Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

It could be too little, too late for some All Blacks players, with the naming of the 33-man squad for the Rugby World Cup looming.

Saturday's second Bledisloe Cup clash with the Wallabies in Dunedin is the final hit-out for those looking to book their ticket to France.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave weighs in on what to expect for the upcoming announcement.

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Officials deny a potential freeze on hiring back-office police staff is about tight finances.

That's despite one of the country's top cops warning staff of a more 'fiscally constrained' environment, in an email seen by our newsroom.

It includes cuts to contractors and consultants and a pause on hiring fulltime non-constabulary staff.

But Police Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming says it's about looking forward.

"Making sure that police are prepared for what's in front of us and making sure we're focused on delivering services in our districts and being a really good steward of the money that we've got."

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Do not fall into the trap of thinking these latest charges against Donald Trump, just because they’re the most serious yet, are going to change his fortunes in next year’s American election. 

He is still on track to become the Republican nominee for President.

In fact, if anything, we should assume right now that this is going to only make him more popular. Because if you look back, you will see that his popularity in the run up to this upcoming election didn't really take off until he was slapped with the first set of Stormy Daniels charges.

Back in February before he was charged, he and Ron DeSantis were virtually neck and neck in polling. Trump on 41 percent, DeSantis on 39 percent.

But then the Stormy Daniels charges landed in April and he was arrested- suddenly his popularity took off and he’s been in the lead ever since.

So if anything, charging him actually makes him more popular.

Who knows why? It could be that Republican voters really do believe that he is the subject of a witch-hunt and so charging him elicits sympathy.

It could just be that the charges give him publicity and he has a remarkable talent capitalising on any publicity, good or bad.

And take a look at the timeline ahead- this has the potential to play into his hands publicity wise even more. 

The E Jean Carroll defamation case goes to court on 15 Jan next year, the same day as the Iowa caucuses. The Stormy Daniels trial starts March 25, and he has to attend that. And then the classified files trial starts May 20 and he has to attend that.

Those dates are just weeks before the Republican Convention, where the party will pick their nominee on 15 July. And just months before Election Day on November 5.

Most normal people would expect that arrests and charges and court appearances and even guilty verdicts would make a presidential candidate less popular, if not unelectable.

Everything we’ve seen so far says it doesn’t work like that with Donald Trump.

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A handful of UK-based retailers are incorporating facial recognition technology to crack down on shoplifting. 

UK police are employing pre-existing live facial recognition (LFR) technology to create a database of offenders with the aim of reducing retail crime.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says between 340,000 to 8 million shoplifting incidents occurred in 2022, and this is costing companies at least $2 billion per year.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute and Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

New research reveals a third of Kiwis are thinking of moving overseas to Australia for more opportunities and better wages after recent changes gave Kiwis an easier pathway to Aussie citizenship. Is this concerning for New Zealand's future?

A new Roy Morgan poll has National up to 33.5 percent, Labour down to 26 percent, and New Zealand First reaching the 5 percent threshold. Is this the first sign of a bigger trend heading into the election?

Auckland's rolling out new green-topped bins for organic waste to mixed reactions. Is a separate food scraps bin a waste of time? 

Economists are scratching their heads over BNZ's decision to lift home loan rates again, despite the OCR holding steady. Do we have to trust banks aren't ripping us off?

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A group of veteran public servants who were appointed to set up four water entities are collecting high salaries for work that no longer exists.

Jon Lamonte, Vaughan Payne, Colin Crampton and Michael Brewster were commissioned to run the Government's proposed water super-entities- until they were scrapped for 10 entities in April.

NZ Herald business journalist Kate McNamara says their salaries were conceived in 2022, before Three Waters was cut down.

"There'll be employment contract fish hooks in there. What it would cost to diminish the pay, I don't know, but it wouldn't be nothing." 

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Analysts are feeling less than optimistic about tonight's GDT auction amid low Chinese demand for dairy.

According to the SGX-NZX futures market, whole milk powder prices are expected to fall a further 3 percent.

The Country's Jamie Mackay says it's a grim market for dairy farmers following on from environmental disasters.

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Finance Minister Grant Robertson remains under pressure, as he bats off questions about Labour's tax policy.

Robertson is still refusing to confirm whether Labour will remove the GST from fruit and vegetables, amid allegations from National.

BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says Labour's been caught flat-footed, as Robertson would have said so directly if the party weren't considering this policy.

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New research shows over a third of New Zealand's workforce are thinking of quitting their jobs and moving to Australia.

A joint university study highlights those workers are 2.6 times more likely to jump the ditch - after recent changes gave Kiwis an easier pathway to Australian citizenship.

Massey Business School Professor Jarrod Haar says Kiwis are struggling financially and more opportunities paired with an easy path to citizenship makes a move to Australia more appealing.

"We still have a tight labour market, we can't afford to lose anybody. And the biggest driver for them wanting to leave is financial stress."

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NZ First leader Winston Peters is sticking to his guns in refusing to form a coalition Government with Labour.

Peters launched his comeback last week, lambasting both the left and right sides of the aisle on the campaign trail.

He says NZ First is aiming to form a 'better Government' without aid from Labour.

"Having said, we're ruling out Labour, no question about that. I said we've got to form a better Government. In the future, New Zealand needs a far better Government." 

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