Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Government's decision to install synthetic carpet in 800 rural schools has been met with backlash.

The Ministry of Education has selected US nylon manufacturer Milliken to provide the carpet, opting against using New Zealand wool.

New Zealand's farming community and the Green Party have voiced disapproval, but the Ministry have defended their decision.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this decision proves this Government will preach about sustainability and climate change until money gets involved.

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The All Blacks team will be announced at 3:30 tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Chiefs halfback Brad Weber and Highlanders skipper Billy Harmon have been named as co-captains for the All Blacks 15 ahead of their match against a Japan 15 in Tokyo this weekend.

Sportstalk host Jason Pine shares his predictions for tomorrow's lineup.

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The Government has been forced to backtrack after providing the Hawke’s Bay horticultural industry with incorrect information about its cyclone relief scheme.

Officials informed farmers and growers that the scheme would offer lending terms of 7 percent, but this claim was walked back following outcry.

National's Tukituki candidate Catherine Wedd says the uncertainty and confusion has caused growers extra stress.

"It's taken the Government five and a half months to give any direction or certainty at all for growers. And the sector provided Government ministers with reports and proposals at the end of March and they sat on this information."

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11 percent of mortgage holders responding to a survey have said they'll likely need to sell in the next 12 months.

That's according to an opt-in Horizon Research survey on the impact of higher interest rates.

About 70 percent are worried repayments could be unaffordable.

Principal researcher Graeme Colman says right now, just over a million mortgages are fixed.

He says they're the ones for whom interest rates are likely to jump from very low to higher levels when they come up for renewal.

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A social media giant  is taking on Twitter.

The owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - Meta - is launching a new app called Threads in New Zealand.

It's seen as a direct competitor to Elon Musk's Twitter, and offers a text-based version of Instagram.

Tech commentator Paul Stenhouse says it's still a bare-bones app.

"There's no chronological feed, there's nothing you can kind of switch between, there's no hashtags, there's no trending topics. It's just a screen and you get what you're given."

Paul Stenhouse says the app is in its early days.

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Fog cannons don't always stop robberies.

An Auckland dairy owner's wife and a customer were injured by robbers with hammers at Jyoti's Dairy in Mount Roskill yesterday.

The criminals fled with tobacco and cash.

Sandringham Business Association's Jithin Chittibomma says fog cannons don't stop violent attacks.

"It works as a deterrent for young criminals, maybe, but not these kind of criminals who've made up their mind and come in prepared. They clearly timed it well. No fog cannon's going to stop that."

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A former NRL captain thinks it's unfair that the Rugby League Players Association is taking advantage of media to send a message.

The RLPA has implemented a player media boycott from now until after next Wednesday's State Of Origin to protest the lack of action on a new collective bargaining agreement with the NRL.

Former Kiwis captain and league commentator Richie Barnett says media is an important promotional tool and there's other ways to voice disapproval.

"I think it's just an appalling indictment that they firstly use media. There's other ways to do it and I just don't think that's the right way."

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As sorry as I feel for people who’ve been scammed out of cash, and I do, I don’t think banks should be forced to refund them.

There’s quite a successful scam going around at the moment involving a text purporting to come from New Zealand and quite a few scam victims have spoken to media in the last few days.

The guy who was in Australia for work got a text purporting to be from BNZ saying his account had been frozen. He clicked it, entered his details- and lost $35,000.

There was the Queenstown woman who got an alert saying a new device had been added to her BNZ account. She clicked it, logged in with her bank password- and lost $42,000. 

And then there was the couple who sold their Whangarei house three months ago who saw a guy online claiming to be a broker for Citibank offering Yorkshire Building Society bonds paying 13.5 percent interest. And they wired him $330,000. 

On the back of this, Consumer New Zealand is now pushing for banks to refund the scam victims, because banks have ‘deep pockets’ and most, if not all of these people don’t.

But there are already laws around this. Banks have to refund you if you didn’t authorise the  transaction.

So maybe you lose your wallet, some guy paywaves your credit card and you didn’t authorise that, the bank will return that money.

Presumably the same would happen with someone hacking your account through no fault of your own, you would get a refund.

But if you click a link, insert your bank details, or fall for a wild investment promise and send your money to a Nigerian prince- you did authorise that transaction, so no refund.

I know the scammers are getting more and more sophisticated, but how many times do we have to be told: Do not click a link sent to you.

If you’re worried that the bank is actually trying to get hold of you, close the email or the text. Open the bank’s actual website. Log in there instead. It is not complicated.

If we start forcing banks to refund for very few people, I guarantee it will increase risky behaviour.

A 13.5 percent return on investment from the UK sound a little too good to be true? Today, maybe you don’t take the risk in case it’s a scam. But if the bank has to refund in the case of a scam, it makes it much less risky doesn’t it?  

I think Consumer NZ has a point that banks should step up their security. For example, every transaction over a certain amount should generate a text asking you to confirm you really want to send that money. If banks don’t have that, they should.

But forcing banks to refund is forcing them to pay for mistakes they aren’t making. 

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The private UK bank Coutts has reportedly shut down Nigel Farage’s account after he fell below wealth requirements.

The former UKIP leader says the closure was due to his status as a 'politically exposed person' and claims in the Commons that he had received payments from broadcaster Russia Today.

UK correspondent Kay Oliver says the UK Treasury has launched an investigation into these claims.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Ben Thomas from Ben Thomas PR and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

The Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor warned in a new report that New Zealand cannot arrest its way out of the gang problem and there's no quick, simple way out of reducing gang harm. Is this sensible advice? What approach can we take to crack down on gangs?

Businesses paid 10.7 per cent less tax than expected in the 11 months to May as the economy cooled and the Crown received $2 billion less, according to the Government’s latest accounts. Are we in more financial trouble than we thought?

Four Oranga Tamariki employees have been stood down for filming an MMA-style fight between youths. How should the organisation proceed?

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