The election date is locked in and the gun has officially been fired. November 7 is now circled, but as we head into campaign mode, the biggest issue facing New Zealand is still being quietly ignored.

Chris Hipkins delivers a State of the Nation with no new policy and plenty of familiar lines. Duncan argues the real problem isn’t revenue, tax or spending. It’s courage. National superannuation is now swallowing nearly 18 percent of government spending, yet no major party is willing to confront what comes next.

We also check in with Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford to see how rural New Zealand is really tracking. For the first time in a long while, farmers are doing well. Commodity prices are strong, debt is coming down and confidence is returning. So how would a change of government affect them, and does it even matter when most of their product is sold offshore?

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