Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Now we’ve got to talk about Winston. If you hadn’t noticed yet - or maybe you didn’t believe it - take a look at Winston Peters’ State of the Nation speech yesterday and you’ll see the proof that this election is shaping up to be New Zealand First’s election. More than a thousand people turned up in Tauranga to hear him speak. They even had to use two overflow rooms. Compare that with the same speech last election, which was held in a church with a capacity of just 100. More importantly, New Zealand First used the event to announce they’ve recruited Alfred Ngaro, the former National Party MP. Now, it was a bit of a running joke in the crowd that they didn’t know who Alfred was - but commentators do. And I think most of us can see this for what it is: the recruitment of an incredibly well-liked former National MP with a strong Christian faith. That won’t offend Winston’s older voters - in fact, it’s likely to appeal to many of them. More significantly, it’s a signal of what’s happening and what could accelerate as we get closer to the election: New Zealand First stealing National’s territory. In this case, it’s an MP. As the election nears, it could be votes. I count among my friends two people who used to be part of National’s parliamentary team. Both are now likely to vote for New Zealand First at this election because they’re conservatives - and Winston is positioning New Zealand First as the home of conservatism. This cost-of-living crisis - now also a fuel crisis - is going to play straight into his hands. He’ll go hard on smashing the power companies to bring down prices, something National has failed to do. He’ll argue for New Zealand retaining ownership of state assets, a position that resonates more now than ever Just think about the Marsden Point oil refinery and you’ll see what I mean. He’ll choose mining over climate concerns, which will appeal to working-class voters. Everything is lining up for him to significantly lift his vote. Keep an eye on the polling. He’s already sitting at more than 10 percent. If things continue the way they’re going - with the fuel crisis squeezing the economy and Chris Luxon unable to fire the National Party up - that 10 percent could, in my view, become 15 percent by election time. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Major credit rating agency Fitch needs more confidence our Government will lower debt before it will change our rating.  It reduced New Zealand's AA+ rating outlook from stable - to negative - over the weekend.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it's proof of the importance of fiscal discipline. Agency primary rating analyst Sagarika Shandra says the Government has a plan to reach a surplus, but needs to stick to it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 23 March, 2026, Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones on why we'll now let Australian-grade fuel into New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket backs an NZ20 franchise competition - but a former international's quit the board as a result. How a social media post on Rocky the dog got tenants in trouble with their landlord. And on The Huddle, Trish Sherson and Josie Pagani on how Winston Peters is whipping up his party's popularity in election year. 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.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has revealed plans are in place to unveil a package to help households with the cost of fuel. She says more details will be revealed tomorrow, and she's worked with Inland Revenue and Treasury officials to develop this planned relief. Willis explained that this plan won't go against the Government's fiscal strategy ahead of the upcoming election. "We will be funding it from this year's Budget operating allowance...we are going to prioritise our Budget in order to be able to fund this in a temporary, timely and targeted way." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Lower Hutt couple have been taken to the Tenancy Tribunal by their landlords after they refused to disclose they had gotten a dog. A video surfaced on social media revealing the couple had gotten a dog without asking, confirming the landlords’ suspicions after the smell of urine had gotten so bad the carpet had to be replaced.  Solicitor Mike Thornton says the landlords were entitled to use the publicly available information in their investigation. "If there's publicly available information, once the landlord knows about it, they can go to the tenant and say - hey, I've learned this, do you have a dog? And that's exactly what happened." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a view Fonterra's strong result today is unlikely to climb much more. The dairy giant's reported a 2.8 percent rise in first-half net profit to $750 million. It's also announced a 20 cent lift in the farmgate milk price - and a $9.70 midpoint per kilo of milksolids. Federated Farmers Dairy Chair, Karl Dean, says given global uncertainty, he doesn't think the midpoint will reach $10. "The futures market is sitting around the $9.70-$9.80 mark, so Fonterra's got it pretty much where the futures are." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Associate Energy Minister says 'finicky' differences have barred Australian-standard fuel here. The Government's relaxing our specifications to harmonise with Australia's, to combat global shortages.  Shane Jones says it'll give importers a wider pool and hopefully bring some relief at the pump. He says it's compatible with Kiwi vehicles and meets safety and quality expectations.  Jones says it could run for 12 months. "It's temporary, but obviously the PM on various other occasions has talked about how it's overdue for harmonisation between Aussie-Kiwi, and who knows? It could very well be permanent." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's bracing itself for fuel pipeline disruptions down the track. As of Wednesday, the country had seven weeks of petrol reserves, and more than six weeks of diesel and jet fuel.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis says they'll announce details of cost relief measures for low-to-middle income households tomorrow.  Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper speculates ahead of the announcement. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labor has comfortably won re-election in South Australia, but One Nation has achieved its best electoral result in decades. The Liberal Party was polling at 19 percent of the vote, while Pauline Hanson's controversial party beat them out at 21 percent. Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says this should send a warning to the opposition parties ahead of the next federal election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand Cricket's trans-Tasman counterparts believe time will tell over whether choosing NZ20 over a Big Bash team is the right play. NZC have given conditional backing to a new franchise league - rejecting an entry into the Australian tournament. Sportstalk host Jason Pine explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.