Raw Politics

On this week's Raw Politics podcast: We honour the standout performances and policies, good and bad, of this year, plus make our predictions for 2025Four different MPs are nominated by our four Raw Politics panelists for the honour of standout politician of 2024 – and consensus is hard to come by for many of our other accolades.The Raw Politics podcast weighs the good and bad for 2024 – leaders, new MPs, policy pushes, controversies and cringeworthy moments. A sneak preview: the cringe of the year is shared by two big names in Parliament, both for their actions captured on video.A full bench this week of Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder, national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy shows we don't succumb to groupthink on this podcast.The nominations, and the predictions for next year, are broad and varied, including a preview of the Newsroom press gallery's more considered ‘Awards of the State'.The panel pitches forward into 2025 with predictions of big Budget cuts, exits for parliamentary heavyweights, failure on international deals, and critical moments in climate policy. --------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: Predictable, I imagine, but mine is Aaron Smale's big series at Newsroom on the Crown-cover-up over the legal cases taken by victims of abuse in careMarc: Joel MacManus' Budget debate dispatch – I laughed when I read it in May and I laughed when I read it this morning tooSam: Guyon Espiner's reporting on Casey Costello and tobacco policyLaura: Marc Daalder's fantastic early scoop on the PM claiming the $52k accommodation allowance. It was the story that kept on giving, and continues to be referred to in the context of whether the PM is in touch with struggling, everyday NZers--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: what voters want on climate change policy, will ministers ditch the foreshore repeal, plus Ayesha Verrall's faux pasClimate change is hard and changing New Zealanders' attitudes and behaviour seems harder still for this Government and its predecessors. Should the coalition accept that's the reality and go slow and low in its ambitions for change?The Raw Politics podcast looks at the coalition's latest report on methane from farm animals – a dense scientific fig leaf that could allow ministers to let NZ do less to cut emissions.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy ask if the national and international mood on dealing with climate change is enabling National, Act and NZ First to give up, even if just a little, on our national targets.For our second topic, Murphy recaps the short history of the foreshore, seabed Māori customary rights and the Marine and Coastal Areas Act. And he explains the Government's latest options to either withdraw its urgent repeal Bill or stay staunch and restrict Māori from winning claims in the courts.Would the ruling coalition get egg on its face if it backs down, or would that act to lower tensions that exist in Crown relations with Māori over other controversial measures like the Treaty Principles Bill?The panel asks if Labour's Ayesha Verrall went too far in her personal comments against Health NZ chair Lester Levy – and whether that took the focus off the actual scandal of the health commissioners trying to game their annual budgets.--------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: Jonathan Milne's scoop revealing Health NZ and Lester Levy were stopped by the auditor-general from shifting costs from this year into last, in what could have been embarrassing for the last, Labour governmentMarc: RNZ's story on the oil and gas lobby asking the Government to underwrite fossil fuel explorationLaura: A piece by Tom Hunt from The Post on the Vision for Wellington lobby group and their communications with the PM and other senior Government ministers --------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Remembering Nikki Kaye, assessing the Labour Party one year on, and Christopher and Winston's nostalgia trip on foreign affairsLabour's MPs and party members gather in Christchurch this weekend, a year after a humiliating defeat took them from the historic, first majority MMP government into the wilderness, watching a centre-right coalition dismantle their legacy.The Raw Politics podcast assesses where the party finds itself, with the electorate and members of the public still not answering the phone, but too early to reveal a new strategy, policies or even a new leader.  Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy ask if Labour can do anything to beat the NZ aversion to throwing out one-term governments and if Chris Hipkins is the leader to pull off such a stunning upset.For our second topic, the panel assesses New Zealand's new foreign policy, Sam Sachdeva delivers his views having watched Christopher Luxon's impact at Apec in Peru, and we ask if Winston Peters' exhaustive travel schedule means he's effective at his job.  Raw Politics also marks the death of former National MP and minister Nikki Kaye, a politician with a real difference, unmatched energy and a weakness for long, long phone calls with journalists. --------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: A lovely, poignant podcast chat between Nikki Kaye and the Island Stories host Tim Higham, on politics, life, cancer and hope for the environment.Sam: Newsroom's Laura Walters and Fox Meyer's detailed analysis of Regulatory Impact Statements about new laws and policies from the Govt's first year.Laura: Our colleague David Williams' story analysing the Brexit possibilities of a referendum here on the Treaty. --------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: The hikoi's over, now for a half year of claim and counterclaim, dissent and debate. Plus: NZ speaks out of both sides of its mouth at COP29.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not meet the Treaty Principles Bill hikoi crowd, sees “nothing” of merit in the Act-proposed law but the Parliament his Government dominates will spend six months debating a “divisive” measure.That's because he has accepted there needs to be “aeration” of people's views on the Treaty, and his party acceded to Act's pressure to include the Bill in the coalition agreement. So, having made this legislative bed, Luxon will now have to lie in it.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters and co-editor Tim Murphy look at how Luxon has played his cards so far, and how he might withstand an ongoing storm of criticism from Māori and others.For Act's David Seymour, a possible nominee for most effective politician of the year before this latest play, the hearings on his Bill will finish just as he receives his coalition-deal-bauble of becoming Deputy Prime Minister until 2026.While he's successfully grabbed the political ground this year, and will no doubt use the new position to continue pushing his policies and views, is there a risk that Act will repeat the sins of its own past in straying away from economic reform, personal freedoms, minimising the state and ending waste, and be diverted by race and stunts?For our second topic, Laura talks to regular Raw Politics panelist Marc Daalder who is reporting for Newsroom at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. He describes the pressures and expectations facing the 60,000 attendees in seeking answers on carbon finance and agreements to hold the world to the Paris targets.And we hear how the New Zealand climate minister Simon Watts has performed, with messages for an external audience that might not fly so easily to the domestic crowd.--------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: A story from Stuff's Tony Wall who was with the Mongrel Mob in Ōpōtiki on the eve of the ban on gang patches and consorting. A rare example of hearing direct from the gangsters on such a policy.Laura: Also crime-related, the NZ Herald's Jared Savage profiled the new police commissioner Richard Chambers and revealed where he'd come from and his path to the top.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

On this week's Raw Politics podcast: The Act and Māori parties at point-blank range, plus the risk of the Crown apology petering outParliament saw two historic days this week, one of great solemnity and unity, the other a raucous and high-stakes stand-off between political foes over the Treaty of Waitangi.Raw Politics looks first at the volatile reception for Act's Treaty Principles Bill at its first reading, how parties performed to their voting bases, and what lies ahead now in select committee hearings over the next six months.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters and co-editor Tim Murphy, co-piloting the panel with both Marc Daalder and Sam Sachdeva on assignment overseas, look beyond the heat of Thursday's drama to search for any light in the arguments both ways for a law change.Before the first reading, Act leader David Seymour had claimed the bill was not “divisive”. National leader Christopher Luxon responded that it was divisive. Parties traded allegations over the origins of division.The optics of the three opposition parties standing together in haka, but the three parties of government divided by Act's proposed law, were a first this parliamentary term.The panel discusses the motivation of the National speakers who spoke from remarkably similar talking points, dissing Act while seeking credit for their party's approach to individual Treaty and race measures.Then it's onto the milestone moment of the Crown Apology to victims of abuse in state care – an occasion unlike the Treaty Principles Bill first reading, that could be the beginning of meaningful, lasting change.But will it? Or might the goodwill and hope and promises of Tuesday dissipate as the bureaucracy, politicians and voters tire of the complexity and burden of creating a just system of redress.--------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: A report by the US broadcaster ABC on satirical site The Onion swooping in and buying from liquidators the assets, brand and database of the far-right InfoWars site that went bankrupt after owner and shock jock Alex Jones claimed the Sandy Hook school massacre was fake.Sam: Marc's morning-after opinion column on the US election and the threat of Trump to democracyLaura: Tim's story with David Williams on Newsroom revealing Parliament's Speaker Gerry Brownlee relented on Monday to allow journalist Aaron Smale to attend the Crown apology.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: David Seymour floats a new law labelled the single greatest breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. Plus political editor Laura Walters joins us from the US.Each time the tide comes in, it comes further up the beach. Well, that appears to be the Act Party's strategy launching its Treaty Principles Bill in Parliament with not a single vote in support of it passing likely from any of Parliament's other five political parties.Raw Politics looks at the political motivations behind a Bill widely judged to be dead-on-arrival and the challenges it presents to everyone from the Waitangi Tribunal to the National, NZ First and opposition parties.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss the introduction of the Bill, with no fanfare and in the absence of its solo advocate Act leader David Seymour.Parties have undermined their coalition partners in the past, withdrawing support for proposals or making untenable conditions to prevent their passing. But Act's prize of a select committee hearing and then a dead end could be an unprecedented event in our coalition politics under MMP.In our second topic, we welcome in our usual host political editor Laura Walters from the US where she's been reporting on the election's final week and outcome.She joins Marc to discuss what it is like right now in an America stunned or relieved simultaneously and how voters from either side move forward now.Our home panelists offer some distant thoughts on takeouts for the rest of us from a country rocked again by Trump.--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: An analysis piece from Politico Europe on Trump's effect on global climate action:Sam: Marc's morning-after opinion column on the US election and the threat of Trump to democracyTim: RNZ reporter Ella Stewart's story looking at the people behind Toitū te Tiriti, the activist group leading protest action against Govt policies--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Who's closing it out best ahead of next week's US election; Act's education wins; plus relaxing the checks on your new houseThe end of the country, or the end of its democracy. That's what the two camps are predicting if their candidate doesn't win the US presidential election next week.Raw Politics, from the great safety of half a world away, weighs in on the neverending American campaign, which many predict will go on in the courts, on the streets and in Congress even after polls close, voting is counted and the preliminary result declared.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy assess the closing arguments of vice-president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump and the shows of confidence by their two campaign teams.Who to believe? What to trust?And how a statistical tie in the current pre-election polls nationally could end up perversely giving one or other candidate a substantial victory, with just minor movements in voter behaviour.In our second topic, the panel returns to home territory, marking the Act Party's homework on its two populist education policies, cut-price school lunches and rounding up the truants.Our reader question asks if there are risks from the Government relaxing who can sign off building work on certain types of new homes under construction, and the panel hears echoes from the privatisation of building inspection a generation ago.--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: The 2024 film Civil War, which is about journalism but also maybe a preview of what's to comeSam: Newsroom's Jonathan Milne's new investigative podcast Powder KegTim: Trump's ‘secret' plan with US House Speaker Mike Johnson to overcome an election loss, from progressive US site The Nation--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: This Govt was going to be push localism but is instead pushing in on cities and regions. Plus: Time for the Greens to rediscover the environment. And what's cooking with Brooke van Velden?Both Wellington and Otago councils lost a little of their political souls this week as the coalition Government grabbed control of the local levers of power.Raw Politics asks if the National ministers who promised 'localism' and devolving of power have now drunk the Bowen St kool aid and believe that only they can put things right for cities and regions as well as the nation.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss the twin interventions and some contradictions offered by Local Government Minister Simeon Brown in justifying central government stepping in.How did it come to this, and should other councils with high debt, high rates and political divisions be worried that their masters in Wellington will claim to know best.In our second topic, the Raw Politics panel looks at how the Greens regather themselves after the resolution of the Darleen Tana saga - and how they can start to make an impact for their voters on issues that they've been missing in action on.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead.--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: Nate Cohn in the NYT on polling misses in 2020 and what they mean for 2024Sam: Newsroom political editor Laura Walters' interview with Cabinet minister Erica Stanford ahead ofthe Crown apology to abuse victimsTim: Maiki Sherman's 1News disclosure that the complainant against MP Andrew Bayly is ex-military--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: There were two scandals over abuse of kids in state care - one was run from some of the highest offices in the land. Plus, the new NZ First party, polls and Nimbys vs the fast-trackOne of the biggest political and government scandals in NZ history - the abuse of thousands of children in state care - will soon be subject to a formal Crown apology.Raw Politics examines if this generation's politicians and mandarins can make it right.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss the enormity of not only the actual abuse but the state's campaign to silence and defeat court actions from victims, as set out in a powerful new series by Aaron Smale on Newsroom.His series - Crown cover-up? - forensically pieces together the findings of the Royal Commission with the who, what, when, where and why of the establishment, from Prime Ministers and Attorneys-General to police, justice, welfare and Crown Law leaders.The Raw Politics panel looks at the huge political challenge thrust onto Cabinet minister Erica Stanford to resolve this injustice, the steps forward for the Luxon government, what real justice and truth might seem like for victims and whether anyone could yet be held accountable from the state.In our second topic, we run our eye over the New Zealand First Party's conference and its policy focus in 2024 as against its foundation planks and populist and nationalist heritage, and ask if you can teach an old dog new tricks.Our reader question is on whether Nimbys might get in the way of the Government's 149 listed fast-track development projects and should landowners and residents be worried about something large and disruptive landing on their boundaries.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead:--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: Two articles on misinformation after Hurricane Helene and ahead of the US electionLaura: A piece from Madeleine Chapman of the Spinoff on how the controversial appointments to head the human rights commission weren't recommended by the panelTim: No contest this week. Aaron Smale's formidable news series on Newsroom this week on the Crown cover-up over abuse in care--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: We mark one year since the election by rating the parties, MVPs and duds, and weighing their risks and opportunities for the next two years.Next week marks 12 months since the election that ejected the left from power and ushered in Christopher Luxon's three-headed coalition of the right.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss how the parties of government and opposition have performed, and what their political risks and opportunities might be between now and the 2026 election.It has been a year of thunderous, cascading political change and the panel marks the high and low points for the government and Labour Party.We come up with a potential MP to succeed Luxon as PM, nominate most valuable politician, least valuable MP, the figure most likely to break up the coalition and MP most likely to get the boot.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead:--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: Laura Walters' piece on Christopher Luxon's email font choice – blue comic sans. No, seriously, her fascinating piece on the PM's redrafted speech for the KoroneihanaLaura: Stuff's Bridie Witton's look at the lack of open and transparent process around the Government's $24m of funding given to Mike King's mental health charityTim: The Working Group podcast episode of David Seymour debating Helmut Modlik on Treaty Principles. Special shout out to the person who branded it “Iwi vs Peewee”--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube too.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

In this week's episode of Raw Politics: the Prime Minister declares himself wealthy and sorted, Darleen should say goodbye even though she's Green, plus a bad retweet.Chris Luxon can't win. When he owns seven houses he's a capitalist rack renter. When he sells some of them he's exploiting Government policy changes and saving on tax.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy ask if the political risk of the selldown, now, of the Luxon housing portfolio is as bad as the Prime Minister's response to media queries of: "I'm wealthy and I'm sorted".The panel also discusses if former Green MP Darleen Tana should leave Parliament of her own accord before her ex party is forced to act hypocritically and have her removed as an MP. Either way, the damage to the Greens will be transitory and all but forgotten at the election in two years.Our reader question asks how Labour MP Damien O'Connor could get away with retweeting an indefensible tweet on Palestinians and Israel. We wonder if the returning Labour leader Chris Hipkins might take another view.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead:--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: A story from The Press on former E-Can chair Peter Scott's vehicle caught speeding 678 times this yearLaura: Marc Daalder's Newsroom scoop on the unredacted legal advice regarding the Govt's oil and gas exploration policy that would breach international trade obligationsTim: Sam Hayes' exclusive Stuff/3 News interview with John Key on his preferred winner of the US Presidential race--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and here on YouTube.Read more on Newsroom - https://newsroom.co.nz

This week on Raw Politics: Are we being governed now by a cadre of middle managers? People who won't stay in their lanes but need to be dipping into the detailed operations of government agencies and making the small decisions, well.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss the coalition's forked tongue approach to 'operational matters' in government departments and in relation to the boards of state companies.When the Prime Minister, no less, devotes his post-Cabinet press conference to whether public servants are working from home or gathering at offices, and shareholding ministers in Crown entities are wanting to be consulted on all manner of small value decisions, there's been a change of approach.Ministers will, with some justification, argue that an interventionist, hands-on management is needed given they can't trust the deep state to change itself adequately, fast enough.The panel discusses the sensitivities over New Zealand's foreign affairs stance on the latest UN vote on Israel - and whether in a three-party coalition if such vote-by-vote decision-making could, or should, be consulted on among party leaders before being actioned.Our reader question asks why the leader of a big bank has waded into the political quicksand of advocating a capital gains tax.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead:--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: Eloise Gibson's story on RNZ on the gas industry claiming it successfully lobbied to kill the Climate Change Commission's recommended ban on new residential gas connectionsSam: Thomas Manch's great story on The Post about NZ officials "war-gaming" the US election outcomeTim: Jonathan Milne's story on Newsroom simply setting out a growing list of those arguing in favour of a capital gains tax, and two important voices speaking against.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and here on YouTube.Read more on newsroom.co.nzhttps://newsroom.co.nz

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Is the Minister of the Week, Paul Goldsmith, an ideologue? Plus, awkward business closures for the coalition and Chris Hipkins' leadership.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, Newsroom Pro managing editor Jonathan Milne and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss the minister's harder line push this week on laws cracking down on gangs, changing his mind to allow police to search private homes for evidence of patches.We ask if he is a natural anti-crime hardman or if he's being egged on by the fringe parties in the coalition and is enjoying their approval.The Waitangi Tribunal report on the Government's planned amendments to the Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Act would have shamed any other minister at any other time, but its criticisms of Goldsmith for his motivation, facts, process, consultation and evidence have been ignored by the Government.The panel discusses the latest industrial closure, of the Oji mill at Penrose, and how these kinds of events can unfairly, or fairly, lie at the feet of an incumbent government.  Could the coalition have done more to save jobs here and in earlier regional closures, and would a Labour government have done anything differently?Our reader question asks if Chris Hipkins is taking a risk heading to the UK for that country's Labour Party conference when a poll shows his personal rating plummeting for preferred Prime Minister.  The panel is unmoved, despite Government MPs delighting in teasing Labour's caucus this week about a coup.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead.--------------------This week's recommendations:Marc: Our own Jonathan Milne's piece at Newsroom delving into a major fisheries Treaty case brewing in the backgroundTim: Audrey Young's timely explainer on all the Government's law changes targeted at things MāoriJonathan: The Economist reports on a British Medical Journal study on why Australians live so long.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.Read more on newsroom.co.nz.

In this week's episode of Raw Politics, Christopher Luxon must wake up some days with the Sound of Music song of exasperation playing in his head. How does he deal with the problem of ACT leader David Seymour and his will-o-the-wisp coalition contrarianism?Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss Seymour's carefully calibrated political agitation, externally on the Treaty Principles Bill and internally in the coalition, sticking his ACT Party's view into other minister's portfolios, other parties' business.Politics doesn't come any bigger globally than Wednesday's presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and the Raw Politics panel assess the fallout, and the media and social media verdicts on an historic face-off.Our reader question asks where and why public servants have been made to sign additional Non-Disclosure Agreements under this Government. The panel has fears for growing secrecy in the machinery of state.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead.--------------------This week's recommendations:Laura: Andrea Vance's latest piece in The Post on the $410k spend on contractors and consultants at the Ministry for Regulation;Tim: RNZ's Eloise Gibson's report on Climate minister Simon Watts distinguishing between ‘coal and coal' to defend opening up to mining;Marc: A piece by the second-best writer with the surname Daalder, in The Atlantic on the US election.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.Read more on newsroom.co.nz

In this week's episode of Raw Politics, we discuss the response of our political leaders to the demands of the week-long tangihanga for Kiingi Tuheitia.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy discuss how coalition leaders faced the Kiingitanga movement and wider Māoridom at a time of acute political sensitivities.Then, the panel pulls a handbrake turn on Transport Minister Simeon Brown's spin about raising road speeds, cutting out speed bumps and funding future roading promises.  Can the economy really be saved by drivers speeding up around town and on the highways?Our reader question asks if the Wellington Hospital proposal to cut out free toast and Milo for mothers who have just given birth was a serious plan or if it was bureaucrats employing the famous "Washington Monument" tactic to shame politicians.Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead.--------------------This week's recommendations:Laura: the deleted Working Group podcast episode, in which Matthew Hooton unleashes on Don Brash and Hobson's PledgeTim: RNZ digital journalist Russell Palmer's story revealing that the Govt's formal communications with Korea before cancelling the Cook Strait ferries deal amounted to two late text messagesMarc: Newsroom political journalist Fox Meyer's scoop on the origins within NZ First of the fast-track legislation--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.Read more on newsroom.co.nz

This week, Raw Politics looks at the coalition's all-consuming commitment to development, from the fast-track to energy to infrastructure.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy examine the breadth and pace of the blizzard of development initiatives that could change what and how the country builds in the short and long term.Then, the panel tries to understand the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's light heart and light hand when it comes to his ministers breaching the norms of ministerial behaviour and speech. As opposed to his "this is how I roll" dismissal of colleagues for average performance in portfolios. Has he got a form of Stockholm syndrome and now identifies with his partner party captors?Our reader question asks why NZ First leader Winston Peters is so obsessed lately with the 20th Century Māori politician Sir Āpirana Ngata. Turns out he is citing Ngata incessantly, alongside other Māori leaders from back in the days just before Winston was born.--------------------This week's recommendations:Laura: Labour Party police spokesperson Ginny Andersen ends up red-faced in this Benedict Collins 1 News report on her refusal to back down from her cherry-picked data on police foot patrolsTim: Anneke Smith of RNZ's story from the suppressed political figure's court case in which she reports a victim's wife complained to the person's party and leader months before the accused person stepped aside from officeMarc: Laura's eagle-eyed spotting of a major last-minute change to the Government's gang laws--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.Read more on newsroom.co.nz.

This week, Raw Politics discusses Christopher Luxon the wannabe details man, Chris Hipkins the nowhere man and David Seymour the man with 91 highly paid new staff.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy first assess the Prime Minister's repeated instances of misusing, misquoting or misunderstanding numbers, facts and comparisons.The panel then looks at the Labour Party 10 months on from its electoral hiding. The red side is being careful not to bark at every passing car, but its caution is leaving a void that a coalition that has been fast, and at times loose, is continuing to exploit.Our reader question asks how many staff will work in David Seymour's new Ministry of Regulation. And the answer is not the 30 or so indicated by the ACT leader.--------------------This week's recommendations:Laura: The piece on Christopher Luxon's bold speech to local government from Newsroom Pro editor Jono Milne: PM goes to war on council waste – and on councilsTim: The Australian's daily podcast The Front for its coverage of the gobsmacking defamation case in Perth where the former defence minister is suing her former staffer Brittany Higgins, who was raped in that minister's office.Marc: A scoop from Stuff's Tova O'Brien on Shane Jones' attacks on “communist judge" during a meeting with the seafood lobby over Māori rights.Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.--------------------Read more on newsroom.co.nz.https://newsroom.co.nz

In this week's episode of Raw Politics, we discuss if ministers crowing about the drop in interest rates deserve all, much or any of the political praise.Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, political reporter Emma Hatton and co-editor Tim Murphy weigh the coalition's claims to having started to beat the ravages of a high cost of living.We also assess this week's two big restructures of government agencies – one responsible for Crown-Māori relations and the other for services for the disabled community.Our reader question asks why the Government is dipping back into old fashioned welfare policies again, one of the core staples for the National Party over generations.--------------------This week's recommendations:Emma -  The Spinoff's Joel MacManus on the shady conspiracy-aligned group setting itself up to influence the 2025 Wellington local council election. Tim - A revelation by Andrea Vance on The Post that David Seymour's new regulation ministry is looking to hire a senior communications person at up to $170,000 a year.Marc - Jono Milne's scoop on the new Health NZ commissioner's waning confidence in his chief executive.--------------------Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.Read more on newsroom.co.nz.

Another week, another series of hot political issues involving policies affecting Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi.This week, Raw Politics looks at why the Government is pushing ahead 'at pace' with such a broad range of measures looking to change the accepted status of the Treaty in laws and in public services.Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy examine the moves on Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, the amendment of the Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Act and everything from use of te reo by a minister to the Act Party bill coming down the line to re-state the Treaty's principles.We ask whether the reaction of Māori both at Parliament and around the country will reach the level of resistance to the original Foreshore and Seabed Act in the early 2000s and what motivates the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in allowing all these changes at once.Our reader question is on how much more cutting and restructuring can be expected under a new public service edict.-------------------------------This week's recommendations:Tim: Laura's Newsroom story on the senior public servants on notice after the Royal Commission into abuse in state care.Marc: A New York Times story - Inside the petrostate hosting this year's global climate negotiations.Laura: Harris Chooses Walz - The Daily - A guide to the career, politics and sudden stardom of Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, now US Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.-------------------------------Read more on newsroom.co.nz.https://newsroom.co.nz

This week, Raw Politics examines what has become a regular point of weakness for the coalition and asks why National, Act and NZ First can't seem to get on top of the health system's political risks.--------Recommendations:Marc: David Williams' Newsroom story disclosing finance minister Nicola Willis overruled advice on a South Island waste-to-energy facility.Tim: Another in-house one here, for Laura Walters' Newsroom story analysing the wholesale changes at the top of the public service.Laura: The Guardian's two-part analysis with in-depth interactive looking at all of the coalition Government's policies that are expected to have a negative impact on Māori.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Financial woes at Health New Zealand and the Royal Commission report challenges the Government's gang crackdown-------------------Recommendations:Sam: Analysis from Derek Cheng at the NZ Herald on how the Royal Commission's recommendations will clash with the Government's prioritiesLaura: Marc Daalder's reporting on why the Government's renewable energy promise has been side-tracked by fast-track workMarc: Jack Tame's probing interview on Q+A with Climate Change Minister Simon Watts Raw Politics will be available on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your favourite shows every Friday..-------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: The Government drops a new climate plan and inflation falls faster than expected-------------------Recommendations:Emma: The exclusive TVNZ interview with Darleen Tana, where she claims she's been silenced and isolated but doesn't give straight answers to big questionsMarc: A scoop from his hated rival, RNZ climate correspondent Eloise Gibson, on the Government's plans to rollback insulation regulationsJonathan: Looking overseas, an analysis in The Economist on big business fears about Donald Trump's new vice presidential pick-------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

On this week's Raw Politics podcast: Why the Greens' annus horribilis hasn't sunk them in the polls, plus Biden, Peters, Luxon, ageing and diplomacy-------------------Recommendations:Laura: The scoop from The Post on the leaked internal safety bulletin that shows Aratere crew couldn't turn off its autopilot (as Winston Peters kinda suggested)Tim: RNZ political reporter Anneke Smith's scoop obtaining a leaked copy of the report to the Greens into the behaviour of MP Darleen TanaMarc: Andrew Bevin's story on Newsroom on Auckland's mayor being far from impressed with the city's 'embarrassing and expensive' new ad campaign-------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

On this week's episode of the Raw Politics podcast: Who might be next as the cleanout of senior public servants and directors gathers momentum.-------------------Recommendations: Emma – a piece from Australia's ABC: Disability organisations 'on life support' say budget cuts will force them to wind back servicesTim – Our Newsroom foreign affairs editor Sam Sachdeva's analysis of just what important defence deals came out of the Luxon visit to JapanLaura  – Emma Hatton and Jonathan Milne's Newsroom scoop on the Three top civil servants who ‘won't have contracts renewed'  -------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, we ask who needs evidence for policies, we talk ferries and pull apart the latest polls-------------------Recommendations:Marc – A telling article from the US on Heatmap about that country's troubles building one big power line:Laura  – An Associated Press backgrounder on what led to thousands storming Kenya's Parliament in what started as disputes over new taxes and ended up in a deadly clashTim – Geoffrey Palmer's speech we carried on Newsroom: NZ is an executive paradise, not democratic paradise -------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, we look at the PM's foot-in-mouth over low-level business types, scrutinise Scrutiny Week and work out what species we should pay up to save-------------------Recommendations:Tim – A good look in The Guardian at the political weaponising of videos of Joe Biden – and Donald Trump to a degree – looking old and bewilderedMarc – The New York Times article about key editorial figures at the Washington Post's involvement in British phone-hacking scandalsLaura  – Marc Daalder's article on David Seymour's Snapchat interactions with school kids-------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, we look at the chance of a Labour rebound, NZ's climate retreat and problems for Act.-------------------Recommendations: Laura  – A documentary from the late Stuff Circuit team on Chinese interference in New ZealandTim – An American corporate/conservative view on the import of the European elections, by Gerard Baker, ex editor of the Wall St JournalMarc – Laura Walters' interview with Labour leader Chris Hipkins predicting a 'very good chance' of a return in 2026 -------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, we look at the allegations against Te Pāti Māori over the misuse of personal data, and unpick the party's political strategy.-------------------Recommendations: Tim – Professor Chris Jackson's commentary for Newsroom on the flaws in the Government's failed promise to fund 13 new cancer drugs from this Budget.Marc – Bill McKibben's latest newsletter on record heat: Intensity.Laura  – David Wallace-Wells' New York Times newsletter on what's driving the American – but also global – school attendance crisis -------------------Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube.newsroom.co.nz 

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, we peer over a fiscal cliff and search for the hits and misses of Budget 2024.-------This week's recommendations: Laura - Joel MacManus' hilarious Spinoff Budget debate sketch from the HouseMarc - Tim Murphy's view on Newsroom of Nicola Willis' big Budget speechTim – Tova O'Brien's story from the Budget lock-up revealing Willis overstated a crucial tax number -------So many numbers, so many claims and counter claims, and so much planned so far into the future that we might never see it bear fruit. This week's Raw Politics tries to sift the real from the risible in this year's Budget and to judge whether the coalition will get political bouquets or brickbats from the voting public.First, the panel of Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political writer Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy run their abacuses over the Budget's costly, broad-based tax cuts. Are the sums 'meaningful' as the finance minister hoped, or just 'not meaningless' for people's back pockets. Then we look at one aspect that Nicola Willis surely can't be happy about – a big increase and stubbornly high budget deficits for the next few years and a net debt refusing to budge down below her 40 percent of GDP target for the entire forecast period.We have a go at the game of find-a-pithy-name for the Budget, examine the political hypocrisy of ongoing 'fiscal cliffs' and nominate the big things conspicuous by their absence. -------newsroom.co.nz

National promised a “back pocket boost” when it unveiled a tax package before the election, and now in Government in tough economic times its Budget next week will sort the easy promises from reality.The tax bracket changes and other in-work and family payment adjustments might need to land with a thump rather than a flutter for hard-pressed Kiwi households – but that isn't easy to achieve.-------Recommendations:Tim - A great exchange in the House on housing between Kieran McAnulty and Chris Bishop. Watch here.Emma - David Seymour's inner circle, by Audrey Young in the Herald.Marc - The Return of Evan Price, by Emma Hatton on Newsroom. -------The Raw Politics panel this week, Newsroom senior political writer Marc Daalder, politics and business writer Emma Hatton and co-editor Tim Murphy, look ahead to a Budget that will put the confident Finance Minister Nicola Willis and her new Labour counterpart Barbara Edmond to the test.The panel weighs the gains and losses from the mass layoffs in the public service as the coalition parties make good on their promise to cut what they called a bloated sector. Do back-office cuts really allow those in the front line to keep doing their jobs effectively? The example of the corporate world would suggest not.Our reader question asks why the National-led Government axed the first home grant suddenly (spooked by a Newshub scoop that it was going). And the panel discusses former PM Bill English's radical proposals to change our public housing landscape. The bottom line is we won't have as many state houses, or as much Crown-owned housing land after this process is underway.

In this week's episode of Newsroom's weekly politics podcast, the Press Gallery office patches in the Christchurch studio to discuss a big law and order announcement and Shane Jones' undeclared dinner.---------------------Read more:Jones' undeclared dinner had two more mining industry attendees https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/15/jones-undeclared-dinner-had-two-more-mining-industry-attendees/ Mega-prison's missing business casehttps://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/14/mega-prisons-missing-business-case/Health negotiators told to put sovereignty ahead of stopping pandemicshttps://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/16/health-negotiators-told-to-prioritise-sovereignty-over-stopping-pandemics/Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center.https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd/index.html---------------------Produced by newsroom.co.nz

Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October.From today, we're back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for a second season, and in a week with ups and downs for almost all the parties in Parliament.With our anchor, our rock, Jo Moir having graduated to a higher class of audio banter at RNZ, Raw Politics is led by Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, with co-editor Tim Murphy and senior political writer Marc Daalder.This week:We do a fast rewind on the missing six months of this three-way coalition's gestation and early days. We look at Act leader David Seymour's deft politics on school lunches and daft politics in using ‘woke' to describe sushi.Then the panel analyses the separate meltdowns of the Greens Julie Anne Genter and Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell.Our reader question on how much MPs get paid also focuses attention back on the double-dipper from NZ First, MP Jamie Arbuckle, who wanted to keep both his parliamentary salary and that from his councillor duties in Marlborough.And we end with recommendations for you to read, watch or listen to over your weekend.Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts every Friday morning, and you can watch it on YouTube here.Newsroom.co.nz

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.

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 jo.moir@newsroom.co.nz 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 tim.murphy@newsroom.co.nz 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 sam.sachdeva@newsroom.co.nz 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.