Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 1 April, 2026, you can now have a beer at your local on Good Friday - without having to buy a meal. We ask Labour MP Kieran McAnulty why he pushed for the change. We talk to the Firefighters Union about their long-running battle for a pay rise while the Fire and Emergency board is getting a 79% increase. A therapist says yes, we do have our favourite child. And on The Huddle, Jordan Williams and Mark Sainsbury discuss the latest political poll blow for the National Party. 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.

I’d like to know how you feel about the firefighters and their strike because I’ve gone from soft support a few weeks ago to very hard support today. What’s tipped me over the edge is this kerfuffle around board pay. Frankly, it’s one of the most tone-deaf things I’ve seen in a very long time. The board are set to receive pay rises of up to 79 percent. Meanwhile, firefighters have been fighting - and now striking - for 18 months just to get pay increases. Most of them sit somewhere above the minimum wage but below the living wage, which is not a lot of money to pay people who literally go into burning buildings. If these board pay increases go ahead as planned, the board chair will be paid more than any frontline firefighter on the base salary. One of those people is out there fighting fires and risking their life, the other is running the organisation - and running it badly. That last point matters. If Fire and Emergency New Zealand had a strong track record we could point to, a pay rise of this scale might at least be explained, if not justified. But this is a terribly run organisation. They’ve failed to settle a pay dispute for 18 months. Fire trucks break down so often it’s ridiculous - and quite scary. Equipment is failing. They paid for a fleet of fire trucks that arrived in the country too small to be used for rescues because the equipment doesn’t fit. They’ve spent $500,000 on a chief executive and $2.37 million on seven deputy chief executives. There are now calls for a review into Fire and Emergency NZ because the place is so badly run. I’m usually sympathetic to the argument that you need to pay decent rates to attract decent talent. But that’s not what’s happening here. This is simply a plan to increase the pay of the same people who are already doing a poor job running the organisation. It’s unreal that this is happening. But in a strange way, it may actually be a gift to the striking firefighters. If they didn’t already have enough public support, surely seeing the kind of outfit they’re dealing with will generate some sympathy for their plight. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Broadcasting Minister Paul Goldsmith has revealed he's mulling over changes to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.  Set up in 1989, the Authority has regulatory powers over traditional broadcasters - but today ruled it can consider complaints against online broadcasters too.  NZ First's Winston Peters has labelled the move 'fascist behaviour' and Goldsmith says he's working on a response.  "The legislation is out of date, there's no question about that...it relates to a world where you just had broadcasting TV and broadcasting radio, so there was a situation built up around that. Now, of course, the world's moved on."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No matter how many times a parent may claim they don't have a favourite child, research has indicated preferential treatment does take place. A meta‑analysis published in Psychological Bulletin - drawing on data from more than 19,000 people across 30 studies in the US, Canada and Western Europe between 2015 and 2022 found that daughters were preferred.  Therapist Jo Robertson says this research can be interpreted in many ways. "A lot of research shows that what we ask of our girls is different to what we ask of our sons. So I think it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's Prime Minister will address the nation tonight outlining how Australians can help with the fuel crisis.  It's understood Anthony Albanese will urge people to save fuel for industries that most need it.  It's the first time an Australian Prime Minister has delivered a national address since Scott Morrison did during Covid-19 in March 2020.  Australian correspondent Charles Croucher says the timing is strategic.  "This is an attempt to put everyone on the same page, before we go into that Easter long weekend and then school holidays over here. You kind of lose the audience if you're the PM." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour MP Kieran McAnulty says his member's bill to loosen liquor regulations on key public holidays will clear up confusion. It would allow hospitality venues to sell alcohol on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning and Christmas Day - without needing to serve a meal. The bill could be in place by this Easter weekend, with its final reading underway in Parliament. McAnulty says venues currently have to operate under different rules than the rest of the year, which doesn't make any sense. "All I'm proposing is that on these days, the businesses that are already operating and the workers that are already working anyway can just do so under normal conditions."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, the fuel supply update shows the amount of jet fuel in the country sat at 22.1 days of supply as of Sunday, down from 25.3 recorded last Wednesday.  Diesel's about the same at 21.6 days - meanwhile petrol was up on Sunday, at 29.3 days of supply.  Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says we'll find out about the Government's new plans for the crisis tommorow. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A US judge has halted construction of Donald Trump's nearly $700 million White House ballroom. The President had the East Wing bowled last year to make way for the project. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been granted a request for a preliminary injunction, alleging Trump exceeded his authority by not getting Congress approval before launching into construction. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says this delay will give Trump time to appeal the decision.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All Black Ardie Savea appears to have reconciled with New Zealand Rugby after a potential estrangement last year. The Herald reports he came close to international retirement after the defeat to England at Twickenham. Savea was understood to have become disillusioned with the amount of the sport he was playing and time away from home, despite moving from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika and opting for a couple of sabbaticals in Japan. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been confirmed Fire and Emergency’s board members are getting pay rises of up to 79 percent amid prolonged industrial action. A departmental briefing recommended Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden approve large increases to board pay packets in December. NZ Firefighters Union national secretary Wattie Watson has voiced outrage with this move, as strike action is set to continue. "It's outrageous when we have our three lowest ranks barely getting paid minimum wage, they're not even getting paid the living wage  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.