis reckons the economy will have firmly turned around by the time we get to the election next year. If NCEA is too far gone, what should we replace it with? Plus, on the Huddle a controversial take from Trish on the Coldplay kiss cam incident that leaves both Heather and Josie red faced! Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, here's a prediction for you - watch those Waikato University medical school costs blowout. I reckon it's gonna blow out and there's all the signs this thing is gonna blow out. Even when the Waikato University was itself putting in less money, which is $100 million, there were questions about whether it could afford it because Waikato University's debt level is maxed out at the moment. So everybody looked at it and went, are you actually gonna be able to afford it? Well now, it not only has to put in the $100 million, it has to put in $150 million between itself and some philanthropists it needs to find. Now, what do you think happens if for whatever reason, it cannot quite find that money? Who do you think is going to be called upon to fund the gap? The long-suffering taxpayer. That's a blowout for us. Now, that's not even mentioning the chances that this thing costs much more than what they say it's gonna cost. I'm very suspicious about how it is that a $380 million project suddenly got cut down to $230 million without anything actually being cut out of it. How did that happen? And even at the higher estimate, which was $380 million, I was already worried that that wasn't really going to cover it, because there were warnings then that it was going to blow out - because the thing is being rushed. Treasury said that whenever we rush things, like the Dunedin Hospital build, we end up with unexpected and often urgent cost escalations. Now, I'm incredibly cynical about the fact that this has somehow managed to radically cut the costs of a scheme that was being questioned for being too expensive and unnecessary when we already have two medical schools. And I worry very much that we have been presented the best case scenario to get us across the line on a National Party election promise that actually wasn't stacking up anymore. And that once we've invested in this and the shovels are in the ground and the costs start to blow out, we go - well, we're already pouring money into it, we simply will have to continue pouring money into it, which is how this always goes. So I hope that this comes in under budget, and if it does, I absolutely will apologize for what I'm saying right now, but I don't think it will. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One expert is joining the calls to overhaul NCEA after the Government indicated changes were on the way. A damning report's highlighted major problems with the qualification's credibility, with some schools already withdrawing from Level One. NZ Initiative Senior Fellow Dr Michael Johnston says NCEA's had a 20-year run and it's time to rethink it. "I think a lot of teachers and schools have probably had a gutsful of it, to be honest. It imposes a very heavy workload on teachers... there's a lot that schools have to do." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts have offered reassurance our high inflation isn't a sign of things to come. Stats NZ figures show the Consumers Price Index reached 2.7 percent for the year to June. Inflation fell to just 2.2 percent last year - from 7.3 percent three years ago - but has been rising since. Kiwibank senior economist Mary Jo Vergara says this is likely a spike, so should go back down. "If you look at domestic inflation, that's really trending down - so I don't think this is going to be something that is persistent."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Construction will begin this year on a new medical school at Waikato University. The Government has given it the go ahead - and is providing $83 million dollars towards the project. Health Minister Simeon Brown says the school will offer a post-graduate degree aimed at other fields, such as nurses or paramedics. "This is about attracting people from those rural communities working potentially in healthcare or different roles and giving them the opportunity to upskill or become a doctor." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consumer NZ says complaints against Noel Leeming go beyond its price-matching policy.  The tech retailer is facing criminal charges brought by the Commerce Commission - accusing it of making misleading promises.  Noel Leeming's strongly rejecting the claim, and says it will vigorously defend its stance.  But Consumer NZ chief executive, Jon Duffy, says the company's also charged with misleading people about their consumer rights.  "If people are taking things back to the store and getting mislead about their rights to a refund or a replacement, that's very concerning". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister has confirmed a Waikato medical school's coming, with construction beginning this year. The Government's putting $83 million towards the $230-million-dollar project, with the rest coming from Waikato University and philanthropic investors. It'll offer a graduate-entry programme, focused on primary care and rural health. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the ACT Party quickly released a statement taking credit for driving down the price of the project. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, the opposition isn't faring too well in the months after their election loss. The first post-election opinion poll has revealed Sussan Ley's coalition is sitting on 29 percent - the lowest figures since 2023. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says Ley is still trying to appeal to prospective voters as the coalition assesses the damage.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finishing chances remains a focus for the All Blacks as they pivot towards the Rugby Championship next month. The 3-nil win over the French keeps the All Blacks second in the world behind the Springboks. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win for Kmart workers, whose union says it's secured an industry-leading deal.  Worker First Union says it's ratified a two-year pay deal matching the minimum living wage - and rising alongside its increase next year.  Deputy Secretary of Retail at Workers First Union, Rudd Hughes, says this deal is a 'gold standard' for retail workers - and he hopes other retailers can follow suit. "It's not that they can't afford not to do it, we've asked for the details of their finances and they've refused to give them to us. The Norman family themselves, since 2017, have gone from $500 million net worth to over $1 billion. The workers certainly haven't had that kind of increase in their wages."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 18 July. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A flurry of action has occurred over Wellington mayoral hopeful Ray Chung's campaign. Three council candidates aligned with his ticket, Independent Together, have dropped out in just three days. This follows criticism of an email Chung wrote, containing salacious rumours about the city's Mayor. He's since apologised. But Alistair Boyce from campaign group Better Wellington is standing by him. He told Ryan Bridge he doesn't expect anyone else will leave, and they're all strong and ready for the fight. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A recent survey has revealed that Kiwis are more nosy in open homes than many would expect.   The survey found that 72% of participants admitted to snooping through wardrobes, and 69% confessed to looking through drawers and cupboards.  Despite this, real estate agent and Location, Location, Location host Jayne Kiely told Ryan Bridges that she’s never had a missing item reported from an open home.  ‘11 years I’ve been selling, I have not had one item stolen or moved’  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Minister is promising a school property agency (taking over management from the Ministry of Education) will pay for itself. Erica Stanford says using offsite manufacturing and repeatable designs from now, is reducing class build costs. She's announced plans for 137 new schoolrooms in Auckland. Stanford told Ryan Bridge cost efficiencies will pay for the new property agency. Stanford's also today announced plans to build 137 classrooms across 24 Auckland schools.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump is now asking for some of the Epstein documents to be released.  The President, who earlier this week was calling for people to forget about the files, has now changed his approach to the situation.   US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Ryan Bridge, ‘I think he wants to try and get ahead of this, even though he has been trying to divert attention from it.’   These documents are suspected of containing important information about the identities of some of Jeffery Epstein’s clients.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A legal battle has swayed in media's favour - now allowed to report child sex exploitation and bestiality imagery were allegedly discovered on work devices of former Police Deputy Commissioner, Jevon McSkimming.  They were allegedly found while he was under a separate criminal investigation, the details of which can't be legally reported.  He resigned suddenly in May after being suspended on full pay since December.   The Herald's Jared Savage told Ryan Bridge details had to be kept secret after McSkimming's lawyer filed an urgent application in the High Court.  He says media organisations banded together to successfully challenge the injunction stopping reporting on the nature of the material.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister is defending the focus of a new anti-corruption taskforce. The Serious Fraud Office will aim to understand threats to the public sector. The six-month pilot will be limited to six Government agencies -  Inland Revenue, ACC, Corrections, MSD, Land Information NZ, and Sport NZ.  Mark Mitchell told Ryan Bridge that globally, some of the biggest recent corruption issues - relate to sporting codes.  He wants to ensure there's best practice to maintains the country's low-corruption reputation.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will welcome Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to the UK to sign a new bilateral defence treaty. The treaty promises tighter action on smuggling gangs, expanded defence exports and closer industrial ties between both regions. UK correspondent Enda Brady says this treaty sends a clear message to Russia amid escalating global tensions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, former Green MP Gareth Hughes and lawyer and political commentator Liam Hehir joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Oranga Tamariki won't publish the reoffending rates of future youth bootcamp participants. Shouldn't we know those rates to know whether the camps are working? Scientists have warned campylobacter is on the rise, and want warning labels on chicken. What do we make of this? With all the discussion on rates caps, do we also need to think about a cap for tax rise too? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US earnings season for the second quarter is under way - and one expert has revealed what this means for American households. Recent data shows households are staying resilient, and there's no sign of a recession as of yet. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the current geopolitical environment, product prices have strongly recovered from their lows of the past couple of seasons as demand returned from key export markets. Experts claim tighter global production has contributed to improved demand for meat products. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 17 July 2025, shocker price hike. Food prices have gone up by 4.6 percent. Economist Brad Olsen says the cost of some food groups including mince makes for grim shopping. Scientists are warning of the huge rise of people getting hospitalised for campylobacter. But Food Safety's Vincent Arbuckle says the researchers are scaremongering and people are well aware of the dangers of raw chicken. Green MP Tamatha Paul makes her debut on Drive, saying Oranga Tamariki is refusing to publish reoffending rates for boot camp participants to hide its failure. Plus, with all the talk about rates caps - the Huddle debates whether we should also have a cap for tax rises. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The hunt is on for New Zealand's next big new start-up. Icehouse Ventures recently opened a $30 million seed round in an attempt to fund 30 new Kiwi-made business ventures. CEO Robbie Paul says they're looking to invest in new technology that can go from New Zealand to the world. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many times have you heard the Prime Minister say this Government is different because it will set targets, track progress and be open about its actual results? That's how we're going to get back on track, that's what we've heard from National so many times. And what's more important than turning around education and getting on top of youth crime? Not much. Which is why they've got charter schools and bootcamps. Everybody said 'yep', those kids need sorting out in the case of bootcamps - or those kids deserve more choice in the case of charter schools. But now this week, we’ve heard from the agencies involved in these programmes and they've decided they won't be telling the public how many students are enrolled at the new charter schools. And in the bootcamps- they won’t talk about how many of the kids are re-offending. They’ve given various excuses for this, but none of them stack up. They reckon telling the public general details, no specifics or names, about youth re-offending is potentially harmful to vulnerable kids - which sounds very cotton-wool, wraparound luvvie Labour for the the big game this Government talked, don't you think? The fact is, people can’t trust a system or a programme they know nothing about. When you're not totally upfront about the results, it looks like you're trying to hide something. And you only hide news when it’s bad. So either they know charter schools and boot camps are a bad idea, which I doubt, otherwise why would you do them? Or -they’re scared of failure on key programmes a year out from the election. Here’s some free advice: give us the truth and let us make up our own minds. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks selectors have rung 10 changes to the starting XV for Saturday's third and final test against France in Hamilton. Ethan de Groot, Fabian Holland, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea and Rieko Ioane are the only players remaining from the last run-on side. Samisoni Taukei’aho, Tyrel Lomax, Samipeni Finau and Luke Jacobson come into the starting pack. The backline changes includes promotions for Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie, Quinn Tupaea, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sevu Reece and Ruben Love. All Blacks assistant coach Jason Holland says it's important to make changes - and he's expecting the squad to deliver a solid performance against the French. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pressure's on Oranga Tamariki - as it announces it won't release more details around bootcamp reoffending. The Ministry for Children initially confirmed teens in the pilot military-style academy programme had offended again. It's since said releasing information could've been harmful to those involved. Green MP Tamatha Paul says the agency is shifting the goalposts. "That is one of the measures of success for the pilot, so I think it's really important that we do know." Paul claims Oranga Tamariki doesn't want to publish the data because the programme's been a failure. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Households are still finding it tough to pay for the basics, with high prices not easing yet.  Stats NZ has revealed the cost of food rose 4.6 percent in the 12 months to June. It's largely driven by double-digit increases for products like red meat, cheese and milk Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says the general economy is still experiencing intense price pressure and weakness - which isn't comforting. "Mince prices are now hitting nearly $22 a kilo. You can't even have a cheap mince meal at a cheap price." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Food Safety New Zealand says a study of campylobacter infection rates is unnecessarily alarmist. The Public Health Communication Centre claims more than 10 percent of the population contracted the infection from eating chicken in the past few years. It suggests it's caused 9000 hospitalisations, and at least 60 deaths since 2008.  Food Safety NZ's Vincent Arbuckle says the numbers are way off.  "Every time there's a death, the clinician has to determine the primary cause and that goes on record - and the primary cause has been only three cases." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour's urging councils to axe what he calls 'puppy dogs and ice cream'. The Deputy Prime Minister's adding to the coalition's call for councils to focus on basic, core services - and ditch 'nice-to-have' projects. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained why David Seymour's speech was so controversial. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qantas has filed court action in a bid to stop the compromised data of millions of customers being accessed or released following a recent cyber attack. The accounts of 5.7 million Qantas customers were compromised in a data breach at the end of June, with millions of phone numbers, addresses and dates of birth caught up in the leak. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the airline is trying to negotiate with the hackers before the information gets shared on the dark web. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concern in the All Blacks camp over a hand injury to first five Beauden Barrett. While Barrett was unlikely to start in the third and final test against France in Hamilton on Saturday, he's been ruled out entirely after suffering the damage in training. Sportstalk host Elliott Smith explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retail NZ is criticising the Commerce Commission's regulatory change to card payment fees. The Commission today announced new regulations on interchange fees, reducing charges to businesses for taking Visa and Mastercard payments. Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young says it's a complex issue - and these changes won't address everything. "This is one part of the merchant service fee, there's about 5 or 6 fees depending on how you structure your payment portfolio that may cut the merchant service fee. The Commerce Commission has said they won't get that fee down to one percent maximum." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands of Afghans have moved to the UK under a secret scheme which was set up after a British official inadvertently leaked their data, according to new reports. In 2022, the personal details of nearly 19,000 people who had applied to move to the UK after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan were leaked. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the name of the MoD leaker hasn't been unveiled, but it's prompted widespread backlash.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANZ has declined a proposed settlement by lawyers leading a massive class action against the bank for giving customers the wrong information about their loans. The lawyers asked ANZ to agree to pay a penalty of up to $300 million, on top of the $35 million it has already paid more than 100,000 customers to compensate them for the error. ASB, which is also subject to the class action, is yet to respond to the proposal for it to also make a payment of up to $300 million. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.