Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says its not clear how New Zealand could meaningfully support reopening the Strait of Hormuz. 

The US has formally provided an initial plan to New Zealand for the Government to consider - but Foreign Minister Winston Peters says more detail's needed. 

Mark told Heather du Plessis Allan that our defence forces have reduced capability - and he could only see us helping with aerial surveying. 

He says we are strategically irrelevant right now - and there's no way he could see us deploying a frigate. 

LISTEN ABOVE

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark says its not clear how New Zealand could meaningfully support reopening the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;
The US has formally provided an initial plan to New Zealand for the Government to consider - but Foreign Minister Winston Peters says more detail's needed.&nbsp;
Mark told Heather du Plessis Allan that our defence forces have reduced capability - and he could only see us helping with aerial surveying.&nbsp;
He says we are strategically irrelevant right now - and there's no way he could see us deploying a frigate.&nbsp;
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

Ron Mark: Former Defence Minister says there's too much uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/d9e4b102-4cd0-4aae-bf8c-b43d005ca832/transcript

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 1 May, 2026, former Defence Minister Ron Mark explains why he wouldn't  be rushing to help the US open the Strait of Hormuz.

An Australian reading expert tells us why New Zealand can be world leading in literacy.

One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris outlines what went wrong with an internet outage.

And on the Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Clay Wilson debate whether Papua New Guinea's got an unfair advantage in recruiting NRL players.

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, 1 May, 2026, former Defence Minister Ron Mark explains why he wouldn't &nbsp;be rushing to help the US open the Strait of Hormuz.
An Australian reading expert tells us why New Zealand can be world leading in literacy.
One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris outlines what went wrong with an internet outage.
And on the Sports Huddle, Nathan Limm and Clay Wilson debate whether Papua New Guinea's got an unfair advantage in recruiting NRL players.
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: 01 May 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/4c1bd01e-758c-4e11-bb2f-b43d00767380/transcript

One billion dollars in cash has appeared in Kiwi wallets since last year. 

The Reserve Bank said that in March of 2025, there was $8.59 billion worth of physical cash in circulation. Now, that number has risen to $9.57billion. 

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the cause of this is likely due to global instability. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Iran war through the month of March, cause some people to think that, you know, there was some pretty big issues out there and maybe they wanted to have a little bit more physical cash with them."

He likened the jump in the amount of cash to a similar increase that happened at the start of the COVID pandemic. 

LISTEN ABOVE

One billion dollars in cash has appeared in Kiwi wallets since last year.&nbsp;
The Reserve Bank said that in March of 2025, there was $8.59 billion worth of physical cash in circulation. Now, that number has risen to $9.57billion.&nbsp;
Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the cause of this is likely due to global instability.&nbsp;
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Iran war through the month of March, cause some people to think that, you know, there was some pretty big issues out there and maybe they wanted to have a little bit more physical cash with them."
He likened the jump in the amount of cash to a similar increase that happened at the start of the COVID pandemic.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Brad Olsen: Infometrics Principal Economist on an extra $1bn physical cash in Kiwi wallets

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/f16e0855-5f82-472d-8fe8-b43d00765c51/transcript

I’m inclined to think that at some stage and in some way we will be helping the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It’s been revealed by American media that Trump has told US embassies around the world to pressure governments to help. Australia is considering assistance and so are we.

It’s early days at the moment. It appears both we and Australia are simply asking for more information at this point, probably along the lines of what help is actually required and under what circumstances. Those circumstances are important because I would imagine New Zealand would not want to agree to help if there were a hot war underway — meaning shots being fired. I’d expect we would only be willing to help if there were an active and sustained ceasefire in place.

That said, I think that in the end we will still say yes because we’ve already indicated this is what we plan to do. We’ve already signed a joint statement with countries including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, saying we are ready to provide appropriate help to reopen the strait.

Now, I don’t think this is going to be popular when the time comes. I don’t think it will be popular in this country. There are now multiple polls and surveys showing consistently that Kiwis want nothing to do with a war started by the US. However, I think we can — and should — separate the war from the oil. Helping in the war is one thing but helping to reopen and keep the strait open is also helping ourselves because we need that oil to flow. We need diesel to keep food on our supermarket shelves.

Of course, we do have another option: we could simply leave it to other countries to do the hard work for us. But that would be a bad call because if there’s one thing we know about Donald Trump, it’s that he is transactional — and if we don’t help, he will remember.

So I would say that now the request has come in, it’s only a matter of time. And if the strait stays closed, I’d almost guarantee  New Zealand will be heading there.

LISTEN ABOVE

I’m inclined to think that at some stage and in some way we will be helping the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It’s been revealed by American media that Trump has told US embassies around the world to pressure governments to help. Australia is considering assistance and so are we.
It’s early days at the moment. It appears both we and Australia are simply asking for more information at this point, probably along the lines of what help is actually required and under what circumstances. Those circumstances are important because I would imagine New Zealand would not want to agree to help if there were a hot war underway — meaning shots being fired. I’d expect we would only be willing to help if there were an active and sustained ceasefire in place.
That said, I think that in the end we will still say yes because we’ve already indicated this is what we plan to do. We’ve already signed a joint statement with countries including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, saying we are ready to provide appropriate help to reopen the strait.
Now, I don’t think this is going to be popular when the time comes. I don’t think it will be popular in this country. There are now multiple polls and surveys showing consistently that Kiwis want nothing to do with a war started by the US. However, I think we can — and should — separate the war from the oil. Helping in the war is one thing but helping to reopen and keep the strait open is also helping ourselves because we need that oil to flow. We need diesel to keep food on our supermarket shelves.
Of course, we do have another option: we could simply leave it to other countries to do the hard work for us. But that would be a bad call because if there’s one thing we know about Donald Trump, it’s that he is transactional — and if we don’t help, he will remember.
So I would say that now the request has come in, it’s only a matter of time. And if the strait stays closed, I’d almost guarantee &nbsp;New Zealand will be heading there.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: It's a matter of time before we head to the Strait

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/52498ce6-7aa7-4069-87ce-b43d006d9c02/transcript

Ron Mark: Former Defence Minister says there's too much uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz

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