Podcasts about nz first

Political Editor Jason Walls talks to Ryan Bridge about new poll results showing NZ First nearly acquiring double digits. He points out Labour and National have taken notable drops in the survey, with their respective bloc-parties having to make up the deficit. As it stands, the left-bloc doesn't have enough to form a government. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Friday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) This Isn't Godzilla, Unfortunately/Don't Buy There/The Ole Winston Swing/Trump Keeps Trumping/The Downfall of Rent-A-DentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another poll. Another rush of fevered opinion, and yet still so far away from an election. The poll business is booming. Once upon a time we had just the two TV networks in the game, but now they've been joined by others. Keeping the opinion writers in business and politics as the leading news driver in this country. So this one was paid for by the Taxpayers Union and it breathlessly reports that New Zealand First is on the rise and is now the third most popular party. Winston may be 80, but it looks like he's here to stay. And the two major parties are pretty equal at 30 odd each - there is no dominant party right now in New Zealand. Other than that, the other take away is that we don't like the leaders of the major parities. Both leaders have popularity rankings less than 20%, and that's because they're both demonstrably a bit average. That's particularly concerning for National and the Prime Minister, who learned that 80% of New Zealanders don't rate him as PM. It reflects a deep dis-ease about where the country finds itself. In a week where we found that we grew not one jot in the last financial quarter, people are wondering why we've got so stuck in the mire. National's easy answer at the last election was that Labour was useless. But 18 months into National's governance I feel people are still wondering where we're going and whether, maybe, they're a bit useless too. I blame politics and the urge to politicise every issue and polarise the voters. Our current default position from our politicians is the other side is crap. Vote for us. But the country is saying you're both crap. There is no truth teller out there leading the way through the murk. And in this vacuum of leadership Winston shines by just doing the basics as a Foreign Minister well and not being useless. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Act Leader and Acting Prime Minister, “Deputy Dave”, joins us in the studio. We talk about the 2025 FMG Young Farmer of the Year, Hugh Jackson, and today’s OCR. Plus, how’s he getting on with Winston Peters? Will Act and NZ First cannibalise National’s rural vote? And how is Mark Cameron? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour leader and former Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins thinks phase two of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response is a platform for conspiracy theorists, and he is non-committal about turning-up to give evidence. The most committed I've heard him so far is saying that he's working on some written responses. But if that turns out to be the extent of his involvement, then he can forget about being prime minister again. Because let me remind you of a couple of things. While it was the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who, generally, fronted the Government's Covid response. It was Hipkins —as Covid Minister— who drove it behind the scenes. Secondly, if it was good enough for former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to front up in person to the UK's Covid inquiry, then it is more than good enough for Chris Hipkins to front up in person to our inquiry. In December 2023, Boris Johnson spent two days being grilled by the committee of MPs, which had the job of looking into how his government handled the pandemic. This is the guy who told people they had to isolate at home and then had parties at 10 Downing Street. This is the guy who disappeared to his country house when Covid was running rampant. This is the guy who, somehow, lost 5,000 WhatsApp messages from his phone, which couldn't be used as evidence at the inquiry. This is the same guy who told the UK inquiry that he was the victim of not being properly informed about the seriousness of Covid. Boris Johnson is the guy who is widely considered to have cocked-up the response in Britain but who, despite all that, fronted-up to take questions and take the heat over two days. And it wasn't pleasant for him. He was grilled. But say what you like about Boris Johnson, at least he fronted up. From what I've seen, at no point did Boris Johnson dismiss the inquiry in Britain as a platform for conspiracy theorists. At no point did Boris Johnson bang-on about the Covid inquiry in Britain creating an opportunity for theatrics from conspiracy theorists. And, at no point, did Boris Johnson hide behind written responses and weasel words. But that is exactly what Chris Hipkins is doing. He says he wants to be “cooperative” but “I don't want to see a whole lot of theatrics. I'm very interested in engaging with them on how we can capture the lessons”. To be fair, Hipkins probably does have a point about the time period covered by phase two of the inquiry and how it, conveniently, leaves out the time NZ First was in coalition with Labour, but he needs to get over that. Just like he needs to get over the fact that, yes, there will be no shortage of conspiracy theorists turning up at the inquiry. But so what? It's a free world. And we can decide for ourselves how much credence we want to give them. But Chris Hipkins shouldn't be free to decide for himself whether he fronts up in person at the Covid inquiry, or not. He was Covid Minister and he has to front. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Hipkins is doubling down on saying the Covid Response Inquiry's terms seems to provide a platform for conspiracy views. The Labour leader also said the second phase —that began this week— excludes looking at any decisions made when NZ First was in Government. Hipkins told John MacDonald opinions from the likes of Brian Tamaki and Liz Gunn deserve to be heard but shouldn't overshadow submission on other experiences. He says if the Government's genuine in wanting all voices heard, it's important for it not to be dominated by a few people. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A newly appointed KiwiRail board director is associated with a company which donated to NZ First. Farah Hancock spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

A former Labour Minister of Forestry has his say on carbon farming and offers a solution for transitioning unproductive hill country to pines and then to native regeneration (for carbon credits). We also discuss his rumoured candidacy for NZ First and whether he’s been shoulder-tapped by Winston.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't know about you, but I want to know how big our Finance Ministers' holes are. I think it's really important to know what political parties' promises are going to cost us. A nine-year battle to get a publicly funded body to cost political parties election promises, starting with the 2026 election, ended at cabinet on Monday after ACT and NZ First put the kibosh on the plan. Way back when —2016— the proposal came from the Greens, but over time it's been modified, and Nicola Willis' plan would have amended the Public Service Act to allow the political parties access to public service resources up to 10 months before an election, so they had the information they needed to cost their policy promises. A unit in the Public Service Commission would have been created to coordinate those requests, funded with $1.2 million. Which is chicken feed in the scheme of things. But with ACT and NZ First nixing it, we remain with the status quo, which as Stephen Joyce explained this morning, means an awful lot of time wasting and running around for the opposition parties. “You have to go chasing around OIA's and parliamentary questions to try and get enough information to build a policy which stands scrutiny when it gets out to the public, and it's a lot of fun for the government of the day to try and withhold all that information and then go, “ah, it's ridiculously costed policy.”” That really ground my gears this morning when I heard that. Oh, it's all a great lark, it's all such fun having opposition parties running around desperately trying to get the information they needed. And the clue comes from the Public Services Resources. They're ours! Taxpayer money funds those services, it funds those resources. We have a right to know how much is being spent on what programmes, what funding is available, and we have a right to allow that information to be disseminated to opposition political parties so that they can craft their own policies with that knowledge, with that baseline knowledge that they need. Otherwise, they are going to be promising pie in the sky. This should be public information. It's taxpayer money funding services for taxpayers. It should be easy to access, easy to find, and then the opposition parties will be able to craft their policies accordingly. No more silly buggars. It's in the public interest not to have this time wasted. How many staffers are employed by opposition parties chasing after OIAs and chasing after this information, when that work could be better put to spending time with programmes and organisations and departments, and coming to terms with what they need to do the best possible job to deliver for the taxpayer? There is nothing fun about this. There's nothing clever about this. It is expensive time wasting. As for ACT's no because “we already provide a fully costed budget before each election”, stop being so smarmy and teachers' pets, you can't mark your own homework. Each party should have to pay out of their own party funds —not out of taxpayers dollars— for an economist, not to run the ruler over their own budgets because we've all seen that, they should each pay for an economist and the economist names should go in a ballot. Each party draws out a name, and that economist runs an eye over that party's budget. So ACT pays for an economist. The ACT economist goes into the hat, the Māori Party draw him out, that's who runs an eye over their budget. I want to know without having to do the sums myself if what a party is promising is viable, and I don't want them to do their own costings, thanks very much. I do want an independent body to look at it. That information should be freely accessible to all opposition parties. Let's put an end to the fun and the silly buggars, and each party's promises before an election should be independently verified, so we can all cast our vote with the best possible knowledge available. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When there's an election campaign happening, how much do you care about the cost of the policies the political parties are pushing? Or, more to the point, how willing are you to trust the politicians when they say they've done the numbers, and they all stack up? My willingness to trust them is very low. Which is why I think we will be all the poorer for ACT and NZ First voting down the plan for a publicly-funded outfit that would have done the numbers and worked out the actual cost of election policies. Because until now, all we've been able to do is take the politicians on their word. And it's going to stay that way. Not that the concept of a separate costing agency is an overnight thing or a new thing. The idea has been around since 2016, when Green MP Metiria Turei first raised it. In fact, what she wanted —and what the Labour Party wanted too— was broader than what Finance Minister Nicola Willis eventually proposed to Cabinet. But which is now history thanks to the two minor coalition parties. Nicola Willis' version would have made the government of the day's financial information available to political parties when they were putting their policies together. But even that watered-down version was too much for ACT and NZ First, with David Seymour saying that it isn't warranted, because he doesn't think it would stop messy election-year debates about how party policies might be paid for. But it raises the question about election promises and whether us voters are still sucked in by the political promises on their own, or whether we are more discerning and whether we think it would be good to have more transparency. More scrutiny. I want more scrutiny. Because without it, all we have to go on is gut instinct. Or the believability of politicians. All politicians of all stripes and colours I'm talking about here – all we can do is take them on their word. Before I hold up National's tax cuts as an example of why we need a publicly-funded agency to go through political policies with a fine-tooth comb, let me remind of you of that daft idea Labour had before the last election of taking GST off fruit and vegetables. At first blush, it might have sounded like a good idea. But I wasn't sold. I don't think many of us were, because we had no idea how effective it would be. Not just from the perspective of whether it would actually make fruit and veggies more affordable, but also what it could mean for government coffers. Grant Robertson always poo-pooed the idea but then, somehow magically, came around to the idea just before the election. And there he was, telling us that he'd done the numbers and he'd realised that, actually, it would have all stacked up financially and we'd all have kiwifruit and broccoli coming out of our ears. But without the proof, it was all hot air. Same thing with National's tax cuts. We were told it was going to mean more money in our pockets, but not a lot was said about how out-of-pocket the Government might be because of it, and what that would mean down the track. And what happened? The tax cuts went ahead, and government revenue dropped. That foreign buyers tax was another one. The only expert analysis we had to rely on was what all the so-called “independent experts” roped-in by all the parties had to say about the policies they were roped-in to comment on. And all that did was create all the usual noise and confusion and we were back to voting on gut instinct because who knew what the hell to make of what was being said left, right and centre? How different things would be if all of these brilliant vote-catching ideas were put through the wringer by an independent, publicly-funded agency. How better informed we would all be. And how careful the politicians would be about selling us snakeoil policies that we only end up regretting falling for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, former Labour minister Stuart Nash and Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The Government has introduced some new measures to crack down on shoplifting - do we see these working? Do we see the Government helping to fund Wegovy? The obesity crisis impacts a significant amount of Kiwis - but what about the costs? National have been talking about removing Treaty of Waitangi references and removing special treatment for certain ethnicities, but ACT and NZ First have criticised the party for not following through. What do we make of this? Jaffas are being discontinued - will we all miss them? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Justice Minister's confirmed the Government aims to send a clear message to offenders as part of the latest legislation. The Government recently announced 'coward punches' will be treated as a new offence, giving offenders longer sentences. The reform makes good on a National and NZ First coalition promise. Paul Goldsmith says the Government's hoping to disincentivise these 'unacceptable' attacks. "We're going to send a very strong message from Parliament to the judiciary - that we expect serious consequences for serious crime." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legislation will soon be introduced bolstering the maximum sentences for those who assault first responders and Corrections offices. Will it be supported across Parliament? Also, a New Zealand First MP has announced her resignation from Parliament after just 18 months. Why is she leaving? To answer those questions, Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls joined Nick Mills for the Beehive Buzz. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't know who these people or these organisations would be and what on Earth their motivation might be, but it would appear that Treasury has identified several private operators who have expressed an interest in establishing a commercial competitor to Bluebridge with government help. Which basically means the opportunity to privatise the KiwiRail Cook Strait ferries. I don't know why you would do that, where in the world does any kind of public transport make money? I guess where there are profits to be made, Bluebridge has found them. But in a country this small, could two people, two organisations, two interested groups, make money out of the Cook Strait ferry crossing? Earlier this year, Winston Peters took a paper to cabinet, along with Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Transport Minister Chris Bishop, which confirmed a direction to Ferry Holdings —that's the publicly owned companies set up to procure two new Inter Island ferries— to consider options for ferry ownership and operation that will improve efficiency and recycle government capital. What does this mean? Translated into real world speak, that means the Government's looking at letting private operators into owning and running the ferries that the government currently owns and runs, in the hope that efficiency will be improved, and recycling government capital means using private investors money, not taxpayers' money. All very well and good to open it up for expressions of interest, but what I found really staggering is that there are people who are interested in doing just that. As you may have heard on the Mike Hosking Breakfast, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour is all for allowing private operators into running the ferries. “I have long had the philosophical view that government is not a good operator of commercial enterprises, and there's no shortage of evidence for that. But the reality will be much more persuasive to whoever's in government, you've got to balance the books, and at the moment we own too many underperforming assets. We are really struggling. As a result, the New Zealand people who fund the government as taxpayers are struggling, and there's going to have to be a reckoning. The alternative is people young and talented, keep looking further afield for opportunity and I don't want that.” No, none of us do. But is KiwiRail going to private operators going to be the Great Saviour? I wouldn't have thought so. It's been sold off before and it didn't work then. So he's all for private operators coming in and running state owned assets more efficiently. Equally unsurprising is Winston Peters being against any form of privatisation. He makes the point that NZ First has consistently held the view that taxpayer funded assets should be owned by the taxpayer. As somebody who uses the ferries once in a blue moon, I wouldn't have thought it difficult to have ships that are seaworthy, take people, and cars, and freight over the Cook Strait, and bring them back again. And you need people who can steer the ship, and you need people who can maintain the ships so that they don't break down in the middle of Cook Strait, because that's very bad. If there isn't enough money to be made commercially from doing this as an exercise, as taxpayers we have to fund it because it is State Highway 1. We need to keep it going. So why is it so hard to do that? Why is it so hard to have ships that are seaworthy, captains who can steer them, people who can maintain them? And either we know every year how much it's going to cost us to keep State Highway 1 open, which we have to do, or we allow private operators to run it and make small profit from it. Looking from the outside, I wouldn't have thought it was possible. Bluebridge has been able to do so, but is there room for another private operator? Clearly people think so, but why has it been so troubled? It's a bit like the lovely CEO from Kainga Ora who said really, in effect, the job is quite simple. We build houses for people, and we rent them out. He said it only got difficult when the previous administration wanted to make it a more social enterprise and bring in mixed model housing communities. If you drill down to what the job is, it's actually quite simple. So why have we struggled for decades to run a Cook Strait ferry crossing? It really, from the outside, doesn't seem that difficult. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Treaty Negotiations Minister admits people are losing patience on a Ngāpuhi settlement, but says they want it to last. New Zealand First is launching a Bill, proposing a one-and-done treaty settlement for the largest iwi, rather than multiple hapu settlements. Paul Goldsmith says that although he sympathises with the desire for a faster resolution, if you want an enduring settlement, you need people to be prepared to settle. He told Mike Hosking that the settlement has to have the support of around 200,000 to 300,000 people, which has been the challenge in the past. Goldsmith says that they have a good plan now, and they're making good progress on the work that's currently underway. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A single Treaty settlement is being drafted by New Zealand First for the country's largest iwi. Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith has signalled he's open to settlements with smaller groups - within iwi. Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene says they continue to hold talks with Paul Goldsmith, but not Shane Jones. "He is the minister, that's who we have conversations with and that's how we want to keep it. We don't want to be talking to the minister - or anybody else for that matter - through the media." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First says the country can no-longer afford a drawn-out Treaty settlement with the largest iwi. The party's drafting legislation to require a single settlement with Ngāpuhi, rather than multiple agreements. However, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith has signalled he's open to settlements with smaller groups within iwi. NZ First MP Shane Jones told Mike Hosking the $20 million process is holding up Whangarei Hospital redevelopments. He says one group is hijacking the claim by introducing notions of sovereignty at the cost of the taxpayer. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon has expressed interest in scrapping regional councils as part of the new RMA reforms - and it's sparked debate among experts. NZ First's Shane Jones has expressed similar sentiments, having recently told a local Government forum he doesn't see a compelling reason for maintaining regional Government. Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Daran Ponter says there's a need to amalgamate local authorities. "Local Government's been up for that issue for quite a while for quite a number of years now - it's nearly 36 years since local Government reform gave us the current structure that we've got." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The NZ First leader and former Deputy PM steps in for the PM who's doing the business in China. We talk about the perilous state of the world geopolitically, a trade deal with Indonesia, missing Fieldays, his political adversaries, the Green Party and the Green Parrot.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of Fieldays, Federated Farmers have done the most interesting survey. It is a snapshot, like them all. But the numbers for one lot are so stark, alarm bells should be ringing. So, who would a farmer vote for? You would say National and you would be right. Broadly the farming community is conservative, always has been. That, partly, is because they are their own masters, they are hard workers, they are self-reliant, they are at the cutting edge of the economy, and they know how life works. So 54% said they'd vote for National and 19% said ACT. Here is where it gets interesting and/or alarming. 8% said they'd vote for NZ First. They're the only party with farmers at about the same level as they are nationally. Labour is on 3%. How bad is that? Even with a margin of error, even with a massive margin of error, Labour should be shocked at that figure. Every party has their sweet spot, some parties more overtly so, e.g. the Greens and environmentalists, or communists. ACT have some upmarket urban liberals. New Zealand First having a provincial number higher than the city wouldn't surprise me But National and Labour, as major parties should be, by their very nature are broad-based. After all, it is Labour and National, and Labour and National alone, that will lead any given Government on any given day. You have to at least have a half-decent level of support even in your weakest areas. Farming is particularly important, given we are a farming nation, the foreign receipts we get from the land and the value of our free trade deals. To have a major party so out of touch with such a large sector strikes me as being astonishing, if not embarrassing, if not unheard of. My suspicion is the current version of Labour is particularly unpalatable, and this is going to be their major issue next year. For all voters the damage done to the country is still fresh in most of our minds, but no more so than farmers. The climate obsession, special land area designation, Three Waters with Māori overreach, no gas, and more paperwork. Farmers hated it. A lot of us hated it. But in general polls Labour are competitive. On the land they are pariahs. At 3% that is a massive hill for Hipkins and co to climb between now and October next year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recommended suspension for Te Pāti Māori MPs, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, and Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, over the MP's haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year. Co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi will be suspended from the House for 21-days, with Maipi-Clarke facing a seven day suspension. This is Parliament's harshest sanctions in the country's history. Prior to this, the longest suspension an MP had faced in Parliament was three days. The debate had previously been delayed so that the MPs could participate in the Budget debate — however, both co-leaders were not present at the debate. During the debate MP Tākuta Ferris said that the debate was not about the haka, but at the heart, it was the House continuing to ignore Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori sovereignty, and that the “racism” in the House is hardly being hidden. For our weekly catch-up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp about the suspension, and what's next for the party. They also discussed NZ First Party Leader Winston Peters' comments regarding Waititi's moko, referring to the MPs moko kanohi as “scribbles”. He was asked to apologise by the Speaker, which he did. But first, they discussed the suspension of the MPs.

New Zealand First has had its strongest showing in two recent polls in years - and leader Winston Peters says the support for his party comes down to voters wanting experienced leaders. Peters joined Nick Mills to discuss the first eighteen months of the Parliamentary term, as well as his view of Labour and his relationship with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour was officially sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister - and he's hoping to be a bit different to his predecessors. He takes over from New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters, who just returned to the country after a visit to India, and he'll remain in the position until next year's election. Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls says this isn't the same situation - as David Seymour's from a different party than Luxon and Peters. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Labour MP Stuart Nash has suggested the party needs to have some conversations about its future. NZ First leader Winston Peters has ruled out working with Labour after the 2026 election if Chris Hipkins is still in charge. Nash says this doesn't necessarily mean Peters has ruled out working with Labour - and the party will need to make some big decisions. "You go into politics to be in Government - so it is a really interesting dilemma. Now it may be that the situation doesn't arise, but I can see a situation where the Labour caucus has to make a very important decision." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's leader thinks talk of potential coalitions is premature. New Zealand First leader and veteran politician Winston Peters has ruled out working with Labour post next election if Chris Hipkins is still in charge. Peters has described a potential trio of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori as a 'woke circus'. Chris Hipkins says Labour will set out bottom lines before the election. He's taken the chance to take a swipe at the Coalition. "We're not just going to allow the smaller parties to call all the shots in the way that Christopher Luxon and the National Party currently are doing." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think Winston Peters ruling out ever going into coalition with Chippy after the next election is actually more significant than many people will realize. Because Winnie was actually Chippy's only credible path back to being prime minister again. Without Winnie, Chippy is completely stuffed, because the alternatives are not real options. The alternatives are: One - being in a coalition with a couple of loony parties, which centre voters are absolutely not going to go for. So you can forget about that. The other is that Labour is returned as a majority Government again, which is, after what happened last time, not going to happen for a very long time again. So basically, there is no way back for Chippy. He will not be Prime Minister after 2026, if ever. Now a lot of people would say to me at this juncture - well of course not, National were always going to win the next election anyway, so this is just a completely spurious argument. But I would say to you is - Labour's chances are actually a little bit better than you might think, because what we have right now is hardly a wildly popular Government. These guys were elected, remember, telling us they were going to turn this economy around. 18 months later, they have not turned this economy around. 18 months later, we are still in the economic doldrums. We are yet to see a vision, economically, from the coalition Government, the right track, wrong track indicator that comes out in multiple polls now is heavily negative for this Government. Thousands of people are voting with their feet and leaving the country altogether. People vote with their hip pocket, right? Forget about everything else. If you just look at the economy, that is your greatest determiner of what happens at the election. People vote with their hip pocket - and right now, the hip pocket is suffering, it is not looking good for the economy. But also, there should be a target right now on Chippy's back in Labour, because Winnie's problem is not with Labour. Winnie's problem is with Chris Hipkins, which means a different leader and Winston Peters is back in the game as a possibility for Labour. Now that requires Labour to roll Chris Hipkins and then their chances are good again. However, that requires Labour actually realizing that they need Winston Peters to form a coalition Government after 2026 - and that requires them also realizing there is no way they can coalesce with the Māori Party because most voters are allergic to the shenanigans that that party get up to. But I don't think Labour is smart enough to realize that yet, do you? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is suggested Peter Dutton in Australia lost the election because of his nuclear issue and work from home policies. I personally think he lost because they ran a hopeless campaign. But it is more than possible that he floated a couple of ideas that the voter simply could not stomach. I am wondering if Chris Luxon is heading in a similar direction here with superannuation. Nuclear makes sense. Working from home hinders productivity. But the voter is always right and being a voter beats logic. Will the voter be right here on superannuation? Are there enough New Zealanders who have landed on the simple truth that 65-years-old, as a pension age, is no longer sensible, nor affordable? $28 billion is the bill each year, and growing. That seems worse now because we are broke. But even in good times it's a stunning amount of money. National will take it to the vote next year. They may be saved from themselves by NZ First, if they are still in the mix, because it will be a bottom line. But we reach the interesting point where logic and emotion collide. For many, superannuation is untouchable. It's a lifetime's worth of work. "i paid my taxes" they say, even though that line isn't actually real because we spent your taxes years ago and then borrowed a bit more to keep the lights on. 65-years-old is the new 50-years-old and, post-Covid, older workers have never been in more demand. The days of being out to pasture are increasingly gone. 65-years-old is not old. Imagine a day where you enter the workforce knowing you need to take care of yourself. Yes, if you strike trouble the pension is a welfare payment, not an entitlement. But we either have to change the narrative and mindset from entitlement to welfare, or we need to up the age. In upping the age over time, even giving years worth of notice, it's still a very big call. It underlines our desire for free stuff, or perceived free stuff. Once you set a precedent with money it is fantastically hard to undo. But Luxon, apparently, is keen to give it a crack. He calls it a no brainer. First clue - there aren't many who think it's a no brainer. Labour learnt the hard way over the capital gains tax. Luxon may be about to learn something similar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Deputy Prime Minister swap is on the cards this week. NZ First leader Winston Peters and ACT Party leader David Seymour are sharing the role as part of the Government's coalition agreement. Peters serves as the Deputy until Saturday this week. Seymour says he's already filled in the role before. "It doesn't actually change my job day-to-day, it means I'll spend a bit more time covering for Chris if he's out of Wellington or out of the country." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2025 Budget has been unveiled and it's been met with divided responses across Parliament. Cost-cutting measures have pulled back $4.8 billion per year - a large portion from the recent rushed overhaul of pay equity claims. Savings have also come from halving its KiwiSaver contribution, slashing family Best Start payments and restricting 18 and 19 year olds' access to welfare - moving the load to parents. Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls says ACT and NZ First have voiced support - but the Greens and Te Pati Māori aren't happy with it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hints the foreign buyer ban could be lifted, but not yet. OneRoof reports rumours have been swirling with some agents telling them politicians had told them a decision to reverse the 2018 Labour policy was imminent. Act leader David Seymour and New Zealand First MP Andy Foster were mentioned, but both deny any confirmed changes. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told Mike Hosking it will not be in tomorrow's budget, but it won't be too long before there's an announcement. When it comes to the man who interrupted a rail announcement, Peters doesn't care if he loses his job. He and Chris Bishop faced multiple hecklers at Wellington's train station yesterday while unveiling Government funding of rail. The end of the media stand-up was derailed by an employee from the environmental and engineering consultancy Tonkin and Taylor. The man was reportedly wearing a company lanyard at the time. Peters told Mike Hosking it's now an employment matter. He says the behaviour is disgraceful, and he won't put up with it inside or outside of Parliament. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OneRoof had a story over the weekend about an apartment in Auckland that is for sale for $17 million. It was for sale for $16 million, so they have put the price up despite the fact it has been for sale for several years. They are looking to the international market where $17 million is not a lot of money. The article also featured information about a Knight Frank Wealth report that ranked the priorities of those with money and real estate investment was right up there, as well as, for the super wealthy, the ability to have a super yacht park featured highly as well. The point being, in Auckland your $17 million penthouse can be a few hundred metres away from your super yacht. Yet, in this country foreigners can't do that because they aren't allowed to buy a house. What they are allowed to do is get a golden visa and the new rules have proved popular. There is good inquiry. For $5-10 million you invest in a business, you employ, you grow, you help us out and, yet, you still can't buy a house. The fact the apartment has been on the market for years clearly shows no locals want it, or can afford it. So the fear, as proffered by some, that foreigners take houses off New Zealanders at this level clearly isn't true. The Government, or parts of it, want to fix this anomaly and yet they can't, or don't, because NZ First refuses. Rumours a while back suggested a compromise had been reached. National had an election policy of $2 million as a protection on lower priced houses. The rumour was a figure of $5-6 million had been reached with NZ First but it never came to fruition. So in Budget week, when yet again the dire state of our finances is laid bare and a commentary around growth will be pushed hard, one of the answers of the wealthy having money to invest, has not been fully enacted because one part in this Government is xenophobic. This battle to regain our economic mojo is hard enough as it is without ankle-tapping ourselves by refusing to enact blatantly obvious ideas. If we can't pull every lever possible we have no one to blame but ourselves.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says his Government is calling out bureaucrats falling foul of the government's expectations. It comes off the back of Winston Peters expressing his criticism of Māori targeted hires, after a government job was advertised as a “tikanga lead” to promote Māori customs, principles and values in the Māori policing unit. Luxon discusses whether the reason NZ First is seeking changes to the regulatory standards bill is because they have problems internally. The Government is officially announcing its budget on Thursday, after a series of pre-budgets announcements have been made, including multi-million-dollar funding to the film industry and urgent care facilities across the country. Mike Hosking questions where the money's coming from. Prime Minster Christopher Luxon and Mike Hosking talk all this and more. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Act Party has joined NZ First’s war on “woke” banks with a member’s bill to repeal legislation that requires banks and other financial institutions to submit climate disclosures. Plus, how worried is he about falling livestock numbers - especially sheep - down 6.2 million (21%) to just 23.6 million from a decade ago?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Albo's massive win across the ditch on Saturday, I can see a lot of commentators are tempted to blame it on Trumpism - in the same way they blamed the Canadian election upset on Trumpism. But I'm not convinced they're right - at least not in the way they think they are. What these commentators are saying is that Trump has given Canadians and Australians the ick so badly that they voting against anything that looks like him: Dutton in Australia, Poilievre in Canada or just right-wing-ism in general. I don't think that's what happened here. Look at what's happening in New Zealand at the moment - the two parties in our parliamentary system that would probably share the greatest number of policy positions with Donald Trump are NZ First and ACT - and both are polling much higher than they historically have. But also, those commentators seem to be conveniently forgetting what just happened in the UK on Friday night - which is that the Reform Party absolutely swept the local elections in a shock result. Reform, led by Nigel Farage, is probably the closest thing to Trump in the English-speaking world. So as much as the left would like to believe what happened in Australia and Canada is a Trump ick factor that they can pin on the rest of the right - I don't think it is. I think what's happened is the same thing that happened with Covid: safe voting. I think Trump and his tariff talk - and the possibility of a massive global slowdown - has freaked out voters in a similar way to how Covid freaked out people. And when people freak out, it favours the incumbent, because it's better the devil you know to protect you. That's why the Canadians returned their incumbent Government and that's why the Australians returned their incumbent Government. The same doesn't apply to the UK, because that was a local body election which is about rubbish and roads - not central Government which is about tariffs and healthcare. So I suspect we shouldn't over egg how much voters hate Trump as much as understand how much he might be frightening them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland iwi leader is accusing New Zealand First and ACT of mischief-making over the future management of Auckland's Waitākere Ranges. Political reporter Lillian Hanly has more.

The Deputy Leader of New Zealand First says his party will step in to stop management of the Waitakere Ranges morphing into co-governance. Auckland Council's proposing a board made up of Iwi, the Department of Conservation, and the council. Act Leader David Seymour has also criticised the plan as moving towards co-governance. Shane Jones told Mike Hosking they're not going to stand for it. He says they won't tolerate any slither of the West Auckland heritage land being under that type of arrangement. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First and ACT are opposing an Auckland Council plan for the Waitākere Ranges. The council wants to set up a committee including iwi, the Crown and Auckland Council. NZ First MP Shane Jones says it could easily morph into co-governance and ACT leader David Seymour claims it could let unelected decision-makers close tracks and dictate land use. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says the ball's in National's court on this matter. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his role as regulation Minister, David Seymour is moving to simplify regulations for Early Childhood Education Centres by the end of this year.  This involves a review containing 15 recommendations, which cabinet has accepted. These recommendations concern a vast number of things, from simplifying licensing criteria for pre-schools to lowering qualification requirements for early childhood educators.  Both of these areas have sparked concern within the sector, with some educators concerned the review is simply a cost cutting exercise that will result in tamariki being put at risk.  For our weekly catch up Producer Evie spoke to ACT's Simon Court about the review.  They also spoke about New Zealand First's Members Bill aiming to have the biological definition of a woman and man defined in law.  And finally they discussed a clash between the party and National's Scott Simpson over an ACC plan to reduce injury for Māori and Pasifika workers. 

This week on the Monday Wire: For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie speaks to MP Simon Court about the government's proposed changes to Early Childhood Education (or ECE) regulations, NZ First's proposed gender bill and ACC's ethnic outcomes target. Evie speaks to early childhood representative on the NZ Educational Institute National (NZEI) Executive Zane McCarthy about the proposed changes to ECE, and why they spark cause for concern. News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel speaks to Queer Endurance / Defiance member, Leliel Trethowen, about Winston Peter's proposed gender bill. Joel speaks to a board member of EPCAT Child Alert; an organisation aimed at ending child sexual exploitation Rebecca Kingi, about National MP, Greg Flemming, calling for cross-party support for anti-trafficking legislation. And Global Innovator, Matt Hart, joins us in studio to discuss changes in the way AI is being used. Whakarongo mai.

A cross-party delegation of MPs recently visited Tonga, Hawai'i and Vanuatu as part of a Pacific trip organised by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters. Earlier this week, New Zealand First proposed new legislation that would exclude trans communities from the definition of “woman” and “man” in law. Winston Peters defended the bill on RNZ's Morning Report, where he called interviewer Corin Dann a “disgrace” for raising the criticism against the bill that was brought forward by opposition parties. During this interview, Peters threatened to cut RNZ's government funding. For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.

New Zealand First has introduced a member's bill that would do away with what it calls the "woke ideology" around the subject of womanhood. Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

New Zealand First has proposed new legislation to define the term "woman" in law as "an adult human biological female". New Zealand First leader Winston Peters spoke to Corin Dann.

Differing opinions on New Zealand First's Members' bill regarding the definition of 'woman'. MP Jenny Marcroft is proposing legally defining a woman as being an adult human biological female. Rainbow Auckland co-chair Sibyl Mandow says it's a political move to be divisive, stir up hate, and generate a narrative to distract from more pressing issues. Mandow says the bill is trying to denounce the existence of trans people – who have no agenda and just want to exist. But Speak Up for Women spokesperson Suzanne Levy told Mike Hosking polling on this issue indicates people don't want trans people to be treated poorly. But she says at the same time, people don't think sex can be changed. Levy says laws need to be definable, as sex has never had any other meaning than biological sex. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Wednesday 23rd of April, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with Sir Keir Starmer, signing a new weapons deal. NZ First are occupying themselves with gender issues, trying to follow the UK Supreme Courts decision - we talk to Suzanne Levy from Speak up for Women about the bill. Mark Mitchell and Ginny Anderson discuss conscience votes and request a special shoutout on Politics Wednesday. Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Politics Wednesday, Mark Mitchell and Ginny Andersen joined Mike Hosking to delve into some of the biggest topics of the short week so far. They discussed New Zealand First's new Member's Bill calling to legally define gender, conscience votes, and Kieran McAnulty's Easter bill. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 22 April 2025, following the death of Pope Francis, Sir David Moxon, tells Heather what the late Pope was like. NZ First leader Winston Peters explains why we need a legal definition of what makes a woman (and a man). Ukraine's ambassador to NZ reacts to news that NZ has committed to training Ukrainian troops until the end of 2026 - but what could end the war before then? A neuroscientist explains what you should do if your phone notifications give you anxiety. Plus, on the Huddle, two Catholics on the Pope's death, why Josie reckons she's a cafe catholic and why Tim wants to baptise Heather's kids. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First wants the definition of a woman and a man etched into the law. Britain's Supreme Court has ruled the legal definition should relate to biological sex - excluding transgender women. Leader Winston Peters says the Bill would define a woman as an adult human biological female, and a man as an adult human biological male. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says it's unclear if a Bill of this nature will come to pass. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters says the term 'woman' needs protection - by a bill legally defining it as an adult human biological female. MP Jenny Marcroft's proposed Members bill would legislate gender to biological sex, essentially meaning transgender people could not legally align with their identities. The New Zealand First leader says having to write the law this way is unusual, but it has become 'critical'. "And the fact of the matter is - that this is a case where women, who are deserving protection and support in many other occasions, are simply not getting it in our law." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the halfway mark, can we suggest things are starting to turn for the Government? This week we have seen the Prime Minister at Ruakura with a multi-billion dollar investment that sells the Māori economy and showcases large amounts of foreign money, as well as the potential for huge productivity gains and economic growth. On Monday there was more money for tourism. Tourism is coming back, it's too slow, but the tourist spend is up to post-Covid levels. On Tuesday, Education Minister Erica Stanford was pumping more money into classrooms with savings made from the bespoke design nonsense and waste that the Labour Party trainwreck was in charge of. Then the Prime Minister is back with the police and Justice Ministers, spruiking very good-looking numbers around victims of crime. This comes on the back of three polls all of which show the Government being returned to office if an election was held today. Slowly but surely specific bits are starting to fall into place. Things like the fact we had good GDP in the last growth stats. Clearly from Tuesday's numbers, crime, which was as big an issue last election, is looking very much in a box. The gang patch laws are working with even the critics saying they're working. Surveys say people feel safer on the streets and the victim numbers look very good indeed. Health remains an issue and there seems a determination among the unions especially to keep it on the front page. But the key bits that sink or support Governments —the economy, education, crime and justice— look solid. If they can get health under control they will be rolling. Obviously, the economic side is fragile and open to a lot of stuff that is beyond our control, so counting chickens is pointless. On that note, you then come to this idea that's gaining traction that the Trump fiasco could well be the making of our Prime Minister. A bloke who has struggled to connect might well have settled nicely into his wheelhouse with an economic mess that could see the best of him shine when it's needed most. If the polls play okay for them they way they do now, with glimmers of light, by the time we get to the end of the year momentum might well be theirs and an election may well be theirs to lose. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Nothing is going to stop us now." That's how New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters wrapped up his State of the Nation speech in Christchurch on Sunday, despite facing seven interruptions from hecklers. Peters spoke to Corin Dann.