Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson and former Auckland mayor Phil Goff joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Prime Minister Chris Luxon has copped some backlash over his non-committal response to the crisis in the Middle East. Who's to blame here? How bad does this look in an election year? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 3 February, 2026, we talk to a former CIA officer about the US war in Iran - and how the conflict is growing. The Children's Minister tells us why there'll be another boot camp for young offenders. A new take on cell-phones - we hear from an advocate of putting a phone in every prison cell. And on The Huddle, Phil Goff and Maurice Williamson battle it out over the fighting in the Middle East. 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.

All right, we need to talk about Chris Luxon and that performance yesterday. “Oh, I mean… we obviously understand… we’re not saying that… what we’re saying is… we… we… we understand this… I don’t know how to be any clearer, guys…” You know what’s going wrong here, eh? The Prime Minister doesn’t want to say what he actually thinks. He doesn’t want to take a position on the air strikes on Iran. If he says he supports the strikes, he risks copping it from what may be a majority - but almost certainly is a very vocal minority - of New Zealanders who don’t like anything the US does militarily. If he says he opposes the strikes, then he risks creating an international headline like 'New Zealand criticises US air strikes' and getting this country offside with the most volatile US president in modern history - and whatever comes with that. So either way, he’s in a tough position. A generous interpretation is that he’s trying to protect New Zealand from Trump. A less generous interpretation is that he’s trying to protect himself from unhappy voters. The problem is that, as always, Chris Luxon trying to avoid taking a position ends the way it always does: he looks clumsy and uncertain. He makes mistakes - like saying he supports anything the US may do to prevent nuclear weapons, including carpet bombing - which he’s now had to walk back today. And Luxon’s been here before, hasn’t he? Remember the three-minute interview with Mike Hosking where he wouldn’t take a position on whether he would have sacked Andrew Bayly? I’d say that in trying to avoid choosing between supporting or not supporting the air strikes, he created a third position altogether - making himself look foolish. And for a leader in an election year, that is the worst choice possible. It is better - even if the position is unpopular - to pick one, than to look like he does today. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Propopoly is a startup that aims to give everyday New Zealanders a chance to enjoy the benefits of being a property developer. The business allows people to buy shares in a property development and get a payout when those properties are sold. Founder Dehardt van der Merwe explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted the plans of many travellers, who may be in for more bad luck by insurers. Much of the region’s airspace has been shut after the US and Israeli attack on Iran and its retaliatory strikes in the region - and travel insurance companies have invoked the war clause in their policies. Consumer NZ CEO Jon Duffy says it's important for Kiwi travellers to check their policies, as there could be a way through this.  "Insurance policies do cover cancellations if it's due to an airspace closure...but because it's hostilities and military action - typically, cover is excluded." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's considering raising phone call entitlements for prisoners, amid a push from a petition and the Ombudsman. The law says prisoners are entitled to just five minutes on the phone each week. Former head of the Wellington Howard League for Penal Reform, Christine McCarthy, petitioned Parliament to change the rules - saying current technology would make restrictions easy to enforce.  "We have increasingly wonderful technology - so you have to remember the context that prisoners have to apply every telephone number that they're going to ring, that has to be approved. And when you have electronic systems, you can know...the way you can monitor stuff, the way you can access and record things is just way ahead." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GrabOne is getting a second life under brand new owners.  Wellington's Paradigm Group has bought the GrabOne brand and assets. It went into liquidation last October, leaving many consumers with vouchers they couldn't use.  The new boss Paul Raeburn says they're bringing back half a dozen key GrabOne employees. He says they're energised to get the platform back to what it was.  "I stopped looking at GrabOne probably five or six years ago, because there wasn't anything I wanted to do there. We've got some real heat today - Cordis Hotels, Flamingo scooters, Holy Moly, all of those staples." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Children's Minister says another boot-camp for young offenders is about to start, because of promising results from the first one. Newstalk ZB understands the programme is starting in Palmerston North on Monday for 10 young offenders. They'll spend more time in the residential facility than in the pilot, and this iteration's getting more input from local iwi. Karen Chhour says the first camp saw helped drive change for those young people. "We can't just keep having a revolving door policy and allowing them to just keep coming in and out without actually supporting them once they return to the community." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US and Israel's accelerating battering of Iran is wreaking havoc in the Middle East. More than 1200 Iranian targets have been bombed, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is warning harder strikes are yet to come. Iran's responded with attacks targeting US assets in surrounding states, including the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia.  It's also blocking the Strait of Hormuz - an important oil shipping route.  Former CIA intelligence officer Glenn Carle says blowing up the air defence systems is one thing, but without US forces on the ground, there will still be armed revolutionary guards.  "What do the United States and Israel do, to force whoever's holding the guns out, or to do what the United States wants?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister has copped some backlash over his stance on the US and Israel attacking Iran.  Chris Luxon strongly condemned the Iranian regime's retaliatory strikes. He also acknowledged the US claim Iran was developing weapons that could threaten overseas nations.  Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Luxon's faced a lot of scrutiny from MFAT over this matter.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.