Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The thing we’d been warned about with climate change has now happened - AA Insurance has stopped offering new insurance policies for Westport because of the risk of flooding. At the very end of last year, AA Insurance wrote to the Buller District mayor advising that the company would be putting a - what they call temporary - stop to new insurance policies for properties in the 7825 postcode, which includes Westport, Carters Beach, and Cape Foulwind. If you listen to the experts, this is just the start. It’s already happening in flood‑risk towns in Australia, it’s now happened here, and it will keep happening until these towns find ways to keep themselves safe through measures like flood defences. You don’t need me to tell you what this is going to do to property prices. They’re only going in one direction - down. Not least because you need insurance to take out a mortgage. And you know what happens next, people start putting pressure on the Government to bail them out from dropping property values. They want the Government to buy their houses. They want the Government to provide insurance. Because that’s what we always do when things go wrong, we turn to the Government to bail us out. But the Government absolutely should not bail out anyone. Not just because the country cannot afford it - if every homeowner who loses insurance cover because of climate change in the coming decades, or who needs to be bought out for the same reason asks for help, it will cost the country billions of dollars we simply do not have. But also because, as harsh as it sounds, if an insurance company will no longer cover your house, maybe your house should not be where it is. Maybe the insurance companies are doing us a favour by forcing us to make decisions we’ve been avoiding. We’ve been dragging our heels on this stuff for decades. But you can’t argue with the market. We are still building in the wrong places - but you can’t argue with the market. If insurers won’t cover it, taxpayers absolutely should not. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters claims our proposed trade agreement with India would let visa holders bring family members with them.  The Trade Minister denies the FTA could allow 20,000 to 25,000 more immigrant arrivals. Peters says Todd McClay admitted the loophole himself to a select committee.   "He had to concede that there were those people who had the right to bring their spouses and their children right away." In the hearing, McClay said the FTA extends standard visa settings.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forty-four titles have been announced for the 2026 Ockham Book Awards longlist, with true crime and politics among the big name nominees. Nine debut authors appear in the list, three in each of the poetry, illustrated non-fiction and general non-fiction categories, including the Jacinda Ardern memoir A Different Kind of Power. Time Out Bookstore manager Jenna Todd says it's unclear if Ardern will emerge victorious, as general non-fiction is a wide-ranging category. "You have history, memoir, creative essays, so who knows? I just have no idea." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transport Minister says discussions must be had on roads that keep flooding during extreme weather events. Chris Bishop and the Prime Minister have been surveying damage in Te Tairāwhiti, and visiting still isolated communities. Bishop says the focus now is reopening routes. But he says NZTA and contractors need to discuss how to future-proof these crucial routes.  "They'll be having a really good look at the Waioeka Gorge and thinking about what we need to do to rebuild - and it'll be the same with State Highway 35." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning more insurance companies could follow AA Insurance, which has paused signing up new new policies in the West Coast's Westport. Buller District Council says the insurer has confirmed it’s temporarily halting new property policies because of the high flood-risk. Existing policyholders can renew as usual. Victoria University Emeritus Professor Jonathan Boston says he can almost guarantee it won't be a one-off. "We are in a period of climate-intensified risk, those risks are going to grow - sea level rise will intensify flood risk for many communities." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand roads are about to re-enter a dangerous window as schools return for term one. A report from driver safety advocacy group AutoSense claims accidents linked to fatigue happen most between 7 and 8am, the hour children head to school. CEO Charles Dawson says fatigue is driven by our body clock - and it can be dangerous. "Any vehicle that has a human behind the wheel is going to be prone to this, it's all about our natural physiology."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Minister for Trade's attempting to put to bed concerns about our fair trade agreement with India - repeatedly voiced by the NZ First leader. Winston Peters claims it will let tens of thousands more Indian migrants enter the country.  The Prime Minister has denied the assertion.  The full agreement is still not publicly available, but Trade Minister Todd McClay has detailed visa numbers to Parliament today. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacked today's discussions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speculation about Liberal leader Sussan Ley's future with the party is growing, as more people call for her ousting. Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are the two names being discussed as potential replacements in the liberal leadership race. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says it's likely Ley will stay in the top job as long as the vote among Australia's right bloc remains divided. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland FC can live without being in football's Australia Cup. The Black Knights have been dumped because it's an Asian Confederation competition, while Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix are from the Oceania region. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand says it hopes to avoid a three-day strike by international cabin crew in February. E tū Union and the Flight Attendants Association have issued strike notices for wide-body crews on 787 and 777 Boeing flights. The airline's Chief People Officer, Nikki Dines, says they've covered a lot of ground in 10 months of weekly meetings with the unions. "There's a lot of things that we've agreed on, the last remaining item is just on pay. That's the one item that we are continuing to work with our cabin crew unions on." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.