With Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds, defence expert Sam Roggeveen, and ACT list MP Simon Court.

Next Sunday is Q+A's last episode of the year.

A visiting defence and foreign policy expert is urging New Zealand to rethink how we prioritise defence spending, arguing we should draw inspiration from the Australian echidna – a small but spiky animal.

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Sam Roggeveen, a programme director at the Lowy Institute in Australia, came to New Zealand as a guest of Victoria University’s Centre for Strategic Studies.

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He says the future of defence of Australia and New Zealand relies on making use of the vast distances any attacker would have to cover, and to purchase equipment designed to sink ships and shoot down aircraft.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

In her speech to Labour Party faithful this week, finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds doubled-down on her pledge to balance the books. But Edmonds has set herself stricter rules to achieve it, meaning Labour has to go further than the current Government is promising when it comes to revenue and/or spending cuts.

Q+A's Jack Tame sat down with Edmonds to ask what choices she'd make.

With Regulation Minister David Seymour, Halter CEO Craig Piggott, and National MP for Port Waikato Andrew Bayly.

Over subsequent Parliaments, ACT has tried to pass a version of the Regulatory Standards Bill — with limited success, until now. Deputy Prime Minister and Regulation Minister David Seymour explains how he thinks the bill will work. Q+A questions him about his selection of principles, whether the Government follows its own ideas of good regulation, and some legal uncertainties created by the bill.

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As Associate Education Minister, Seymour is leading work on setting up charter schools. But the demand for state schools to undergo conversion to charter has been lower than expected. Jack Tame asks Seymour why.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

FULL INTERVIEW: Since founding Halter as a 22-year-old in 2016, Kiwi CEO Craig Piggott has built the company into the darling of the New Zealand agriculture tech sector.

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The company's latest funding round valued Halter at more than NZ$1.5 billion. They're expanding their virtual fencing technology rapidly into new markets.

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Does New Zealand have the support systems in place to foster more successful startups? Q+A sits down with Piggott in Halter's Auckland office.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

With Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber, new Opportunities leader Qiulae Wong, and NZ First MP Andy Foster.

The political outfit formerly known as The Opportunities Party is continuing to chase the 5% MMP threshold to enter Parliament.

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It's been almost a decade now since the party burst into the political scene, in its early days bankrolled by rich-lister and philanthropist Gareth Morgan who positioned it as a vehicle for "evidence-based" policy that's neither firmly right nor left.

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Q+A meets Opportunity's new leader Qiulae Wong, who has a background in sustainable business. Wong says the party has, in the past, been rightly criticised for being overly focused on policy at the expense of connecting with people.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

FULL INTERVIEW: Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber is calling for reconciliation after Te Pāti Māori's national council expelled MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris.

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Barber, who is trying to broker a peace deal between the factions of the party for the Iwi Chairs Forum, says the unrest has been "pretty damaging" for Māori as a whole. As iwi grapple with the consequences of Government policy, he says Te Pāti Māori needs to focus on the bigger picture rather than fight among themselves.

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Barber says the party "haven't taken heed" of the Iwi Chairs Forum's calls for reconciliation. Q+A asks him what that reveals about how Te Pāti Māori views iwi leaders, and whether John Tamihere can remain president of a united Māori party.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says trust needs to be regained after the Independent Police Conduct Authority found there were "significant failings" in the way police responded to complaints about former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

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Q+A asked him why allegations weren't raised in his office earlier and whether there were wider structural issues at play.

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Mitchell spoke of a “corrupt Police executive" in the interview, then later walked back on his comments.

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He said in a statement: “Regarding my comments on corruption, I acknowledge that the IPCA report did not use the words corrupt or corruption and on reflection I misspoke. Like most New Zealanders, I am personally disgusted by the behaviour highlighted in the IPCA report.”

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The IPCA report did find that in handling complaints McSkimming, Police bypassed standard processes. Although they didn’t find evidence of collusion, they did find senior officers — including the former Commissioner — attempted to rush investigations to help McSkimming’s application for commissioner and failed to recognise the inappropriateness of their actions.

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Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.