Episodes

  • The Luxon conundrum

    The Luxon conundrum
    Nov 26 2025
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • The Police and the bad apple thesis

    The Police and the bad apple thesis
    Nov 12 2025
    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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins
  • Good news: NZ is back on track

    Good news: NZ is back on track
    Oct 30 2025
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • Meltdown in Te Pāti Māori

    Meltdown in Te Pāti Māori
    Oct 15 2025
    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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Peters delivers Palestine decision in New York

    Peters delivers Palestine decision in New York
    Sep 30 2025
    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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • Te Pāti Māori wrenches defeat from the jaws of victory

    Te Pāti Māori wrenches defeat from the jaws of victory
    Sep 18 2025
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Pulse check, pub quiz & predictions: live from WORD Christchurch

    Pulse check, pub quiz & predictions: live from WORD Christchurch
    Sep 2 2025
    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Bonus ep: Thoughts on the Jacinda Ardern film and book

    Bonus ep: Thoughts on the Jacinda Ardern film and book
    Aug 8 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins