New Zealand wool can be found in clothing and people's homes - but it's set to be bouncing around the courts of the next US Open.

Tennis balls made with wool sourced from farms throughout the country will be served up by the world’s top-ranked players when the tournament gets under way this weekend. 

NZ Wool Services trading manager Nathan Watt says New Zealand-produced wool is widely regarded as the best in the world for tennis balls.

"We've got the best-coloured wool in the world for strong wool, so it's perfect for tennis ball felt."

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New Zealand wool can be found in clothing and people's homes - but it's set to be bouncing around the courts of the next US Open.
Tennis balls made with wool sourced from farms throughout the country will be served up by the world’s top-ranked players when the tournament gets under way this weekend.&nbsp;
NZ Wool Services trading manager Nathan Watt says New Zealand-produced wool is widely regarded as the best in the world for tennis balls.
"We've got the best-coloured wool in the world for strong wool, so it's perfect for tennis ball felt."
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

Nathan Watt: NZ Wool Services trading manager on wool from NZ farms getting used for US Open tennis balls

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e96ddb87-dce9-4951-a865-b33f007002d8/transcript

First of all, can I start by offering an apology to TVNZ? I gave them a bit of grief last night for starting the news bulletin with the peaches, but it turns out I was wrong and they were right.

This has sparked a flurry of debate over whether we prefer our Wattie's peaches from Hawke's Bay or whether we don't really care if it comes from China or not. 

It's also prompted a statement from Wattie's asking us to support local growers. In other words, can we please buy New Zealand made?

Now, that is a very nice sentiment, but let's be honest, that's all it is. It is a sentiment and it's not going to work.

I mean, this is me, this is not me being cavalier about how hard this must be for the Hawke's Bay peach growers who are losing their Wattie's contracts. For them, this must be absolutely devastating and I feel terrible for them.

But this is me being realistic about the prospect of any 'Buy New Zealand Made' campaign working.

Wattie's New Zealand peaches, according to Pak’nSave's online store, are $3.90 a can. Pam's cheap peaches are 99 cents a can. That's a no-brainer, you're gonna buy the 99 cent can.

Who is buying the $3.90 can? Grey Lynn? That makes no sense whatsoever.

I mean - look, maybe if I thought about it a little bit, which I don't, but if I did, maybe I would pay 10, 20 cents, 40 cents at a push, more for a New Zealand made product. But I would not pay four times as much, it's far too expensive.

And I wouldn't even do it in the first place because buying New Zealand made never works, does it? It never has. If it did, we would still be wearing Bata Bullets and buying Juliet Hogan and eating Sanitarium peanut butter.

We wouldn't be reading about the closure of manufacturing businesses every other month, which today, by the way, is the Carter Holt Harvey mill in Tokoroa.

I do the shopping in our house 90 percent of the time and I don't even know the provenance of the food I'm buying. I do not know where the canned food comes from, I absolutely do not know where the dried goods come from. And often, I'm not even really looking where the fresh fruit comes from.

Yep, I know where the meat comes from, but that's basically a given, isn't it?

It's simple economics, it always will be.

And even if Wattie's has this tiny little hope that there might be a last-minute public rally for the New Zealand grown peaches, I think they already know the outcome, which is why they've already cut the contracts.

LISTEN ABOVE

First of all, can I start by offering an apology to TVNZ?&nbsp;I gave them a bit of grief last night for starting the news bulletin with the peaches, but it turns out I was wrong and they were right.
This has sparked a flurry of debate over whether we prefer our Wattie's peaches from Hawke's Bay or whether we don't really care if it comes from China or not.&nbsp;
It's also prompted a statement from Wattie's asking us to support local growers.&nbsp;In other words, can we please buy New Zealand made?
Now, that is a very nice sentiment, but let's be honest, that's all it is.&nbsp;It is a sentiment and it's not going to work.
I mean, this is me, this is not me being cavalier about how hard this must be for the Hawke's Bay peach growers who are losing their Wattie's contracts.&nbsp;For them, this must be absolutely devastating and I feel terrible for them.
But this is me being realistic about the prospect of any 'Buy New Zealand Made' campaign working.
Wattie's New Zealand peaches, according to Pak’nSave's online store, are $3.90 a can. Pam's cheap peaches are 99 cents a can. That's a no-brainer, you're gonna buy the 99 cent can.
Who is buying the $3.90 can? Grey Lynn? That makes no sense whatsoever.
I mean - look, maybe if I thought about it a little bit, which I don't, but if I did, maybe I would pay 10, 20 cents, 40 cents at a push, more for a New Zealand made product.&nbsp;But I would not pay four times as much, it's far too expensive.
And I wouldn't even do it in the first place because buying New Zealand made never works, does it? It never has.&nbsp;If it did, we would still be wearing Bata Bullets and buying Juliet Hogan and eating Sanitarium peanut butter.
We wouldn't be reading about the closure of manufacturing businesses every other month, which today, by the way, is the Carter Holt Harvey mill in Tokoroa.
I do the shopping in our house 90 percent of the time and I don't even know the provenance of the food I'm buying. I do not know where the canned food comes from, I absolutely do not know where the dried goods come from.&nbsp;And often, I'm not even really looking where the fresh fruit comes from.
Yep, I know where the meat comes from, but that's basically a given, isn't it?
It's simple economics, it&nbsp;always will be.
And even if Wattie's has this tiny little hope that there might be a last-minute public rally for the New Zealand grown peaches, I think they already know the outcome, which is why they've already cut the contracts.
LISTEN ABOVE

Best of 2025: Heather du Plessis-Allan - Does buying NZ-made ever work?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/4b5247dc-9fa3-45ad-8221-b3d10141a323/transcript

Let's talk about this business with the pension age.

Chris Luxon has said twice today that he wants the pension age to go up to 67.

He said it once on Kerre’s show this morning, and then at a post-Budget lunch speaking to business leaders, he repeated it and he told them that this is basically going to be election policy for National next year.

Now, regardless of how you may feel about this, I mean, you'd have to be coming around to the realisation, wouldn't you, that we are inching closer and closer to this thing actually happening.

Especially after the changes that the Government made to our KiwiSaver retirement funds yesterday.

It's not long now.

I think that the Government will have completely wound down its government support of KiwiSaver, and then it's gonna come after the pension next, isn't it?

This is where I think it gets tricky, because this is not just about money for people.

This is emotional.

Let me lay out the emotional argument for you as it plays out in my head, okay?

It goes like this: don't touch my pension. You can touch anything else. Do not touch my pension.

I don't care if they take away every other piece of welfare that is available to me and other people.

In fact, I would actually welcome it, because I think there is way too much welfare in this country for the middle class who don't actually need it.

You get a best start payment for having a newborn. You're having a baby. They give you money.

You get the winter energy payment. You get Working for Families, which I think is a crime.

You get the subsidised childcare for sending your kid to kindy. You get free tertiary education for the 3rd year, God only knows why.

Free government money for your KiwiSaver.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, there's way too much of that stuff going on. They can take all of that away. If they don't want to take it away, they can means test it so that actually the most, and only the most needy in this country get it.

But I will do everything I can to stop them touching my pension. Because I have earned that money.

This is not a question about whether I need that money, it is that I have earned that money.

I, like you, have contributed huge amounts of tax to this country, and actually I have not claimed very much back for myself.

It's certainly not anywhere near how much I have put in.

The only thing that stops me from being very sour about how much money they take out of my pay packet every year and the wasting of that money and the bludging by some on that money is the knowledge that when I hit 65 and want to retire, I will get a little bit back.

Call it a goodwill gesture from the government, if you like, a government who I have helped prop up just like you have for donkeys' years, by the time that money comes into my bank account.

So, good luck to Chris Luxon getting this one across the line.

I think it's going to be one of the hardest fights to win because of the emotional argument that I have just laid out for you. I think they might find it easier to take away a lot of other welfare first.

And unless they take away a lot of other welfare first, I am not budging on the pension.

Let's talk about this business with the pension age.
Chris Luxon has said twice today that he wants the pension age to go up to 67.
He said it once on Kerre’s show this morning, and then at a post-Budget lunch speaking to business leaders, he repeated it and he told them that this is basically going to be election policy for National next year.
Now, regardless of how you may feel about this, I mean, you'd have to be coming around to the realisation, wouldn't you, that we are inching closer and closer to this thing actually happening.
Especially after the changes that the Government made to our KiwiSaver retirement funds yesterday.
It's not long now.
I think that the Government will have completely wound down its government support of KiwiSaver, and then it's gonna come after the pension next, isn't it?
This is where I think it gets tricky, because this is not just about money for people.
This is emotional.
Let me lay out the emotional argument for you as it plays out in my head, okay?
It goes like this: don't touch my pension. You can touch anything else. Do not touch my pension.
I don't care if they take away every other piece of welfare that is available to me and other people.
In fact, I would actually welcome it, because I think there is way too much welfare in this country for the middle class who don't actually need it.
You get a best start payment for having a newborn. You're having a baby. They give you money.
You get the winter energy payment. You get Working for Families, which I think is a crime.
You get the subsidised childcare for sending your kid to kindy. You get free tertiary education for the 3rd year, God only knows why.
Free government money for your KiwiSaver.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, there's way too much of that stuff going on. They can take all of that away. If they don't want to take it away, they can means test it so that actually the most, and only the most needy in this country get it.
But I will do everything I can to stop them touching my pension. Because I have earned that money.
This is not a question about whether I need that money, it is that I have earned that money.
I, like you, have contributed huge amounts of tax to this country, and actually I have not claimed very much back for myself.
It's certainly not anywhere near how much I have put in.
The only thing that stops me from being very sour about how much money they take out of my pay packet every year and the wasting of that money and the bludging by some on that money is the knowledge that when I hit 65 and want to retire, I will get a little bit back.
Call it a goodwill gesture from the government, if you like, a government who I have helped prop up just like you have for donkeys' years, by the time that money comes into my bank account.
So, good luck to Chris Luxon getting this one across the line.
I think it's going to be one of the hardest fights to win because of the emotional argument that I have just laid out for you.&nbsp;I think they might find it easier to take away a lot of other welfare first.
And unless they take away a lot of other welfare first, I am not budging on the pension.

Best of 2025: Heather du Plessis-Allan - Don't touch my pension

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/2f5afd5c-e35e-401f-b48f-b3d000298c7e/transcript

'Rotten, corrupt': Tiki Taane takes aim at Spotify as Kiwi artists boycott platform

Many of New Zealand's biggest musicians are boycotting Spotify and ditching the platform amid accusations of exploitation.

Tiki Taane and The Bats are among the big names getting behind Boycott Spotify NZ and other Kiwi bands like Carb on Carb, Synthetic Children and Recitals have signed the statement calling for better treatment. 

Taane has cited greed, corruption and investment in European defence technology company Helsing as some of the key reasons why he's walking away.

"I love music, I love creating music, but I also have to take a stand against corruption, against greed, against war, against murder - the easiest thing for me to do to help support that is to take my music off the platform and cancel my subscription." 

LISTEN ABOVE

<h2>'Rotten, corrupt': Tiki Taane takes aim at Spotify as Kiwi artists boycott platform</h2>
Many of New Zealand's biggest musicians are boycotting Spotify and ditching the platform amid accusations of exploitation.
Tiki Taane and The Bats are among the big names getting behind Boycott Spotify NZ and other Kiwi bands like Carb on Carb, Synthetic Children and Recitals have signed the statement calling for better treatment.&nbsp;
Taane has cited greed, corruption and investment in European defence technology company Helsing as some of the key reasons why he's walking away.
"I love music, I love creating music, but I also have to take a stand against corruption, against greed, against war, against murder - the easiest thing for me to do to help support that is to take my music off the platform and cancel my subscription."&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Best of 2025: Tiki Taane talks the Spotify boycott on Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/90bede4a-e863-4581-8ffb-b3ca00298e04/transcript

Nathan Watt: NZ Wool Services trading manager on wool from NZ farms getting used for US Open tennis balls

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