Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Auckland's hosting of a SailGP event next March on Waitemata Harbour has come off the foils.

The unavailability of Wynyard Point land as a spectator facility proved an insurmountable barrier for the event owners.

No alternative option has been offered yet after Lyttleton hosted this year.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explores some possible solutions.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tech commentator is warning people to apply due diligence to Black Friday shopping.

Price comparison service PriceSpy found last year, about 15 percent of goods were on 'fake sale'.

It found some retailers increased product prices in the weeks before the sale, then discounted them back to normal levels.

Commentator Tim Provise says the tech sector is the main culprit.

"Especially more niche stuff like camera lenses- and little things, like toothbrushes and stuff like that. I think the technology sector is the one where you've got to be really careful."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying the Government should have 'let people die' rather than impose a second lockdown, the Covid national inquiry heard.

Former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance noted on October 25, 2020 that Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, was against further lockdowns and dismissed the impact Covid had on the elderly.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says Boris Johnson agreed the UK's elderly population had had 'a few good innings' anyway.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on the Huddle, former National staffer Ben Thomas 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!

Waka Kotahi is under fire for spending thousands on pies for construction workers working on the Mt Messenger bypass project in Taranaki. Is this worth the outrage?

The post-election talks have turned to delegating ministerial roles, and Nicola Willis, David Seymour and Winston Peters are all vying for the role of Deputy Prime Minister. Who would we pick? Does Luxon have to pick one candidate?

National MP Cameron Brewer has copped backlash for his joke about the return of 'pale, stale males'. Is this a rookie error- or grave mistake?

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers are calling on the incoming Government to repeal David Parker's controversial freshwater reforms.

The advocacy group believes repealing the current freshwater regulations will be the quickest way to restore farmer confidence- which is at a historic low.

The Country's Jamie Mackay says farmers are waiting with bated breath for these reforms to be scrapped.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online auction site TradeMe posted a $4.7 million net profit after tax for the year to June, turning around earlier losses.

Experts believe the return to profit came from the site raising their prices- especially in its property arm.

BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie explains how this increased net profit impacts TradeMe's overall earnings.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's trade deficit appears to be getting smaller, according to the latest data.

A new report from Stats NZ says imports were down, falling $1.2b to $7.1b compared to October last year.

Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado says increased interest rates are restraining demand and causing imports to fall.

"We actually saw that our imports surged during the post-Covid period when we had quite a lot of loose monetary policy and expanded fiscal policy- we saw imports rose off the back of that, now we've got really high interest rates."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belief opposing views could be behind the ousting of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

At least 700 of 770 staff at the company famous for creating Chat GPT have penned an open letter calling for the board's resignation after it fired Altman.

Tech commentator Paul Stenhouse says no one knows for sure why Altman was shown the door in the first place.

"This comes from CNN tech contributor Kara Swisher- he wanted to move super fast, he wanted to monetise everything, he wanted to go to market more quickly and the board wanted to be a lot more cautious." 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country's top court has turned down appeals from two water bottling companies in Canterbury.

Cloud Ocean Water and Rapaki Natural Resources had extracted billions of litres from Christchurch's aquifers each year under a decades-old consent granted for industrial use.

The Supreme Court sat in Christchurch for the first time earlier this year, and yesterday released its decision dismissing their appeal.

Aotearoa Water Action chair Peter Richardson says he's thrilled with the decision - but it might not be over just yet.

"It's perhaps not the end of the matter, it depends on what Cloud Ocean decides to do. They may surrender their existing consent and apply pressure for a new consent. But it would have problems."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Plymouth's mayor is hitting out at those opposing the Mount Messenger bypass project.

A decision by Waka Kotahi to give construction workers pies has been under the spotlight and deemed wasteful by the Taxpayers Union.

Waka Kotahi prices the pies at $400 a month.

But mayor Neil Holdom says the pie criticism is a storm in a teacup.

"And it's a reflection of the desperation, because most New Zealanders have moved on and realised- actually it's happening, it's a good thing and we should look after the workers that are on site."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.