With the first leaders' debate less than a week away, Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire ask if the National leader is staging an epic hustle. Does mounting pressure on National over purported numbers for a foreign buyer property tax offer hope that Chris Hipkins and Labour can reclaim some of the lost ground, or do a succession of polls that put them in the 20s mean they're in furniture-saving mode? Plus: how is the energy on the campaign trail, do the numbers of the Prefu change things, and why Winston Peters' claim that Māori are not indigenous to New Zealand amounts to much more than a quirky academic exercise.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices