Londoners are now able to hire driverless taxis, with  rides in Wayve’s autonomous vehicles available through the Uber app. The chances of landing one will be slim at this stage, as there's only 15 vehicles so far licensed. UK correspondent Enda Brady also revealed that the cars will come with a licensed human driver sitting in the front seat to take the controls if the need arises.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Long-term Government borrowing costs have hit significantly high levels all over the world, and experts are discussing the long-term implications of this. The US, Japan, Germany and many other countries have reached the highest levels of Government debt in nearly two decades, inspiring economists to coin the term 'debt doom loop'. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Madagascar ragwort is an invasive and highly toxic pasture weed, and reports show that it's spreading and could pose a threat to farmers. It was previously thought to have been confined to Northland, but a discovery in the Wairarapa region has prompted concerns. The Country's Hamish Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, lawyer Liam Hehir and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!  Luxon is copping some backlash after it came out that he took a second plane overseas after criticising Hipkins for the same thing. Do we think this is acceptable, or is this a bad look?  National is on the attack, directing ads at Labour and the left accusing them of wanting to increase taxes. Are we getting sick of this?  Why are EVs getting so popular?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 3 September, 2026, Simeon Brown tries to defend National's attack campaign on tax, even after making a false claim against Labour. A property economist on thousands of Kiwis having a bigger mortgage than their house is actually worth. Some new numbers reflecting the surge in popularity of EV vehicles. And on The Huddle, Jack Tame and Liam Hehir on whether they're angry about Christopher Luxon taking a second plane to Palau. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Question for you: is National's tax strategy working? What I'm talking about is the blatant strategy they have of swamping social media and traditional media with warnings about Labour, the Greens, and the Opportunity Party's taxes in a bid to freak you out so badly it drives you back to National. The reason I'm asking is that I'm not entirely convinced this is working. It just seems desperate and embarrassing from National. For example, National has been accused of dishonesty because it's running social media videos featuring a number of National MPs warning about Labour's nine taxes. Now, Labour doesn't have nine taxes. At best, it has two: the capital gains tax and the bed tax. The others are taxes it's ruled out. You and I might have legitimate doubts about Labour's ability to rule out those taxes because we all know coalition negotiations can change everything. But that's what National should say. They should make that argument. Pretending Labour has nine taxes that it doesn't have is embarrassing and, honestly, it's no better than what Tamatha Paul of the Greens has been doing when she's accused National MPs of buying houses for rent, when that is blatantly not true. National's social media feed at the moment is a line-up of really lame, try-hard memes about tax. I don't know who finds these funny. I don't know who the target audience is because I look at them and think they're cringeworthy. There's one that looks like a trailer for a Pixar movie about a little boy named Chris who gets told off by a teacher for stealing other kids' money. Then there's one with a Star Wars reference to tax, with Chris Hipkins' face imposed over the top. Again, it lands really poorly and just looks cringe. I think the problem is that I'm not convinced tax is what people are worried about right now. People are more concerned about what's actually going on in their lives: the rates bill, the power bill, the grocery bill and the possibility that each of those might go up again. They're more worried about that than paying capital gains tax on a house that hasn't had any capital gains in years. Now, maybe the strategy will eventually pay off. It's entirely possible that, at some point, voters will engage their brains about how they're going to vote, the tax issue will click and it will be worth a few points to National. Maybe talking about it ad nauseam, as they are at the moment, will help make that happen. But it's coming at a cost right now. It looks desperate. It looks a bit dishonest. And it's led to comparisons with Tamatha Paul, who is as loose as you like with the facts. Frankly, when you start getting compared to the Greens and Tamatha Paul, it's probably time to ask whether the strategy has gone a bit too far. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New data shows there's a subset of Kiwis who are being hit harder than most by rising interest rates. At least 3600 first home buyers owe more than what their home is worth, but Cotality suspects the number could be higher. Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson says true number in negative equity is likely to be higher because many bought with a deposit smaller than 20 percent. "If you live somewhere like Auckland or Wellington, where values are down 25, then you'll sort of be 5 percent in negative equity - which, very quickly...are based on average values. It could be $40,000. something like that. It's not trivial." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwibank is looking to take on its Australian rivals - and they're looking to reveal how many of their savers are missing out on interest on their 'bonus saver' accounts. Bonus saver accounts are those where the highest rate of interest is only available if a saver complies with certain requirements like making a deposit each month and not making any withdrawals. Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich says many savers don't understand how these arrangements work, and the 'complexity' of banking has made it tough for people to understand. "The real story here is, of course, that life happens. And so, you think you're going to be able to put that money away, you think you're not going to have to touch it - and then, surprise, surprise, something happens and you do need to touch it."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Electric vehicle sales are entering overdrive. BMI research forecasts sales of EVs, including plug-in hybrids, will rise 219 percent annually by next year. It expects adoption will accelerate - as lower-cost Chinese models enter the market. Drive Electric chair, Kirsten Corson, says they're cost-effective to run, and getting cheaper. "I plug mine in tonight, it's going to cost me around $3 per 100 kilometres - if you're driving an average petrol car, it's around $25." EV drivers must also pay Road User Charges. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gloriavale Christian School's facing closure again, after a review found information was withheld from Education Review Office investigators. The Ministry of Education's cancelled the school's registration for a second time, and applied to lift High Court orders preventing its closure. Gloriavale Leavers' Trust founder, Liz Gregory, says when it finally shuts will depend on the court's availability for urgent hearings. "The one that kept the school open happened within a day or two, it was very quick. But I suspect that they want to sit down with the Gloriavale School, they'll want to discuss appropriate timeframes for closing."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.