In the penultimate episode we catch up with our remaining Gallery members to find out if, a week out from the close of polls, have they decided who to vote for.

Hear from Scout, Dan, Kelli, Art and Sam as we find out if they've decided who to vote for, what guided their choices and their impressions of both the national and local election races.

This one is a little different - this time it's just me, going over a horror week of electioneering, full of racism, dog whistles, othering, hate and violence.

These are not the ideals we should be seeing in an election in Aotearoa. It is frankly disgusting, disappointing and depressing.

Mis and Dis Information have been a part of the political landscape in Aotearoa much more significantly over the past few years, and as an election comes around, it ramps up even more - and not just from traditional spreaders.

A non stop campaign trail, media stand ups, developing situations, public events, meetings, online tools and social media - it’s all so much - and it all means it’s easier to see dis and misinformation leak through to conversations around water coolers and dinner tables.

In this week's episode of Te Public Gallery, I talk to Journalism student and founder of This Quality, Sam about how to identify the truth from mis and dis information, the role journalists play in combating stand the risks to our democracy if it's not bought into check.

At the start of the year politicians were warned that this would be the most disrupted election ever. The risk was high because of rage farmed, disenfranchised voters being fed mis and disinformation, outside players like Posey Parker and Julian Batchelor whipping up dissent, race baiting from politicians in parliament and the need to grab headlines from fringe actors in the political scene.

But that raises questions about what is a good disruption and a bad one, how much disruption is there really, and how coordinated are the campaigns towards causing disruptions.

In this weeks episode I explore these questions with activist Scout and Holly Snape - Campaign Manager for the Hamilton East campaign for Labour's Georgie Dansey (she was the Hamilton East candidate who didn't side with Sovereign Citizens when they issued execution writs to Councillors, in case you need reminding).

Sometimes cited as a Bellwether seat, Hamilton East really isn't much of one. It's population has larger than the national average numbers of Maori, Pacifica and immigrant communities, it's average income is only $31800 a year, because it's mostly young population are predominantly studying and its boundry's were changed last election to remove an older, more conservative voter group in the northern suburbs (putting them in Hamilton West to match population redistribution)

And this year it will get a brand new MP. But will it be the married parent, small business owner who works in their community, or the married parent, small business owner who works in their community that gets the vote? On paper both Labour's Georgie Dansey and National's Ryan Hamilton share some similarities but one is also a conservative christian who not only voted against covid protections during the pandemic but also tried to side with sovereign citizens who issued death warrants to his fellow Councillors and the other is a supporter of living wage earnings for her staff, and a proud member of Labour's Maori and Rainbow candidate lists.

In this week's episode we look at the candidates, the surprising omission of policy and candidates from across the political spectrum and much more with Dan, our Hamilton East based small business owner.

It is the largest electorate in Aotearoa by a long shot - 4 times bigger than the next largest! This week we’re looking at Te Tai Tonga, an electorate that covers Poneke Wellington, all of Te Waipounamu - The South Island, as well as Stewart and Chatham Islands - all that area to be covered by just one MP - well quite frankly it’s impossible. 

Political slogans are part of the landscape of elections the world over, and Aotearoa is no different. A good slogan needs to sum up a movement or ideology without promising tangible outcomes. It needs to inspire without causing derision and it needs to make sense.

In this week’s Episode of The Public Gallery, I am joined by Sam and Art to discuss the slogans of this year’s election campaigns, how they do or don't achieve their goal and the weird irony of a few of them at the same time.

Dame Jacinda Ardern once described climate change as this generations Nuclear Free moment - an issue so big and daunting it would take real leadership to make any real difference. But do our politicians have the stomach for it? Do our political parties even have policies directed around climate change mitigation and adaptation and do our panel think it's enough?

35% of all households in Aotearoa are rented - which makes them a huge chunk of the voting population. This election Labour is standing by changes they made to rental laws when they took power, the Green Party want to bring in income protection to help people which would benefit renters and National is offering sweeping roll backs to the rules in place for renters and landlords. In this week’s episode, we look at what our Gallery members feel about these proposed changes, industry regulation for rental companies and what can be done to help look after a group that makes up more than a third of the population.

Each of the Electorates our Gallery are in are fascinating in their own right - but Hamilton West is the only one considered a Bellwether seat. It's range of cultures, incomes, education levels and ages make it something of a microcosmos of the country as a whole.

So this week we're focusing on the race to be Hamilton West's MP with Kelli. We'll look at the candidates, what local MPs do, how a good local MP can transcend party lines, how a candidate unable to connect with voters can be detrimental to outcomes and the cantankerous history of Hamilton West MPs from the past that may indiciate why none of them have ever been more senior in Parliament than Junior Whip.