Episodes
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This week on the Raw Politics podcast: How good a PM might Christopher Luxon be, why Chris Hipkins shouldn't think of quitting, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori the big winners, and silence from Winston.
Raw Politics signs off for 2023 with our panel's take on the government that might emerge from an election that had something for everyone, other than the Labour Party.
Some raw takes: National's victory is a remarkable turnaround but hardly an epic triumph, the Greens' three seats will be a longer-term guarantee of making it back to Parliament, Te Pāti Māori stunned and buried the old wisdom that Labour is the party of tangata whenua.
The Raw Politics panel looks at the first week of shadow governing among the three parties of the centre-right and concludes the public will probably welcome the political silence after such a raucous campaign.
We argue why Chris Hipkins should hold his nerve and stay on and see what kind of Opposition leader and possible election contestant in 2026 that he could be. And we look at who else might follow Andrew Little off the party list and out the parliamentary door in the early days of this term.
We have some final recommendations: things we read or listened to this week that are well worth your while catching up on over the long weekend - including an analysis of Labour's demise, a report from a sad night at Lower Hutt, and a poignant New York Times commentary from an Arab member of Israel's parliament on the war with Hamas.
Every week for almost seven months leading to the election, Newsroom editors and political journalists have talked through the big issues and scrutinised politicians’ performances in a lively, 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: The final polls and what to expect on Saturday evening, plus how long it might take for a new government, and our nominations for best and worst political plays, and individual performers.
It's almost time for a curtain call.
The Raw Politics season nears its end, with the penultimate episode trying to make sense of the latest polls and how that will affect the timing and formation of the next government.
Our podcast panel asks whether Chris Hipkins is realistic in hoping for a change from late polling to ballot box which could emulate 2020's 10-point movement between the two major parties. The problem for him was that that big movement actually saw the poorer performing party (National in 2020) going sharply down and the better performing party (Labour back then) going up. Which, if emulated, wouldn't help the Hipkins-Labour cause.
We ask how long the country might wait for coalition talks to be started, negotiated and then signed off. One key date could see the governmental purist Winston Peters put things on pause until mid-December, but it could be that the preliminary negotiations are sorted progressively. Worst comes to worst, a Parliament without a new government might have to meet before December 21 and a caretaker PM Hipkins might see in the New Year.
To wind up this campaign, in a quick fire summary, the Raw Politics team each nominate their best and worst plays by the parties, and their best (and worst) performers.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
Missing episodes?
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This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We ask if Covid and isolation has sucked the life out of Labour and Chris Hipkins' campaign, we wonder if fringe parties might do a deal to send their voters to NZ First and ask what's been eating National campaign chair Chris Bishop.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We look at what common wins might await New Zealand First and Act if National needs them both post-election; Plus How good are the Greens in the polls, and do overseas votes count for much?
Much of the focus of the political week has been on the three parties of the centre-right bloc, given National's Christopher Luxon accepting he might have to negotiate post-election with New Zealand First.
Two and a half weeks out from an election, the governing party was partly in the background, other than the stirring performance by leader Chris Hipkins in the Newshub leaders' debate.
The Raw Politics panel analyses what might emerge from post-poll talks involving the three centre-right parties and we highlight a couple of policies where Act and New Zealand First have common ground and could end up in a pincer movement forcing National to adopt harder-right approaches than it is promising.
The panel also looks at the relatively fact-free TV debate and Hipkins' high-octane pressure on Luxon, and Luxon's relatively strong response.
Plus, with this week's polls not only confirming New Zealand First in the mix but also highlighting a strong campaign showing by the Green Party, Marc Daalder explains how the Greens have been quietly wooing a growing support base.
Our reader question asks if the overseas vote, which opened this week, really matters for our overall election result.
And this week's recommendations are all unashamedly in-house with Newsroom content – our Election Fringe Festival guide to the minor, minor parties; a look at the age, longevity and records of Winston Peters and our summary of that rollicking Newshub leaders' debate.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We ask why Labour leader Chris Hipkins has failed to fire, as his party would have hoped, in this campaign so far. Plus: this week's debate, the latest polls and how relatively good economic news changes things in the run-up to election day.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Who to believe over the state of the nation's books, and why the public might not even care; Plus What's eating the Act Party as its historic highs in the polls fade at a critical time?
Both major political parties used the opening of the books this week to claim that their theories on the state of our economy and their solutions deserve your vote. Things are either hopeful or dire, depending on the colour of your election rosette.
Our panel debates whether the numbers matter to individual voters or if they're so intent on 'change' that they won't take Grant Robertson's advice and be careful what they wish for.
The same can be said for economists picking holes in National's tax policy to levy foreigners for purchasing homes costing more than $2m. Voters seem to have taken any wrong assumptions or calculations by National in their stride so far, according to the polls. National seems to be getting the benefit of a great collective shrug, and an impatience for the country to try something, anything else.
Later in the podcast we examine the ebbing away of Act's poll numbers – from 15 or 16 percent weeks ago in some polls to now be sitting at 11 or 10 in major polls. Which is still mighty good for a party that's best election result was 7.6 percent 2020 and 7 percent in 1999 and 2002.
We discuss if Act peaked too early – with leader David Seymour out on the campaign all year, and if his controversial 'jokes' and questionable candidates on Act's list might have made people think twice. Or, if National just got better and squeezed its centre right alternative.
Act hold its own campaign 'launch' on Sunday, weeks after its rivals, and one panelist thinks Seymour will want a theatrical impact to grab back some attention.Our reader question is whether Christopher Luxon can hold his own in a debate, with the first one due next Tuesday on TVNZ, despite his talking down his chances. And do those debates even move the dial in NZ politics?
This week's recommendations include an RNZ series on the pre-election wishes of devastated areas of the East Coast, a toe-to-toe interview between TVNZ's Jack Tame and Christopher Luxon and a Newsroom profile of a new face almost certain to make it to Parliament for Act.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Lame attack ads, how the infiltration the Labour campaign launch backfired, who's got all the money and how are they spending it - and why did Christopher Luxon discard his ceremonial Pasifika necklace?
One week down in the election campaign proper, and the Raw Politics panel looks at who's got off to the best start.
The two main parties got diverted almost from the outset by so-called 'attack' ads and whether things are turning too personal already, but the content of most of the messages on display this week was both tame and lame.
National and Act continue to pull in the big bucks, with the blue side raking in almost four times as much as Labour in the $20,000-plus donations category, and the two parties of the centre-right are saturating the social media channels as Labour and the Greens deploy digital funds more tactically.
A reader question focused on one fleeting moment at National's launch, wondering why National leader Christopher Luxon removed a Pasifika necklace presented to him as a show of respect immediately before he strode on the stage to launch the party's campaign.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Send your burning political questions to [email protected] and we’ll endeavour to find the answer and explain the issues. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Tax, fiscal holes, and disinformation. Plus: With just 43 days until the election, how is the campaign shaping up?
Raw Politics ponders how National’s $14.6 billion tax plan landed both politically and in real terms for those who will benefit from the proposed tax relief. Then we cast forward to the campaign launches this weekend in Auckland where Labour and National will lay out their visions for the country if in government after October 14.
Newsroom Pro editor Jonathan Milne was one of two journalists to get his hands on the Castalia report that National commissioned to get its t’s crossed, i’s dotted, and maths analysed ahead of its announcement on Wednesday.
Milne notes National was transparent in saying where its numbers differed from Castalia’s and says it’s worth remembering the analysis was commissioned by the leader’s office and on Christopher Luxon’s terms.
Political editor Jo Moir and senior political reporter Marc Daalder then explain the manic vibe in Parliament in the final week with press conferences and counter press conferences, potshots followed by allegations of disinformation, and some MPs no doubt contemplating whether they’ll ever be back in the building.
Then there’s the rush of legislation being rammed through the House in the final days before everyone packs up their lockers, throws on their backpacks, and heads out into the campaign field.
Some of us are exhausted and the campaign hasn’t even begun, while others seem exhilarated. Moir and Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy will be at the major parties’ campaign launches on Saturday and Sunday to provide our readers with the latest political news and analysis.
This week's recommendations include Act Party’s number 16 on the list being so confident he’ll be in Parliament he told Newsroom’s Emma Hatton he’s put his business up for sale (with a caveat), an international look at tax cuts, and a colourful Herald piece from press gallery legend, Audrey Young.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: The latest 1News poll confirms Labour really is the underdog now. Plus: Will National's 'diverse' party list lead to a diverse caucus after the election?
Raw Politics tries to make sense of a wild political week in which a senior National MP threw in the towel with some glancing blows and faint praise, one of his colleagues was found guilty of being "objectively threatening" at Parliament, and the Prime Minister finally embraced the position of underdog.
National's party list 'reveal' left leader Christopher Luxon tongue-tied when asked if gender had played a role in the selections, but the sidelined MP Michael Woodhouse had no such hesitancy in revealing the disadvantage that he and some of his colleagues might have felt as diversity took centre stage.
The panel analyses the latest 1News-Verian poll, the one that showed the gap between the major parties opening to 8 points and Labour dipping officially under the 30 percent mark. It confirms a trend that's basically been building since late last year, except for the blip of a brief honeymoon of bonfires when Chris Hipkins took over from Jacinda Ardern in the first quarter of 2023.
Later in the podcast, we answer a question on whether departing MPs took Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy's advice from Raw Politics last week on what not to say in their valedictory speeches. Marc Daalder wishes some of the high-minded democratic ideals on display in MPs' final 15 minutes of fame had been exhibited more openly in the rest of their careers.
This week's recommendations include a recent Beehive insider's insights to the approaches National and Labour are taking into the campaign, a big-read in the New Yorker about Mr X, Elon Musk, and an almost-live, automatically updating set of charts and tables on Newsroom displaying polling and political donations data.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: What's wrong with Labour governing by focus group, if its GST and parental leave policies help it win back support? And National is about to release its party list for the election with little room to diversify its team.
Raw Politics pulls back the curtains on Labour's blitz of populist policy announcements - to discover that while they're 'in it for you', they're also in it to win. If that means running on things they think are popular, they'll be no brainers, despite the views of experts, opponents and even some of their own party members.
The removal of GST from fresh fruit and veges, extension of partner parental leave, the Covid-19 rule relaxation and another multi-billion dollar packaging of transport measures have thrust Labour from managers to campaigners and there'll be little turning back.
On the eve of National's big reveal of its party list rankings for October 14, the panel discovers there's little room for the party to diversify the top end of who it's offering for election. A combination of needy incumbents and a likely gain of electorate seats means few plumb list places are up for grabs.
Later in the podcast, we answer a question on what the departing MPs giving valedictory speeches in Parliament this week will be remembered for.
This week's recommendations include a courtroom report from Newsroom - where else? - on the appeal by three donors to the National Party who were found guilty in a serious fraud prosecution, an innovative analysis of the possible/probable gender imbalance of a new Parliament, and a revealing look at the high flying Chinese former foreign minister who was, quietly, disappeared.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Why is it so hard to believe any party when they promise tens of billions of spending in NZ over many decades? And, we ask if it really matters to get to 100 percent renewable energy in this country.
Raw Politics takes on two big, bold but unlikely spending goals outlined by the Government this week - the multi-billion dollar plan for cross-harbour tunnels in Auckland and the billions to be spent on wind and solar energy to meet an 'aspirational' climate target.
Labour is certainly not ceding territory to National this campaign on investing big-time in roading, but its tunnel plan costing up to $45 billion left many in the city in Tui advertisement territory, with the two-word reaction of 'Yeah, Right'. The panel looks at parties' records of following through on such big bold visions and asks if the big numbers are just props to impress the uninformed.
Later in the podcast, our climate writer Marc Daalder explains the Government's song and dance act this week in revealing that it has persuaded giant funds manager Blackrock to get its clients behind a $2 billion investment in renewable energy here. New Zealand is already one of the highest in the world for renewables as a proportion of energy output and, overall, electricity use accounts for under 5 percent of the country's total emissions.
This week's recommendations from the panel include a strong academic opinion piece on Newsroom over both major parties' obsession with roads, a Herald investigation into John Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori, and a story in which a party leader suggests an interviewer might have been high.
Every week, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: National rolls out its tried, trusted – and a bit exaggerated – spend-up on roads, Labour promises to patch things up, and the polls reflect a new reality with NZ First.
Raw Politics drives over National's future roads of national significance and analyses why the party keeps going back to that policy well, election after election. There must be polling data beyond the urban areas of public transport that promises electoral gain for the party, and our provincial highways are relatively poor quality and unsafe.
Labour continues to hold back its election policies, leaving the field open to other parties for now and lowering its profile and impact in critical weeks ahead of formal campaigning. A strange vote in Parliament this week might, Newsroom's political editor Jo Moir suggests, point to one big policy being developed on paid parental leave.
Later in the podcast, senior political reporter Marc Daalder outlines the current trends in the major political polls and we weigh the still-small-but-growing support being recorded for New Zealand First. Is this the result of a whole new group of people, with different political drivers, swinging in behind Winston Peters' party for 2023?
Our question asks why so many MPs are suddenly ending up before Parliament's privileges committee.
And this week's recommendations from the panel include a smart and easy-to-read RNZ data package on the polls, donations and spending data, a New York Times Magazine long read on the origins of Covid and a Stuff column appealing for a safe campaign for Māori this election.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: What are the longer-term ramifications for Labour of minister Kiri Allan's arrest and resignation? Plus a big reversal on climate policy, and how to handle opinionated public board members.
Raw Politics examines how the Kiri Allan saga leaves Labour this close to the election.
Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy suggests it might be a point where a shapeless campaign for Labour has to urgently take shape, with the caucus and party unified in the face of being written off.
And we talk about the unique sensitivities in politics, more than other workplaces, of dealing with private and public instances of individuals suffering mental health issues.
Later in the podcast, political writer and climate policy expert Marc Daalder leads us through the significance of Cabinet this week back-tracking on its previous decisions on the Emissions Trading Scheme settings. We discuss what that means for our wider climate commitments and how, if at all, it changes the climate policy equation for other parties in the upcoming election.
Our question is whether appointees to public boards should be prevented from speaking out publicly, and how many restrictions they should face.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
Raw Politics examines how our political leaders responded to the highly public tragedy in central Auckland and how long they will be able to refrain from arguing about blame and recriminations.
The Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and party leaders in the House concentrated, correctly, on condolences to those who had lost family in the double killing and shooting of seven others. They explicitly put political arguments over law and order aside for another day.
Act's David Seymour couldn't resist setting out what those arguments might be about, but didn't make them, just yet. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni thanked other parties for their "graciousness" in their speeches to the Government's statement in the House on the shooting.
This week was already sharply focused on law and order, with the Government outlining three waves of criminal justice measures, mainly aimed at young offenders. The Raw Politics panel this week includes Newsroom political reporter Emma Hatton who reports regularly on justice policy.
Later in the podcast we examine who might succeed either Chris Hipkins or Christopher Luxon should they lose the election on October 14, and whether Luxon will ever convince a cohort of National-aligned voters that he is the man for the job.
This week's recommendations from the panel include media coverage of the Christchurch murder case involving a mother killing her three children, an in-depth feature on the life and times of Chris Hipkins, and a story revealing smart water meters have over-charged thousands.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Two polls show different fortunes for the major parties but still a tight election, and Labour steps away from the ledge on a wealth and capital gains tax.
Raw Politics is out a day early for the long Matariki weekend, with in-depth discussion on the latest polling and the impacts on Labour of its half-hearted dalliance with a wealth and capital gains tax.
What were they thinking to examine the possible new taxes only to have to reveal that they had been in the pre-Budget musings and then rejected? And why reveal it this week when, again, the Prime Minister is on a diplomatic mission overseas?
The panel discusses reaction to two new and slightly discordant polls – by the companies that also do polling for the Labour and National parties – and the ever-greater importance of the smaller parties, including Te Pāti Māori in determining our next government.
Our other topic is the relative public performances of the two main parties' deputy leaders: Nicola Willis for National and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni. Do the deputies matter, do their roles change over the next 90 or so days of campaigning?
And our recommended reads include a story on Act's brave or delusional challenge to National in the electorate of Tāmaki, a behind-the-scenes piece on a sweary and angry Joe Biden by, and the damning King's Counsel report into Government and official inaction over dawn raids after the solemn Crown apology.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Can the Greens save Labour and the left bloc between now and the election, and Mr Hipkins goes to Brussels.
On the eve of the Green Party's annual meeting, the Raw Politics team looks at its leader James Shaw, its policies so far and what it might do to bolster the left bloc's chances of retaining power.
This time a year ago Shaw faced an effective vote of no confidence, but political editor Jo Moir says he's learned and changed to meet the needs of the Greens base, and senior writer Marc Daalder says this year will be all quiet on the leadership front.
With the Greens polling somewhere between 7 and 12 percent in various polls they are still tracking historically well and the left bloc is tracking marginally upwards on polls of polls since about January.
The team also discusses Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' success in China and what that means for his next visit, from this weekend, to Nato's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania and to the EU in Brussels to sign our Free Trade Agreement with the union.
This week's question asks if Taieri MP Ingrid Leary really thought she was at an Electoral Commission enrolment meeting when she joined a gathering of the Mongrel Mob in Dunedin.
And our recommended reads include a fascinating look at extreme groups urging new Nuremberg-style trials, a University of Otago essay asking What if the Māori Health Authority actually works, and an evocative Herald story from inside a seedy, political celebrity debate.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Another week, another two ministerial issues for Chris Hipkins, plus: is Labour's funding for universities too little, too late, and are there votes in National's criminal sentencing plans?
Political editor Jo Moir is in China and national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva is in Europe, so this week Tim Murphy is joined by senior political writer Marc Daalder and The Detail podcast senior producer Sarah Robson.
The Raw Politics team examines Kiri Allan's latest headline-making behaviour and whether it matters or is just indicative of end-of-termitis for a government.
The team also discusses the 11th hour intervention by Labour to pour another $128m into universities, and who is to blame for the financial holes the institutions found themselves in, before turning to National's big play on getting tough on crime.
This week's question asks if the Air Force really needs a passenger transport jet, with two used this week to make sure the Prime Minister and a trade delegation made it on time to Beijing for his China engagements.
This week's recommended reads include an in-depth New York Times report on a phenomenon in physics and the real world, a Guardian story revealing the UK PM uses a disappearing ink pen on official documents, and a notable The Detail podcast on a tale of two NZ gang towns.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. And send us your burning political questions to [email protected] and we’ll endeavour to find the answer and explain the issues. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Are the wheels falling off the Labour light rail car, is the government's battery running low or is a fatalism at work leading to the run of ministerial errors and embarrassments.
The Raw Politics team tries to fathom the strange cases of Michael Wood, Stuart Nash and their errant colleagues who have inexplicably started to drag down their new leader and government.
Political editor Jo Moir believes things have gotten ridiculous and weird, with indications of a lack of regard for the office held by Chris Hipkins.
The team also looks at Hipkins' important journey to China, beginning on June 26 and how trying such a highly sensitive diplomatic mission might be for a relative newbie.
This week's question asks if there is structural racism in the health system or if National's Christopher Luxon is right that it's wrong to base clinical decisions on ethnicity. Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy argues Luxon would be right, that it'd wrong to base clinical judgments on race, but that's not what's going on - he's taken one element out of a complex matrix and made it his everything.
Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders.
Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. And send us your burning political questions to [email protected] and we’ll endeavour to find the answer and explain the issues. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Has National and the country given up on farm emissions? When does Labour throw a punch? And more from the whiny, wet, negative land called NZ.
The Raw Politics team is joined by Newsroom senior political writer Marc Daalder this week, just in time to discuss National's big call to delay making farmers pay for agricultural emissions and to weigh up whether NZ is a whiny, negative country.
Daalder replaces political editor Jo Moir who is on well-deserved, pre-election leave in the Pacific.
The team also focuses on Labour and Chris Hipkins' tentative approach to releasing policy so far this year, contrasting that with big bold swings on tax and wealth by the Greens and a steady drip-feed of announcements big and small from Act and National.
This week's question is whether we agree with Chris Luxon on New Zealand being wet, whiny, negative and inward-looking. Short answer: inward-looking perhaps, whiny mainly because of the economy and weather.
Every Friday, Jo Moir, Sam Sachdeva and Tim Murphy talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. -
This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Whatever did Chris Hipkins do to deserve the absent-minded, busy, superior minister Michael Wood, and which electoral reforms deserve to be adopted.
The Raw Politics team shakes its collective head at Transport Minister Michael Wood and wonders what he could possibly have been thinking to land his leader in a political bushfire so close to an election. Wood's failure to follow agreed MP and ministerial requirements to declare his personal assets was an affair that started messily and then got progressively worse for him, his Prime Minister and Labour.
We also discuss this week's independent report calling for electoral reforms, including a ban on corporate donations to political parties, the possibility of a four-year parliamentary term, lowering the voting age and extending voting to more prisoners.
And, we answer a listener's question over court cases over National and NZ First donations inconveniently returning to the public sphere ahead of the election.
Every Friday, Jo Moir, Sam Sachdeva and Tim Murphy talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. - Show more
