Jordan Williams: Wayne Brown's $235m annual City Rail Link cost 'absolute nonsense'
On Monday, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown revealed his plan for a 7.9% rates increase to pay for City Rail Link running costs of an estimated $235 million annually. This is the largest rate rise since Auckland Council was formed in 2010. Questions have begun arising of the legitimacy of Wayne Browns calculation of City Rail Link's projected running costs. Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesperson Jordan Williams told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "you're entitled to your own opinion or your political strategy, but you're not entitled to your own facts. And the facts are Auckland Transport have have called this out as being absolute nonsense." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Wayne Brown: Auckland Mayor defends annual $235 million operating cost for City Rail Link
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown defends his annual $235 million operating cost calculation for the City Rail Link as scepticism arises. He told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "most of when you pay your rates, is paying things off. They're not free. "It's not free to have a road. It's not free to have a train. It's not free to have a bus." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Dan Schnur: University of California political analyst on doing business in Trump's America
University of California professor and political analyst Dan Schnur talks to Heather du Plessis-Allan on the realities of doing international trade with the US in Trump's America. He explained that leaders must remember that Trump is first-and-foremost a businessman. "The city of San Francisco ... when they were worried that the Trump administration was going to send the Department of Homeland Security into their streets, they didn't deploy their congressional delegation. They sent business leaders." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Mark Mitchell: Police Minister on police culture amidst Andrew Coster inquiry
The woman at the centre of the Jevon McSkimming scandal has called for an inquiry into Police culture. Commissioner Richard Chambers denied that the Police have culture issues. Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Heather du Plessis-Allan that although a lack of values was shown by the previous commissioner, "you also had four very senior police officers that stood up with bravery and stuck to those police values and showed enormous integrity." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Full Show Podcast: 02 December 2025
Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 2 December. 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.
With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.
New Zealand