Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland councillor Maurice Williamson and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Early childhood education fees have soared, which could see more facilities closing their doors. Do we need the Government to intervene and help keep these facilities going?

The People’s Select Committee of former MPs has written a report criticising the Government for scrapping the pay equity law last year. Do we agree with this?

Private medication platform MediMap was reportedly hacked, with unauthorised changes made to people's records. What do we make of this?

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Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland councillor Maurice Williamson and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
Early childhood education fees have soared, which could see more facilities closing their doors. Do we need the Government to intervene and help keep these facilities going?
The People’s Select Committee of former MPs has written a report criticising the Government for scrapping the pay equity law last year. Do we agree with this?
Private medication platform MediMap was reportedly hacked, with unauthorised changes made to people's records. What do we make of this?
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

The Huddle: Does the Government need to help fund ECE facilities?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/becf3a31-481a-4369-9066-b3fb0070a0f3/transcript

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 3 July, 2026, we ask Chief Victims Adviser Ruth Money if former Lotto presenter Russell Harrison should have been on leave on full pay for five years at the Justice Ministry after being arrested for money laundering.

Michael Laws tells us why he's in the race for a comeback as a New Zealand First MP.

Conservation Department senior science adviser Kate McInnes on the threat of bird flu for our native birds.

And Paul Allison and Alex Powell are on the Sports Huddle, one of them says Lionel Messi plays for Argentina, while Portugal plays for Cristiano Ronaldo.

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

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On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 3 July, 2026, we ask Chief Victims Adviser Ruth Money if former Lotto presenter Russell Harrison should have been on leave on full pay for five years at the Justice Ministry after being arrested for money laundering.
Michael Laws tells us why he's in the race for a comeback as a New Zealand First MP.
Conservation Department senior science adviser Kate McInnes on the threat of bird flu for our native birds.
And Paul Allison and Alex Powell are on the Sports Huddle, one of them says Lionel Messi plays for Argentina, while Portugal plays for Cristiano Ronaldo.
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: 03 July 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/be2d54f6-effa-474f-9aaf-b47c0076ac88/transcript

If you haven't yet caught up on the drama involving the former Lotto presenter and the gold-bar smuggling operation, you need to hear this because it basically involves your taxpayer money.

The chap's name is Russell Harrison. You might remember him from the Lotto draws. He went on to a job at the Ministry of Justice as a Kaiārahi, a Family Court navigator.

He took the job in June 2021 and later that same month he was charged with money laundering after meeting a man in an Auckland cemetery, where the man handed him $420,000 in cash. We now know that money was the proceeds of drug offending, although frankly, you could probably have guessed that at the time.

He then went to New Zealand Gold Merchants and bought six gold bullion bars. Ten days later, he flew to Turkey to deliver them to the head of the Comancheros.

When he was charged — bearing in mind he'd been in the job for less than a month — had he even turned up to work 20 times? I don't know. But when he was charged, the Ministry of Justice stood him down from his job and kept paying him his full salary for five years, right up until two weeks ago when he pleaded guilty.

If you look at the salary range for that role, he may have received as much as $564,000 of taxpayers' money while sitting at home and drawing out the court process, all the while collecting an income.

Everybody I've spoken to, including an employment lawyer, says this guy should have lost his job within months. The employer could reasonably have given him a few weeks but by the two- or three-month mark they should have sat down and sorted this out.

An employer does not have to wait for the courts to find somebody like this guilty. They can conduct their own independent investigation and determine for themselves whether dismissal is justified based on the available evidence and, for example, the likelihood that the employee has committed the alleged offences.

We don't know why the Ministry of Justice didn't do this because they're not talking about it. Instead, all we know is that they took an approach we are beginning to see repeatedly across the public sector: not really having much regard for the fact that this is absolutely taking the mickey out of the taxpayer.

They simply kept spending the money on him for five long years.

Now, hands up: which employer in the real world would keep you on full pay for five years after you're charged with helping the Comancheros?

Answer: no one.

Actually, disclaimer: the public service. But that's not the real world.

LISTEN ABOVE

If you haven't yet caught up on the drama involving the former Lotto presenter and the gold-bar smuggling operation, you need to hear this because it basically involves your taxpayer money.
The chap's name is Russell Harrison. You might remember him from the Lotto draws. He went on to a job at the Ministry of Justice as a Kaiārahi, a Family Court navigator.
He took the job in June 2021 and later that same month he was charged with money laundering after meeting a man in an Auckland cemetery, where the man handed him $420,000 in cash. We now know that money was the proceeds of drug offending, although frankly, you could probably have guessed that at the time.
He then went to New Zealand Gold Merchants and bought six gold bullion bars. Ten days later, he flew to Turkey to deliver them to the head of the Comancheros.
When he was charged — bearing in mind he'd been in the job for less than a month — had he even turned up to work 20 times? I don't know. But when he was charged, the Ministry of Justice stood him down from his job and kept paying him his full salary for five years, right up until two weeks ago when he pleaded guilty.
If you look at the salary range for that role, he may have received as much as $564,000 of taxpayers' money while sitting at home and drawing out the court process, all the while collecting an income.
Everybody I've spoken to, including an employment lawyer, says this guy should have lost his job within months. The employer could reasonably have given him a few weeks but by the two- or three-month mark they should have sat down and sorted this out.
An employer does not have to wait for the courts to find somebody like this guilty. They can conduct their own independent investigation and determine for themselves whether dismissal is justified based on the available evidence and, for example, the likelihood that the employee has committed the alleged offences.
We don't know why the Ministry of Justice didn't do this because they're not talking about it. Instead, all we know is that they took an approach we are beginning to see repeatedly across the public sector: not really having much regard for the fact that this is absolutely taking the mickey out of the taxpayer.
They simply kept spending the money on him for five long years.
Now, hands up: which employer in the real world would keep you on full pay for five years after you're charged with helping the Comancheros?
Answer: no one.
Actually, disclaimer: the public service. But that's not the real world.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What real employer would do what the Ministry of Justice did?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/9ede1ca7-492f-4405-ac05-b47c007954ff/transcript

Meridian Energy's been granted fast track approval to take more water from Lake Pukaki. 

The Fast-track Panel’s decision also grants permission to permanently install rock armour to boost resilience to wave erosion, when the lake's operating at lower levels.

Major Electricity Users Group Executive Director Karen Boyes told Heather du Plessis-Allan that she has mixed feelings about the decision

'Some positive impacts possibly for consumers in the short term if we're using this water instead of fossil fuel fuels, but definitely some big concerns in the longer term.'

LISTEN ABOVE

Meridian Energy's been granted fast track approval to take more water from Lake Pukaki.&nbsp;
The Fast-track Panel’s decision also grants permission to permanently install rock armour to boost resilience to wave erosion, when the lake's operating at lower levels.
Major Electricity Users Group Executive Director Karen Boyes told Heather du Plessis-Allan that she has mixed feelings about the decision
'Some positive impacts possibly for consumers in the short term if we're using this water instead of fossil fuel fuels, but definitely some big concerns in the longer term.'
LISTEN ABOVE

Karen Boyes: Major Electricity Users Group Executive Director on Meridian gaining fast track approval for storage at Lake Pukaki

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/5c210d3a-b402-483a-b680-b47c00772d84/transcript

The Huddle: Does the Government need to help fund ECE facilities?

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