Politics Thursday with Ayesha Verrall and Mike Butterick: Who is leading the coalition?

It's Friday Faceoff, and Nick is joined in the studio by former Wellington Mayor and Director of Dot Loves Data Justin Lester and Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young. The hot issues of the week - like the release of emails between the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister through NZ First. Is this a political move or a genuine mistake? And who is in charge in this coalition? Then onto the cost of social housing to the council, rates, our local economy and the pains of being a Wellingtonian. And when will we see the light. Maiki Sherman, TVNZ and the politicians - what should be done, and what is the standard of professionalism that we should expect from those in the Beehive. Then our guests take a deeper dive into the alcohol culture in parliament, and in workplaces.  As the Prime Minister has pulled out of his weekly breakfast slot, Lester and Young faceoff over whether this is acceptable, and does this alter the public's perception of Luxon? And with our panel's council expertise we hear what they think of the "frivolous" spending of council. Young says this is due to the officials, how do we align the councillors and officials spending? Plus, what do Young and Lester think of the bill the Green Party are trying to get through which stops prosecutions for low level drug crimes when people call for support during an overdose. And the panel give their hots and nots. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To kick off the sports weekend Nick is joined by Adam Cooper and Jason Pine. Starting with the Hurricanes. Ruben Love celebrates his 50th game. Jason says this is the best Hurricanes team since 2015, do our panel agree? Do we expect them to do well now instead of hope? We will see, when they play the Crusaders tonight at Hnry Stadium.  The first leg of the semis for the Phoenix Women is on tomorrow, it is the furthest they have ever gone - could they do what no other Phoenix men OR women's team have done and take out the competition? Plus, the crew chat the two wins for the Wellington Saints and the progress the Pulse are making this season. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick is joined in the studio today by Finance Minister Nicola Willis for her monthly catch-up. This week news broke over a verbal dispute between journalists at Nicola Willis's pre-budget office drinks. Nick gets to the bottom of what happened, and why it took nearly a year to reveal to the public. Then with the public spats between the Prime Minister, Willis and Winston Peters - is the coalition collapsing, coming up to election time. And who is making the decisions - Peters or Luxon? Willis also discusses the mood in the country with fuel hikes and global uncertainty. When will we see improvement, and how is the budget looking?  And how did the caucus meeting and vote of confidence go? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EDITORIAL: Overnight, we’ve learnt that behind closed doors, at the very start of this war in Iran, our own Government wasn’t quite on the same page.   And as a New Zealander watching all of this unfold, what I wanted—what I think most of us wanted—was a clear, confident line about where we as a country stand.  Instead, we’ve got emails, pushback—and a pretty uncomfortable question about who’s actually in charge.  Because cast your mind back to that first stand-up.   Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, fronting media, being pushed hard—simple question: does New Zealand support the strikes?  And he couldn’t give a straight answer.  He said we “acknowledge” them—but wouldn’t say support, wouldn’t oppose.   And at the time, that felt messy and unclear.   It felt, frankly, like a bit of a wobble—and that’s when the questions around his leadership really started to heat up.  But now—now we’ve got a bit more context.  Because the emails released under the Official Information Act show that, behind the scenes, Luxon was at least open to shifting New Zealand’s position—looking at aligning more closely with countries like Australia, who explicitly supported the US-led action.  And at the very same time, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his team were saying: absolutely not.  The advice was to hold the line. Stay neutral.   Don’t move toward explicit support—it would be “imprudent” and against New Zealand’s national interest.  So now you look back at that  dress disastrous stand-up and you have to ask: was Luxon unclear because he didn’t know what he thought? Or was he being pulled in two different directions at once?  Because that’s a very different story.  Now, here’s the interesting part.   The position we ended up with—that careful middle ground of acknowledging but not supporting—actually lines up with public sentiment.   An Ipsos poll in April showed 87% of Kiwis don’t want military involvement, 83% think it would escalate things further, and about three-quarters don’t think it’s worth higher fuel prices.  So the outcome? Probably right.  But the process? That’s where this gets shaky.  Because what we’ve seen is internal disagreement, emails being released publicly by the Foreign Minister’s office, a late-night Beehive meeting—and an admission from Peters that releasing those emails was a mistake. But Winston Peters doesn’t make mistakes.  That’s not a Government speaking with one voice.  And I’ll say this—Winston Peters is experienced, he’s a global operator, and he knows exactly how to play the diplomatic game.   But when it starts to feel like he’s the one holding the reins, and the Prime Minister is reacting—  You’ve got to ask the question:  Who’s actually running the country?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Politics Thursday and Nick is joined by Labour MP Ayesha Verrall and National MP and Cabinet Minister Mike Butterick. Emails between Winston Peters and the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon were released by NZ First through the OIA. They show that Peters talked down Luxon over his initial call to support the US strikes on Iran. There has since been some public beef between the two - Nick asks our politicians who is really in charge with the coalition, and have to gloves truly come off now? Also on the agenda is Luxon cancelling his scheduled media appearances on Breakfast, alcohol in the beehive and the Maiki Sherman event and when will we see some policy from Labour? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A member’s bill from Green MP Kahurangi Carter has passed its first reading in Parliament. The proposed law would protect people from minor drug charges if they call emergency services for someone experiencing an overdose or bad reaction. Nick speaks to NZ Drug Foundation Executive Director Sarah Helm to find out more about the bill and its impacts. Helm says 3 Kiwis die from preventable overdoses each week, and this bill could reduce that. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins joins Nick Mills in the studio for his monthly catch up. The Labour party is polling well, 7 points above National, but how long will this last without major policy announcements. Nick asks when we will see more, and what should we expect from the party this year? Nicola Willis suggests that Barbara Edmonds has told agency Fitch one thing and the public another in terms of revenue gathering. Hipkins shares Labour's plans, and talks tax and interest deductions. Also on the agenda is the Maiki Sherman saga and the alcohol culture in the beehive - is it acceptable? And what does Hipkins think of bailing on scheduled media slots?  LISTEN ABOVE OR WATCH BELOW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EDITORIAL:  Here’s the thing — I just don’t buy the outrage, and I actually think this needs to be called a bit more straight.  Christopher Luxon pulling out of his regular Monday slot on Breakfast isn’t some constitutional crisis.   It’s not democracy under threat. It’s a political decision — and honestly, just say it for what it is.  Don’t dress it up, don’t spin it.   If Luxon doesn’t want to sit there every week and get carved up by Tova O'Brien, then just say that.   If he and his media team — and yes, people like Rachel Smalley advising behind the scenes — have decided that format isn’t helping him, then fine. That’s politics. That’s strategy. Own it.  Don’t hide behind “changing media consumption habits” or scheduling tweaks.   Just front-foot it: this isn’t working for us, we’re moving on. I’ve got no issue with that — in fact, I respect it more when it’s said plainly.  Now, the facts. Luxon hasn’t disappeared.   He’s still doing interviews — including with Radio New Zealand and Newstalk ZB — and his office says access will now be handled case-by-case.   So, this isn’t shutting down scrutiny, it’s changing where and how it happens.  And this all comes after a tough stretch — poor polling, speculation about his leadership, and that caucus confidence vote he called himself and won. That’s not someone avoiding pressure internally.  The criticism, especially from parts of the media, is that he’s ducking hard questions.   But here’s where I land: no politician is contractually obliged to turn up to the same interviewer every single week if they think it’s a stitch-up rather than a fair contest.  We’ve seen this before. Jacinda Ardern stopped going on Mike Hosking’s show. David Seymour won’t go on RNZ. Politicians will pick their platforms. Always have and guess what, always will.   And in a media landscape that’s now radio, TV, podcasts, digital — locking yourself into one weekly slot isn’t necessarily smart politics anyway.  Now, yes — the media’s role in holding power to account is critical. No arguments there. But accountability doesn’t equal entitlement to a guaranteed booking.  If Luxon stopped doing all interviews, that’s a problem. But he hasn’t.  This is a recalibration. A tactical move.  I just don’t want him to pretend it’s anything else.  I want him to be straight.   He doesn’t want to go on the show, he doesn’t want to get carved up, he doesn't feel it good for him.  Why should he have to sit there knowing someone is trying to get a gotcha moment?  Rather than giving us, the people of New Zealand, a well-balanced interview on the way the country is.   That’s what I want to see.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Warriors sparked a huge night for Wellington with their game against the Dolphins at Hnry Stadium this ANZAC day. With talk of the $40million government fund for events, Nick speaks to WellingtonNZ CE Mark Oldershaw to find out how we can use this to bring more life to Wellington. They discuss the Warriors game, and what it bought to the city. As well as the other events and plans for Wellington this year. Oldershaw said negotiations are beginning to make the Warriors game a yearly event.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Friday Faceoff today it's a political special with former Chief Press Secretary to the PM Hamish Rutherford and BusinessDesk senior reporter Thomas Manch. It's been a dramatic week in the beehive ending with the Prime Minister calling a vote against himself. Our panel bring both their political pasts from the beehive to give their insight onto the hot topics from the week.  Rutherford and Manch share their thoughts on the five MPs named by Mike Hosking and what could have happened in the caucus meeting. And does Bishop stand a chance as leader of the National party? And with the public jabs between Winston Peters and National, the panel discuss the likelihood that he would go against his word and go with Labour at the next election.  Then to the FTA with India, Labour has signed on - is this the right choice for NZ? And the racial comments from Shane Jones, is this just trying to breed controversy?   Also on the agenda is the Treaty reference changes in law, the $49 billion estimate to fix water infrastructure, and who should be responsible for support with the Wellington floods. Plus, the panel give their hots and nots. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.