Duncan Garner - Editor In Chief

Four weeks out from the election, Wellington is telling schools how to manage uniform costs. Is this really how we tackle a massive cost of living crisis, or is it just a cheap distraction? We dig into why central government needs to butt out of local decisions and start answering the big questions about who will actually run the country and how families are going to get ahead.

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The election is so close we could be looking at a completely hung parliament, leaving the major parties scrambling for votes. Kylee Wong joins us to lay down a challenge on how kingmaker negotiations should work, while National and ACT push tough welfare calls to rally their bases. We dig into whether these policies show true strategy or sheer desperation, and ask if MPs should face the same drug tests.

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Would Qiulae Wong put National or Labour into power? And what would she demand in return?

The Opportunity Party leader joins Duncan Garner to explain her five bottom lines, why tax reform isn’t a condition of a deal, and where she stands on Winston Peters. Duncan presses her on the cost of living, supermarket competition, power bills and how much a minor party could actually deliver.

Then Ani O’Brien and former National minister Maurice Williamson give their verdict on Wong’s answers and debate strategic voting, a possible hung Parliament and whether National has left its toughest decisions too late.

Could the smallest shift in votes decide who gets the keys to the Beehive?

With thanks to LifeDirect.

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A snarky debate, rehearsed answers and plenty of missed opportunities. Did either leader give New Zealanders a reason to feel confident?

Duncan Garner, Ani O’Brien and former National minister Maurice Williamson give their verdict on the TVNZ leaders’ debate between Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins.

Where did Luxon let Hipkins off the hook? Was Hipkins better at debating than answering the hard questions? And why wasn’t there more scrutiny of the coalition partners who could shape the next government?

From the cost of living and tax promises to health, education and law and order, the panel picks apart the exchanges that mattered.

Join Duncan LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 7pm for more Election 2026 coverage.

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Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong joins Duncan Garner in the studio as TOP surges in the polls and positions itself to potentially hold the balance of power this election. With the party sitting around the key 5% threshold, Qiulae breaks down TOP's five non-negotiable bottom lines, including cracking down on supermarket competition, regulating lobbying, reforming health, and recommitting to climate targets.

Maurice Williamson and Ani O'Brien join Duncan on the panel to dissect whether Christopher Luxon can keep ruling TOP out, how vote splitting affects National and minor parties under MMP, and what a tight election result could mean for New Zealand's political landscape.

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The government has officially stripped non-elected members of voting rights on Auckland Council committees, including the Auckland Māori Statutory Board. It brings us back to a basic democratic principle: if you want the power to vote, you should have to stand for election and face the voters. But while the core principle makes sense, the process behind it has been messy and rushed. We break it down with Maurice Williamson and Ashley Church.

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Our latest rolling poll of polls averages out the numbers and hands this election to the left. National is narrowly ahead in the party vote, but MMP arithmetic means Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori, and TOP could have enough seats to form a government. Last night's debate showed just how tight this contest really is, even if most voters have already made up their minds.

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Nicola Willis has used nuclear political language, calling Chris Hipkins a liar over Labour's alternative budget. She claims there is a $10 billion-plus hole in their pay equity promises. We break down the biggest takeaways from our interview, including her warnings about Winston Peters, supermarket competition reforms, and why Chris Hipkins refused to front up on the show.

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The 2026 election battle is officially underway, and cost of living is front and centre. We sit down with Finance Minister Nicola Willis to unpack Labour’s fiscal plan, soaring petrol prices, and whether supermarket structural changes can actually lower your grocery bill. Plus, we look at the brutal MMP mathematics that could leave senior ministers without a seat in Parliament.

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