Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to make his first official visit to New Zealand. 

His arrival comes amid controversial comments from foreign minister Winston Peters, who says that Indians will be facing unfairly tough immigration laws upon arrival to New Zealand

Senior political correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan that you would normally expect the foreign minister to greet an arriving Prime Minister, but Peters is abroad for the visit. 

'He arrives back in the country the day after Modi leaves. he's in Japan quite conveniently.'

LISTEN ABOVE

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to make his first official visit to New Zealand.&nbsp;
His arrival comes amid controversial comments from foreign minister Winston Peters, who says that Indians will be facing unfairly tough immigration laws upon arrival to New Zealand
Senior political correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan that you would normally expect the foreign minister to greet an arriving Prime Minister, but Peters is abroad for the visit.&nbsp;
'He arrives back in the country the day after Modi leaves. he's in Japan quite conveniently.'
LISTEN ABOVE

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.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Barry Soper: Senior Political Correspondent discusses Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to NZ

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8e4c8211-5ca7-4593-9f89-b47c006f11e8/transcript

So the prospect has been raised of David Seymour as Finance Minister if the centre-right is re-elected.

He was on Newstalk ZB with John MacDonald in Christchurch and said it was very possible he could have the job after the election, given, I suppose, that Nicola Willis might not be there because of the projected National Party overhang.

Chris Luxon shot it down immediately. He said the job is Nicola's, probably because he's trying to manifest the overhang threat away. Seymour then promptly pulled his head in and started downplaying it, presumably because he saw the absolute political target Chloe Swarbrick turned herself into by publicly demanding the job a few weeks ago.

But, honestly, here's the question: would that be a bad thing? Would it be a bad thing to have David Seymour as Finance Minister?

Could you do worse?

Because I suspect he's more prepared than almost any National Party MP to make the cuts necessary to get the public service and government spending back down to an appropriate size. Properly cutting back the public sector and government departments is one of his key campaign pledges this election.

His party is the one that found the enormous pay equity savings and had the courage to wear the political blowback that came with delivering them in Budget 2025. He has expressed frustration, budget after budget, at identifying savings, taking them to the Finance Minister and seeing them brushed aside.

Now, if you accept that, as a country, we're spending too much on public servants and not getting better services for it than we were nine years ago, and if you accept that the government has not cut nearly as many public-service roles as voters were led to expect, and if you accept that money would be better spent on cancer medications and hospital beds than on bureaucracy, then would it really be such a bad thing if David Seymour took the job, assuming there was a vacancy after the election?

LISTEN ABOVE

So the prospect has been raised of David Seymour as Finance Minister if the centre-right is re-elected.
He was on Newstalk ZB with John MacDonald in Christchurch and said it was very possible he could have the job after the election, given, I suppose, that Nicola Willis might not be there because of the projected National Party overhang.
Chris Luxon shot it down immediately. He said the job is Nicola's, probably because he's trying to manifest the overhang threat away. Seymour then promptly pulled his head in and started downplaying it, presumably because he saw the absolute political target Chloe Swarbrick turned herself into by publicly demanding the job a few weeks ago.
But, honestly, here's the question: would that be a bad thing? Would it be a bad thing to have David Seymour as Finance Minister?
Could you do worse?
Because I suspect he's more prepared than almost any National Party MP to make the cuts necessary to get the public service and government spending back down to an appropriate size. Properly cutting back the public sector and government departments is one of his key campaign pledges this election.
His party is the one that found the enormous pay equity savings and had the courage to wear the political blowback that came with delivering them in Budget 2025. He has expressed frustration, budget after budget, at identifying savings, taking them to the Finance Minister and seeing them brushed aside.
Now, if you accept that, as a country, we're spending too much on public servants and not getting better services for it than we were nine years ago, and if you accept that the government has not cut nearly as many public-service roles as voters were led to expect, and if you accept that money would be better spent on cancer medications and hospital beds than on bureaucracy, then would it really be such a bad thing if David Seymour took the job, assuming there was a vacancy after the election?
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Would it be a bad thing to have David Seymour as Finance Minister?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/2f070e11-de91-45f0-9d31-b4f50033408f/transcript

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 30 October, 2026, Ali Williams says he's gutted about Netball New Zealand pulling the plug on the Mowbray domestic comp. But he's still open to making a deal.

Why the Dark Destroyer nearly never made it to New Zealand for a Cure Kids quiz fundraising tour.

Janet Wilson on the failings of National's election campaign.

And on The Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Wayne Hay are at odds on what should happen with our domestic rugby competitions.

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

LISTEN ABOVE

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 30 October, 2026, Ali Williams says he's gutted about Netball New Zealand pulling the plug on the Mowbray domestic comp. But he's still open to making a deal.
Why the Dark Destroyer nearly never made it to New Zealand for a Cure Kids quiz fundraising tour.
Janet Wilson on the failings of National's election campaign.
And on The Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Wayne Hay are at odds on what should happen with our domestic rugby competitions.
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
LISTEN ABOVE

Full Show Podcast: 30 October 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/fc8b27ef-2110-4faa-a91e-b4f30066c557/transcript

Can anyone explain to me what the hell is going on at Netball New Zealand? This makes absolutely no sense at all. Does it make any sense to anyone?

Netball New Zealand didn't even let two full days pass for its players to bask in the glory of reaching number one in the world and beating Australia in the Constellation Cup before ripping the rug right out from underneath them and cancelling the Mowbray deal.

There will be no Mowbray-funded league next year. Netball New Zealand has said no thank you to the enormous amount of money the Mowbrays were prepared to invest in saving netball's domestic competition.

And they apparently didn't even have the courtesy to call Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams. At least according to the couple, they simply sent an email late at night.

The couple say they are blindsided and devastated.

What's worse is that Netball New Zealand is not publicly giving us a reason for a decision that will confound many of us.

To be fair, there may be confidentiality agreements preventing them from explaining why, and I think that is almost certainly the case. But try getting that past the players. Try telling all those women why they won't be earning any money next year when there was money on the table from the Mowbrays.

"Sorry, we can't tell you why."

Let me remind you why netball needed to take this deal.

No broadcaster in New Zealand wanted to broadcast the netball competition this year unless Netball New Zealand effectively paid for it to be on television. Netball New Zealand did that and, in the process, lost $3.7 million in a single season just trying to keep the game going.

When Netball New Zealand agreed to work with the Mowbrays eight weeks ago, I said on air that it was the right thing to do. I sincerely hoped it would work because, frankly, things couldn't get much worse.

Well, yes they could.

Here we are and things have got a whole lot worse. Netball New Zealand has now said no to the private investment that was trying to save the game domestically.

LISTEN ABOVE

Can anyone explain to me what the hell is going on at Netball New Zealand? This makes absolutely no sense at all. Does it make any sense to anyone?
Netball New Zealand didn't even let two full days pass for its players to bask in the glory of reaching number one in the world and beating Australia in the Constellation Cup before ripping the rug right out from underneath them and cancelling the Mowbray deal.
There will be no Mowbray-funded league next year. Netball New Zealand has said no thank you to the enormous amount of money the Mowbrays were prepared to invest in saving netball's domestic competition.
And they apparently didn't even have the courtesy to call Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams. At least according to the couple, they simply sent an email late at night.
The couple say they are blindsided and devastated.
What's worse is that Netball New Zealand is not publicly giving us a reason for a decision that will confound many of us.
To be fair, there may be confidentiality agreements preventing them from explaining why, and I think that is almost certainly the case. But try getting that past the players. Try telling all those women why they won't be earning any money next year when there was money on the table from the Mowbrays.
"Sorry, we can't tell you why."
Let me remind you why netball needed to take this deal.
No broadcaster in New Zealand wanted to broadcast the netball competition this year unless Netball New Zealand effectively paid for it to be on television. Netball New Zealand did that and, in the process, lost $3.7 million in a single season just trying to keep the game going.
When Netball New Zealand agreed to work with the Mowbrays eight weeks ago, I said on air that it was the right thing to do. I sincerely hoped it would work because, frankly, things couldn't get much worse.
Well, yes they could.
Here we are and things have got a whole lot worse. Netball New Zealand has now said no to the private investment that was trying to save the game domestically.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What is going on at Netball New Zealand?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c663ac81-2503-459c-b9a7-b4f300664fc5/transcript

Barry Soper: Senior Political Correspondent discusses Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to NZ

In 1 playlist(s)

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips