The Panel

National standards are set to be abolished by the new government, which wants to focus on learning rather than assessment for school children. The Panellists debate whether this will leave parents in the dark about their child's academic performance.

The panellists discuss whether property owners with empty houses in Auckland should be encouraged by the government to rent them to critical workers like nurses and teachers.

Stephen Selwood, Chief executive of Infrastructure New Zealand, tells the panel about the logistics of facilitating affordable housing in Auckland. The government and new housing minister are demanding a higher number of affordable homes, and an idea has been floated suggesting a large-scale development at Paerata.

The government won't be announcing whether they can pay for all its proposed policies until a mini-budget before Christmas. The prime minister's confident the coalition agreements will be within the budget, but should it be releasing the details now? A stamp duty for foreign buyers has also effectively been ruled out, we speak to Liam Hehir, lawyer and political commentator, about this approach.

The plague has flared up across Madagascar with fears it could spread further via flights out of the country. Some are suggesting the practice of "dancing with the dead" is fueling the prevalence of the black death. What the Panellists Stephen Franks and Ellen Read want to talk about. The United States has just decalred an opioid crisis, cracking down on its painkiller-addition that killing hundreds of American a day. Here we have similar advertising laws, the most relaxed in the world and we're seeing similar addiction problems to prescription drugs. DAPAANZ executive director Sue Paton tells the panel her worries about New Zealand's prescription addiction problem. There are calls for Auckland council to slash its number of communication staff, after a leaked document revealed its spending $45 million dollars on its spin doctors. Mayor Phil Goff was elected on the promise he'd make big cuts to spending. The Panllists weigh in on the spending. Do airlines really take notice of your luggage? It seems overweight carry-ons are becoming more common, despite the dire warnings over the speaker at airport. The panellists discuss whether on-board baggage restrictions should be more strictly enforced.

The government won't be announcing whether they can pay for all its proposed policies until a mini-budget before Christmas. The prime minister's confident the coalition agreements will be within the budget, but should it be releasing the details now? A stamp duty for foreign buyers has also effectively been ruled out, we speak to Liam Hehir, lawyer and political commentator, about this approach. Stephen Selwood, Chief executive of Infrastructure New Zealand, tells the panel about the logistics of facilitating affordable housing in Auckland. The government and new housing minister are demanding a higher number of affordable homes, and an idea has been floated suggesting a large-scale development at Paerata. The panellists discuss whether property owners with empty houses in Auckland should be encouraged by the government to rent them to critical workers like nurses and teachers. They've been dumped, at least temporarily, from their government roles, and now decisions Australian politicians Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash made over the last year could be challenged. We get analysis from our panellist, lawyer Stephen Franks, over the continuing citizenship scandal.

Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel as well as our Story of the Day - today we look at calls in France to make language more gender-neutral.

We find the answers to any queries you can think up. Today we answered William's question about speeding, Robert's query about pants and Perry's about emergency calls.

What Duane and Niki want to talk about.

The Panel discusses the impossibility of passing when overtaking other cars and an interesting possible solution to it.