Gone By Lunchtime

Luxon stares down rebel moan squad across 100 white-knuckle hours

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:00:00 -0000

On Friday morning a bombshell report revealed a group of unnamed National MPs questioning Christopher Luxon's leadership, with the chief whip, Stuart Smith, said to have been "ghosted" by the PM. One hundred hours later, Luxon called their bluff and put a motion of confidence in himself. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire step through that extraordinary period, taking on a string of questions. Including: Who are the moany five MPs and what do they actually want? How bad was the Sunday night poll for him and his party? How did the prime minister manage in response? What was Stuart Smith up to and where did he disappear to? Did Luxon show tactical nous by calling the vote? How about that broadside against the media? Do Labour want him in or out? Does this draw a line under the speculation? And if you aren't yet shattered by this endless procession of question marks, is it possible to have a political soap opera without the matinee idol and grandmaster of the great New Zealand political story, Winston Peters, stepping in and stealing the scene? Oh, and also: was it ever really a coup?

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The force majeure election

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 01:30:00 -0000

Donald Trump has gone within hours from genocidal threats against Iran to talking about a joint venture with Tehran tolling the Strait of Hormuz. A fragile ceasefire is very good news, but the havoc is set to continue to flow down into the New Zealand economy. Now with the perilous Cyclone Vaianu bearing down on New Zealand, perhaps the government should just declare it a force majeure election.

Toby, Annabelle and Ben gather to discuss the swirling crises, Winston Peters' encounter with Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington, and whether the government is getting its response right. Plus: is it "overthinking" to detect some retribution in Christopher Luxon's decision to strip the roles of leader of the house and campaign chair from Chris Bishop, how might Simeon Brown adjust the campaign rudder, and did the PM really just forget about Tama Potaka?

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Special ep with Anna Fifield on the US, Iran, and Winston in Washington

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 04:30:00 -0000

The NZ foreign minister was in DC to meet Marco Rubio just as Donald Trump raged about destroying Iran's civilisation. Mercifully, within hours the US president had announced a two-week ceasefire in the conflict. To help us get our heads around it all, Anna Fifield talks through the latest developments, assesses whether Winston Peters sent the right messages at the State Department, and shares her expertise on Iran, Lebanon and North Korea. Anna, who writes the members-only World Bulletin Weekly for the Spinoff and the Between Giants newsletter, has reported for the Financial Times and Washington Post from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America.

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Is NZ getting the fuel crisis right? Here's your timely, targeted and temporary analysis

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:33:00 -0000

Covidesque in crisis-mode, but anti-Covid in substance, the government response to the economic shockwaves released from the war on Iran is playing out in New Zealand this week. Have Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon got it right with a $50 weekly payment that will help many, but miss out many more? Has a small-target-fixated Labour Party missed an opportunity? Are we all Hormuzologists now?
Winston Peters, meanwhile, is pulling the crowds and playing the hits with a big speech in Tauranga that emphasised gentailer breakup and social conservatism, and unveiled, a little awkwardly, a new party candidate in former minister Alfred Ngaro. Has he nailed the in-power and in-opposition challenge, or is it just the populist-nationalist global winds blowing his way? And just what, by the way, is going on with the U-turn on commercial fishing size limits that everyone seems to be claiming credit for?
Plus: how the claims about Chris Hipkins, made on Facebook by his ex-wife, made its way to the tiles of parliament. And Brooke van Velden is resigning from politics to spend more time with the public sector. What legacy does she leave, and what does it mean for the yellow-blue paradise of Tāmaki?

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We don't know how to be any clearer, guys

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:20:00 -0000

It was Christopher Luxon's worst week as prime minister, beginning with flubbed attempts to explain New Zealand's position on the war on Iran and ending with a nightmare poll that put National at 28.4% and sparked headlines suggesting he was considering his position. We step through those painful days, assessing the official response to the strikes launched by the US and Israel, the criticisms levelled at Luxon, and whether he has put the matter to bed by rubbishing those suggestions he was thinking of quitting and a delivering a markedly improved performance this week. Plus: as the shockwaves of the Middle East conflict are felt as far away as the New Zealand consumer economy and an election creeps closer, is National best to lean into crisis mode?

In this episode, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire also take a look at the High Court that Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s expulsion from Te Pāti Māori was unlawful: what next after her "repatriation"? And the second Royal Commission on the Covid response has been issued, and swiftly subject to some high-velocity spin.

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10th birthday special: Live with Wayne Brown and Andrew Little

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:00:00 -0000

The mayors of Wellington and Auckland join Toby, Annabelle and Ben for two very special live events in recent days at the Embassy and Q Theatres. Discussion ranges from the state of the two cities to dealing with the Luxon government, from the last decade of politics to the stakes in the 2026 election.

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Ben Thomas reports from the shitstorm

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 23:30:00 -0000

A catastrophic failure at the Moa Point wastewater plant in Wellington has laid bare a short-term crisis and a crisis of short-termism. Fortified by nothing but the balm of poo jokes, Ben Thomas relates the mood in the city and the measures under way in response. But does it say something deeper about the country and the state of its piping?

Plus: a review of events of Waitangi, where the spotlight fell more directly on the parties of opposition than those of government. Just days after its divisions played out in the High Court, Te Pāti Māori's internal struggles manifested on the paepae, while a show of unity from Labour and the Greens was overshadowed by the announcement of Peeni Henare's exit from politics, and the sense of a story not being fully told. We discuss Henare's legacy, and where it leaves Labour's Māori caucus, as well as another big political departure, Judith Collins. What were the highs and lows of her remarkable parliamentary career, and is the step into the Law Commission presidency entirely legit?

And finally: Energy minister Simon "Mega" Watts has announced the government will commission a billion-dollar import facility for liquefied natural gas to plug the gap in New Zealand's energy mix. But is the levy to fund it really a tax, and is this even the right question to be fixating on?

Get your tickets to the Gone By Lunchtime 10th Birthday Party now!

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Are Peters and Luxon on a collision course?

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 23:30:00 -0000

As Christopher Luxon announced an election date of November 7, a strip of the North Island was under siege from another bout of brutal weather. As the clean-up and recovery continues, and families and communities grieve the loss of nine lives, questions swirl around the response.

In the first Gone By Lunchtime for 2026, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess that response, and ask whether the bigger picture around climate adaptation and mitigation will filter through the forthcoming campaign. The year begins, meanwhile, with incessant geopolitical disorder emanating from the White House. As Mark Carney sets out his stall in compelling fashion at Davos, what does the Canadian prime minister's "new world order" approach have in common with Christopher Luxon's, where do they differ, and is New Zealand's prime minister on an election-year collision course with a foreign minister set upon below-parapet foreign relations and flirting with the thought of quitting the World Health Organisation?

Speaking of Winston Peters, his New Zealand First Party has enjoyed a bump in recent polling. Could they emulate the populist-nationalist trends in Australia and the UK and climb even further?

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Summer Reissue: Bonus ep - Thoughts on the Jacinda Ardern film and book

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer. We’ll be back soon with new episodes but, until then, here’s one of our favourites from 2025:

Hot on the heels of the publication of A Different Kind of Power comes Prime Minister, an enthralling new film that applies a genuinely gobsmacking lens on Jacinda Ardern's time in power. In this special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Madeleine Chapman, editor of the Spinoff (and author of Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader), joins Toby Manhire to talk about the film, which has just had its New Zealand premiere at the NZ International Film Festival, and the autobiography, what they tell us about Ardern and what they don't.

This episode was originally published on August 9 2025.

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Summer Reissue: Juggernaut 2

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer. We’ll be back soon with new episodes but, until then, here’s one of our favourites from 2025:

After the breakneck reforms of the 80s, Jim Bolger’s promise of a calmer, more inclusive New Zealand hits the spot. Emerging from the shadow of Muldoon and shaking off the nuclear baggage, Bolger leads the National Party to a landslide victory under the “decent society” banner. But even before the celebrations are done, the hangover hits: the state-owned BNZ is on the brink, and the government books are in a parlous state. Ruth Richardson wastes no time as finance minister in making the most of crisis mode, and within weeks is driving through some of the most dramatic social, economic and labour reforms New Zealand has ever seen.

Picking up where the award-winning first season of Juggernaut left off, this first episode includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon, Bill Birch, Michael Wall, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more.

Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air.

This episode was originally published on November 11 2025.

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New Year special: 2026 in NZ politics

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:00 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire take a quick break from partying atop the Sky Tower to discuss the highlights from the political year that was, before sharing their predictions for 2026. Happy new year!

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Summer Reissue: Emergency politics Toddcast - The National Party after Muller

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer. We’ll be back soon with new episodes but, until then, here’s one of our favourites from the vault:

At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job. How did it come to this, and who is likely to emerge as the new leader, with less than 10 weeks to an election? Will deputy Nikki Kaye be promoted by caucus tonight? Is it Judith Collins' time? Can Simon Bridges complete the great arc of redemption? What about Gerry Brownlee or Mark Mitchell? Or maybe just chuck a baby yak in charge.

This episode was originally published on July 14 2020.

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Breaking: everything is good now

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:15:00 -0000

His summer break may only be 20 minutes long, but Christopher Luxon goes into it grinning, on the back of a poll that saw a swing to the right, boosted economic confidence data, maybe staring down a maybe-coup, and most crucially, snipping the ribbon on the big green, yellow and blue shoot: Ikea. Just how confident must he feel going into Christmas? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas chew it over, plus: poor poll numbers for the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, as TPM limp through an AGM with their future in the balance. Another big reforming swing from Chris Bishop with two new bumper bills to replace the Resource Management Act; how will this look and what does it mean for iwi Māori? And how did former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster fare in his feature-length interview for Q+A?

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The Luxon conundrum

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:30:00 -0000

There’s a lot of talk about challenges to Christopher Luxon’s leadership. Toby, Ben and Annabelle do as they must and talk about the talk and whether there’s more to it. First on the agenda, however, is a reform trailed as the biggest overhaul of local government since 1989 – just how will this new Galactic Senate setup work, and can it fix the resource management mess? Plus: all the reasons, mostly involving Winston Peters, that it is very clear we’re in election season, and a revelatory new interview from Tākuta Ferris on the immolation in Te Pāti Māori.

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The Police and the bad apple thesis

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0000

A shocking report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority has revealed a litany of serious failings in the handling of complaints relating to the disgraced former deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming. Not only were the complaints from a former lover diverted from the appropriate channels by senior leaders including former police boss Andrew Coster, the woman involved was arrested and prosecuted for harmful digital communications.

The new commissioner and the police minister insist that it is a failure of a small group of senior leaders – “bad apples”, as Mark Mitchell put it – rather than something systemic or cultural. But, ask Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire, almost 20 years after the damning Margaret Bazley report that followed the Louise Nicholas case, is that explanation good enough?

Plus: Parliament has two newly independent MPs, following the Te Pāti Māori National Council expelling Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Takuta Ferris “for breaches of Kawa (the Party’s constitution)”. As the implosion in the party deepens, a number of questions remain unanswered. Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters are exchanging blows over asset sales – is this a fracture in the coalition, an exercise in nostalgia, or two bald men (apologies Mr Peters, this is very much a metaphor) fighting over a comb? And changes to the Zero Carbon Act were announced with zero fanfare – what does it mean for New Zealand climate action and Paris commitments?

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Good news: NZ is back on track

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 23:30:00 -0000

In his first face-to-face encounter with Donald Trump, Christopher Luxon has exchanged hair jokes and golf banter. Does that confirm that back on track level has been achieved? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas deliver their verdicts on the latest from the PM, Winston Peters getting angsty about pronouns and Labour solving the challenges of how to define the capital gains tax it will take to the next election by defining it as: three free GP visits for all. Plus: is Te Pāti Māori on the brink of a schism as a vote is taken to suspend Mariameno Kapa-Kingi? And Vale Jim Bolger, who has died at the age of 90.

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Meltdown in Te Pāti Māori

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:21:00 -0000

A 10pm email to members blew apart the reset mood in Te Pāti Māori on Monday night with a litany of allegations and appendices dating back years, as part of a “transparency” effort in response to claims of bullying and a “dictatorial” leadership by Eru Kapa-Kingi of the Toitū Te Tiriti movement. Just what, ask Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire, is going on? And what are the implications from here?
Plus: a trio of new polls paints a consistent picture, and it’s not great for Chris or for Chris, but Don’t Know is showing real potential. And what’s up with the crackdown on 18 and 19 year olds’ access to the Jobseeker benefit?

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Peters delivers Palestine decision in New York

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 23:45:00 -0000

After a protracted process and plenty of speculation, Winston Peters has announced the cabinet decision on acknowledgement of Palestinian statehood in his address to the general assembly at the United Nations. Not now, he said. “We are not ready to make that gesture.” Variously received as a laudable assertion of independence in avoiding “performative” politics and a “day of shame” for New Zealand, what does the announcement tell us about New Zealand’s foreign policy, our position on Israeli activity in Gaza and government decision-making processes? Annabelle, Ben and Toby gather to discuss the latest developments.

Plus: the fallout from an unexpectedly large GDP contraction continues, with Nicola Willis enduring a “battering” that included a scolding from the Mood of the Boardroom. And what to make of the results just released from the review of New Zealand’s struggling electricity market?

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Te Pāti Māori wrenches defeat from the jaws of victory

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 07:29:00 -0000

Celebrations for a big and bodacious Oriini Kaipara byelection victory were shortlived for Te Pāti Māori thanks to Tākuta Ferris's decision to double down on a social media post aghast at a multicultural group of Labour supporters for Peeni Henare on the campaign trail. That was compounded by party president John Tamihere entering the breach, and a mysterious reollaction of the role of party whip. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire talk through the fallout and ask what it means for TPM and their relationship with Labour. Plus: a bigger-than-expected contraction in the economy has seen GDP shrink by 0.9%: is the government running out of time for the weather to change? In other defeat from the jaws of victory news, New Zealand First's new champion Stuart Nash enjoyed about 10 minutes of acclaim before putting his foot in it. And as Winston Peters gives David Seymour yet another dressing down, what explains the government's refusal to simply announce its position on a Palestinian state? Oh, and we issue a formal apology for propagating disinformation in last week's audiocast.

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Pulse check, pub quiz & predictions: live from WORD Christchurch

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:00:00 -0000

In a special live edition of GBL in Ōtautahi, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas complete a stocktake of the governing and alternative coalitions with a little over a year to election time. There is heckling, there are pub questions from politicians, and there are piping hot takes. Recorded at the Piano on August 30.

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Bonus ep: Thoughts on the Jacinda Ardern film and book

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 19:00:00 -0000

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It’s all fine apart from butter, Trump, netball, etc

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 23:34:00 -0000

Christopher Luxon took a short and sharp mindset into the National Party conference on the weekend and with good reason: there is much getting back on track still to be done. He arrived in Christchurch amid a blur of bleak headlines, focused mostly on an economic mood epitomised by butter, netball crowds, abrupt Trump tariffs, unemployment numbers, and so on.

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the state of play. But first: a trio who did school cert in fifth form look at the overhaul of NCEA and electoral reforms that would deny the vote to “deadbeats”, aka those who seek to enrol within a dozen days of the election.

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‘The one thing they could blow up the government over’

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 02:00:00 -0000

We rattle through the regulatory standards bill, its advocates, its dissenters, and the tension it has created within the coalition. How serious is the fissure it has prodded between Act and New Zealand First Party (amplified by a cameo appearance by a United Nations special rapporteur)?

Also on the agenda for Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire: the state of play in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection, and the state of yuck in Wellington local body politics. You’ll never guess what we heard from the friend of a neighbour of a colleague about Ray Chung.

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We have issues, many issues

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:44:00 -0000

With an election about 15 months away, there are few better ways to get a sense of the political terrain than the Ipsos Issues Monitor, a survey that tracks the issues of greatest concern to New Zealanders, the parties they consider best equipped to deal with those issues, and how all of that has changed over time. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the latest edition of the study, and the messages it sends on cost of living, health and more.

Plus: Shane Jones is promoting a bill that would oblige Ngāpuhi to undertake a single commercial treaty settlement; does he have a point? And we reflect on the formidable legacy of Takutai Tarsh Kemp, Te Pati Māori MP for Tāmaki Makaurau since 2023, who died suddenly last week at the age of 50.

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New Zealand punches above its tightrope

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:20:00 -0000

Around the world, the flames of aggression and instability are burning. As Christopher Luxon arrives in China his immediate challenge is to douse the alarm from several former politicians and ensure that the relationship with leaders in New Zealand’s biggest export market are sweet. From there, the New Zealand prime minister is off to Europe and another guest spot at Nato, who are meeting in the Hague.

In a new episode of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather chew over the shifting global dynamic he’ll encounter, with escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, Trump quitting G7 early and ongoing devastation in Ukraine and Gaza. More prosaically, will Luxon welcome a chance to stride the international stage after a bit of a media flub on sick pay just before he left? Plus: a word on a sweary scrutiny week.

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Polling, ex-PMs, dickheadery and a goat sacrifice

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 23:39:00 -0000

We're officially in the second half of the term, a milestone marked by the historic handover of the hallowed deputy prime minister amulet from Winston Peters to David Seymour. The moment comes with pageantry, a flurry of interviews and a pair of new polls, which deliver intriguing, and sometimes divergent results. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas pore over the results and what they mean for the parties and the politicians in the post-budget, post-pay-equity-reshape wash-up. Plus: Jim Bolger and Jacinda Ardern have boh been in the headlines in recent days. What do these returns tell us about the performance of their Chris-themed successors? And Chris Bishop found himself in a media moshpit after the Aotearoa Music Awards for calling the Stan Walker parade "crap" and earning the most painful denunciation imaginable: being called a dickhead by New Zealand treasure Don McGlashan.

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Budget special: When The Facts Change x Gone By Lunchtime

Thu, 22 May 2025 05:40:00 -0000

In the year of growth, Nicola Willis has presented a growth budget. But does the Investment Boost initiative, which speeds up depreciation for businesses, promise the kind of growth that the economy needs? In this special Spinoff pod for budget day, Toby Manhire asks Bernard Hickey for his take on the headline changes, and whether or not David Seymour’s earlier commentary that his colleague Brooke van Velden had “saved the budget” through its controversial and hurried changes to the pay equiry scheme, has been proven true. Plus: what are the cumulative impacts of the changes to KiwiSaver and Best Start, as compared to the SuperGold cohort? And how much did the global political and economic volatility influence the documents published today?

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House of C****

Wed, 21 May 2025 00:30:00 -0000

Unprecedented punishments imposed on Te Pāti Māori MPs, and the scramble to avoid banning them from the budget debate, is top of the agenda this week. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the fallout, before rewinding to last week’s theatrical parliamentary controversy, all of which stemmed from a C-word in a newspaper column, and led Winston Peters, doyen of parliamentary decorum, to deplore a “House of Chaos” (by which he did not mean the popular monthly techno night at Firecrackers nightclub in Ashburton).

All of that, plus: we exclusively read the full text of tomorrow’s 2025 budget.

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Really, really urgent

Wed, 07 May 2025 01:00:00 -0000

An overhaul of the pay equity process has been whisked through parliament under urgency. The changes, which tighten the criteria for making a claim for workers in female-dominated sectors and summarily halt 33 existing claims in the pipeline, have prompted a major backlash, in part for their substance and in part for the decision to push the reform through without the usual consultation under a select committee process or regulatory impact statement.

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the unexpected announcement, the rationale for urgency, whether it’s plausible to claim it’s not primarily motivated by the billions that will be saved ahead of a tight budget, and what impact, if any, it might have on the women’s vote. The trio also discuss Christopher Luxon’s enthusiastic backing of a bill that would follow Australia in banning social media for under-16s. What is with the surge in member’s bill as mechanisms for party campaigning, what is the polling telling politicians about young people and social media, and does Luxon know he’s the prime minister? Plus: Australians have returned Labor and Albanese to power in what is being called a “bloodbath”, hot on the heels of Mark Carney’s big comeback in Canada. How big is the Trump effect, is it good news for the left or good news for incumbents, and how might New Zealand politicians look to seize upon the Trumpy moment?

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Australian election special with Ben McKay

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 01:00:00 -0000

This Saturday Aussies will (compulsorily) head to the polls. At the start of the year, Labor under Anthony Albanese was staring down the barrel of defeat and the first one-term government for almost 100 years. But with a few days to go, the pollsters are all picking that he'll return to power. What changed? Where did Peter Dutton's makeover go wrong? What happened to the Coalition campaign? Did Donald Trump play a role?

To tackle these questions, complete with yarns about salmon and wallabies and paddling pool anomalies, is Ben McKay, Pacific editor for AAP and an illustrious former inhabitant of the New Zealand press gallery. In a special edition of the podcast temporarily renamed Gone By Brunchtime in recognition of the time difference, he talks to Toby Manhire about all that, the New Zealand influence across the Tasman, and what parties here might learn from there.

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Christopher, champion of the free trade world

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:15:00 -0000

The PM’s speech and free-trade phone tree with like-minded leaders in response to Trump’s tarrif binge impressed many commentators, but not all of them: leading pundit and deputy prime minister Winston Peters was indignant and he said so. Christopher Luxon said it was media beatup, but was he right? Should he have consulted more thoroughly with his foreign minister? Should his foreign minister have slapped him down in public? Was Peters right that it was too early to be assembling pro-free-trade coalitions? Was he right that there was too much bellicose language being used? And how much of all this is about domestic, rather than global, politics?

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assemble to tackle these questions and more such as: is there more than idle speculation and scuttlebutt to snap election chat? And what is up with the indefatigable Mr Peters’ (happy 80th birthday, by the way!) latest salvo in the anti-woke culture wars, seeking to “define ‘woman’ and ‘man’ in law”?

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Live in Auckland with special guest Rebecca Wright

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 01:45:00 -0000

At a sold out Q Theatre on Wednesday night, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire grapple with the new Trump world order, preview the Peters-Seymour handover and assess the state of play ahead of the term halfway mark. With special guest Rebecca Wright.

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Home and away with Christopher Luxon

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 23:42:00 -0000

After a drum beat of conjecture about his job security, the prime minister enjoyed something of an elixir in the investment summit and a trip to India that began with a breakthrough announcement: the launch of talks on a comprehensive free trade agreement. A big moment in itself felt bigger given the emergence of a US-led trade war, but also a confidence boost for Luxon. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire discuss the import of those developments, and whether Luxon's good time abroad can travel back to New Zealand with him.

Plus: Winston Peters meets Marco Rubio, an extended chew over the latest in the school lunch saga, and David Seymour's suggestion that it highlighted "two New Zealands", and the Act Party announcement it will stand candidates in local elections.

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A conversation with David Parker about the world and NZ’s place in it

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 18:00:00 -0000

The Labour spokesperson for foreign affairs joins Toby Manhire for a special podcast casting a view across a turbulent world. New Zealand, like pretty much every country in the world, is suffering from geopolitical whiplash in processing the torrent of activity emanating from the Trump White House. A postwar order cemented across eight decades is crumbling as a newly expansionist, protectionist United States emerges under Trump’s second presidency.

In a discussion spanning everything from Ukraine and Gaza to China and the Pacific, security guarantees and defence spending, Aukus, Five Eyes, Trump’s tariff bender and the impact of inequality and social media, Parker offers his assessment of where it all leaves New Zealand.

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The Curious Case of Christopher Luxon's Hosking Equivocations

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 22:23:27 -0000

Ambiguity surrounding the precise nature of the "animated" behaviour by Andrew Bayly towards a staffer, which led to his resignation as commerce minister, seeped into the prime minister's media response. Speaking to Mike Hosking, Christopher Luxon danced around the question of whether he would have sacked Bayly had he not quit, then danced around it again, and again, to the audible displeasure of the ZB superstar. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire try to get their heads around this double bill of The Thick of It and Clarke & Dawe.

First, however, it's to the Tasman Sea, and the unexpected appearance of a trio of Chinese warships and live-fire exercises that left commercial airlines re-routing. What message was being sent, should it spur New Zealand to boosted defence spending, and how, in the naval wake, would Winston Peters have approached his visit to Beijing? Plus: the proposed reforms to citizen's arrest laws and a step towards a referendum on a four-year term, with one big condition attached.

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David Seymour and his Prince Hal epoch

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:02:00 -0000

The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial (and historic) letter written on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne to an attempt to drive a Land Rover up the steps of parliament. Remarkably, he had a pop at an "ill-advised" Christopher Luxon. And that's just scraping the surface; there are the questions around the response to Tim Jago, the teacher-only days, the school lunches. Across the board, he is steadfast in insisting he's erred not even a skerrick. Is it an obduracy born of being a one-man band for so long, or is he going through a Prince Hal phase, getting some stuff out of his system before he becomes the king (or deputy prime minister, at least)? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire thrash all that out.

Plus: how much alarm are the latest cluster of opinion polls causing for National and Luxon? Does a cavalcade of health issues represent a serious political headache for the government? What should we make of the findings in the much-delayed Manurewa Marae data inquiry? And a word on the Cook Islands, Mark Brown and China.

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Winston wants a word with Mr Brown

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 23:17:41 -0000

The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of NZ's foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the pact, says Winston Peters, the Cook Islands was in breach of commitments made as a member of the New Zealand realm. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas put on their geopolitical goggles to assess the strain in relations, which comes as the tussle between China and the United States for influence in the Pacific enters a new phase, marked by Donald Trump pursuing an isolationist approach.

Plus: How did Tama Potaka and co perform at Waitangi last week, and did Christopher Luxon come up with some new material for Ngāi Tahu in Akaroa?

Join NZ’s favourite political podcast live in Auckland on 9th April at Q Theatre. Host Toby Manhire will be joined by Annabelle Lee-Mather (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Māmoe) (executive producer of The Hui) and Ben Thomas (former press secretary in the Key government) as they boldly step out of the studio and in front of an audience to cast a curious and caustic eye on New Zealand politics. Tickets on sale now at thespinoff.co.nz/events

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Bonus episode: The Waitangi special

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 07:49:00 -0000

A passive protest at the pōwhiri. A prime minister avoiding the Treaty Grounds. A “very interesting” idea about a possible te Tiriti Commissioner. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been a pretty full on Waitangi week, and The Spinoff’s unofficial Māori unit has been there to witness it all.

Recorded on the sandy shores of the mighty North, guest hosts Liam Ratana and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (along with regular producer Te Aihe Butler) discuss the problem of David Seymour, Tama Potaka’s messy kūpapa-kaupapa wordplay, the (seemingly undercooked) te Tiriti Commission proposal, and what we’d like to see at Waitangi in 2026.

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Luxon launches reboot for 2025

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 23:02:00 -0000

The political year kicked off with a dramatic reshuffle that sees Shane Reti removed from health in favour of Simeon Brown, James Meager made minister for the South Island and Nicola Willis in the renamed role of minister for economic growth. Alongside a caucus retreat and a state of the nation speech from prime minister Christopher Luxon, it's all part of an effort to reset the agenda.

Fresh from their own exhausting retreat, Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather regather to assess that effort, and the background against which it plays: a poll that puts Labour ahead of National and points to pessimism within the electorate, a volatile global context as Trump returns to the White House, a record response to the Treaty Principles Bill as Luxon declines his invitation to Waitangi.

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Summer reissue: Live! With special guest Kim Hill, 40 years on from a seismic NZ election

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer. We’ll be back soon with new episodes but, until then, here’s one of our favourites from 2024:

In a special crossover edition of Gone By Lunchtime meets Juggernaut, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the stage at a packed Hannah Playhouse in Wellington, joined by NZ broadcasting legend Kim Hill. Exactly 40 years after the 1984 election that saw David Lange and Labour derail the Muldoon train and sweep to power, unleashing a head-spinning period of economic, social and foreign policy reform, we reflect on those giddy times and the ways the Lange-Douglas legacy remains very much alive in 2024.

This event sold out in 48 hours; to get advance access to Spinoff events, join our members programme.

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New Year special: the year ahead in NZ politics

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 16:00:00 -0000

In this bonus, snackable festive pod, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire point their goggles at 2025. Which issues will dominate, who will we be keeping an eye on, and just how unhinged are the predictions we're willing to make? Happy new year!

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A plan to have a plan about some ferries

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 00:06:00 -0000

Twelve months after the coalition government torpedoed the new ferry plan it had inherited, along with a wild cost blowout, from the previous government, a much heralded announcement finally arrived, and it was not the decision were hoping for. What does the latest instalment in the great ferry saga tell us about the state of the coalition, with David Seymour getting tutted by the new minister for rail Winston Peters? What kind of ferries will we end up with? And will they ro-ro or won't they ro-ro? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire grab the wheel.

Plus: what does a glut of new polls tells us about the state of the government as we approach Christmas, and did Christopher Luxon fail to adhere to his own big rock philosophy in coalition negotiations?

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Meet James Meager, the man left holding the treaty principles bill

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 16:00:00 -0000

After an acclaimed maiden speech, the new National MP for Rangitata faces his biggest test in politics yet: chairing the committee hearing Act’s controversial bill. He sits down with Toby Manhire to discuss the hearings ahead, and his own path to politics.

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A special edition of The Fold: The future of The Spinoff

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:00:00 -0000

Normally on The Fold, we discuss events in the wider media, but today, the subject is us and the future of The Spinoff. Published on site today is an open letter from Duncan, The Spinoff’s editor Madeleine Chapman, and its CEO Amber Easby. It toplines where The Spinoff is right now as a platform – this paradoxical place where our audience is the strongest it has ever been, outside of events like Covid or elections – but that the stagnant ad market, and a hard drop in public funding for our work, has left us in a really tricky situation needing to make a very real call for help.

First, Duncan speaks to our editor, Madeleine Chapman, and our head of audience, Anna Rawhiti-Connell about what we’re asking for and why we’re asking for it. Duncan is then joined by Spinoff CEO Amber Easby to dig into some numbers that show just how radically our revenue picture has changed and explain why our audience is now our last, best shot at retaining the ability to carry on doing what we do.

Please take the time to read the open letter at https://thespinoff.co.nz/sos.

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Chris Luxon's big first birthday boil-up

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 02:14:00 -0000

Today marks the first anniversary of the National-led coalition's swearing in. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire parse the prime minister's sit-down interviews to mark the occasion, from the lessons to the communications to the big rocks and boiling of the ocean. How has he performed, is David Seymour right about the "disproportionate" impact Act has achieved and why is Winston Peter talking about being married to the Act leader? Plus: last week witnessed a huge turnout as the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived at parliament. What did that say about the state of Crown-Māori relations? And how about those haka that reverberated around the world, from Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi Clarke and TJ Perenera?

All that, a word on the introduction of the gang patch ban, and we pay tribute to former minister and MP for Auckland Central Nikki Kaye, who has died aged 44.

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The hīkoi and the bill

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:45:00 -0000

As the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti streams through Auckland, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas assess its impact, and the state of the Treaty Principles Bill. Plus: the day of apology for abuse in state care: what it did and didn't achieve. And at last the GBL decision desk is ready to make a call on who has won the US presidency (and speculate on what it means for New Zealand).

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The American election and everything else

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 01:28:20 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather reveals why she doesn't care who wins next week in the US, while she, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire all pick who they think will win. Then it's back to Aotearoa and a whistlestop tour of recent headlines: Darleen Tana is bounced out of parliament by peg-nosed Greens, Richard Prebble is appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal, Andrew Bayly's chilled out entertainer routine backfires dramatically, and Mike King says some puzzling stuff about mental health and booze as a "lifejacket".

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US election special: Todd Muller on why it matters and who will win

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 16:00:00 -0000

The once leader of the National Party these days pays minimum attention to NZ politics and spends as much time as possible watching the American election campaign. Here he talks to Toby Manhire about the state of the race, why Kamala Harris's momentum has ebbed, whether Donald Trump's former chief aide saying he's a fascist will impact things, and what it all means for New Zealand. Oh, and where he'd put his money if forced to bet on a winner.

Todd Muller is host of the podcast What's the Story, Old Glory.

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The one-year stocktake

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 23:50:00 -0000

Twelve months after an election that delivered New Zealand its first three-party coalition, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire cast their minds and hearts back, recall those heady early days and seek to assess the opening stanza of the Christopher Luxon government. How has he fared with two noisy partners? How are the opposition doing? Which politicians have impressed and surprised? And what are the tripwires and opportunities in the year ahead?

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The big hill and the tax boulder

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 22:44:44 -0000

The capital gains tax debate has lurched back on to the agenda thanks to the boss of our biggest bank and the housing issues faced by Christopher Luxon. Is it a good idea, and can Labour ever avoid getting electorally squashed by trying to push the rock up the slope again? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas chew it over. Plus: did the government underestimate the strength of feeling in Dunedin over its long promised new hospital? Is the swap of a teacher te reo programme for more maths resource a good idea? And a journey through the crust of the Earth in pursuit of the source of Casey Chatbot Costello's "independent advice" on tobacco taxes.

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David Seymour's refettled zombie utopia

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 03:43:30 -0000

The treaty principles bill continues to attract criticisms - from the leaders of churches, from the leaders of political parties including National. In revising it, is David Seymour stumbling, or is it all playing out as he'd wish? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas chew it over. Plus: the crime statistic puzzle and the power-blasted mill closures.

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The King and us

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 01:45:00 -0000

Tens of thousands have gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae over recent days for the tangi of Kīngi Tuheitia, who died on Friday morning after 18 years on the throne. Fresh from a visit to Ngāruawāhia, Annabelle Lee-Mather joins Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas to describe the mood on the ground, Tuheitia's legacy, and the role of the Kīngitanga in New Zealand politics. Plus: infrastructure, meta-infrastructure and a rethink on the fast-track bill, and Shane Jones' remarks about the judiciary, which have earned him a slapdown from Judith Collins, and from Winston Peters, but why not from the boss, Christopher Luxon?

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Luxon, the bus, the wrecking ball and the poll

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 04:39:08 -0000

The prime minister travelled to the Māori King's Koroneihana this week, where he was assailed for government policies that had, according to Tuku Morgan of Tainui, hit tangata whenua with a wrecking ball and thrown them under the bus. Christopher Luxon seized the moment to declare unequivocally that National would not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, while Act leader David Seymour was a centre of attention despite being absent. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire chew over events at Tūrangawaewae, and whether Act's controversial bill is a divisive waste of time or a blunt reality of MMP politics.

Plus: Luxon leaps in PM polling despite malapropisms, stats about mathematics, and the traffic lights flare up for beneficiary sanctions.

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Mercury rises in Crown-Māori relations...

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 00:09:00 -0000

A walkout at the Iwi Leaders' Forum, a call from John Key to turn down the temperature, and protests at parliament. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire test the air on the coalition government relationship with iwi Māori as former minister Tracey Martin urges National to back down on its coalition commitment with Act to repeal Section 7aa of the Oranga Tamariki Act. Plus: is Karen Chhour right that the pressure she's facing in parliament crosses the line? Should MPs in the house wear more or less party insignia? And how did Christopher Luxon go at the weekend's party conference?

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Shining a light on the sorely neglected story: US politics

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 04:00:00 -0000

With few pundits and certainly no podcasts willing to discuss the American presidential race, Toby, Annabelle and Ben come to the rescue, exchanging some long-distance reckons on the Biden-Trump-Harris melodrama, and whether Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters are right to be pivoting towards the US amid the prospect of a fresh Trump administration with so little love for the rules-based order. Back home, after more than six years, the final report of the Royal Commission on abuse in state care has been published. What does it say, why is it this such a big milestone, and what happens next? Plus: a word on the appointment of a commissioner as Health NZ Te Whatu Ora faces a financial crisis, and a troubling trajectory on emissions reduction targets.

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Live! With special guest Kim Hill, 40 years on from a seismic NZ election

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 17:00:00 -0000

This event sold out in 48 hours; to get advance access to Spinoff events, join our members programme.

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The Green Darleen fever dream

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 00:07:24 -0000

Darleen Tana has quit the Green Party following a long-awaited report into her role in allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s e-bike business. She disputes the findings and, so far, has ignored pleas by co-leader Chloe Swarbrick to resign from parliament. Which leaves the Greens in a pickle: do they invoke the waka-jumping legislation they so publicly abhor? And what is the broader damage to the Greens?

Plus: Chris Bishop’s promise to “flood” the housing market with a new density policy, and can Christopher Luxon have an important pull-aside chat with Joe Biden at the Nato gathering in Washington DC?

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Blowout in Britain, boilover in France: Henry Cooke on two big elections

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 23:15:00 -0000

In a special Euro-vote edition of GBL, Henry Cooke joins Toby Manhire to chew over two fascinating results. Exit polls from France suggest the far-right National Rally’s ambitions have been repelled at the onzième hour. What happened, and is Emmanuel Macron vindicated? In the UK, Keir Starmer leads the Labour Party to a landslide victory, and yet it’s a shallow sweep, and he faces tests from the left. What next for British politics?

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The rust-bucket powder keg that could spark a China-US conflict

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 17:00:00 -0000

In this GBL special from Manila, Toby Manhire sits down with John Nery of Rappler at the East-West media conference to discuss heightened disputes in the South China Sea and risks of the Philippines getting caught up in a great powers battle, the dynastic nature of politics in the country, and the state of media freedom.

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Is New Zealand a C-list country?

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:17:20 -0000

A ferry grounded, a power pylon upended thanks to missing bolts, the prime minister's plane borked again. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess sticky-taped, short-term New Zealand and what to do about it. Plus: a bright solution to a messy situation on cancer drug funding and the first ever scrutiny week at parliament.

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Listen Now: episode one of Juggernaut – I Love You, Mr Lange

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 00:09:00 -0000

We thought you might like a wee taster of our brand new #1 series, Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government, hosted by Toby Manhire. Click here to follow Juggernaut so you get every episode as soon as it's released!

1. I love you, Mr Lange

Fuelled by brandy and fury, Sir Rob Muldoon calls a snap election, sparking a 1984 campaign of contrasts – the menacing, protectionist National PM against the fresh, upbeat Labour leader, David Lange. The pretext for the election is the decision by Marilyn Waring, a young, gay MP, to back an anti-nuclear bill and quit the National caucus, prompting an earful from Muldoon. Lange, meanwhile, is joined at the hip by a hungry would-be finance minister, Roger Douglas. They are about to confront a profound crisis, and launch a revolution.

Includes previously unheard interviews with David Lange from the 84 campaign trail, and new and exclusive interviews with Marilyn Waring, Roger Douglas, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble, Peter Harris, Margaret Wilson, Bob Harvey and Gary McCormick.

Click here for full details of archive material used in this series

Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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Disentangling the census data / Te Pāti Māori claims

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 00:39:44 -0000

Eleven agencies were summoned for a meeting on Friday to discuss “action” to address a series of allegations involving Manurewa marae and Te Pāti Māori, the most serious of which is misuse of census data ahead of the last election, at which TPM’s Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp – then CEO of the marae – defeated Labour’s Peeni Henare by just 42 votes. Kemp and John Tamihere, president of TPM, strenuously reject the allegations and “baseless innuendo”.

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire convene their own summit in an attempt to get their heads around the claims and counter-claims, and why they’re so serious.

Plus: The enduring newsline for Nicola Willis’s debut budget was meant to be tax cuts and a tightening of belts. Instead it’s something else: a failure to deliver promised funding to 13 cancer drugs. We assess the severity of the backlash, the response, and the reception to the 2024 budget more broadly.

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Budget day special

Thu, 30 May 2024 04:43:01 -0000

Nicola Willis has delivered tax cuts in her first budget, largely as promised. But has the coalition government managed to square the circle of relieving cost of living pressures while avoiding the quicksand of encouraging inflation? In a special crossover episode of Gone By Lunchtime meets When the Facts Change, Toby Manhire quizzes Bernard Hickey on all that, plus: Is Willis right to say the tax cuts are not paid for by borrowing, and can she reasonably blame Labour for the bleak fiscal outlook?

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Live! The six-month performance review

Tue, 21 May 2024 17:00:00 -0000

In this special episode of GBL, recorded before a sell-out audience at the Auckland Writers Festival on May 18, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire haul the KPIs out of the cabinet and assess the first six months of the National-led government, the performances of Prime Minister Chris Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour, along with the efforts from the parties of opposition.

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Introducing Behind the Story: If you love a dog, you must also love disposing of its sh*t

Fri, 03 May 2024 20:00:00 -0000

The Spinoff has just launched a brand new series called Behind the Story, where site editor Madeleine Chapman sits down with a staff writer or contributor to gain more insight about a big story on The Spinoff from the week. We thought you might like to check out the first episode, and if you enjoy it please follow it wherever you get your podcasts!

On Friday, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell sent her final newsletter, and took the opportunity to share what she’s learned about the news over two years of curating it for thousands of New Zealanders. Earlier in the week, she’d seen reports of Auckland dog owners discarding their pets’ turds on the ground after Auckland Council removed bins across the city.

And so, the column “If you love a dog, you must also love disposing of its shit” was born. Anna joins Madeleine Chapman to talk about the power journalists have when framing a story and how to find the middle ground between boring and sensational.

For The Spinoff editor’s thoughts on the week that was, as well as a handpicked collection of the week’s best reads, subscribe to The Weekend with Madeleine Chapman newsletter at thespinoff.co.nz/newsletters

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Luxon's mojo machine misfires

Thu, 02 May 2024 22:31:00 -0000

Six months in, and it's hardly been a honeymoon. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management, and a how much just the persistent grey economic clouds. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas gather to stick their fingers in the wind.

Also on the agenda: the two Winstons entwine as the foreign minister takes aim at former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr, who responds with a threat to sue. Did Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds deserve to be demoted? Plus, what the Waitangi Tribunal said about the decision to scrap Oranga Tamariki's section 7AA, and what the High Court said about children's minister Karen Chhour's refusal to turn up to talk about it.

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Aukus ruckus: the scrap over NZ independence in foreign policy

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 03:25:53 -0000

Winston Peters and Helen Clark are at loggerheads over New Zealand inching towards "pillar two" status in a pact geared against China. Is cross-party unity on our foreign policy status splintering, and what does "pillar two" really mean? Plus: public sector cuts are suddenly becoming very real. What are the implications for the public services and what is the political risk? How is Melissa Lee navigating the media inferno in a coalition cabinet? And a stirring defence of the history curriculum.

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A conversation with Grant Robertson at the cricket

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 03:50:10 -0000

In this special edition of GBL, the former finance minister and soon-to-be vice-chancellor at the University of Otago chats with Toby Manhire from the nosebleeds at the Basin Reserve. On the agenda: tax reforms lost, the Covid legacy, the lure of Dunedin, and which White Fern Robertson most identifies with.

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Numbercrunchawamba

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 23:07:00 -0000

Despite a deteriorating economic outlook and inconvenient calculations, Nicola Willis and Chris Luxon insist that they can deliver promised tax cuts without new taxes or higher borrowing. Or that’s the intention, at least. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas chew over the fiscal predicament.

Plus: is the new fast-track consenting law, which concentrates immense power in the hands of Chris Bishop, Simeon Brown and Shane Jones, a necessary circuit breaker or a lurch towards Muldoonism? What to make of Winston Peters’ ramblings about Nazism, DNA and co-governance? And while Chumbawamba have urged New Zealand's veteran tub-thumper to cease and desist, is a better template for his contribution one of the Gallagher brothers?

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An untimely case of entitleditis

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 01:28:00 -0000

Christopher Luxon can’t catch a break. His prime ministerial house is shabby. His prime ministerial plane is borked. But, ask Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas, how foreseeable was the blowback to his decision to take the $52k accommodation allowance to stay in his own mortgage-free Wellington apartment, how tin-eared was it to declare, repeatedly, that he was entitled to his entitlements, thank you very much, and the swift talkback-driven U-turn?

It came hot on the heels of a whiplash week in parliament, with legislation to bin the Māori Health Authority, roll back smokefree legislation and unban pseudoephedrine. Is the government stretching the use of urgency to its legitimate limit?

Elsewhere in a new edition of the Spinoff politics podcast Gone By Lunchtime: Warner Brothers Discovery has issued a death warrant for Newshub, all of Three’s news operations and a bunch of other local content. What does it mean for democracy, and how was the response from Melissa Lee and the rest? Plus: A word on Grant Robertson, who is leaving politics.

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Ia manuia lau malaga, Efeso Collins

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 22:47:02 -0000

Fa'anānā Efeso Collins, Green MP and former Auckland councillor, has died after collapsing while taking part in a charity run in central Auckland. He was 49 years old and is survived by his wife, Fia, and two daughters.

The news reached Toby, Ben and Annabelle while a podcast recording was under way. At that point the planned recording halted and we shared reflections on his life and legacy. We have chosen to include the early part of the podcast; to skip past discussions that in the circumstances feel trivial, listen from approximately 22 mins.

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Waitangi spiders and the Winston scriptures

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 21:21:00 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather returns from the cauldron of Waitangi to discuss with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire the rhetorical flames and gently roasted marshmallows at the hugely attended commemorations. Did Christopher Luxon navigate a copy-paste path between his coalition partners and how many tails does it take to wag a dog? Also on the podcast this week, Ben explains why new minister Casey Costello's explanation for seeking advice on freezing tax on tobacco is consistent with the enigmatic NZ First school of biblical interpretation. Plus: James Shaw is quitting the Green co-leadership. What legacy does he leave and what difference might Chlöe Swarbrick, the favourite to replace him, make for the party?

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The three-headed taniwha

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 00:48:11 -0000

The political year has begun with a sharp focus on the new coalition government and te ao Māori. In the first pod back for 2024, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the messages from the packed Kiingitanga hosted hui ā motu and an unusually politically barbed Rātana. How is Christopher Luxon dealing with questions – and fury – over the Treaty Principles Bill agreed to as part of the deal with Act? Should David Seymour have shown up? And what is NZ First – the third bonce of what was called a “three-headed taniwha” – looking to gain?

Also on GBL: Is New Zealand’s deployment of NZDF to the Red Sea as part of the retaliatory action against Yemen’s Houthis a smart move, and is it plausible to say there is no link to the Israeli action in Gaza? And the resignation of Green MP Golriz Ghahraman returns questions around mental health, abuse and responsibility to the foreground.

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2023: A year in review

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:44:00 -0000

At the end of a long year and a hectic few weeks for the new government, Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather ask: What is the story of the three-headed coalition so far? Plus: how do we rate the various parties' performance across 2023?

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2023

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0000

SUPERPOD is back! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Gone By Lunchtime's Annabelle Lee-Mather, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, Bernard Hickey from When The Facts Change and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler and Samuel Robinson, SUPERPOD 2023 is the crossover to end all crossovers. From intense discussion of government policy to figuring out what the heck a skibidi toilet is, we celebrate the best and worst of what has been a rollercoaster year.

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Luxon and the rizz

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 00:17:00 -0000

The first fortnight of the three-part coalition government has been anything but dull. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas review Christopher Luxon's performance as his deputy PM Winston Peters steals thunder, a 100-day plan lays out an ambitious programme of undoing, and Te Pāti Māori command attention in the house and on the streets as parliament gets back into business.

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The Weet-Bix coalition

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 23:51:00 -0000

Christopher Luxon has scaled his Big Rock candy mountain and today the new National, Act and NZ First coalition has its ministers sworn in at Government House. Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather rattle through the two coalition deals and ask: Who scored the big wins? Will there be further changes when the books are opened and a mini-budget published? What is the message to Māori? And what can we learn from the dynamics at play between Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour?

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Big rock energy and coalition talks

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 00:53:00 -0000

The special votes have confirmed a "worst case scenario" mélange à trois comprising National, Act and NZ First. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the state of coalition talks. What are the, as Christopher Luxon's puts it, "big rocks", "additive things" and "things we've got variance in"? Plus: Te Pāti Māori triples its caucus, Chris Hipkins faces a leadership vote, and our predictions on when the new government will be announced.

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Post-election special: back on one track or other

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 23:11:00 -0000

National has won the election, but what kind of victory is it? Will a coalition with Act be enough, or is Winston Peters’ phone about to ring? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire sift through the results the morning after, sizing up Christopher Luxon’s achievement, the Labour plunge and the future for the Greens, NZ First and Te Pāti Māori. It was a night that produced some big surprises, in Auckland seats and across the Māori seats. Plus: what next for a wounded Labour, what kind of government would a National-Act coalition mean, and the task ahead for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

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Election night special: a debrief

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 11:36:39 -0000

After months of living and breathing this year’s election campaign Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman and The Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell join together to discuss the events of election day. Toby arrives fresh from a whirlwind tour of various party events while Mad and Anna emerge from an evening spent devouring election coverage and reporting on results.

Go here to watch this episode on YouTube, where it broadcast as a livestream on election night.

Keep an eye on this feed later today (Sunday 15th October) for a morning-after-the-night-before deep dive with Toby, Annabelle and Ben.

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Panic at the Briscoes

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 23:16:00 -0000

In the last pre-election pod, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire comb through the final polls and take stock after a hectic final few days in which panicked-looking National has gone really negative - on a government led by them. Meanwhile, Labour might have inched back up, but is it enough to give them even a distant hope? Plus: Thoughts on Act, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, and a not entirely fond farewell to the campaign of 2023.

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Chris Hipkins is relentlessly positive

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 23:15:00 -0000

The Labour leader has Covid-19, which means a campaign rejig and a protracted squabble with Christopher Luxon about who is quitting the Press debate and who isn’t. Meanwhile, Winston Peters has gone into bombastic overdrive, parts of the campaign have gotten ugly, and a clutch of new polls indicate tight races in Auckland Central, Tāmaki, and Hauraki Waikato. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the pulse. Plus: Christopher Luxon has declined to be interviewed by The Spinoff or on the pod. We extend again a warm invitation to the man who could be prime minister in a few weeks.

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Winston Peters? I don't know her

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 22:41:00 -0000

In the second leader debate, Chris Hipkins went full-mojo against Christopher Luxon. Did it work for him, or did he overdo it? The NZ First leader wasn't there and yet he really was, after Luxon ruled him in at the start of the week. "I don't know him," professed Luxon of Peters, but will that wash? And what was the thinking behind the ruling-in, and why now. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire tackle all of that, and pick the stars and the flops across other debates of the last week, including the powerbrokers clash on Newshub Nation, and the young voter and kaupapa Māori debates on TVNZ.

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Megapod 22: Can Annabelle, Ben and Toby make it out alive?

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0000

In the 12th and final hour of the Election 2023 Megapod, the Mount Rushmore of political podcasting returns and makes a desperate dash for the finish line. There is some discussion of polling and the campaign trail as it hits mid-point, but mostly it’s Annabelle pounding her chest and shouting, “there’s nothing left in here for you.”

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 21: The Real Pod x Gone By Lunchtime + The Worm

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0000

It’s getting late and unruly on the Election 2023 Megapod, and that means it’s time for The Real Pod’s Jane Yee and Duncan Greive to join Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas – as well as Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman – to remember The Worm, the strange and transformative graphic that once crawled across debate screens. The quintet then look back on key appearances by politicians on reality television.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here..

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Megapod 20: Bernard Hickey – the man, the myth, the machine

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 02:00:00 -0000

In an extended interview, Toby Manhire talks to Bernard Hickey about his life in media, politics and the economy. We also discover why Bernard has totally changed his approach to journalism.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 19: All hail Policy.nz

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0000

Ollie Neas of Policy.nz joins Toby Manhire to reflect on the history and purpose of New Zealand’s best policy comparison tool, how it works, and what it can tell us already about the parties’ priorities in this year’s election.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 18: Youth Wings revisited

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 22:00:00 -0000

As the second season of The Spinoff video series Youth Wings is released, two of the participants from the previous season join Toby Manhire to give their impressions of the new crop, reflect on responses to their own appearances three years ago, and reveal what they’re up to now.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 17: Raf Manji says Top is still in the game

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 20:00:00 -0000

Despite a poll that put him in third place, Raf Manji insists that he can win the seat of Ilam and bring the Opportunities Party into parliament for the first time.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 16: Grant Robertson on Labour’s record and the mood for change

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 18:00:00 -0000

How does Labour’s economic record stack up after six years? Toby Manhire talks to Grant Robertson about his approach to politics, memories of 2005, and whether he feels he’s achieved what he hoped for.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 15: Andrew Geddis on how to make a government

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 16:00:00 -0000

Just how much power does the governor general wield, is David Seymour’s thought experiment of “confidence but no supply” plausible, and what would happen in a 60-seats-all tie? Constitutional expert Andrew Geddis joins Toby Manhire to chew through the scenarios.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 14: David Seymour on why he despises political TV drama

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 07:00:00 -0000

Act leader David Seymour explains why he thinks political dramas on television are a dangerous drug for politicians. Plus: does he want Act to “own” policy areas in a coalition, or to feed in across the board?

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 13: Ben McKay on the Voice vote in Australia

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Australians will vote on October 14, too: on creating a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. What would the creation of this body mean and how is the debate shaping up? Plus: how interested are Australians in New Zealand politics now Jacinda Ardern has left the scene?

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 12: Brooke Van Velden on the battle for Tāmaki

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 03:00:00 -0000

The Act deputy leader has launched an audacious challenge in the east Auckland seat of Tāmaki. She joins Toby Manhire to discuss her philosophical differences with Simon O’Connor, whether Act could live with an anti-abortion MP in its caucus, and the policy issues that fire her up. She also reveals that Act has written a letter of complaint to Newshub about coverage of its campaign launch.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 11: The hot seats in election 2023

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 01:00:00 -0000

Which electorates have pulses racing in this campaign? Toby Manhire is joined by Spinoff colleagues Charlotte Muru-Lanning, Stewart Sowman-Lund, Shanti Mathias and Joel MacManus to pick the seats they’re most excited about, including Tāmaki Makaurau, Tāmaki, Wellington Central and Ilam.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 10: Chris Hipkins reveals he has read a book

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 23:00:00 -0000

In the first debate, Labour leader Chris Hipkins appeared to suggest he had not read a book. On our epic 12-hour megapod, he confirmed that in fact he has, and what his favourite books are. Plus, Hipkins’ self-assessment of his mojo, the mood in Gisborne, his prediction for turnout and political TV comfort food.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 9: The foreign affairs debate we’re not having in election 2023

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:00:00 -0000

International issues have so far had stuff-all airtime in the campaign. University of Otago professor Robert Patman talks Ukraine and Russia, Aukus, and the geopolitical questions the leaders should be facing.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 8: Erica Stanford on the minister she wants to be

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 19:00:00 -0000

High-flying National MP Erica Stanford joins Toby Manhire to explain why she wants to be education minister and why the National Party wants to mandate structured literacy. Plus: the pressure politicians face and a response to the suggestion a two-woman party leadership wouldn’t fly.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 7: Lara Greaves on polling, the Māori roll and harassment

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 17:00:00 -0000

Victoria University of Wellington political scientist, Lara Greaves, talks about changes to how the Māori roll works, online harassment and the pros and cons of polling.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 6: James Shaw on the climate change election

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Green Party co-leader James Shaw joins Toby Manhire to explain how he’s striving to get climate change on the agenda in a cost-of-living campaign, the “ultimate threat multiplier” and the agony of rewatching The West Wing.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 5: A conversation with Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 03:00:00 -0000

Fresh from a poll that puts her second in Te Tai Hauāuru, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer talks with Toby Manhire about her prospects, the party’s priorities, and how the party has changed from the days of Tariana Turia.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 4: A special Auckland Central debate / shock moderator walkout

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 01:00:00 -0000

Toby Manhire is joined by the three leading candidates in the race for Auckland Central: sitting MP Chlöe Swarbrick of the Greens, National’s Mahesh Muralidhar and Labour’s Oscar Sims. What do they have to say about transport in the city? Housing? Crime? And will Toby storm out of the studio and leave them to debate without him?

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 3: Michael Wood on a hellish year and the campaign ahead

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 23:00:00 -0000

Labour MP Michael Wood talks to Toby about the impact of his resignation as a minister three months ago (“It was really awful to be honest”), the campaign to date, and what he hopes to do next. Plus: we enquire about his redemption animal (clue: it’s not a yak).

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 2: Highlights and lowlights of the first leaders’ debate

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 03:50:00 -0000

Toby Manhire is joined by Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell and founder Duncan Greive to critique the performances of Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon in the 1News debate, and critique the critiques.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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Megapod 1: The first TVNZ leaders' debate, assessed

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 03:48:00 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas size up the big first clash of Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon under the hot studio lights at 1News. What were the flashpoints, would have emerged the happiest, and is this going to change people's votes? Plus: the angry fence man disrupts Act's campaign launch and the latest from the campaign trail with 24 days to go. Plus: the latest Ipsos Issues Monitor and a new poll on Te Tai Hauāuru.

This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.

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A conversation with Act leader David Seymour

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 19:41:00 -0000

David Seymour has led the Act Party from the edge of extinction to a major force in the NZ parliament and stands today on the brink of bringing multiple MPs to the cabinet table. In a wide-raning conversation with Toby Manhire, he talks about why he doesn't want to talk about Winston Peters, the reasons behind the party seeing five candidates withdraw within two months, and defends his assertion that Nelson Mandela would back his party. Plus: Is Act's housing policy a Nimby's charter, why he's not interested in the baubles of office, and would Mary Poppins vote for Act?

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Is Chris Luxon the new Paul Newman?

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 01:42:00 -0000

With the first leaders' debate less than a week away, Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire ask if the National leader is staging an epic hustle. Does mounting pressure on National over purported numbers for a foreign buyer property tax offer hope that Chris Hipkins and Labour can reclaim some of the lost ground, or do a succession of polls that put them in the 20s mean they're in furniture-saving mode? Plus: how is the energy on the campaign trail, do the numbers of the Prefu change things, and why Winston Peters' claim that Māori are not indigenous to New Zealand amounts to much more than a quirky academic exercise.

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Bonus episode: Everybody was Prefu Fighting

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 06:13:34 -0000

A big day in the 2023 campaign as Treasury opens up the books and sets out the pre-election fiscal update. Toby Manhire is joined by When the Facts Change host, Kākā pilot and sage of the political economy Bernard Hickey to explain what the Prefu reveals, how New Zealand's numbers compare internationally and what it means for the financial scrap playing out between National and Labour.

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A conversation with Green leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 19:00:00 -0000

Toby Manhire sits down with the co-leaders of the Green Party to discuss the successes and failures of the last six years, how they're approaching a crowded, antagonistic campaign, the electorate seats they're taking seriously and the great dance of rulings out and bottom lines. Plus: what was going through their heads as they stood a few metres away from Elizabeth Kerekere when she denounced an "epic failure of leadership" and the latest on the incident in which Davidson was struck by a motorcycle during the Posie Parker counter-protest.

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From the gelateria to the murder house

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 23:50:00 -0000

As the campaign kicks into full ice-cream-and-robotic-hands mode, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire size up the state of play. On the agenda: National's tax plan and the complaints of "heroic" assumptions; Labour's dental pledge and the promised land of 2026 (and memories of the old days when kids were bussed off to the "murder house"); the Labour and National campaign launches, their slickness and protester interruptions; and which other historical figures would have voted Act? Plus: an important update on Annabelle's pigeon situation.

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Live from Word Christchurch with special guest Lianne Dalziel

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:00:00 -0000

The state of the campaign, the struggling Chrises and the electorate battles to watch are all on the agenda as Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the stage at the Word Christchurch festival. Joining the trio is Lianne Dalziel, former cabinet minister and Christchurch mayor, to share her thoughts on the Labour campaign, the Christchurch electorates to watch and the local-central balance.

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Man bites underdog

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:13:00 -0000

A new poll lays bare National's ascendancy and the scale of Chris Hipkins' challenge. Is it about Labour's strategy, the state of the economy, or Christopher Luxon polishing his act? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the state of play with just over 50 days to the election. Plus: David Seymour's Guy Fawkes fantasy and Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who is on course to become the youngest MP since James Frederick Stuart-Wortley in 1853.

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Live from Boondogglepalooza

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 01:32:00 -0000

Will all the good polling in the world make up for the lampooning of Labour's big policy on GST and fruit and vegetables? Will Ben Thomas's coconut with a straw be exempt? Ben, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire discuss Chris Hipkins' launch into campaign mode, Grant Robertson's Damascene moment, and whether the initiative was seized back with a kindergarten launch of paid partner parental leave. Plus: Are we on the cusp of something special (in 2026)? Has Act revealed its worry about NZ First with a weird Winston Peters attack ad? Does the Robertson-Willis "liar" stuff point to a relentlessly belligerent campaign? How about those Greens? How about National's pledge to ban cellphones in schools? And should Sam Uffindell be appointed groceries commissioner?

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Bonus episode: Steven Joyce on how to win elections

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 17:00:00 -0000

The man who managed five National election campaigns joins Toby Manhire to talk about his new book, about going from Mr Fix It to Phone-a-friend, the National meltdown, the secrets to campaigning and working with the public service, and his encounters with fiscal holes, Eminem, a phallic squeaky pecker, and an MP who made headlines for talking about his testicles.

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Bonus episode: A conversation with the prime minister

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 17:00:00 -0000

Chris Hipkins sits down with Toby Manhire for a wide-ranging interview spanning his political foundations, the record of the Labour government after two terms, coping with a string of ministerial scandals, and what to expect in the campaign to come.

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The giant hole election

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 00:59:00 -0000

Join Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire in a deep dive into the holes of the emerging campaign. Is it time for a costings unit to stop the fiscal squabbles? Is Labour on the brink of reviving its GST-free fruit and vegetable policy, what does that mean for boondoggles and beetroot? What sticks out in the freshly announced Labour list, and how can Chris Hipkins halt the party's bad momentum. And why is Christopher Luxon refusing to state clearly whether National would work with NZ First to form a government?

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Bonus episode: Kiri Allan resigns

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 03:48:00 -0000

New Zealand woke to news this morning that cabinet minister Kiri Allan had resigned and will face charges for careless driving and resisting arrest after crashing her car last night. Toby Manhire recounts what we know so far, and reflects on Allan's extraordinary political story.

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Hipkins scratches the switch

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 01:38:00 -0000

Chris Hipkins has dashed the hopes of some of his most senior colleagues and Labour progressives by burying the prospect of a wealth tax or new capital gains tax under his leadership. Is that a surprise, and what does it say about the state of the party and the campaign, wonder Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire. Also on the list in a busy patch of pre-campaign activity: Labour launch a slogan and a week of law and order policy; National growls at potholes and offers KiwiSaver solutions to rental bonds; the Greens pledge to return stolen Māori land; the Dawn Raids report that made the apology ring hollow; and the major parties on course for their worst combined result since 2002.

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One hundred days to go. Or is it?

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 00:50:00 -0000

Kiri Allan is under pressure over her relationships with staff – what exactly is she accused of and does it add up to a serious controversy? Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather size up the pressure on the minister, and the poly-distractions confronting Chris Hipkins. Also this week: the National Party doubles down on law and order as it targets 45%; the prime minister walks the tightrope in China before setting off for a Nato summit in Lithuania; and what is the mood on the ground in one of the most exciting electorate battles, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti? Plus: your plucky political podcasters debate who has correctly counted the number of days to the election – Toby Manhire or Mike Hosking?

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Bonus episode: Direct from the Great Hall of the People

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 04:04:00 -0000

The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman has just returned on the NZDF workhorse from covering Chris Hipkins' big week in China. She sits down with Toby Manhire to describe the scene in the Great Hall of the People, how Hipkins managed the tricky political challenges from Xi Jinping to Kiri Allan, and the prime minister's suboptimal approach to snacking.

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Bonus episode: Chris Hipkins and the China Challenge

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0000

As PM Hipkins leads a big delegation for a big week in China, Toby Manhire is joined by Newsroom's national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva (author of The China Tightrope: Navigating New Zealand's relationship with a world superpower) to discuss the state of the relationship, the shifting fault lines and the tripwires Chris Hipkins needs to avoid as he prepares to meet President Xi Jinping.

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Wet, Whiny and Gangward-looking

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0000

Nothing says election year quite like writ day, rosettes and pledges to crack down on gangs. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire look at the debate around the influx of gang members and police to Ōpōtiki. Also on the agenda: it's officially a recession - what kind of political weight does that carry? National embraces GMO and abandons He Waka Eke Noa as it attempts to wrench the rural vote back from Act - does it risk alienating voters in the middle? Plus: the Green Party's tax policy, the resignation or not of Meng Foon and the question that goes to the zeitgeist: have we, as Christopher Luxon says, really become a "very negative, wet, whiny, inward-looking" country?

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Bonus episode: Electoral review chair on the recs and the wreckers

Sat, 10 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0000

The review of electoral laws calls for wide-ranging changes, across the voting age, thresholds and donations. It also prompted derision from the likes of Mike Hosking, David Seymour and Winston Peters. Panel chair Deborah Hart joins Toby Manhire to explain the thinking behind the recommendations, and responds to the critics.

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Wood's stock: a very sloppy festival

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 00:48:00 -0000

Teenager Michael Wood's purchase of Auckland airport shares, and his failure to get rid of them as transport minister, have left Chris Hipkins with another big headache. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the mess and its implications. Plus: Simeon Brown and the many intersections of the National Party position on te reo and road signs; a Voyager media award for the Birkenhead Bowling Club interrogators; Christopher Luxon snookered on contraception fees while Labour goes full panto with Handmaid's Tale allusions; and all the big calls from the electoral review panel – are they right, and to they stand a chance of coming to pass?

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ChatGBL and the blowback budget

Wed, 24 May 2023 02:23:00 -0000

Toby Manhire crosses live to our correspondents in Wairoa and Ponsonby, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather, for an assessment of Grant Robertson’s attempt to thread the needle in the so-called no-frills budget and a National Party response that had a hint of artificial intelligence about it. Plus: is the $140 million being handed to foreign-owned NZ Steel for an electric furnace money well spent? Was Chris Hipkins’ whistlestop visit to Papua New Guinea time well expended? And is there anything more absorbing than the moody upheavals of Mayor Ben Bell and the Gore District Council?

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Budget special: Bernard Hickey and Toby Manhire binge on bread and butter

Thu, 18 May 2023 06:30:00 -0000

With the political and economic gravities pulling in various directions, the finance minister was tasked with providing support for the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis without heaping sugar in an already high-inflation sauce. And on top of that, it's an election year. To assess whether Grant Robertson managed to thread that needle, Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire sits down with When the Facts Change’s Bernard Hickey to discuss their Budget 2023 reactions.

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Coalitions, coronations and chaos

Thu, 11 May 2023 06:03:00 -0000

Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with te Pāti Māori, lambasted the “coalition of chaos” and invoked “separatism”. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire assess the strategy, the timing and the rhetoric. Plus: the latest on Meka Whaitiri and the reasons for her defection, the resignation of Elizabeth Kerekere and what it means for the Greens, and important discourse on the oiling of Charles III, king of New Zealand.

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Emergency podcast: Meka Whaitiri defects from Labour

Wed, 03 May 2023 03:29:00 -0000

Big news: The MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and government minister, Meka Whaitiri, has jumped from the Labour Party to the Māori Party. Were Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas, and Annabelle Lee-Mather as blindsided as Chris Hipkins, as he lived it large in London ahead of the Coronation? What exactly were her reasons for defecting? How damaging is it to the government? And, if she has really notified the Speaker that she has quit Labour, doesn't the waka jumping law dictate that she should no longer be an MP at all?

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Big Tax Energy

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 00:04:00 -0000

Is the report on tax paid by the wealthiest New Zealanders valuable data or political stunt, and does David Parker's campaign for a wealth tax stand a chance against Chris Hipkins' no-frills crusade? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss potential future Labour tax policy, relocating the podcast to Australia to take advantage of the new citizenship pathway; Kiri Allan, Meng Foon and donations; candidate selection, deep scrolls and the dangers of poetry to politicians.

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Three Waters? Never heard of it

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 03:03:00 -0000

As Chris Hipkins rebrands water reforms, making four entities into 10, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire ask whether the changes will be enough to mollify the critics. Plus: Jacinda Ardern's valedictory speech, reviewed; the Covid-19 settings decision, assessed; crybabygate; and the confiscation of lobbyists' swipe cards.

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Cross Chris'll make Stu jump

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:54:00 -0000

Stuart Nash is goneburger and Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas are here to file through his laundry list of infractions to decide whether or not Chris Hipkins should take further action. Could Nash end up in NZ First? Will he be snapped up by Ben and his lobbyist comrades? Plus: Marama Davidson calls out cis white men and Erica Stanford delivers the National Party's education policy.

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Cosying up next to the policy bonfire

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:49:00 -0000

Fresh from round two of Chris Hipkins’ “reprioritisation” (but pre-Stuart Nash’s resignation as police minister), Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas wade through the long list of culled policies to discuss the hottest topics in New Zealand politics. What is the meaning of the ever-shrinking government programme? Have the Greens been shafted? Is Christopher Luxon's role as leader of the National Party in trouble? We break it all down.

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We will not be neutered, declare Annabelle, Ben and Toby

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 23:35:00 -0000

After an online excoriation of National's Three Waters policy, Rob Campbell has insisted he will not be "politically neutered" and has been sacked as Te Whatu Ora chair. Was that fair, ask Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire. And was he right about National's policy? Plus: Grant Robertson says it's too early to decide how to pay for the Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild. Is a flood tax on the cards? How did the first clash of the Chrises at parliament go? A word on Maureen Pugh. Vale Chester Borrows. And the politics inside and outside Te Matatini.

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Ben calls in from Wairoa, the town torn apart by Cyclone Gabrielle

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 05:12:00 -0000

A week after the cyclone ravaged swathes of the North Island, the northern Hawke's Bay community of Wairoa is still assessing the damage and slowly, piece by piece, reconnecting to the world from which it was isolated. Ben Thomas, who has been in Wairoa since before the storm hit, calls in to talk with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire about the experience, the response and the political ramifications.

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Blame it on the Wayne

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:19:00 -0000

How has Chris Hipkins performed in his first big tests as prime minister? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas debate the deluge aftermath, as well as assessing Wayne Brown's emergency response, and a pair of polls that show an election year in the balance.

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Bread, butter, Coke, Pepsi: on PM Hipkins

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:50:00 -0000

In the blink of an eye we'll have a new NZ prime minister. Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess the coronation, the reset and what it all means for election 2023.

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EMERGENCY PODCAST: Jacinda Ardern resigns

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:09:00 -0000

An out-of-gas Jacinda Ardern is standing down as prime minister. What prompted the decision, what legacy will she leave, who is in the running to succeed her, and what does it all mean for election year? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas race from their own caucus retreat into the studio for this emergency episode.

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Bonus Episode: Predicting the 2023 election date

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 23:42:00 -0000

It's election year! In the coming weeks Jacinda Ardern will reveal the date of the upcoming general election. Toby Manhire uses his superior deduction skills in an attempt to predict the date before its announcement.

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Bonus Episode: The days that defined NZ politics in 2022

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0000

From the occupation at parliament to disruption within the National party, Toby Manhire flips through the calendar, circling key dates as he waves goodbye to a year that felt like it would never end.

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2022

Sun, 25 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0000

SUPERPOD is back! And for 2022, we're bigger than ever! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Leonie Hayden from Nē?, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler, SUPERPOD 2022 is our multiverse of madness. From the Black Ferns' historic win to Mike King's villainous turn on Celebrity Treasure Island, we cover the incredible highs and lows of what has been a terribly special year.

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Performing a check-up on NZ's political parties

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 03:21:00 -0000

What is the current state of our political parties as 2022 grinds to a spluttering halt? On the eve of election year we ask; can Labour rejuvenate? Will National survive the spotlight? How did Act and the Greens keep their polling so strong, and how do they play 2023? Plus: Te Pāti Māori, NZ First and even TOP.

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The fog of Orr

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 04:23:00 -0000

As Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr paints a gruesome picture for the year ahead, Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire ask what it means for the election ahead. Plus: National kills its tax cut darling, Christopher Luxon stumbles on super numbers, the boot camp brouhaha, Winston Peters’ break from tradition, and an extended constitutional corner in which the GBL team impersonate public law intellectuals and assess the entrenchment malarkey and the supreme court ruling on the voting age.

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Kiri Allan, Erica Stanford and Chlöe Swarbrick on five terrible, glorious years

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0000

Five years ago, three would-be MPs accepted invitations from The Spinoff to write diaries chronicling their efforts. Five years on, in a special live event made possible by Spinoff Members, Kiritapu Allan, Erica Stanford and Chlöe Swarbrick talk candidly with Toby Manhire about that incredible 2017 campaign, and their extraordinary first five years in parliament.

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Good cop, bad cop, dark cop, anxious cop

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:13:00 -0000

As Labour lurches from upbeat conference to buzzkill poll, Ben, Annabelle and Toby look at how they’re changing their tactical approach to National. Plus: Jacinda Ardern’s verbal salvo at the banks, the Adrian Orr war of independence and David Parker launches a ream raid on the RMA.

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Labour girds its loins

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 23:04:00 -0000

As the Labour Party gathers in Auckland for its annual conference, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the impact of the just-passed fair pay agreement legislation, the likely fate of three waters, and the great National repeal agenda, as well as whether National's own tax cut plans will survive to the election. With a byelection in Hamilton West less than a month away, what do the lineups tell us, and who has most to lose? Plus: All the juiciest gossip about precisely when, where and why Jacinda Ardern maybe definitely will resign.

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Raf Manji on TOP 3.0

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:31:00 -0000

Earlier this year, former Christchurch councillor Raf Manji became the third leader of the Opportunities Party. In this GBL special, fresh from the unveiling of a tax overhaul policy, Manji tells Toby Manhire why he took on the new job, how he hopes to win the seat of Ilam, why he doesn’t want to be part of government, and just how he feels about cats.

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Star-studded live Tauranga special

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 02:57:00 -0000

To cap off a tremendous Escape Festival in Tauranga, Minister Jan Tinetti and the incoming mayor of Rotorua, Tania Tapsell join the GBL trio of Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas before a live audience. On the agenda: the meaning of the local elections, the kind of election to expect in 2023, some wild predictions and which hat will Jan Tinetti wear?

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Local election super-wrap special

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 23:25:00 -0000

A whistle-stop tour of the biggest and most surprising results in the 2022 local body elections, from south to north, with The Spinoff’s local election squad of Toby Manhire, Shanti Mathias and Stewart Sowman-Lund. Plus: what message do they send as a whole to Jacinda Ardern and the Labour government, the role three waters played, and what to do about another dismal turnout.

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Phil Goff special: on a life in politics and idealism v pragmatism

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0000

After 40 years and 14 election campaigns, Phil Goff is departing politics. He completes his farewell tour in a discussion with Toby Manhire, spanning his early years as a long haired, idealistic activist and being at the controversial cabinet table with David Lange and Roger Douglas and later with Helen Clark. Plus: his time as mayor of Auckland, whether local government needs an overhaul, and what's next.

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Around the poll campfire

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 01:16:00 -0000

Ben, Annabelle and Toby huddle around the new TVNZ/Kantar numbers to warm their frostbitten fingers. What does it mean for the year to election day, who will be happiest, and, for the first time ever in political punditry they ask: Can Winston Peters be written off? Plus: Is Christopher Luxon onto a winner on tax attack, was the Sam Uffindell report sufficiently transparent, and is the Public Service Commissioner’s investigation into potential Nanaia Mahuta conflicts necessary – or even overdue?

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Charles III, king of Aotearoa

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 00:24:00 -0000

On their 18th hour queuing outside Westminster Hall, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas pause to discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the accession of KC3 and what it means for Aotearoa and the national appetite for going republic.

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King Charles III special

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 05:26:00 -0000

No, KC3 is not on the pod, but we have the next best thing: Otago University professor and royal correspondent Andrew Geddis, in conversation with Toby Manhire following the death of Queen Elizabeth after 70 years on the throne. What is the monarch’s role in New Zealand’s political apparatus? Can the head of state intervene in our stuff? And what might the accession of Charles mean for the republican cause?

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The cost of living cudgel and political chocolate

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 23:57:00 -0000

The "squeezed middle" payment was meant to be a political circuit breaker, but it's left the government on the defensive. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire speak on what went wrong and the demands for an apology - does the scramble to explain adding GST on KiwiSaver fees just add to a sense that they're not in control of the story? Plus: Slán leat to Trevor Mallard and kia ora to new speaker Adrian Rurawhe, the potential for Brian Tamaki's new Freedom NZ political project, and Marama Davidson gets grief for use of the C-word (chocolate).

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Chris Finlayson on the rule of law and the fear of winning

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 16:00:00 -0000

In a special episode to mark the publication of his book Yes, Minister, the former National cabinet minister talks to Toby Manhire about the Key years, the state of the National Party, the colleagues he’d admired and those he loathed. He reflects on his role in building and promoting principles of Crown-Māori co-governance, his time as attorney general, and why he lived in terror of winning an electorate seat.

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Gaurav Sharma and Sam Uffindell, suspended

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 02:29:00 -0000

Two junior MPs, one new and the other very new, have become the centre of political attention in the last 10 days. Both have been suspended from their party caucus. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire examine the allegations by Labour's Sharma, the extraordinary way it played out and Jacinda Ardern's response. And what of National's Uffindell? Should he be punished for an assault more than 20 years ago, has he atoned and how did Christopher Luxon deal with it? Plus: what do the cases together tell us about the culture in the parties and the strange workplace of parliament?

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Auckland mayoral election special, with the doyen of Super City journalism Todd Niall

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 01:47:00 -0000

Our biggest city is gearing up for its fifth Super City election, and the golden-voiced Todd Niall – formerly of RNZ and now senior Auckland reporter for Stuff – has seen them all. He joins Toby Manhire to discuss the leading contenders for the office some call the country’s second most important elected role, including Efeso Collins, Leo Molloy, Viv Beck and Wayne Brown, who have recent been joined by two unexpected candidates: John Palino (of Florida) and Lisa Lewis (of Hamilton).

Plus: How does 2022 compare with previous campaigns? Why are turnout numbers so risible? And what can a mayor actually hope to achieve?

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James versus Ron for Greens co-leader

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:02:00 -0000

The Green Party AGM voted to make James Shaw reapply for his job, but so far his only challenger is Ron, aka Re-open Nominations. Toby, Annabelle and Ben ask what it means for the party. Plus: Thousands of people around the world have been given $350 they don’t deserve by the NZ government – is this a big cock-up or a big beat-up? Is enough being done to close the gaping loophole exposed in political donations law? And a comprehensive history of Ben Thomas’s political career.

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UK politics special: The Boris Johnson implosion

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 16:00:00 -0000

Guardian journalist Richard Adams joins Toby Manhire to recount the scandals and fabrications of "a government run by journalists" and assess the contest for a new Conservative leader and prime minister. Also: the state of the Labour opposition, and what Christopher Luxon and New Zealand can learn from the English education system.

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Andrea Vance on Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis

Sun, 17 Jul 2022 16:00:00 -0000

The hell years of National since John Key's departure are revisited in jaw-dropping detail in Andrea Vance's new book. In a special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, she talks to Toby Manhire about the revelations, and whether Christopher Luxon can consign the bad times to history.

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Relentlessly negative and around the world

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 16:00:00 -0000

The Rats are back: Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas have been released from isolation and there’s a lot to catch up on. With Toby Manhire, they discuss the surging winter COVID wave, the new measures and the health system; what Jacinda Ardern achieved at Nato, the EU and in Australia; and Christopher Luxon’s own trip abroad and his response on abortion and policy as MP Simon O’Connor cheers the Roe v Wade overturn. And there’s more: Te Pāti Māori’s AGM and the petition on Te Matatini funding, plus Act’s conference and David Seymour’s demands for the first 100 days of a National-Act government.

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Strike raptor Gib board taskforce

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 01:56:00 -0000

Is a plasterboard shortage turning into a political crisis? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire unholster the tape measure. Plus: Who were the winners and losers in Tauranga’s byelection, Jacinda Ardern heads to Europe to speak at Nato, all the ups, downs and sleights of hand in a “minor” cabinet reshuffle, and the legacy of Trevor Mallard.

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Gareth Hughes on Jeanette Fitzsimons and the future of the Greens

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 16:00:00 -0000

In this bonus episode, Toby Manhire talks to former Green MP Gareth Hughes about his new book on Jeanette Fitzsimons, a giant of green politics in New Zealand. They talk about her role in the Values, as co-leader of the Greens and within the Alliance in the formative years of MMP. Plus: what does he make of the Green Party in 2022?

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The president, the Pacific and a platinum jubilee

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 04:38:00 -0000

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire dress head to toe in union jacks to assess Jacinda Ardern's US visit and the furious Chinese response to her joint statement with Joe Biden on the Pacific. Plus: the prime minister returns to sobering domestic polls, a word for Queen Elizabeth, and the prospects of a King Charles.

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The squeezed muddle

Wed, 25 May 2022 03:41:00 -0000

In a globetrotting edition of our politics podcast, Toby, Annabelle and Ben look at the Australian election and its meaning for New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern's trip to the United States, and how much hinges on a meeting with Joe Biden. Plus: A look back at last week's budget and the so-called "squeezed middle", electoral reform, and the NZ on Air funded Chlöe Swarbrick doco.

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Budget 2022: Reaction special

Thu, 19 May 2022 04:12:00 -0000

Toby Manhire (Gone By Lunchtime; Auckland studio) and Bernard Hickey (When The Facts Change; parliament studio) join forces for a budget reaction crossover special.

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Chewing the budget pastry

Wed, 11 May 2022 05:13:00 -0000

Will Grant Robertson pull a cost of living rabbit out of the hat? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas talk budget day, the big emissions reduction plan, Te Pāti Māori and an early burst of coalition negotiations. Plus: can Jacinda Ardern forgive Trevor Mallard's trespasses, and what is the speaker playing at?

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Australian election special: Albo v Scomo

Wed, 04 May 2022 01:52:00 -0000

In this bonus extra pop-up edition of GBL, Toby Manhire calls AAP NZ correspondent Ben McKay, currently watching the campaign from Tasmania, for the latest on the race. Can Anthony Albanese’s Labor dethrone Scott Morrison’s Coalition? Will the ‘teal wave’ crash ashore? How does Australia’s electoral system work? And just how different is Australia’s media and political culture to Aotearoa’s?

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Christopher Luxon and the giant melancholy kiwifruit

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 02:26:00 -0000

Five months in, how is the new National leader faring? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire give their verdicts. Plus: the Rotorua representation bill, grounded kiwis and existential kiwifruit garnish Ardern’s trip abroad.

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Aotearoa joins the war in Europe

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 04:19:00 -0000

As NZ dispatches a 1969 Herc, 59 personnel and “lethal aid” cash to support Ukraine, how big a shift is it in our contribution? Plus: will fair pay agreements be this government’s biggest achievement? What is Ashley Bloomfield’s legacy? What is Louisa Wall up to? And a word on Moana Jackson.

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Is it the beginning of the end of the Covid response?

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 03:10:00 -0000

Vaccine mandates, passes and other restrictions are all on the way out. But our Covid numbers are worse than they've ever been. Leading pundit-podiologists Annabelle, Ben and Toby do the maths. Plus: David Seymour and Act call for a referendum on Māori co-governance, Louisa Wall quits parliament, and a Solomon Islands defence deal with China causes alarm.

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Simon Bridges on his shock exit from politics

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 04:00:00 -0000

The morning after announcing he's quitting politics, former National leader and self-proclaimed “regular dickhead” Simon Bridges joins Gone By Lunchtime in a candid conversation to explain the decision and his future plans – and reflect on the people "who exploded on me".

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What next for the parliament occupation?

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 02:00:00 -0000

Annabelle and Toby are joined by The Spinoff’s political editor Justin Giovannetti to talk about the latest from the parliamentary occupation and the government's response. Did Jacinda Ardern get it right? Was Chris Luxon right to diagnose a New Zealand divided? And should the action be called “an anti-mandate protest” or is it something else? Also: the dramatic wave of omicron washing across the country, Ashley Bloomfield’s mea culpa on a big overestimation of PCR test lab capacity and the New Zealand response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

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The parliament protest and Trevor's iPod

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 02:00:00 -0000

As the anti-mandate occupation of parliament grounds enters its ninth day, Toby, Annabelle and Ben ask: just who are the protesters? Have the police got the response right? What about Trevor Mallard? And is it a good idea to engage? Plus: The latest from the Auckland mayoral race.

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Opening up

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 04:30:00 -0000

Annabelle, Ben and Toby celebrate their sixth year of close pod contact. Jacinda Ardern's opening up speech, reviewed. The Bellis saga, assessed. RATs, digested. The polls, examined. And Ben's Covid test result, revealed.

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Summer reissue: The end of the Collins era

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021.

From November: Judith Collins is out as leader of the opposition after a spectacularly messy 24 hours of politics. But who’ll replace her? The Gone By Lunchtime team assembles for an emergency edition of the podcast.

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Summer reissue: Podathon 2021

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021.

From October: Annabelle, Ben and Toby spend 24 hours Zorbing the length of the country in the cause of vaccination and political commentary. On the agenda: what comes after elimination, the vaccine rollout, and MMP at 25.

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Summer reissue: The stuck ship era

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021.

From March: Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas as they discuss Labour’s now week-old housing package, the National caucus's fluoride vote, Christopher Luxon, travel bubbles, Police 10-7 and more.

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2021

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:00:00 -0000

Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire and featuring representatives from The Real Pod, The Fold, Nē? and Dietary Requirements, SUPERPOD 2021 is the crossover podcast event we’ve been waiting all year for. Join us as we relive the highs and lows and heroes and villains of the longest, shortest year in living memory.

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The great 2021 Gone By Lunchtime Christmas quiz

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 03:00:00 -0000

As the sun sets on 2021, Toby, Annabelle and Ben are joined by a cast of very special guests with a crop of hard-boiled good-time questions for the inaugural Gone By Lunchtime Christmas quiz.

Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz

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Luxonmania

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0000

In a Gone By Lunchtime exclusive the identity of the new National Party leader can finally be revealed. Who is Christopher Luxon, what kind of job does he have in front of him now, how has he performed in his first 24 hours as leader of the opposition, is Nicola Willis a good choice as deputy, will we see any signs of Luxonmania at the polls – and what now for Judith Collins and Simon Bridges?

Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz

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Who wants to lead the National Party next?

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 04:30:00 -0000

Judith Collins is out as leader of the opposition after a spectacularly messy 24 hours of politics. But who’ll replace her? And what about all the other quite important things this saga has overshadowed? The Gone By Lunchtime team assembles for an emergency edition of the podcast.

Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz

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Ordinary Kiwi Christmas

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 02:05:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is back in the socially distanced studio this week and the vibe is roughly akin to a Peter Sinclair hosted TVNZ panel show from the 1970s. Topics of conversation include the changes to borders, restrictions, mandates, numbers (both vaccine and poll), Kiwi Christmas and how Annabelle’s house is being reclaimed by local pigeons.

Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz

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Traffic lights

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 22:00:00 -0000

Toby, Annabelle and Ben meet via Zoom under alert level three step one to discuss the newly announced traffic light system, vaccine rates, mandates, MIQ, housing policy... and how Annabelle rescued a pigeon.

Vote for Gone By Lunchtime in the NZ Podcast Awards! Visit nzpodcastawards.com to vote.

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Podathon 2021

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 21:01:00 -0000

Annabelle, Ben and Toby spend 24 hours Zorbing the length of the country in the cause of vaccination and political commentary. On the agenda: what comes after elimination, the vaccine rollout, and MMP at 25.

Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz

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Every Covid plan reviewed

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 21:32:00 -0000

New Zealand’s main opposition parties (and Sir John Key) have released their master plans for what to do about Covid-19 in the past week. Toby, Annabelle and Ben weigh them up in this late night lockdown edition of Gone By Lunchtime. Also: vaccination rates, MIQ, air-fryers.

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The unofficial epidemic response committee

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 22:01:00 -0000

Annabelle, Ben and Toby set their Zoom backgrounds to Wānaka, take on the role of the official opposition, and ask how long Judith Collins can survive – all while defeating delta with nothing but celery and refried beans.

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Judith's Wednesday wobbly and David's terrible tweet

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 00:25:00 -0000

From deep within the level four fortress, Toby, Annabelle and Ben discuss a terrorist attack in Auckland, what's next in the Covid response, and Judith Collins losing the plot. Plus: wtf was David Seymour thinking?

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Another late night lockdown extravaganza

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 23:00:00 -0000

The Gone By Lunchtime team enters the second week of lockdown with another late night Zoom edition of the pod. In this episode: vaccines, tests, case numbers, locations of interest, elimination strategy, the border, The Croods.

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Lullabies for the team of five million

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 00:02:00 -0000

Less than 24 hours into level four, the Gone By Lunchtime team assembles over Zoom for one of their famed late night lockdown pods. On this episode: the inevitable return of Covid in the community, the Skegg report, vaccine hesitancy, Afghanistan, Winston Peters and a snub from Simon Bridges.

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High-level political vibe discourse

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 01:00:00 -0000

What links Labour's poll drop, the Covid response, Judith Collins' challenges, Mātauranga Māori and a proliferation of professors? Vibes. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire return with New Zealand's most reverberating analysis.

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Howl of a podcast

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 02:00:00 -0000

Ben, Toby, and special guest star Mihingarangi Forbes demand all the debates and debate all the demands. In this episode: The farmers’ howl of a protest! The Mongrel Mob and meth programmes! David Seymour's successes! Fish + chips + communism! Freedom Day in England!

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Vaccines, Karens and the UNDrip

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 01:30:00 -0000

In another triumph of love speech over hate speech, Annabelle, Ben and Toby discuss Covid, vaccines and roadmaps, the three waters reform, Willy Jackson’s UNDrip response, the National Party purge and the malice that lives in Ben’s soul.

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New Winston Peters dropped

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 03:30:00 -0000

After an eight month absence, the Winston Peters bus burst back out of the barn at the weekend. How did he do, and where is he going? Plus: the electric car rebate row, "legitimate" utes, the vaccine roll-out and heated development battles in Wellington and Waiheke.

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The Phantom Menace of political summits

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 02:00:00 -0000

It's been another week of National making headlines for the wrong reasons, with Nick Smith, Jake Bezzant and Paul Goldsmith making life difficult for Judith Collins. Plus: the Climate Commission's final report lands, bridges, bike lanes and roads, and the ScoMo-Jacinda Queenstown summit.

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The first and only pundits to weigh in on Budget 2021

Tue, 25 May 2021 02:00:00 -0000

In this once-in-a-generation edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess last week's benefit-boosting budget, chew over plans for unemployment insurance, discuss the immigration "reset", and ask: is David Seymour now the leader of the opposition?

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He Puapua, Te Tiriti and Judith Collins

Thu, 13 May 2021 05:07:00 -0000

After a big week for pay, Annabelle, Ben and Toby discuss the public sector pay freeze-not-freeze and the less heralded but bigger deal that is the fair pay agreement. They're joined, too, by "the masked podder", who may or may not be Mihingarangi Forbes, to discuss the He Puapua report and Judith Collins' "segregation" claims.

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The end of DHBs, local government and Selena Gomez

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 03:59:00 -0000

In this special pink moon edition of the podcast, Toby, Annabelle and Ben discuss the government’s recently announced health reforms, National’s race-baiting response, Nanaia Mahuta’s China speech and big hopes for her review of local government. Ben also goes in big time on the major celebrity beef (allegedly) between Jacinda Ardern and Selena Gomez.

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45 minutes of silence

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 01:30:00 -0000

After an impeccably-observed 45 minutes of silence for the Duke of Edinburgh (edited out of this version), the Gone By Lunchtime team get on to discussing the latest big stories in New Zealand politics. In this episode: the temporary ban on arrivals from India, the Māori Party’s donations strife, drug policy and leadership ructions in the National Party.

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The housing package and the stuck ship

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 01:27:00 -0000

Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas as they discuss Labour’s now week-old housing package, the National caucus's fluoride vote, Christopher Luxon, travel bubbles, Police 10-7 and more.

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In loving memory of landline polling

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 01:50:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime briefly pauses Rocking the Dock to discuss the latest poll results and other highlights from the fortnight in New Zealand politics.

On this week’s episode: The latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll results and the death of landline polling; Jacinda Ardern quitting her weekly Mike Hosking radio slot; the National Party review under lock and key and the push for diversity in candidates; Covid lockdown 4.0 for Auckland and how that was handled; the vaccination roll-out announced and lessons from Hui polling on Māori attitudes to vaccines; and a thorough grilling of Annabelle and Ben for their podcasting betrayals.

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Rethinking MIQ, Australia and businesswear

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 01:27:00 -0000

New Zealand’s leading political podcast pivots to true crime this week to investigate the disappearance of political commentator Ben Thomas from Twitter. Where did he go – and what’s he been doing with all his hot takes on The Bachelorette NZ?

Also discussed in this week’s episode: the latest short, sharp three-day lockdown, the ongoing Covid response and the need for specialist MIQ facilities, trans-Tasman relations, raising benefit levels and the great parliamentary neckwear debate of 2021.

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Welcome to 2021, the tribute year to 2020

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 01:58:00 -0000

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee Mather and Toby Manhire kick off the year in political podcast punditry, taking on the major parties, Waitangi plans, councils, and the whopping great climate report.

As news reaches Gone By Lunchtime that it’s already the second month of the year, The Spinoff’s political podcasting triumvirate sits down to study the 2021 tea leaves. On the agenda in this episode: The National Party cautions against taking the bait while chewing furiously on a rusty hook; a big week for Māori seats and Māori wards; Waitangi Day commemorations; Ben’s grand plan to abolish all councils; Damien O’Connor’s big moment in the Chinese and Australian media; and the roadmap/cycleway laid out in the Climate Change Commission report.

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Summer reissue: The morning after election night, with Chlöe Swarbrick

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer, so we're republishing some of our favourite episodes of 2020. This week: the one where everybody was really, really tired.

First released October 18, 2020.

It's the morning after a very successful election night for Labour, and a pretty good one for the Greens too – especially in Auckland Central, where Chlöe Swarbrick looks to have turned the electorate green for the first time. She joined the Gone By Lunchtime trio in the studio the morning after to talk the campaign, election night and the cannabis referendum, and get some advice from Annabelle's mum (Sandra Lee, Auckland Central MP 1993-1996).

Also on this rare Sunday edition of the pod: What will Labour do with its historic victory? Is there a place for the Greens? What happens to National after their annus horribilis? And what is Winston Peters' legacy?

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Summer reissue: Mervmania

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 06:25:09 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite episodes of 2020. This week: Mervmania hits the election campaign trail.

First released August 11, 2020.

With 39 days to go until New Zealand goes to the polls, talkback caller 'Merv' has lit up the election campaign, delivering a deeply unmellow curtain-raiser to the National Party's Auckland Central candidate selection. Plus: the Labour launch, NZ First's terrible poll, and what is Gerry Brownlee playing at?

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Summer reissue: Politics in Pubs with Simon Bridges

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 13:00:00 -0000

First released July 31, 2020.

For the third Politics in Pubs event, recorded live at Meow in Wellington, former National Party leader Simon Bridges joins Danyl Mclauchlan to talk the events of 2020, what the role of the opposition leader is in a time of national crisis is, what he thinks of the election campaign so far, the challenges facing New Zealand politics... and of course baby yaks.

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Summer reissue: Emergency Toddcast

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 13:00:00 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite interviews of 2020. This week: relive the 53-day reign of Todd Muller as National Party leader.

First released July 14, 2020.

At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job.

How did it come to this, and who is likely to emerge as the new leader, with less than 10 weeks to an election? Will deputy Nikki Kaye be promoted by caucus tonight? Is it Judith Collins' time? Can Simon Bridges complete the great arc of redemption? What about Gerry Brownlee or Mark Mitchell?

Or maybe just chuck a baby yak in charge.

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2020

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 02:19:00 -0000

Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff’s podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was.

Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and villains of 2020.

From National’s botched election campaign to Ben Thomas’ take on TikTok, via the collapse of Bauer, the rise of oat milk, with a detour through controversial frozen grapes and Simon’s Sausage Spot, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Superpod. Featuring special guests producer T and Covid-19.

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End of year special with Jacinda Ardern

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:00:00 -0000

The prime minister drops in for a chat with Toby Manhire in a scoop-filled bonus episode of Gone By Lunchtime.

When Jacinda Ardern looks back on the year 2020, what one day stands out in her memory? And when she slides open the lid of a dairy freezer this summer, what ice cream will she be reaching for? Find the answers to these questions and more in this end of year special.

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The Golden Handbrake Awards 2020

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 12:00:00 -0000

Fresh from the Press Gallery Christmas Party, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas convene for the final time in 2020 to recap the year in New Zealand politics.

What do Jacinda Ardern, Chlöe Swarbrick, David Seymour, Labour’s Covid-19 response, the Maori Party’s return to parliament, National’s Todd Muller era, that disastrous campaign day on Ponsonby Road, Winston Peters and the Bad Boys of Brexit all have in common? They’re all solid SEO terms, and they’re all up for discussion in Gone By Lunchtime’s recap of all the biggest winners and losers and movers and shakers from the year in New Zealand politics.

Join the three-headed politics podcasting hydra as they look back on the last 12 months, relive all their social gaffes from the Press Gallery Christmas Party and decide what they want to put in The Spinoff Aotearoa 2020 Time Capsule.

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Lustful frothing as parliament returns

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 01:02:55 -0000

On the eve of the opening of the 53rd parliament of New Zealand, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dress up as Black Rod.

As 120 familiar and fresh faces swarm upon the tropical paradise of Wellington for a brand new parliament, the Gone By Lunchtime trio ruminate on the politics to come.

What state is the National opposition in after an AGM that saw Peter Goodfellow hang on to the presidency despite his party's dismal election? Was he right about the celebrity tyranny of Jacinda Ardern, or was John Key more on the money in urging his kinfolk to examine their own shortcomings?

How susceptible, meanwhile, is the majority Labour government as house prices continue to soar into the stupidsphere?

Plus: Rawiri Waititi and outdated oaths, Stuart Nash and tourist poo, and an incoherent bit about fireworks.

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A rummage through Labour's new cabinet

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:00:33 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather and Ben Thomas return, electrolytes replenished after the election marathon, to assess the newly-announced Labour cabinet and more.

It’s been 17 days since the election, and about 24 hours since the Labour announced the composition of its new cabinet. Really wanted to do a Nothing Compares 2 U reference there but just couldn't get it to work.

Anyway, the important thing is Gone By Lunchtime is back and fully revitalised with a raft of new cabinet appointments to discuss, not to mention the Green-Labour agreement and the fate of the referenda.

Was Kelvin Davis right to turn down the role of deputy PM? Did Ben actually manifest Ayesha Verrall’s ministerial appointment? Is Jan Tinetti real? And whatever happened to TrueBliss? All these questions and more answered – or at the very least asked – on this week’s Gone By Lunchtime.

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The morning after election night, with Chlöe Swarbrick

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 03:20:02 -0000

Greens MP Chlöe Swarbrick joins Annabelle Lee Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire to pick over the remains of election night in a special Sunday edition of Gone By Lunchtime.

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Bonus episode: On the road with Alex Braae

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 00:45:43 -0000

The Bulletin's Alex Braae, fresh from his tour of Aotearoa, joins Toby Manhire to reveal what he witnessed on the road in this special pre-election bonus episode of Gone By Lunchtime.

For 40 days and 40 nights (roughly, who's counting) Alex Braae packed up his Bulletin in his old kit bag, threw it in the back of a Jucy van and toured the country to take the campaign pulse.

He joins Toby Manhire for a special bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime to discuss the mood of the nation beyond the main centres, the small parties' prospects and the seats he's fizzing about watching on Saturday night.

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The final countdown to Election 2020

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 23:34:29 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire gather around the giant orb of truth for the last time before polls close to assess the parties' campaigns, select the seats they'll be drooling over, and put their pundit reputations on the line by predicting the final election outcome.

We're leaving together. But still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, to earth, who can tell?

After a long, fascinating, long, intriguing and long campaign, the Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate size up the main parties' campaigns, nominate some of the seats they'll be watching closely on election night, and foolishly issue predictions for the outcome.

Featuring a special cameo by Sandra Lee.

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Judgement day beckons after the third leaders' debate

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 00:16:53 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the Press debate in Christchurch, National's leaky redux, the advance voting surge and the rest of the big stories with a week and a half to go.

In 10 short days the skies will clear and for a few blessed hours the only hint of politics will be dogs outside polling stations on The Spinoff. Can Judith Collins close the gap? Has her caucus reverted to its self-sabotaging leaky ways? How did she fare in last night's third of four leader debates against Jacinda Ardern?

The Gone By Lunchtime trio provide definitive answers on all of these matters, as well as looking at Collins' suddenly visible Christianity: heartfelt devotion, or fiscal holy? Which of the Māori seats hangs most in the balance? And what explains the rush for early voting?

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The second NZ leaders' debate, assessed

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:19:37 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather, Ben Thomas and a very special guest go over what we learned from last night’s Newshub leaders’ debate between Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins.

It’s a four-person episode of Gone By Lunchtime this week as special guest Mihingarangi Forbes (The Hui, RNZ’s political podcast Party People) joins Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee Mather, both of whom were in the audience at last night’s Newshub leaders’ debate, and Ben Thomas, who wasn’t.

How was it, what did we learn, and how did Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins perform? Was democracy the winner on the day? Or Patrick Gower? Also, how much fish should we be eating?

There’s also a couple of new polls to assess, some other debates to look forward to, an SFO announcement – and an election day looming in a little over two weeks.

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The best and worst of last night’s debates

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 22:53:51 -0000

Election debate season is finally upon us, and the Gone By Lunchtime trio are here to talk Tuesday night’s two big debates. The Hui’s livestreamed Waiariki candidate debate between Hannah Tamaki, Rawiri Waititi and Tamati Coffey, and TVNZ’s leaders’ debate between Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern. One was raucous, robust, interesting and entertaining. The other was the leaders’ debate.

There’s also, after weeks in the polling darkness, a new set of Colmar Brunton numbers to crunch, and a new multi-billion dollar fiscal hole has opened up. Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather and Ben Thomas as they don their hard hats with the light on top and go exploring for political insights.

– Sign up to The Spinoff's newsletter Rec Room for weekly recommendations along with all our latest videos and podcasts.

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Welcome to Middelburg, Aotearoa

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 01:47:30 -0000

Ben Thomas never attends a party without a whakataukī in his pocket, and he does not disappoint in this week's edition of Gone By Lunchtime.

Along with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire, Ben sprinkles the wisdom on everything from the Māori Party policy to jettison "New Zealand" in favour of "Aotearoa" to the Labour Party policy to suffocate the tax debate in the 2020 campaign.

Are National and Labour about to pull muscles in their scrap for the centre ground? Why can't the Greens make an impression in the space left unclaimed? Does Winston Peters have a point in lambasting the cabinet decision to extend the current alert levels? How excited does the word "Prefu" make you? Plus: why is Jami-Lee Ross?

All this and more on this week's edition of Aotearoa's only(?) politics podcast.

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The Gone By Lunchtime apology special

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 01:07:38 -0000

The 2020 election has risen, bleary eyed, from its slumber, and so have Annabelle, Ben and Toby.

This week: Labour are promising a Matariki holiday, National are promising a health-driven response to meth addiction, and the Greens are trying to put the train back on the rails with the aid of several million apologies from James Shaw following the Green School debacle. Meanwhile, Winston Peters has found a path back to power: chugging ciggies, playing ping pong, and calling Jack Tame "James" a lot.

Plus: In an exclusive bonus feature, Toby chats to comedian Alice Snedden about the new season of Alice Snedden's Bad News.

– Sign up to The Spinoff's newsletter Rec Room for weekly recommendations along with all our latest videos and podcasts.

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Late night lockdown politics with the Alert Level Three

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 23:27:00 -0000

Join the the country's most mellifluous political pod trio, the Alert Level Three, for another late night lockdown edition of Gone By Lunchtime.

Covid-19 continues to dominate the political agenda, with Jacinda Ardern and cabinet having extended level three for the Auckland region until the end of the weekend. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the risks of lockdown fatigue, the new rules around masks, and the general sense of pre-election limbo.

Plus: has the National Party finally worked out the formula for effective opposition in the face of the Covid crisis, with Dr Shane Reti at the forefront? And the definitive answer on whether or not the voting age should drop to 16.

Bonus content: Listen right to the end to hear Ben's review of Mountain Dew flavoured Doritos.

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The Gone By Lunchtime guide to political edging

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:56:19 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas forget how to record a podcast over Zoom.

Most elements of life under lockdown feel a little bit easier the second time around, but not recording an episode of Gone By Lunchtime. After being held up for over an hour by a confusing tech issue (Ben’s new phone doesn’t have a headphone jack), the renowned podcasting trio finally get stuck into the week’s political issues, of which there are a few.

Topics include: the election date (it’s changed), community transmission (it’s back), Gerry Brownlee, Judith Collins, conspiracy theories, why National should run a Fat Freddy's Drop inspired campaign, and the concept of “political edging”. Ben's a bit mean about Ashley Bloomfield, there’s a bit of Zorb chat, and a nostalgic shot out to Merv and the Bad Boys of Brexit too. Miss those guys.

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Mervmania hits the 2020 election campaign

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 01:11:03 -0000

Merv Lee-Mather, Merv Thomas and Merv Manhire gather to discuss the most pressing issues of election 2020.

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Why Auckland Central is 2020's most exciting electorate

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 05:00:42 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas denounce new poll results that very slightly contradict their opinions.

The scale of the summit for the National Party? A poll came out last week with Labour at 53%, and that was considered good news for Judith Collins and the Strong Team.

With a month before advanced voting begins, Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess the state of the race, as well as the Act surge and Seymourmania, the valedictory speeches, the state of social liberal thinking in National, the battle for Auckland Central, the Māori seats (which are up for grabs), and the Burnham inquiry.

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Politics in Pubs 3: Simon Bridges on National Party upheavals, politics, and post-yak life

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 23:55:19 -0000

Politics in Pubs is supported by The Spinoff Members (https://members.thespinoff.co.nz) and in association with Verb Wellington (https://www.verbwellington.nz). Live sound by Sam Shallcrass, livestream by Tane Hipango.

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Politics roguecast: A bombshell poll for Judith Collins and National

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 01:57:35 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dust off the bazookas scattered around New Zealand politics in this week's Gone By Lunchtime.

A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins' National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern's Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a "rogue poll".

Annabelle, Ben and Toby impersonate Nate Silver and assess the veracity of the thing, and ask: is this the result of the disarray in National or Ardern's performance through the Covid crisis?

Plus: Was the Iain Lees-Galloway appropriately handled or a dirty politics throwback? Marama Davidson and James Shaw launch the Green campaign. Winston Peters lashes out (again). And is the political marriage of Jami-Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika Jr a serious prospect or a sideshow?

Either download now, subscribe through Apple Podcasts, or visit Gone By Lunchtime on Acast or Spotify

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Politics podcast: Judith Collins and the hot air Falloon

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 00:59:12 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on the Andrew Falloon scandal and its implications for a beleaguered National Party, a big weekend for Winston Peters and NZ First, and the chorus calling to charge arriving New Zealanders for their hotel isolation.

Less than two months out from the election, the National Party remains bedevilled by controversy. Just a few days after she became leader, Judith Collins has successfully demanded the resignation of Andrew Falloon, dismissing one of the claims around the circumstances under which unsolicited pornographic images were sent by the first term MP to more than one young woman as "clearly a lie".

The latest saga came to light wrapped up in declarations around the role of mental health. Are these messages reasonable or reprehensible? Did Collins handle the scandal appropriately? Where does it leave the National Party?

Annabelle, Ben and Toby take on these questions, as well as the state of Winston Peters and New Zealand First. With the party languishing well below the 5% threshold in polls, does the weekend's conference and big leader speech suggest there is a way back to parliament for Team Winston?

Plus: both the National Party and the government now look set upon introducing charges of around $3,000 for returning New Zealanders, to contribute to the costs of their mandatory hotel isolation. A fair demand to pay a share in the broad effort of the team of five million, or a breach of the basic right of citizens to come home, born of plain meanness?

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Emergency politics Toddcast: The National Party after Muller

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 23:56:29 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas reel at the announcement that Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the opposition.

At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job.

Or maybe just chuck a baby yak in charge.

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Politics podcast: The slogans have landed. Plus: a formal apology

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:35:19 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on ministerial resignations in the recent and middle-distant past, a new book from Judith Collins, and the reinvention of Simon Bridges

The Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate convenes to chew on all the issues, or at least some of them. Such as: Judith Collins' new book; the resignation of David Clark as health minister; the Clare Curran interview from the weekend and toxic politics; the Labour Party congress and "let's keep moving"; the social media cult of Simon Bridges; and the departure of Paula Bennett.

And, mostly important, a major mea culpa over vulgar and offensive statements in the last podcast.

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Politics in pubs podcast: Chlöe Swarbrick and Danyl Mclauchlan

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 23:50:41 -0000

In the second of our pre-election events, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, Danyl Mclauchlan talks to Chlöe Swarbrick, the MP seeking to tip the table of politics from inside parliament.

The third Politics on Pubs, featuring Danyl with Kevin Hague and Tamatha Paul, takes place tonight, 6pm, at Meow in Wellington. Limited tickets are still available, and there will be a handful of door sales: come early! Details here.

Chlöe Swarbrick first leapt into the spotlight with an audacious, cynic-defying and unsuccessful run for the Auckland mayoralty. After being courted by a number of parties, she ran with the Greens, and has made her mark for, among other things, winning international headlines by dropping an "OK boomer" (at Todd Muller, no less) in parliament and proving comfortably the most lucid political voice in favour of legalising cannabis.

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Politics podcast: The week the Covid-19 response went downhill

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 07:23:52 -0000

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on efforts to resolve the failures exposed in the self-isolation system.

As the saying goes, a week is a long time in the response to an unprecedented global pandemic, and so it has proved, with the military called in to fix the issues in border control following the revelation that two women recently arrived from the UK had been allowed early exit from self-isolation despite not being tested and one having symptoms. They later both tested positive for Covid-19.

Plus: Can David Clark hang on to his job? Has Todd Muller rebooted his leadership of the National Party? And what's the deal with the review of Māori media?

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Politics podcast: The bloody battle for the National Party leadership

Thu, 21 May 2020 06:12:54 -0000

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on Simon Bridges' fight to hang on to the top job in National.

On Friday National MPs gather in Wellington to vote on the future of Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett. After miserable poll results a challenge has been launched, with Todd Muller and probably Nikki Kaye angling to replace them as leader and deputy.

The Gone By Lunchtime team offers a bold and, frankly, mind-blowing verdict on what will go down.

Plus: the budget, and other bits and pieces, such as the Covid-19 crisis.

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Politics in pubs podcast: Danyl Mclauchlan, Andrea Vance and Neale Jones

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 04:25:05 -0000

In the first of a series of now-virtual events, Danyl is joined by a journalist and a former political staffer to discuss politics and the media.

Two months ago today, Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington cheerfully unveiled a new collaboration: a series of live events at the tremendous Meow bar. And, well, everyone knows what happened next.

But the prospect of Danyl Mclauchlan talking to brilliant Stuff journalist Andrea Vance and the always insightful former chief-of-staff to the Labour leader turned director of Capital Government Relations Neale Jones was too appetising to abandon entirely. So the trio logged on and podded up. As you might expect, it wasn't quite the conversation we'd imagined when we dreamed the whole thing up.

Please pour yourself a beverage of your choice and hit play.

Brought to you by Verb Wellington and The Spinoff Members.

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Politics podcast: Gone by lockdowntime

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:03:53 -0000

In the world's first ever podcast undertaken by people in remote locations, it's New Zealand's leading epidemiologists and economists, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas.

An exclusive reading by the velvet voiced Jacinda Ardern biographer Madeleine Chapman kicks off the return of Gone By Lunchtime, who will not be muzzled by alert level four.

On the agenda: How has the political leadership fared in the Covid-19 response? Is the international fawning over Jacinda Ardern warranted? What about the domestic opprobrium levelled at David Clark and Simon Bridges.

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Politics podcast: Covid-19 and its political dimension

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 02:52:02 -0000

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire are not medical doctors, or in fact doctors of any kind, but here they overcome this minor impediment and solve coronavirus.

The Gone By Lunchtime trio look at the political and economic implications of the outbreak, weigh up Jacinda Ardern's "don't deport your problems" broadside at Scott Morrison in Sydney, and sigh painfully at Shane Jones's latest round of conspicuous xenophobia. Oh, and a completely sober and non-histrionic assessment of rich people getting superannuation.

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Politics podcast: The many circles of donation hell

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 20:15:13 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire inhale the unsweet aromas of donation scandal enveloping NZ First, National, and by association the prime minister herself.

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Gone By Lunchtime: positive, factual, robust, stable, genius

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 03:19:00 -0000

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas are back to kick off the election year with Winston, roads, and serious fraud charges.

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2019

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 17:00:00 -0000

Join various hosts of The Spinoff podcasts Gone by Lunchtime, On The Rag, The Real Pod, Paper Cuts, The Offspin, and Dietary Requirements as we look back at the car crash that was 2019.

In this special end of year podcast hosted by Leonie Hayden, we dissect the country's response to national disasters, the highs and lows of MAFS, international literary scandals, the madness and tragedy of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Mad Chapman's Pulitzer Prize-winning chip ranking and more, plus we add our entries to the official The Spinoff 2019 Honours and Dishonours board.

Pour yourself a Baileys and settle in.

Check out more of our podcasts here including the pop up pod The Spinoff Book Out Loud (The Spinoff Book is available in stores now). If you want to continue to support the work we do, behind the mic or on the site, check out The Spinoff Members, where you can support independent media for as a little as a dollar a week!

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Politics podcast: live from the Gone by Lunchtime Christmas party

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 07:52:50 -0000

This month on the politics podcast it's the Gone by Lunchtime Christmas Party and Toby's brought a baggie of oregano.

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Politics podcast: Peter Jackson is not the mayor of Wellington

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 04:08:53 -0000

But he did play a crucial role in helping Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.

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Politics podcast special: Livin’ la vida local

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 04:26:48 -0000

Area man Hayden Donnell joins Toby Manhire for a bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, leading a whistlestop tour of the local elections.

Fresh from an assignment in the Far North, the mayor of the Spinoff’s local elections pop-up section, Hayden Donnell, takes us on a journey from Kaikohe to Dunedin, stopping along the way in Hamilton, Auckland and Porirua.

And he gets fired up. Fired up for democracy.

Guest starring Tina Tiller.

The Spinoff's local elections pop-up section is funded by Spinoff members.

The Spinoff politics section is made possible by Flick, the electricity retailer giving New Zealanders power over their power.

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Politics podcast special: On Sarah, the Labour staffer, and the botched party inquiry

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:06:40 -0000

Revelations around alleged sexual assault by a Labour staffer and the party inquiry into his behaviour have dominated the week. Alex Casey and Mihi Forbes join Gone By Lunchtime to survey the damage.

Alex Casey, author of the Spinoff feature published on Monday, "A Labour volunteer alleged a violent sexual assault by a Labour staffer. This is her story", joins Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee – together with another special guest, Mihingarangi Forbes – to discuss an explosive week for the Labour Party and New Zealand politics.

Also featuring: Ben Thomas's answerphone message.

Recorded on Thursday afternoon, before the resignation of the Labour staffer at the centre of the allegations.

For a timeline of the story, see here.

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Politics podcast: Simon Bridges, you, and the Ihumātao groundswell

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 05:15:40 -0000

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas feast on the political morsels of the month. including the National Party conference and a challenge to Jacinda Ardern over Ihumātao. Plus: a new jingle.

The Gone By Lunchtime team look at Simon Bridges' efforts to firm up his leadership with just over a year to the election, and his "part-time prime minister" swipe.

Jacinda Ardern is in Tokelau, but should she have made the effort to personally visit Ihumātao, and does the protest movement there presage something bigger?

But first, an overwhelming response to our call for new theme submissions.

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Politics podcast: We shall reshuffle you

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 23:53:30 -0000

In this new edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas weigh reshuffles in senior ranks of both the big parties as well as Oranga Tamariki and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. Plus: a desperate plea to listeners.

Podding against the clock, aka Annabelle's stopwatch, the Gone By Lunchtime trio reshuffle their portfolios, look at Jacinda Ardern's demotion of Phil Twyford from the big housing job and Amy Adams' decision to chuck in the old politics lark.

Also on the slate: Oranga Tamariki and the uplift scandal, and the progression of legislation that would allow assisted dying to its third reading.

Oh, and do you fancy writing us a jingle? It's time for a change.

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Politics Podcast: The Wellbeing Hack

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 01:42:36 -0000

Was the wellbeing budget truly transformational? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas size it up, along with the high drama prelude of the so-called Treasury hack. Plus: Is the time ripe for a new Christian Conservative political party?

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Politics podcast: Reliving the 2017 election with Jacinda Ardern

Fri, 24 May 2019 02:45:31 -0000

In this bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, the prime minister talks to Toby Manhire at the Auckland Writers Festival

Last weekend at the Auckland Writers Festival, Jacinda Ardern spoke with Spinoff editor Toby Manhire about the extraordinary election campaign of 2017, and the book it inspired, Stardust and Substance, edited by Stephen Levine for VUP.

Before a packed house at the Aotea Centre the prime minister talked candidly about everything from Andrew Little’s decision to resign and the rush to remake the campaign to the less-than-delighted mood on election night itself.

If Facebook cannot change its ways, will they still use if for advertising in 2020? Why is she a fan of Nancy Drew and Ernest Shackleton – and its lessons for “how not to die on the ice”? All that plus Jacinda Ardern does an impression of Helen Clark.

For more podcasts and videos from the Auckland Writers Festival, click here.

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Politics podcast: Gone by Slushy Time

Wed, 01 May 2019 04:22:47 -0000

Is the bond of trust and confidence between Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather as strong as that between Judith Collins and Simon Bridges? In the latest Gone By Lunchtime, also featuring Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas, we investigate over a cool, refreshing slushy.

Special guest Mihi Forbes joins the usual rabble to discuss the fallout from Jacinda Ardern's controversial captain's recall on capital gains tax, the ongoing speculation around Simon Bridges' leadership and the rabbits that need to be pulled out of the slushy in Grant Robertson's second budget at the end of the month. They also gargle the icy issues of the crackdown on social media post-Christchurch and bullying at parliament.

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Politics podcast: the aftermath

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 01:52:31 -0000

In the wake of the appalling act of terror in Christchurch, the Gone by Lunchtime team assemble to asses the event and its political implications. Topics discussed include the impact on an often-marginalised community, the move to change our gun laws, the performance of Ardern and what the event says about the performance of our intelligence services.

The team also discuss the way politicians have blithely aired Islamophobic views prior to now, and Annabelle suggests the media consider the diversity of its newsrooms when it asks what it must do differently in the aftermath.

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Politics podcast: Good-time tax chats with your pals

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 05:48:07 -0000

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire send their lifeboats into the great capital gains tax minestrone ocean.

Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group report has been published, sending the nation into untold capital gains tax convulsions. The Gone By Lunchtime panel piles in. How is Jacinda Ardern faring in making the case? What case even is she making? Is Simon Bridges suddenly good? What is the Kiwi way of life and are you living it?

Once we've solved all that, it's on to the Golriz Ghahraman bill that seeks to change electoral law, including a threshold cut to 4%, and more high-level discourse about the Year of Delivery &c.

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Politics podcast: Ardern promises delivery, Bridges prays for deliverance

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 01:41:59 -0000

The Gone By Lunchtime peloton roars into 2019.

Just as you’re wondering whether it’s too late to say Happy new year to people, Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas wish you a happy new year with a return to the Gone-pod.

On the agenda: A hell-poll for National sees Judith Collins casting a shadow over Simon Bridges, Jacinda Ardern begins the “year of delivery” with trips to Davos and Waitangi, KiwiBuild targets take the form of a house of cards, and relations with China go frosty. Like and subscribe, friends, like and subscribe.

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Politics pod: Unchained Mallardry, MAGA Barry, ILG damned and the stars of 2018

Fri, 07 Dec 2018 00:31:41 -0000

In the last politics podcast of the year, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rub their weary eyes and stick out their stockings.

Trevor Mallard has hogged headlines in recent days: first after his commissioning of an inquiry into bullying and harassment at parliament and then over allegations of bias from Simon Bridges. We get into all of that, the Maggie Barry controversy, the wash-up from the Iain Lees-Galloway Sroubek farrago and more. Oh, and we nominate the big winners of the NZ political year. Happy new year!

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Politics podcast: Will the Jami-Lee Ross saga leave lasting damage?

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 03:46:39 -0000

Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too.

The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire to discuss the Jami-Lee Ross fallout and whether Simon Bridges can survive it, Jacinda Ardern's first Labour Party conference as leader, the pressure on immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway and the scrap around Phil Twyford's KiwiBuild scheme. Includes sealed section featuring interminable chin-stroking about the US elections.

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Emergency podcast: Jami-Lee Ross declares war on Simon Bridges

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 01:23:55 -0000

Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess an extraordinary 24 hours in NZ politics, as a relatively unspectacular expenses leak transmogrifies into the biggest Jami-Lee-based farce since A Fish Called Wanda. Guest starring Sam Brooks with a critique of Ross's incredible dramatic monologue as he quits parliament.

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Gone By Lunch Time Special: Jacinda in the studio

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 19:48:07 -0000

Kia ora tatou, my name is Toby Manhire and this is Gone By Lunchtime Extra, a special marking the first anniversary of that white smoke moment when Winston Peters appointed Jacinda Ardern the pope of New Zealand.

And as luck would have it our guest star on this podcast special is Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, who pope in to the Gone By Lunchtime studio on Wednesday morning.

You can read the print version of this podcast at thespinoff.co.nz - as ever a thousand thanks to our sponsors Flick - click through from any Politics post on the Spinoff and you can snag a sweet, sweet deal.

I started by asking the PM to cast her mind back to a year ago, the final days of coalition negotiations

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Politics podcast: Jacindamania, one year on

Fri, 05 Oct 2018 02:51:29 -0000

Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day.

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Politics podcast: did Bridges' spadework turn a little leak into a big hole?

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:04:25 -0000

Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day, from Clare Curran getting the boot to Party of Five.

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Politics podcast: Breaking news, the prime minister had a baby

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 00:27:06 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime is not dead, it's just been sleeping. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas reunify in an emotional podcast

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Politics podcast: waka jumping, fuel taxing and rumour mongering

Fri, 11 May 2018 01:03:45 -0000

Back once again with the renegade bluster, the Gone By Lunchtime team climb many flights of stairs in the cause of NZ political discourse.

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Breaking Astoria in Curran affairs

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 23:02:45 -0000

Bookended by revelations of sexual assault at a Young Labour summer camp and calls for broadcasting minister Clare Curran's resignation over a curious meeting with RNZ head of news Carol Hirschfeld, March has presented easily the steepest challenges for the new prime minister yet.

Discussing all this, along with the government's big house-building announcement for the Unitec site, turbulence from NZ First, the Green leadership and also other things, are a record high five podders. Spinoff editor Toby Manhire is joined by Exceltium's Ben Thomas, and three editorial executives from the best television programme in New Zealand, The Hui: Annabelle Lee, Waimihia Rose and special guest star Mihingarangi Forbes.

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Dawn of the age of Simon Bridges, king of the National Party

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 04:12:43 -0000

The GBLT quartet chew over all the leadership changes.

Coruscating analysis of the new leader of New Zealand's biggest parliamentary party. Hot'n'smoky takes. Terrible but melodic puns. All that and more in a new audio content presentation from Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Toby Manhire and a mostly cross Waimihia Rose.

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Emergency podcast: Bill English is gone by morning tea time

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 02:35:17 -0000

🚨🚨🚨 Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire on the English legacy and the contenders to succeed him as National Party leader in this collectible special edition.

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We're back for the New Year with new takes on the week in Politics.

Thu, 25 Jan 2018 21:29:58 -0000

Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas return for the first Gone By Lunchtime of 2018, guest starring a real life baby who reveals all about her encounters with a pregnant Jacinda Ardern.

Your friendly GBLT content providers return to swelter in an obscenely overheated “studio” to splutter out a word or two on the announcement that Jacinda Ardern will produce a brand new human being in the middle of the year, and the prospects of Winston Peters babysitting the nation.

Also: Ardern’s plans to spend five days at Waitangi, the state of te reo, the revamped “progressive” TPP, employment law reform, whether Bill English wants to be leader of the National Party, the Green co-leader race, and the biggest story of the week: why did Ben quit Twitter?

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The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2017

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 18:12:00 -0000

To punish you all for being naughty this year, The Spinoff made an unholy mash-up of four of its podcasts.

Join Leonie Hayden, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Duncan Greive, Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Henry Oliver as they discuss the biggest events of 2017 (and Married At First Sight) in a grotesque rat-king of piping hot takes.

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A completely comprehensive dissection of 2017

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 02:21:24 -0000

Jacinda Ardern! Bill English! Metiria Turei! Winston Peters! Those are the names of some people who were in the political news this year. Ben Thomas! Annabelle Lee! Toby Manhire! Those are the names of some people who in the last GBLT of 2017 talk about the people above, and conclusively decide how they got on.

May also contain: emotional tribute to Leighton Smith and awkward exposé of a non-disclosed participant in politician's clutches.

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The first day back at the office blues (feat Paddles content)

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 03:37:00 -0000

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Toby Manhire and the land's favourite baby podcaster discuss an embarrassing start for the new government in parliament, Winston Peters' legal blizzard, the state of the National Party "monster" opposition, and Paddles the cat.

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Politics podcast: A whole new government edition

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 03:59:51 -0000

The Gone By Lunchtime team chews over the new government, what it means for Labour, NZ First, the Greens and where it leaves National – and how we got there. Guest starring an exciting new podcasting talent.

With a showmanship to put Dominic Bowden to shame, Winston Peters yesterday took the fate of the next government to the wire, revealing in the deep afternoon (in the evening) that New Zealand First would support Labour over National, and crowning Jacinda Ardern as the next prime minister.

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and a very special three-week old guest recap the events, and weigh up the implications for Ardern's Labour Party, Peters' NZ First and the supporting Green Party led by James Shaw.

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A post-election special feat. some more predictions

Tue, 26 Sep 2017 03:53:08 -0000

The 2017 election took place on Saturday but in reality it may never end. It's all around us, it's in us, it is us. The Gone By Lunchtime team* react in the appropriate way by dissecting it and making more definitely correct predictions of the future.

*Toby Manhire is currently away in an undisclosed location being indoctrinated by a foreign power, so The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive joins Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee to discuss the small matter of the 2017 election. They farewell the Māori party, discuss the weird situation where all four main parties were plausible winners on the night and lay their predictions down for the next government...

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Our 100% correct predictions for election 2017

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 02:17:01 -0000

Has the Jacindaphoria evaporated? Who won the last debate? Are National's attack lines defensible? What happened to NZ First? Who will win the election? The Gone By Lunchtime team fearlessly answer these questions with definitive and irrefutable opinions.

We're leaving together. But still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, To earth, who can tell? I guess there is no one to blame, We're leaving ground (leaving ground). Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown, and Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee and Toby Manhire meet again, in the politics podcast that was around long before every fucker was doing a politics podcast, to chew the juicy fat of an extraordinary campaign. Listen as they debate the legitimacy of Steven Joyce's tactics. Gasp as they probe Bill English's eyelines. Weep as they quite literally carve open their hearts and let the truth spill out.

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SPECIAL EPISODE: The 1st Spinoff Great Election Debate

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 03:26:27 -0000

DEBATE SPECIAL: Relive the historic first ever Spinoff Great Debate, featuring Paula Bennett, Kelvin Davis, Marama Davidson, Shane Jones, Marama Fox, David Seymour & Gareth Morgan, with Toby Manhire, Leonie Hayden and Simon Wilson

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A dramatic and devastating podcast with 10 days to go

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 02:58:47 -0000

The Spinoff presents its exclusive poll of the opinions of Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire as New Zealanders flock to vote in chilled out Election 2017.

Toby Manhire welcomes Annabelle Lee of The Hui, Ben Thomas of Exceltium, and the spirit of Newstalk ZB legend Leighton Smith into the penultimate Gone By Lunchtime pod before voting day.

On the agenda: the gobsmacking Newshub poll, whether National's campaign is working after all, Labour's tax pickle, the Greens' encounter with catastrophe, and the fortunes of the Māori Party. Also Gareth Morgan revs past on a motorbike, probably.

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Fire in the debate disco, fiscal holes and child poverty surprises

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 02:15:33 -0000

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire weigh up the first big Bill English v Jacinda Ardern clashes, the shock National target on child poverty, the claims of a massive hole in Labour's numbers and the poll convulsions.

Advance voting opens on Monday, and election day is less than three weeks away. Burning hot with debate fever, the Spinoff Gone By Lunchtimers take stock.

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Winston Peters latest to be engulfed in election perma-scandal

Tue, 29 Aug 2017 02:15:50 -0000

Was this the feted mother of all scandals? Is it the bastard son of Dirty Politics? How many of Bill English's children were on the stage at the National launch? Is Bob your uncle? This and more in NZ's top genealogy-based election podcast.

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas take a moment's pause from gaping at the news headlines and social media hyperbole-parody to weigh up the latest chapter in a scandal-bedeviled campaign, as Winston Peters and his pension overpayment transmogrifies into a controversy about the no-surprises policy and anonymous tip-offs.

Plus: Billmania as the National Party campaign launches, a review of the minor party leaders' debate and a preview of the big kids' debate on Thursday.

Listen now before it's completely obsolete.

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A classic hits election with one month to go

Wed, 23 Aug 2017 04:43:58 -0000

The very latest from the Ardernified election campaign, which has claimed yet another leader resignation.

Fresh from having read all 140 pages of the Prefu just minutes after it was published, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rest their chins upon their fingers and analyse the issues of the moment.

How is National coping with the Labour momentum under Jacinda Ardern? Is Labour's position on tax a bit crap? How will we remember Peter Dunne? Does anyone give a flying fuck about Gareth Morgan? And just how nighmarish a metaphor can Ben Thomas conjure up to explain what Labour has done to the Greens?

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Politics podcast: Greens post-Metiria, return of the bootcamp and war with Australia

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 06:54:40 -0000

As the breakneck pre-election pace continues, the Gone By Lunchtime committee convenes to discuss the big issues such as cabbages. With Ben Thomas marooned in Wellington, Duncan Greive pod-hops to join GBLT's Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee, but we do take a moment to call and sing him a song.

With Metiria Turei having resigned, the Green Party is trying to start over, at once moving on and holding tight to its talismanic former co-leader. We talk that through, as well as the National Party's return to law'n'order tough talk: how does that square with evidence-based social-investment thinking? And how about Labour's water policy?

All that, and more, including Duncan's confession to becoming absorbed in ACT leader David Seymour's new book, and a long Sopranos analogy.

NB Recorded Tuesday at 1pm, shortly before Aussie foreign minister Julie Bishop launched a broadside at NZ Labour.

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Labour so blissy, Greens so messy, English so texty

Tue, 08 Aug 2017 05:07:17 -0000

Stop the election bus for just one second, please. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas have new Gone By Lunchtime podcast and it will probably be overtaken by events any moment.

Two third-term Green MPs have in effect jumped ship, saying Metiria Turei is not fit to lead the party. Will that torpedo the party, will it help or hinder a Labour Party re-energised by the Jacinda miracle? What about Bill English's mysterious deleted texts? And just generally, what the bejesus is going on with this election?

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Emergency politics podcast: Andrew Little gone by brunchtime, cometh the hour of Ardern

Tue, 01 Aug 2017 02:03:36 -0000

The Spinoff's Gone By Lunchtime trio frantically gather their thoughts following the exit of Labour leader Andrew Little, who has been replaced by Jacinda Ardern, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy, with just over 50 days to an election.

Within seconds of watching Jacinda Ardern conduct her first press conference as Labour leader, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas bundle into the studio to chat. The disastrous polls, Andrew Little's bizarre decision to announce that he'd been thinking of resigning, the flurry of activity leading up to today's caucus meeting, the Little legacy, the new pair's debut peformance, the Winston factor, and what it means for those accursed billboards: all that, together with a rare insight into Ben Thomas's erotic fantasies.

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Metiria Turei's Winz confession, Labour's alt-budget and the Māori seats

Wed, 26 Jul 2017 21:07:37 -0000

With less than two months to polling day, Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, returns to the GBLT pod salon, joining Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Toby Manhire of the Spinoff to discuss the Green co-leader's headline grabbing admission of benefit fraud, the contrast with tax evasion, Labour's alternative budget proposition, and, inescapably, the latest manoeuvres of the Winston Peters bus.

And in open defiance of the schooling from professional broadcaster and Guy Williams, guest star of the last pod, the confectionery remains, with all its sonorous slurping and spluttering.

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Winston the racist rock star, Gareth Morgan's own goal, and Guy likes the Greens

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 01:05:23 -0000

After the best thing about Gone By Lunchtime gets tied up with actual work, three white men finally sit down to talk politics and whether or not some of them should be allowed to talk politics.

Toby Manhire is joined by Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Guy Williams of televised comedy to discuss the Green’s attack on New Zealand First, Winston Peters as rockstar or racist, Labour’s new families package, and whether those who work in politics or PR should be enlisted for political punditry.

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The Gory saga of Todd Barclay, Labour's intern storm, and Hone Duterte

Wed, 28 Jun 2017 02:57:42 -0000

Loaded to the eyeballs on performance enhancing mint chocolate, the Gone By Lunchtime beat combo pick over the remains of a momentous week in New Zealand politics.

As the election build-up lurches through the gears, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to discuss the scandal that led to Todd Barclay's resignation as National candidate for Clutha-Southland and the resulting mayhen that threw Bill English's "delivering" conference plans into disarray, as well as the volunteer fiasco that enveloped the Labour Party, the relentless march of Winston Peters and Mana leader Hone Harawira's call to execute P importers.

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Blighty ripples, immigration debate, and Sir Knight Sir John Sir Key

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 01:52:49 -0000

The Gone By Lunchtime team returns, with more hot takes than a jalapeno thief.

In the latest medium-intensity-hitting Spinoff politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee of The Hui and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to sigh, pontificate and radio-jingle on a range of subjects including a dramatic UK election and what it means for New Zealand, Labour's freshly unveiled immigration policy, the knighting of former PM John Key, the budget (yes, it's been a while) and what's up with Ngapuhi and the crown.

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Eminem, Winston, Willie Jackson, Winston, Brownlee boosting and Winston

Wed, 10 May 2017 04:40:52 -0000

Gone By Lunchtime stumbles on a new theme tune to accompany Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire's sleepy reflections on weird court rumbles, Māori places on the Labour Party list, Gerry Brownlee's clumsy start as foreign minister, and Winston Peters bursting out of the electoral traps.

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W-Town: an important new podcast about a troubled man stuck in the south

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 01:21:27 -0000

In this overdue and mildly anticipated podcast, we traverse the vast savannah of topical political happenings. Bill English's pizza? Yes. The Greens and that magazine cover? We have that. The Little-Hagaman defamation brouhaha. Yes. The Hit and Run non-inquiry. Yup. The already sizzling election battleground in the Maori seats? Also yes, we have that. Renewed calls for an inquiry into abuse in state care? That is another thing we have. A desperate attempt to parrot world-famous podcast S-Town and mysterious hot cross bun scoffing noises? Afraid so.

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Bill's big super bang-bang, the rise of Jacinda and timeless Winstonian truths

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 23:56:19 -0000

In the historic first ever Spinoff Gone By Lunchtime podcast since the arrival of LifeDirect as sponsor of the politics section, we discuss a range of important topical issues, before eventually making it to politics.

On the agenda:

• Bill English announcing a change in superannuation qualifying age a mere 23 years from now;

• the political management of that change;

• calls for an inquiry into abuse in state care;

• Jacinda Ardern's Mt Albert triumph and rise to Labour deputy, the departure of Annette King and the leadership of • Andrew Little (including that kaupapa Māori thing);

• whether the best thing to be in the Green Party today is an old bloke; and

• Are the stars aligning for a storming year for Winston Peters and NZ First?

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Episode 12: How Donald Trump saved Waitangi Day for all New Zealand

Mon, 06 Feb 2017 23:49:24 -0000

With a hiss and a roar and an ear-splitting primal scream, the political year is under way.

Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire to chew over the prime minister's Waitangi decision, the $10k Te Tii charge to media and the hotly anticipated Trump-English dog-and-bone. They debate the first couple of months of Bill English's prime ministership and his perceived sluggishness over the Trump visa ban, and weigh up the surprise announcement that Willie Jackson is to be a high-placing Labour list candidate.

Plus: Is Ben Thomas the Liam Gallagher of Gone By Lunchtime? You decide.

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Emergency politics podcast: in DC, Ben Thomas watches Donald Trump become actual president

Sun, 22 Jan 2017 23:12:46 -0000

In this special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, we patch in Ben Thomas from Washington DC, where he's been rubbing shoulders among the crowds on Inauguration Day and the manifestly bigger crowds at the Women's March.

It is done: Donald J Trump is the real, actual president of the world's most powerful country. Ben Thomas, PR guy from Exceltium and Gone By Lunchtime regular, had a silver ticket for his spot on the Capitol and was there to breathe it all in. Toby Manhire Skypes him up to hear about the occasion, the speech, the record-setting balderdash of press guy Sean Spicer, and more.

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Episode 10: The Gone By Lunchtime Christmas Party 2016

Wed, 14 Dec 2016 02:59:59 -0000

An old year, a new prime minister and a very tired world. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas bedeck themslves with boughs of holly and size up the winners and losers of the year 2016, and what to expect in the next one.

Ho, ho, ho, really, when you think about it.

Ben and Annabelle sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they make of Bill English so far, struggle to remember the previous PM's name and survey precisely everything that happened in politics in 2016. That covered, they move fearlessly on to what 2017 holds for Winston Peters, Marama Fox, Andrew Little and the rest.

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Emergency podcast! John Key is gone at lunchtime!

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 03:51:26 -0000

A gaggle of shell-shocked geese, in the form of Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Hayden Donnell, splutter hot-take spittle all over the mid-price microphones in the Spinoff podcast studio. Guest starring Annabelle Thomas and José Barbosa.

John Key, the prime minister of New Zealand, has announced his resignation. He's done. He's had it. He's out. An urgently convened podcast chews over the reasons for his departure, the legacy he'll leave, and who the bejesus is going to come next.

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Episode 8 Farewell to Parata and Cunliffe, hello to PM-for-a-day Bennett

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 02:51:40 -0000

Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas brave the Spinoff stairwell of doom to join Toby Manhire for another Gone By Lunchtime, the hi-energy Zumba workout of political podcasting.

The Spinoff political podcast trio abandon all good sense and attempt to analyse the auditor-general's report into the Saudi sheep farrago and what it means for Murray McCully even before it is published. They fearlessly assess the legacies of exiting MPs Hekia Parata and David Cunliffe, they recall that day last month when Paula Bennett was running the country and the future leadership of the National Party, they ruminate on Mt Roskill byelection "bribes" and they share every thought they can summon about the Max Key scandal.

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Episode 7: mayoral thrills, byelection spills and Aaron Smith’s cublicles

Tue, 11 Oct 2016 01:34:22 -0000

In the Spinoff's monthly politics recap, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire for a power-walk through the topical rain forest.

If you're interested in hearing what Toby, Ben and Annabelle have to say about the local elections, the excitements of Phil Goff, someone called Tana winning the Porirua mayoralty, voter turnout, a byelection in Mt Roskill, the 20th birthday of MMP, the Hobson's Pledge thing, Marama Davidson's Mediterranean cruise or John Key's analysis of Aaron Smith's toilet fucking, then this is the podcast for you.

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Episode 6: Andrew Little naked, the immortal Winston, the Māori King & more

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 02:18:50 -0000

What will Annabelle Lee do when she sees the Labour leader nude on a rug? How will elitist lickspittle Ben Thomas insult Winston Peters? How much fake cocaine will Toby Manhire snort? All these questions answered in a new Gone By Lunchtime.

The Spinoff's unrivalled monthly politics podcast returns with a deep audio dive into the pool of truth. Joining Toby Manhire are journo-turned-political-adviser-turned-PR-flak Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee, the boss of everyone at the country's leading current affairs television programme, The Hui.

On the agenda: sushi, Winston Peters, cocaine, Andrew Little on a rug, runaway Labour staff, runaway Kevin Hague, Winston Peters, the Maori King and Labour, Tuku Morgan, Winston Peters, John Key descending on the UN, Winston Peters and Winston Peters.

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Episode 5: Auckland, Māori Party vs Helen Clark, kiwifruit and sheep

Wed, 03 Aug 2016 03:02:10 -0000

Parliament may be enjoying the longest recess of all time but the Spinoff's Gone By Lunchtime podcast is 100% sitting, friends. Joining Toby Manhire in the futuristic audio-pod are Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas

Among the fat being chewed: Auckland Unitary Plan adventure (but only briefly; if you like that sort of thing, there's more UP-podding here), the Māori Party utu-treachery-treason over Helen Clark's bid for the UN top job, the prospects of Māori-Mana Party unity breaking out, Todd McClay's apology to the PM over steel and kiwifruit and that so-called "trade war" with China, Saudi sheep, (non) legal threats and Murray McCully, and the David Bain (non) compensation.

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Episode 4: the Brexit effect, Paula Bennett's bad month and Hone Harawira's return

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 02:22:47 -0000

By Jove, it's only the hotly anticipated return of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff's epoch-defining politics pod with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire

The Gone By Lunchtime podcast team has been roused from its slumber to fearlessly tackle the big political topics of the day/week/month/etc.

Equipped with nothing but Lemsip, ginger beer, some decidedly odd tasting strawberry champagne flavoured Tim Tams and their cold-addled wit, Spinoff politics editor Toby Manhire, The Hui producer Annabelle Lee and Exceltium man Ben Thomas talk Brexit, Winston Peters, Paula Bennett under pressure over housing, Te Puea Marae, Simon Bridges, Hone Harawira's return, the Shewan review of trust laws, and the Lindauer paintings on shower curtains.

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Episode 3: Key and NZ as tax haven, Labour’s woes, and Helen Clark UN bid

Fri, 27 May 2016 03:14:45 -0000

Going off like a frog in a sock, the third edition of the Spinoff politics pod, featuring Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas with Toby Manhire

A brand new Gone By Lunchtime is here – unless you’re reading this some time in the future, in which case it will no longer be brand new. On the slate: John Key, the Panama Papers, and a U-turn on reviewing foreign trusts; the continuing struggles of NZ Labour Party as it approaches its 100th birthday; and Helen Clark’s campaign to become the secretary general of the United Nations: not as universally popular in New Zealand as some seem to think.

All that, along with ruminations on the craft beer scene and songs about special rapporteurs and changing nappies, on Gone By Lunchtime.

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Episode 2: Pharmac, the flag and the Auckland shambles

Fri, 27 May 2016 03:13:25 -0000

In the second installment of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of political PR company Exceltium to discuss Ranginui Walker, Judith Collins and gangs, Pharmac, the flag, and Auckland’s unitary woes. Oh, and John Palino, naturally.

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Episode 1: the Key at Waitangi will-he-won’t-he, TPP and leader speeches

Fri, 27 May 2016 03:10:40 -0000

In Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s new politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by former Native Affairs producer Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas of political PR outfit Exceltium to discuss the Waitangi kerfuffles, the trade deal row, state of the nation speeches from the four main party leaders, and home baking.

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