Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday  9 October.

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 9 October. 
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Full Show Podcast: 09 October 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/2b22ac7a-5573-41a4-98f4-b4de0066be40/transcript

Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong thinks Christopher Luxon is bluffing when he says he has ruled out working with her party.

National's leader has been consistently saying he wouldn't form a coalition that included Opportunity after the vote in November. 

That's despite many polls that have the party in the kingmaker position. 

Barry Soper broke down the story with Heather du Plessis-Allan. 

LISTEN ABOVE

Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong thinks Christopher Luxon is bluffing when he says he has ruled out working with her party.
National's leader has been consistently saying he wouldn't form a coalition that included Opportunity after the vote in November.&nbsp;
That's despite many polls that have the party in the kingmaker position.&nbsp;
Barry Soper broke down the story with Heather du Plessis-Allan.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Barry Soper: Senior Political Correspondent on Qiulae Wong's prediction that National will call Opportunity after the election

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/aea6d703-7730-49fa-a665-b4de00768644/transcript

The Wiggles are returning to New Zealand for the first time in two years.

The Australian children's entertainment superstars remain one of the biggest names in family entertainment, dominating streaming charts and winning over new generations of fans.

Among the current line-up is Lachlan Gillespie, better known as Lachy Wiggle, who has become one of the group's most popular performers.

He joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to talk the return to the country. 

LISTEN ABOVE

The Wiggles are returning to New Zealand for the first time in two years.
The Australian children's entertainment superstars remain one of the biggest names in family entertainment, dominating streaming charts and winning over new generations of fans.
Among the current line-up is Lachlan Gillespie, better known as Lachy Wiggle, who has become one of the group's most popular performers.
He joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to talk the return to the country.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Lachy Wiggle: Member of famous children's entertainment group on return to NZ

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/a289c03b-76a9-490d-8cc2-b4de0071d999/transcript

It's hard to know whether Pete Hegseth thought it through before he said it, but he said it, didn't he? And now the Pentagon has doubled down on it, and the execution of the Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed on the internet like some sort of sporting spectacle.

Personally, I find this abhorrent because we're supposed to be a more civilised society in modern liberal democracies than one that wants to tune in and watch somebody die in real time.

But the truth is, that's just a nice thought, isn't it? We're not really above that, are we? Tens of millions of people rewatched Charlie Hebdo's murders within hours and how many people dug up the shooter's video of the mosque attack?

If the Pentagon goes ahead with this, and if Nidal Hasan doesn't use the courts to delay his execution, I bet you now that millions of people will tune in to watch him die on December 3.

And you know I'm right, not just because of recent examples of people wanting to watch other people die but also because this is what humans have done for centuries. We used to watch gladiators battle to the death. We used to watch the burning of witches, public hangings and all that sort of thing and that continued until relatively recently.

But Hegseth is an absolute idiot if he thinks that livestreaming this execution is going to deter others from committing similar crimes, which is his stated aim. This guy, Hasan, considers himself a martyr, doesn't he? He's said as much publicly. So allowing his death to be seen by millions is probably giving him exactly what he wants.

What I personally don't like about this is that watching people die seems to have become normal again because of the internet, and it worries me no end that this is the sort of thing kids can now find when their parents aren't watching what they're browsing.

And nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing says snuff is normalised more than the US government joining in with the livestreaming of it.

It's hard to know whether Pete Hegseth thought it through before he said it, but he said it, didn't he? And now the Pentagon has doubled down on it, and the execution of the Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed on the internet like some sort of sporting spectacle.
Personally, I find this abhorrent because we're supposed to be a more civilised society in modern liberal democracies than one that wants to tune in and watch somebody die in real time.
But the truth is, that's just a nice thought, isn't it? We're not really above that, are we? Tens of millions of people rewatched Charlie Hebdo's murders within hours and how many people dug up the shooter's video of the mosque attack?
If the Pentagon goes ahead with this, and if Nidal Hasan doesn't use the courts to delay his execution, I bet you now that millions of people will tune in to watch him die on December 3.
And you know I'm right, not just because of recent examples of people wanting to watch other people die but also because this is what humans have done for centuries. We used to watch gladiators battle to the death. We used to watch the burning of witches, public hangings and all that sort of thing and that continued until relatively recently.
But Hegseth is an absolute idiot if he thinks that livestreaming this execution is going to deter others from committing similar crimes, which is his stated aim. This guy, Hasan, considers himself a martyr, doesn't he? He's said as much publicly. So allowing his death to be seen by millions is probably giving him exactly what he wants.
What I personally don't like about this is that watching people die seems to have become normal again because of the internet, and it worries me no end that this is the sort of thing kids can now find when their parents aren't watching what they're browsing.
And nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing says snuff is normalised more than the US government joining in with the livestreaming of it.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Nothing good will come from this public execution

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e06b4640-d84b-45bc-a815-b4de006abd41/transcript

Full Show Podcast: 09 October 2026

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