Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

One key member of the UK's Labour party is warning that the nation only has three years to prepare for war.
Al Carns gave an interview to the Times today and said that a major conflict was coming, and indicated Russia would be a likely source.
UK correspondent Enda Brady explained further.
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On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 26 February, 2026, we talk to Air New Zealand's boss about its net loss of $40 million and ask if David Seymour's right when he says: "Go woke, go broke."
How much the Government's making from clamping cars when people fail to pay fines.
We look at why men are far more likely to own the home they live in than women.
And on The Huddle, Clare de Lore and Ali Jones discuss why many people are happy to see Jacinda Ardern living in Australia.
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Labour politicians dusted off their gumboots and went down to the farm for their annual meeting with Federated Farmers today.
Federated Farmers started the get-together three years ago to better the relationship with the party.
President Wayne Langford said some 'solid' discussions took place earlier, but no new policies were unveiled.
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It's looking to be a rough season for our meat processing sector, with companies struggling to compete with abundant grass and a turbo-charged store stock market.
Some companies have dropped published lamb and beef schedules by 10c/kg, and the decline has prompted concerns.
The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further.
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So David Seymour’s right about Air New Zealand - but he’s also wrong about Air New Zealand.
Before we get to why, let me bring you up to speed on what’s happened with the airline today, because the news is not good.
Air New Zealand has posted a half-year result showing a $59 million pre-tax loss, which is slightly worse than expected. And to be fair to Air New Zealand, a lot of this really isn’t their fault.
They’ve had not one, but two engine types in their fleet causing them trouble. And the economic downturn we’re experiencing in New Zealand - the worst in most of our lifetimes, you have to go back more than 50 years to find anything as bad - directly affects their earnings.
If we don’t have money, we’re certainly not spending money on flights.
But some of this is their fault. They’re squandering customer loyalty with poor on-time performance and a tired, diminished Koru Club offering.
And this is where David Seymour is right when he says, “Go woke, go broke.”
Because part of the reason Air New Zealand is losing customers to Jetstar is that there are people who no longer want to pay for Koru Club. The offering has slid from the good old days. You can’t even - and this bugs people more than the airline ever seemed to realise - go into the lounge, ask for a coffee, and take it away like you can at a café.
There are no takeaway coffees because Air New Zealand doesn’t want paper cups going on planes. Paper cups are bad for the environment… when you’re flying planes.
They’ve wasted time and money trialling an electric aircraft they don’t actually know how to integrate into their fleet. And they’re constantly lecturing the government about sustainable aviation fuel - SAF - which is more expensive than standard jet fuel, and standard jet fuel is already extremely expensive right now.
But here’s where David Seymour is wrong - he says the solution is to sell down the Government’s 51 percent stake in Air New Zealand.
We can’t do that.
We are an isolated island nation. There are only two ways to get here - by boat or by plane, and we all know which one people actually use.
We need to own those planes to make sure they keep flying. If we learned anything during COVID, it’s that Air New Zealand effectively became a logistics lifeline and repatriation service for the entire country.
So yes, David Seymour is part right and part wrong. We do need Air New Zealand to stop the distractions and start doing its job properly. And we do need it to remain in New Zealand hands.
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