Tova

ICYMI: Going nuclear - ‘We are entering an era of a new global arms race’

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 21:25:00 -0000

A year ago this week, Tova talked to James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.

Amid wars in Europe and the Middle East, she wanted to assess the chances of a nuclear war breaking out and how it could start, play out and affect New Zealand.

Safe to say the world's not got any calmer. So, in case you missed it first time round, here's Tova's arguably more-relevant-than-ever interview with James Acton.

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Introducing: TFN - The F#$%ing News with Paddy Gower

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 23:21:03 -0000

The F#$%ing News flips the script on the news - short, upbeat, inspirational and f%$#ing good fun journalism with the nation’s favourite everyman reporter, Paddy Gower.

TFN sees Paddy talking to Kiwis who are the good, the great and the brains of our nation.

This podcast is hosted by Paddy Gower and Executive Produced by Jon Bridges. It's made in partnership between Stuff and Believer Media.

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Politicising the Police: an interview with “wokester” Police Commissioner Andrew Coster

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 04:08:00 -0000

National once called him the “wokester” commissioner, now they’ve secured him a plum new job heading up the government’s new social investment agency. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is leaving the job of top cop early and joins us to discuss gangs, guns, police pay and being called names by politicians. Plus, it’s the hot topic of the week thanks to a Nicola Willis directive. To work from home or not, that is the question. A chief executive and a prominent researcher debate the pros and cons.

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Goldsmith on gangs

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 04:06:00 -0000

As the Government ramps up its war on crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith joins us to talk anti-gang laws and why the Attorney-General made no “specific statements” on whether late changes to them further breach human rights. Also on the agenda, the possible unintended consequences of tougher sentences, boot camps and keeping coalition promises to New Zealand First. Plus, we continue our coverage of the state of the health service, with the exclusive results from a new survey of junior doctors about staff shortages, the hiring freeze and their impact on the frontline.

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Democratic or dangerous: What you need to know about developments with the Treaty Principles Bill

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 04:00:00 -0000

ACT’s push for a Treaty Principles Bill was a lightning rod throughout last year’s election campaign and has never been far from the headlines since. This week has seen significant developments - the principles released with changed wording, the select committee ‘debate’ period set for six months and official advice criticising the plan revealed. But ACT leader David Seymour is unmoved. On this week’s pod he tells us why - and why he maintains the Prime Minister could still support the bill. Then, Te Pāti Māori Treaty spokesperson Tākuta Ferris explains the depth of opposition from te iwi Māori, and forecasts an escalation in protests.

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Talking tax - and the rest - with Labour leader Chris Hipkins

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Chris Hipkins was our very first guest one year ago. He was Prime Minister then - a lot’s changed. After leading Labour to electoral defeat, he and the party have regrouped and started formulating the platform they hope will return them to the Beehive. On his birthday (as well as ours), Hipkins joined us for a candid interview. We talked policy, policy bonfires, health, our ageing population, the economy, Winston Peters and tax, tax, tax. Plus, from Tūrangawaewae Marae, Julian Wilcox on the new Māori Queen, Kuini Ngā Wai hono i te po, and what she means for the kotahitanga movement her father, Kīngi Tuheitia, inspired.

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SOS - Save Our Stores: Behemoths of fashion, retail and hospo join forces to solve the sectors in crisis

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Retail spending is lower than during the GFC. Retailers are going to the wall more than any other business and Retail NZ’s latest survey shows 43% of businesses are unsure they’ll survive another year.

In hospo, a swathe of high-profile restaurants have shuttered and last year - for the first time in two decades - the number of cafes and restaurants was lower than the year before.

We assembled some of the sectors’ most brilliant brains to work out what went wrong, how we fix it and the prognosis for the future.

They are fashion icon Kate Sylvester, hospitality legend Luke Dallow and designer Jessie Wong - a member of the Wellington Mayor’s new business advisory group.

On the agenda: skyrocketing rents, transport woes, how the Government can help, the power of big events and whether New Zealand should become a tipping economy.

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Champion or showman: An extended interview with Shane Jones

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 04:00:00 -0000

New Zealand First's de facto deputy is a self-proclaimed champion of the regions and unashamedly pro-mining, fishing and forestry. His hobbies include waging war on supermarkets, banks and - this week in particular - energy companies. We wanted to speak to him after the fiery showdown at Tūrangawaewae Marae, where the Government was accused of throwing Māori under the bus and running them over. Also on the agenda: the foreshore and seabed, the equally contentious fast-track consenting bill, why he called a High Court judge a "communist", and the future of his party and its leader, Winston Peters.

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Sir Ashley Bloomfield on the health of our health service

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 04:00:00 -0000

In an exclusive interview, perhaps the most famous health figure in Aotearoa takes aim at talk of a failing system and bloated bureaucracy - but doesn’t dispute that both staff and patients are at risk. He talks hospitals without doctors, how the reforms have been handled, funding, patient equity - and has strong words about the tobacco industry and its newly-gained tax breaks.

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Can he fix it? How new health kingpin plans to resuscitate a system in crisis

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 04:00:00 -0000

After losing confidence in the leadership and financial acumen of Health New Zealand-Te Whatu Ora, the Government has parachuted in an all-powerful specialist to fix the broken service. Health Commissioner Lester Levy has his work cut out - long waiting lists, budget woes, staff shortages, protests, doctorless hospitals, ramping ambulances, police pulling out of some mental health call outs ... Can he fix it? “I will do whatever I have to that's ethical and legal to get patients what they need and deserve,” he promises in an extended interview.

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‘These questions are revolting’ - an interview with Children’s Minister Karen Chhour

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 04:00:00 -0000

The welfare of children, particularly the at-risk and vulnerable, is rarely far from the headlines. The Royal Commission report on abuse in care, the opening of the Government’s pilot youth justice facility (AKA military-style academy) ((AKA bootcamp)), cuts to Oranga Tamariki community providers … we had a lot to ask the Children’s Minister. We ran out of time and the interview ended rather abruptly, but there’s plenty to chew on, whatever your politics.

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Money, morale and mobsters: An extended interview with Police Minister Mark Mitchell

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 04:00:00 -0000

As the fallout from an acrimonious pay dispute continues, frontline cops told the Tova pod this week that the Government had “destroyed morale”. The minister responsible fronts to talk about rebuilding the relationship, how the gang unit is shaping up, delivering 500 extra cops and who’ll attend mental health callouts if not the police. Plus, in the week the Royal Commission released its mammoth report on abuse in care, a survivor tells us that sorry - on its own - won’t be enough. WARNING: For 24/7 support and advice around mental health, call or text 1737.

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Bonus opinion: 'This is the worst of us'

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 00:02:00 -0000

Tova offers her thoughts on the outcome of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in care.

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Despatch from D.C. - a game-changing fortnight in US politics

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 04:00:00 -0000

Wow. They say a week is a long time in politics. In the United States, the last two have seen the political landscape change perhaps forever. Bullets, conventions and nominations on the Republican side; presidential gaffes, Covid and calls for a new leader in the Democrat corner. Rolling Stone magazine political reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez joins the pod from Washington D.C. to dissect an incredible fortnight.

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Red, White and Bruised. The diabolical debate.

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 04:00:00 -0000

The first US presidential debate of 2024 was at once historic, agonising, painful and deeply troubling. Have your toes unfurled? Your stomach un-knotted? Your wince de-winced? Joe Biden and Donald Trump putting the fear of god into the free world in what was a truly tough watch with, unfortunately, such incredibly high stakes. To discuss what on earth happened, the fallout and what it all says about the US political system, our special guest on the Tova podcast is Brian Tyler Cohen, avowed liberal, political commentator and host of one of the top political podcasts in the United States, No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen.

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An extended interview with Chloe Swarbrick

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 04:00:00 -0000

2024 has been tough for the Greens. Multiple MPs - Golriz Ghahraman, Darleen Tana, Julie Anne Genter - have been making headlines for the wrong reasons and there have been heartbreaking challenges, including the death of Fa'anānā Efeso Collins and Marama Davidson’s breast cancer diagnosis. On her birthdfay, co-leader Chloe Swarbrick makes time for an extended interview. She talks handling the pressure, where she wants to take the party - and the latest on those major controversies.

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Going nuclear: Weapons, war and whether to debate our nuke-free stance

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 04:00:00 -0000

The battle lines are being (re)drawn in the world of geopolitics: wars in Europe and the Middle East, tension over Taiwan, Putin visiting North Korea. So, more than three decades after the Cold War ended, what are the chances of a nuclear war? How could it start, play out - and how would New Zealand be affected? And, with Aussie politicians procuring nuclear-powered subs and proposing nuclear power stations, are we ready for a conversation about our identity-defining nuclear-free stance?

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Scams, fraud and deception: Are we tough enough on white collar crime?

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 05:02:00 -0000

No one knows exactly how much fraud costs New Zealand each year, but it runs into the billions. Yet significantly fewer people are being convicted than two decades ago. Why? And is the system - an alphabet soup of agencies with a range of responsibilities - fit for purpose? In a specially extended investigation, victims share stories of devastating loss, a leading investigator explains why he thinks too few people are getting justice, and the Minister charged with scam-busting acknowledges the need for better coordination - and promises a plan.

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Big Budget Special

Thu, 30 May 2024 07:00:00 -0000

Happy Budget Day! The Tova pod takes you behind the scenes at Parliament as Nicola Willis unveils the Government's first bash at the books. We bring you expert reaction from inside the lock-up, the zingers and stingers from the debate, reaction from our panel of everyday Kiwis and, in an interview with Stuff, the Finance Minister explains how she got one crucial number so wrong.

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Bills, bills, bills and the Budget

Thu, 23 May 2024 05:01:00 -0000

With the cost of living crisis hitting hard, we assemble a panel of Kiwis doing it tough or feeling the pinch in what politicians love to call the squeezed middle. We ask how they're coping and what they're hoping for in next week's Budget. And, with rising food prices the great unifier, we check out the work of the Grocery Commissioner - the man charged with easing the challenge at the checkout.

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TikTok: The antisocial network?

Thu, 16 May 2024 04:01:22 -0000

What started as the home of song and dance videos is beset by claims of spying by the Chinese government and fears about the mental health of young users. A cybersecurity authority whose company cracked the TikTok code reveals how much data it collects and what it does with it. And, if you’ve noticed kids behaving differently after too much screen time, public health expert Dr Samantha Marsh explains why in a sobering but must-hear interview. Plus the PM on whether he restricted his kids’ access to social media, where he stands on the proposed US TikTok ban and how he’s TikToking so furiously around the Beehive if the app’s gone from all parliamentary devices.

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Not Three Waters

Thu, 09 May 2024 04:49:25 -0000

This week a deep dive into water. We all need it - clean drinking water, working sewerage systems and somewhere for stormwater to go. But with buggered pipes and faeces at the beach, we’ve been getting it woefully wrong for far too long. In the wake of Three Waters, will we really pay less for better services? We tap the man leading the Government’s water reforms, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, and the man who drove them under Labour, Local Government Spokesman Kieran McAnulty, for answers.

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The week politics completely blew its gasket

Fri, 03 May 2024 17:00:00 -0000

This is an audio version of Tova O'Brien's analysis piece titled The week politics completely blew its gasket, from stuff.co.nz

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The return of the alternative coalition

Thu, 02 May 2024 05:32:00 -0000

In the white heat of last year’s coalition negotiations, when none of the party leaders would talk about their top-secret meetings, we convened an alternative. We brought together a senior figure connected with each of the three parties poised for power. You loved the show, and they were prescient in their predictions, so, six months into the Government’s term, and with its first Budget looming, we’re bringing it back, albeit with a reshuffle in personnel. Chris Finlayson (National), Heather Roy (ACT) and Tau Henare (NZ First, and National) analyse the PM’s performance, policy priorities and party dynamics - including some surprising takes on whether the coalition can survive. Then Andrew Little (Labour) offers the view from the left.

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‘Children will be worse off’: Oranga Tamariki and the Treaty

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0000

Section 7AA: A small part of a big law causing an enormous legal and political fracas. Former Children’s Minister Tracey Martin oversaw the introduction of the Oranga Tamariki Act. She explains why it remains enlightened legislation and why children will suffer if the Government completes its plan to repeal it. She also talks job cuts at the child protection agency, having her work undermined by her old boss Winston Peters and the prospect of a political comeback.

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Mortgage misery: How we got here and where we’re going

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 23:00:00 -0000

After our bumper mortgage episode 'Home discomforts: living on the edge', all about the people affected by interest rates hikes and the cost of living, we wanted to explore the issue even further. We drill into the state of the property market with a property economist and find out what the change of government could mean for first-time buyers and investors. We also sit down with former Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard to better understand the thinking that drives the decisions which determine our interest rates.

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Home discomforts: life on the edge

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Interest rates and mortgage misery - the number of people falling behind on their payments has hit a four-year high. With the Government promising to help the so-called squeezed middle in its looming first Budget, we explore the issue from every angle: the property owners forced into life-changing decisions; a money adviser; the Finance Minister in charge of that Budget; and an extended interview with the chief executive of one of our big five banks.

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Claims that Winston Peters hadn’t been given media cabinet paper “bullshit” - source

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0000

This is an audio version of Tova O'Brien's analysis piece titled Claims that Winston Peters hadn’t been given media cabinet paper “bullshit” - source, from stuff.co.nz

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Tova and Christopher Luxon

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 00:54:47 -0000

Off the back of our exclusive interview with former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, which featured on the podcast this week, we caught up with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to get his view on whether New Zealand should review our nuclear-free policy to ensure it’s fit for purpose after Morrison suggested it’s worth a look. Tova also grilled the Prime Minister on the mystery surrounding Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee’s media support cabinet paper.

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An exclusive interview with ScoMo

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 04:00:00 -0000

In Wellington for meetings of a powerful global group of centre-right politicians, former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks New Zealand’s possible admission to the elite Aukus alliance, our nuclear-free policy, China versus the US, Donald Trump, his relationships with Christopher Luxon and Dame Jacinda Ardern - and just how angry the 501 deportations made her.

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The great wealth debate - Limitarianism v Libertarianism

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 02:00:00 -0000

How much money is too much? We talk to the political philosopher who says Limitarianism - essentially a cap on the rich - is the way to a better world. Internationally, critics have dismissed the idea as “claptrap” and avowed Libertarian David Seymour agrees. He offers the counterview in this fascinating debate. Plus, the incredible numbers that demonstrate how little police pay has kept pace with inflation.

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Police, pay and protest

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:00:00 -0000

In this bonus shortcast, we break out our package on the latest in the police pay dispute. We hear from cops on the frontline, put their stories to the PM and reveal exclusive new details about how many Kiwi officers are desperate to skip the Ditch for more lucrative roles in the Aussie force.

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Tovawamba: Peters versus the punks

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 03:28:00 -0000

It’s the full story of Chumbawamba-gate, including an exclusive interview with a founding member of the band on the prospect of legal action against New Zealand First and their ongoing fight for control over which politicians can - and can’t - use their music. Plus - the police pay dispute and perception among officers that they’re being taken for granted by the Government. We put questions to the PM and get the feeling from the frontline.

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An interview with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 04:13:00 -0000

This week we received an eleventh-hour opportunity for a short interview with the Prime Minister. On the agenda during his visit to Central Districts Field Days: police pay, tax cuts, Ruby Tui and his political value judgements. Oh, and we heard his verdict on the conversation too.

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Seymour talks tax

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 16:00:00 -0000

This week we had a long conversation with ACT leader David Seymour about his ideological position on wealth and tax. That was for a specially themed episode of the podcast, coming very soon. We also took the chance to ask him some policy questions - about the tax rebate for landlords, whether the Government is on track to keep its tax cut promises and how they might incorporate ACT’s tax policy into that plan. Because that’s been in the headlines this week, we thought we’d share that section as a shortcast. This is it.

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America's 'orange wrecking-ball'

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 03:50:00 -0000

Super Tuesday supercharged Donald Trump's drive for another term in the White House. Anthony Scaramucci, the White House communications director Trump fired after just 11 days, joins us from New York to explain why he’s backing Biden in America’s “hour of peril”. And CNBC senior political correspondent Kevin Breuninger analyses the primary results. Plus, back home, Andrea Vance and Luke Malpass assess the Government's first 100 days.

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'Everyone deserves to live in dignity'

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 04:27:19 -0000

This week's podcast investigates our emergency housing crisis. As promised at the end of the show, here's Tova's full interview with the mother who gave us a frontline perspective.

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Blood, faeces, vomit and cockroaches - inside Aotearoa’s emergency housing crisis

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 03:22:00 -0000

Almost 6500 people live in emergency motels, nearly half of them children. One mother, who needs short-term help through no fault of her own, offers a frontline perspective after rejecting a filthy motel, and questions whether vulnerable people are expected to settle for whatever they’re given. We track down the motelier and get the inside running from the Government on their plans for emergency housing.

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Our precious: Movies, money and maintaining Sir Peter Jackson’s legacy

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 03:46:00 -0000

It’s 20 years since Kiwi cinema’s greatest night, when the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy won 11 Oscars. Two decades on, the film sector contributes more than $3.5 billion to the economy each year and directly employs almost 14,000 people. But is it still one industry to rule them all? On this week’s pod we talk to industry powerbrokers and learn the fate of the government’s screen rebate scheme.

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Purple reign: Should the blue and red parties combine for an unstoppable coalition?

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 03:00:00 -0000

There's criticism that the tails are wagging the big dog in the coalition Government. And, with $1.2 billion wasted on Three Waters, and an influx of other infrastructure issues in the Government in-box, is it time to consider a different way of doing things? Could a grand coalition between National and Labour pave the way for better planning and stop smaller parties wielding disproportionate power? We learn the lessons of history from an international expert and see if ex-ministers from the big two can find (more) common ground. Plus, the brilliant Andrea Vance literally goes to the end of the earth for a very special report.

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Wairua, waiata and wero: On the ground(s) for Waitangi 2024

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 06:01:41 -0000

With Māori leaders' distrust of the government at levels unseen since the Foreshore and Seabed legislation two decades ago, the leaders of the coalition faced a fierce examination at the annual commemorations of the signing of Te Tiriti O Waitangi. From the wonderful winterless north, Tova brings you the full story of one of the most significant Waitangi weekends for many years.

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Politics is back for 2024, and so is Tova!

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 01:00:00 -0000

The pod returns next week with a very special episode from Waitangi - and Māori distrust of the government higher than at any point since the foreshore and seabed legislation 20 years ago.

We'll be bringing you the latest from the commemorations of the signing of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, including interviews with key political players, expert analysis and, of course, celebrating Te ao Māori.

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Our ho-ho-hopes for Christmas

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 03:08:00 -0000

We're easing into the holiday period by asking some of our political heavyweights what they're giving Kiwis for Christmas. Plus, Tova recaps the tumultuous year that was, and Stuff political editor Luke Malpass predicts what to expect in 2024.

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Protests and principles: Te Tiriti under the new Government

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 03:00:00 -0000

The relationship between Māori and the Government is at its most strained since the Foreshore and Seabed dispute two decades ago. In a week marked by protests across the country and controversy on day one of the 54th Parliament, we talk to Waitangi National Trust chair and iwi leader Pita Tipene, and new Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith, about the Government's Māori policy agenda.

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Up in smoke: The end of NZ’s world-first smokefree laws

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:39:00 -0000

To smokefree or not smokefree? That is the question our guests grapple with on the pod this week, as the world reacts to the shock decision by our new Government to repeal legislation that would have phased out cigarette sales in New Zealand. We talk to a public health professor who offers an evidence-based debunking of the justifications offered by the new National-led Government - and the consultant involved in a report that rejected Labour's case for introducing the laws in the first place. Plus, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall lets rip, the new health minister's apparently shifting stance and the campaigning teen who wants our leaders to protect his community from nicotine.

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Done deal: The announcement in full

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 23:05:00 -0000

The speeches of Christopher Luxon, David Seymour and Winston Peters at the ceremony to confirm New Zealand's first coalition government featuring three partners in Cabinet.

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Why the deal took so long - the sticking points, explained

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 03:00:00 -0000

The wait for a coalition agreement goes on. But whatever the deal, the major sticking points cut to the heart of what makes our modern democracy. From tax and the Treaty to the relationship between the PM and their Deputy, even judicial independence, this is big picture stuff. So we invited some big brains to explain why it all matters - and point out some potential pitfalls for Christopher Luxon and co.

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Under the axe: What next for the public sector?

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 02:13:00 -0000

With all three coalition partners railing against bloated bureaucracy, more than 60,000 core public servants might well be wondering what the new government means for job security. In this episode, exclusive news of looming redundancies in one department, an interview with someone working at another large agency about what it’s like being a political football and invaluable insights from our former top public servant Iain Rennie.

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Working with Winston

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 03:00:00 -0000

When you want to predict the future, sometimes it pays to look to the past - especially when Winston Peters continues to be one of our most influential political figures, more than four decades after entering Parliament. So, we talked to Jim Bolger and Helen Clark - two Prime Ministers who worked with Winston in Government. We wanted a steer on what he’s like, how he negotiates - and what Christopher Luxon should be wary of.

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'No headless chook behaviour!' Helen Clark on the future of Labour

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 04:21:00 -0000

During a late-night call to Toronto, Tova gets the former three-time Prime Minister's take on Labour's 2023 drubbing - and whether Chris Hipkins is the right person to take on National at the next election.

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The alternative coalition talks

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 03:00:00 -0000

Who needs the oh-so-quiet leaders of the political parties vying to form a government? After some intense negotiations (completed in a day or two - just saying), we’ve summoned our very own official unofficial alternative coalition of National, ACT and NZ First former leadership to give you the inside running, the scoop, the tea - or at least the most informed outsider takes we could find - on the coalition talks. Powerhouse political panellists Simon Bridges, Heather Roy and Ron Mark join Tova to talk parliamentary relationships, egos, the baubles of office and whether National's tax plans can survive.

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Israel and Palestine: '3000 years in a nutshell'

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 02:55:00 -0000

Last week's pod focused on the situation in Israel and Palestine. We spoke to former CNN correspondent Arwa Damon and historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren.

This is a bonus, previously unreleased excerpt from our interview with Michael - a kind of potted history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, or what he called “about 3000 years in a nutshell”.

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The Endless War

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 03:00:00 -0000

In this episode, we're turning our focus to the war in Israel and Gaza. Tova is joined by former CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon who urges all of us (especially the media) not to oversimplify what is an extraordinarily complicated story.

Tova also speaks with Michael Oren, a renowned historian who is also a former Israeli Ambassador to the United States. He joins us from Tel Aviv, where he is living out of a bomb shelter.

A warning - this episode contains discussion about war, war crimes and other content that may disturb. Please take care while listening.

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Pre-recorded live from Poliwood - the inaugural triennial Poli Awards

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 05:02:00 -0000

At last, the moment some of you may have been waiting for, Aotearoa’s most potentially prestigious political ceremony: The first of at least one Poli Awards. Or, as they’re affectionately known in Poliwood, The Polis.

Join host Tova O'Brien and a cast of national treasures, including Sir John Key, Helen Clark, Paddy Gower and Tom Sainsbury, for a glittering extravaganza honouring those who made a lasting impact on 2023's battle of the ballot box.

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The podcast after the night before

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 02:07:00 -0000

With the dust settling on election night, National and ACT are still weighing up whether they need Winston Peters and New Zealand First to confirm an durable coalition. Tova talks to big hitters from the six key parties and hears fears over civil unrest amid the celebrations.

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Campaign '23: The highlights in soundbites

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 02:13:57 -0000

Still weighing up where to stick your ticks? Allow Tova's resident audio wizard Connor Scott to assist. He's compiled some highlights - and quite possibly lowlights - from the campaign trail. Happy voting!

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The kingmaker rides again

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 03:04:00 -0000

With Winston Peters timing his race down the home straight like a political thoroughbred, all bets appear off for those hoping for a decisive election result on the night. Labour campaign chair Megan Woods and her National counterpart Chris Bishop discuss their parties' efforts on the trail, and how Peters was able to get back in the saddle.

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JH Aotearoa and Greg Fleming

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 20:00:00 -0000

Tova talks to National Party candidate Greg Fleming about JH Aotearoa, the Christian camp/adventure experience he founded, and the views of its original founding organisation JH Ranch California. The US organisation's statement of faith now says homosexuality is a “sinful perversion”, listed alongside sex with animals or a relative.

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Left turn

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 03:00:00 -0000

Race-based allegations, more candidate Twitter woes and a "bonkers" coup conspiracy theory rebutted. After talking to National's possible coalition partners last week, it's the turn of the Greens and Te Pāti Māori. Respective co-leaders James Shaw and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer also explain why they're confident of getting a wealth tax past Chris Hipkins.

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Racist or out of context?

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 01:33:00 -0000

Comments by New Zealand First candidate Rob Ballantyne were described as racist by both Chrises in the Newshub leaders' debate. In his only interview since, Ballantyne told Tova the comments were taken out of context. Here's the full interview, and the speech they were from.

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Coalitions, chaos, culture wars and conspiratorial candidates

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 03:03:00 -0000

With polls predicting that Winston Peters will - once again - hold the whip hand after election day, ACT leader David Seymour and NZ First's Shane Jones are pushed on how the parties could possibly work together in government - given they can’t stand each other - and what they're doing about conspiratorial candidates.

Warning: A short section discusses mental health and suicide. For free help, text or call 1737, 24 hours.

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Maddie's legacy - fixing our mental health crisis

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 04:07:00 -0000

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Hall died in March this year after more than 100 visits to hospitals and A&Es. Her death is a suspected suicide. Her parents Gareth and Leanne share Maddie's story in the hope of changes to our broken mental health system.

Warning: Discusses mental health and suicide. For free help, text or call 1737, 24 hours.

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Quick and dirty quickfire #1

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 23:00:00 -0000

There are two serious contenders vying to be the next finance minister. Would they land you with a meat tax, a sugar tax, a capital gains tax, a tax-free income threshold? We hit Labour’s Grant Robertson and National’s Nicola Willis with a quick and dirty round of tax attack quickfire.

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The next finance minister

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0000

It’s the cost of living election, so who do you trust to make things better? Tova interviews the two candidates for the job, asking Grant Robertson to defend his legacy and Nicola Willis to explain her promises.

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An extended interview with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0000

Prime Minister/Labour leader Chris Hipkins is in the studio for an extended interview on key election issues, broken promises and a revelation about his party's internal polling.

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Introducing Tova

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 02:01:00 -0000

Introducing Stuff's whip-smart political podcast, hosted by Tova O'Brien and featuring Luke Malpass and Andrea Vance.

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