Q+A with Jack Tame
New Zealand's leading politics programme, hosted by Jack Tame. It covers current political issues and interviews key figures. The show is supported by NZ On Air.
Episodes
Full Show: 13 September 2026
All aboard: Live from Day 1 of the CRL
A journey a decade in the making, 1News business correspondent Jason Walls joins Q+A live from on board one of the brand-new train services opening up to Aucklanders on the first day of the City Rail Link.
Unions prepare campaign against government policies
Council of Trade Unions president Sandra Grey says there are no regrets about the union's all-out c
Election 2026: "Stark choice" for largest general electorate
In the historic homeland of the Labour Party, the West Coast-Tasman electorate could be anyone's game this election year. Reporter Whena Owen reports.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
Bank CEO on profits, 'woke banking', and the superannuation problem
After 17 years at ANZ, CEO Antonia Watson is handing over the reins of power to the bank's Chief Risk Officer - but don't read too much into that appointment, she says. Consumer confidence is up and Watson says New Zealand's economic recovery is finally arriving.
She joins Jack Tame to reflect on a unique period of disruption in the economy - Covid, the Iran war, natural disasters - and share her
Unions prepare campaign against government policies
Council of Trade Unions president Sandra Grey says there are no regrets about the union's all-out campaign against Christopher Luxon at the 2023 general election, and this year the union will be making it clear to voters where parties stand on the CTU's biggest policy asks: pay equity, Fair Pay Agreements, and scrapping 90 day trials.
She joins Jack Tame to launch the CTU's election campaign.
Jo
All aboard: Live from Day 1 of the CRL
A journey a decade in the making, 1News business correspondent Jason Walls joins Q+A live from on board one of the brand-new train services opening up to Aucklanders on the first day of the City Rail Link.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
Election 2026: Morrinsville locals put big issues to parties
Should young farmers be able to dip into their Kiwisaver to buy their first farm? How would the government support livestock farmers if a foot-and-mouth outbreak erupted? Is New Zealand too reliant on Elon Musk's Starlink for rural connectivity?
Locals at Q+A's Rural Issues Debate in Morrinsville ask these questions and more to the panel of candidates: NZ First's Mark Patterson, Greens' Steve Ab
Election 2026: Q+A Rural Issues Debate
In this special Election 2026 debate, hosted at the Morrinsville Rugby and Sports Club, Jack Tame is joined by NZ First's Mark Patterson, Greens' Steve Abel, National's Todd McClay, Labour's Jo Luxton, ACT's Andrew Hoggard, and Opportunity's Daniel Eb, in front of a live audience of Morrinsville locals, to tackle the biggest issues facing rural and regional New Zealanders today.
Candidates share
Full Show: 30 August 2026
Willie Jackson: Labour's record on Māori issues
Labour lost all but one of the seven Māori seats at the 2023 general election. This year, to rival a controversial tactic from Te Pāti Māori asking voters to engineer an overhang in Parliament, Labour says they want to win them all back.
Willie Jackson, a front bench Labour MP and leader of the party's Māori campaign, joins Jack Tame to make his bi
War in Iran: NZ must reset foreign policy - expert
By some estimates, the war with Iran has now cost the United States more than 180 billion dollars. After peace talks broke down, US President Donald Trump this week announced a complete change in strategy: economic, rather than military, action.
Professor Robert Patman from the University of Otago joins Jack Tame six months on from the start of the conflict.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and f
Election 2026: The new electorate that's 'got issues'
Wellington Bays is the new name for what was the second-most left-voting electorate in the country in 2023. In the redrawn lines for Green MP Julie Anne Genter's electorate, residents are grappling with big water bills and a visible spike in homelessness.
Reporter Whena Owen meets the candidates vying to take those issues on in parliament in this year's election.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team
Should NZ break up the gentailers? Energy boss responds
In an election year marked by energy policy, both New Zealand First and the Green Party are campaigning on breaking up the country's four gentailers, citing soaring household energy bills.
Malcolm Johns, the CEO of gentailer Genesis Energy, joins Q+A, and previews the potential effects on bills if the government goes ahead with its promised LNG terminal.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find
Willie Jackson: Labour's record on Māori issues
Labour lost all but one of the seven Māori seats at the 2023 general election. This year, to rival a controversial tactic from Te Pāti Māori asking voters to engineer an overhang in Parliament, Labour says they want to win them all back.
Willie Jackson, a front bench Labour MP and leader of the party's Māori campaign, joins Jack Tame to make his bid for the Māori vote.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A
Full Show: 16 August 2026
Former health boss: Why hospitals are overwhelmed
New Zealand knows that flu season can overwhelm frontline health services and still fails to plan for it. Rob Campbell says the country needs a new, 'all-of-health' approach, including housing, education, and nutrition - something successive governments have failed to provide.
The former Health New Zealand chair and current chair of health allian
How to fix the economy? Be a 'good ancestor'
Economist and former Productivity Commissioner Ganesh Ahirao wants to see the way Governments plan borrowing and spending completely turned around: replacing the duty to return to surplus with a duty to provide every citizen with the basics they need to thrive.
He describes this central principle as 'being a good ancestor', and says it's the only way New Zealand will face down its biggest challe
What Kiwi soldiers in Ukraine want NZ to know
Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several New Zealand-trained soldiers have travelled to the other side of the world to take up the fight. The ones who have returned home face an uncertain future.
Whena Owen meets the volunteers who went against Government advice to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made wi
Former health boss: Why hospitals are overwhelmed
New Zealand knows that flu season can overwhelm frontline health services and still fails to plan for it. Rob Campbell says the country needs a new, 'all-of-health' approach, including housing, education, and nutrition - something successive governments have failed to provide.
The former Health New Zealand chair and current chair of health alliance Ngā Kaitiaki Hauora joins Jack Tame.
Join Jack
The NZSAS combat soldier standing for parliament
Josh Jacobsen, a former NZSAS combat soldier, and a veteran of Afghanistan, holds an NZ Gallantry Medal - and a Green Party membership.
He's 25 on the Party's list and standing in the North Shore electorate. He joins Jack Tame to explain how his career in the defence force led him to a party that advocates non-violence.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that m
Full Show: 16 August 2026
Paul Goldsmith: Expanding citizen's arrests, move-on orders, and voting law reform
After an eventful week led to senior minister Paul Goldsmith being landed with 11 ministerial portfolios - possibly the most a single minister has ever had - he joins Jack Tame to say why, with victims of crime declining, the Government has expanded citizen's arrest powers and is seeking to pass move-on order laws
Qiulae Wong: Why newcomer party wants stricter donation laws
In less than a year, Opportunity have gone from sub-one percent support to eight percent in the latest 1News Verrian poll. On those numbers, leader Qiulae Wong would be entering Parliament joined by eight of her peers from the Opportunity party list come November.
She joins Jack Tame to launch Opportunity's Clean Up Politics policy, which would strengthen lobbying transparency and political party
Paul Goldsmith: Expanding citizen's arrests, move-on orders, and voting law reform
After an eventful week led to senior minister Paul Goldsmith being landed with 11 ministerial portfolios - possibly the most a single minister has ever had - he joins Jack Tame to say why, with victims of crime declining, the Government has expanded citizen's arrest powers and is seeking to pass move-on order laws by the end of the term.
And with National needing a new candidate for safe seat Kai
Full Show: 9 August 2026
Simeon Brown: Energy prices, hospital pressures, and National's polling
With power prices in the spotlight, Energy Minister Simeon Brown has become one of the key figures in Christopher Luxon's cabinet.
He joins Jack Tame to explain why the Government isn't moving to break up the gentailers, the cost of maintaining frontline health services, and whether National's caucus backs Christopher Luxon.
New laws: Will voters be turned away?
In late 2025, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith celebrated the passing of a new law which he said would speed up the voting count after a general election: unlike previous elections, in 2026, no one will be allowed to enroll once early voting starts, 13 days before election day, November 7.
It's driving Electoral Commission Chief Executive Karl Le Quesne to make sure as many New Zealanders as possib
The last hold-outs against housing development
With just one new housing development, the town of Prebbleton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, could increase its total number of households by over 25 percent.
Birchs Village would bring 530 new houses to Prebbleton. After facing difficulties getting resource consent, the development has been listed with the Government's fast-track legislation.
Q+A reporter Whena Owen meets the development's wo
Simeon Brown: Energy prices, hospital pressures, and National's polling
With power prices in the spotlight, Energy Minister Simeon Brown has become one of the key figures in Christopher Luxon's cabinet.
He joins Jack Tame to explain why the Government isn't moving to break up the gentailers, the cost of maintaining frontline health services, and whether National's caucus backs Christopher Luxon.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions th
Full Show: 2 August 2026
Outspoken former Children's Commissioner cut short in role
Dr Claire Achmad was given around five weeks' notice that she would be exiting her role of Children's Commissioner. First appointed to a five-year term to advocate for young people in New Zealand, that became a one-year term in 2025, and when she signed off on Friday July 31st, she left office two years earlier than she’d expected.
She s
"Discriminatory" law focus of Green MP's bill
Migrant families can be split apart when family members are denied visas on the basis that their disability would be a burden to New Zealand's health system, a Green MP says.
Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan's members bill would remove the ability to discriminate and carve out a way for affected families to challenge these decisions: by making a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
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Most people want fewer cars, Dutch academic says
Twenty years from now, people will look back on high speed limits we have in cities now and find them just as unbelievable as smoking indoors - a relic of the past. That's the dream of a visiting Dutch academic.
Professor Marco te Brömmelstroet holds the Chair on Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam and spoke at the Public Transport Association conference at Te Papa this week. Whi
Outspoken former Children's Commissioner cut short in role
Dr Claire Achmad was given around five weeks' notice that she would be exiting her role of Children's Commissioner. First appointed to a five-year term to advocate for young people in New Zealand, that became a one-year term in 2025, and when she signed off on Friday July 31st, she left office two years earlier than she’d expected.
She says that she has been a "fair and balanced critic" of Governm
Spy allegations: NZ's relationship with Russia in focus
Russia's principal security service says a Russian citizen has been detained in the country's far East. The man is accused of spying for New Zealand's SIS.
Jack Tame sits down with Russia's Ambassador Stanislav Krans at the Russian Embassy in Wellington to ask more about the case. And nearly four and a half years into the military invasion of Ukraine, and following 35 rounds of New Zealand sanctio
Full Show: 26 July 2026
Chlöe Swarbrick: Greens want one-year ban on AI data centres
The Greens have announced an election campaign policy to put a one-year moratorium on the consenting and building of AI data centres in New Zealand, citing a need to put in place strong regulations before the emerging tech industry can have irreversible impacts on the country's natural resources.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick joi
Does NZ need move-on orders? "No" says former judge
Anthony FitzGerald served as a judge for 27 years and has seen first-hand the fortunes of Auckland's homeless caught in the justice system. This week he appeared before a parliamentary select committee to oppose the Government's move-on orders legislation.
He joins Tova O'Brien to explain why he thinks communities and businesses are being misled about move-on orders as a solution to antisocial be
Up-and-comers talk Stuart Nash, smartphone ban, and their leaders
Labour MP Arena Williams and National MP James Meager join Tova O'Brien to discuss the big stories of the week, including Stuart Nash's election-killing comments on maternity leave, what local investment in data centres should look like, and their future ambitions for leadership.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
Does the deepfake bill go far enough?
First-term ACT MP Laura McClure captured headlines by holding up an image in parliament that appeared to show her naked: the image was a deepfake. She is the backer of a bill that would explicitly criminalise the creation and distribution of pornographic deepfakes, after hearing the stories of Kiwi women who were victimised by AI-generated images.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answ
Chlöe Swarbrick: Greens want one-year ban on AI data centres
The Greens have announced an election campaign policy to put a one-year moratorium on the consenting and building of AI data centres in New Zealand, citing a need to put in place strong regulations before the emerging tech industry can have irreversible impacts on the country's natural resources.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick joins Tova O'Brien, and also discusses the party's energy and t
Chris Penk: Defence workforce shortages
Former naval officer Chris Penk took over the helm of the defence portfolio from ministerial veteran Judith Collins in April of this year. Since then, the geostrategic environment has only grown in intensity and complexity with the continuation of conflict in Iran.
Freshly returned from the NATO summit in Turkiye, and in the wake of a Chinese ballistic missile test in the Pacific, he joins Q+A to
Why Paul Henry thinks ACT can save New Zealand
Paul Henry has worked in broadcasting for more than forty years, becoming one of the most recognisable names in New Zealand television from his time as a presenter, and more recently serving as a board member for TVNZ.
On Tuesday he announced his candidacy for the ACT Party list. He says while the decision came together quickly, he wants to be in parliament to create a better future for his ten g
Alienation in the "ahistoric age": Sarah Irving-Stonebraker
Historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker joins Q+A to discuss her ideas around increasing societal alienation, and in her view why diminishing knowledge of shared history contributes to it.
Irving-Stonebraker is in New Zealand to deliver the Maxim Institute's Sir John Graham lecture, which this year explores what it means to be a steward of history.
Clark, Ardern senior staffer up-close view of political contest
Mike Munro was one of the most senior behind the scenes figures in both Helen Clark, and Dame Jacinda Ardern’s governments.
In an interview with Q+A with Jack Tame, he explains why politics is such a seductive profession for competitive people to get into, how the political arena has changed over decades, and what it was like to work in coalition with Winston Peters.
Munro also offers insights
Full Show: 28 June 2026
'Perverse incentive': MSD staff metrics include emergency housing grants
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) managers are being told they can face performance management if, among other measures, their staff approve too many emergency housing requests, documents obtained by Q+A reveal.
Homelessness advocates say the scale of rough sleeping is unprecedented in New Zealand, and that government
“Social conservatism”: Why Alfred Ngaro joined NZ First
Former National MP and minister Alfred Ngaro joins Q+A to talk about his political journey towards becoming a candidate for NZ First, his socially conservative values, and Christian Zionist beliefs.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
“Prince of the provinces”: On the road with Shane Jones
Senior NZ First MPs are on a long tour of town halls around the country, with more than 30 dates planned before the election campaign begins.
Reporter Whena Owen went to Kaikōura to see Shane Jones in action, as controversies swirl over recreational fishing, the party’s coalition positioning, and limousine usage.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter
Why Labour thinks it can make rapid return to government
Labour strategists are hoping for a return to government just three years after one of their worst-ever election results. Campaign chair Kieran McAnulty sets out why he believes there could be a one-term National government.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
'Perverse incentive': MSD staff metrics include emergency housing grants
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) managers are being told they can face performance management if, among other measures, their staff approve too many emergency housing requests, documents obtained by Q+A reveal.
Homelessness advocates say the scale of rough sleeping is unprecedented in New Zealand, and that government policies are part of the reason why. Jack Tame put the documents, obtained
Full Show: 21 June 2026
Helen Clark: New Zealand's unsolved problems and fragile peace in Iran
Productivity, sensible taxation and the ballooning cost of superannuation are among the uniquely thorny, long-lasting issues that New Zealand hasn't been able to conquer. It's a politically-motivated cycle of short-term flip-flopping on these important issues that The Helen Clark Foundation's new book, Facing Up To Our Future,
Real estate agents, doctors shouldn't be punished for free speech: ACT policy
The ACT Party has introduced a new campaign policy which it says will stop professional regulatory bodies - like the Medical Council, or Real Estate Agents Authority - from policing workers' privately-held beliefs. ACT says these regulators are increasingly overstepping their statutory roles and enforcing ideological views across their industry.
ACT MP Simon Court joins Q+A.
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Live from National's 90th annual party conference
The Prime Minister and National Party faithful are gathering in Wellington for the party's 90th annual conference. With less than five months until the election, the biggest party in parliament is preparing to switch into campaign mode, with Christopher Luxon set to announce new policies.
1News senior political reporter Benedict Collins joins Q+A live from Wellington.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A
Helen Clark: New Zealand's unsolved problems and fragile peace in Iran
Productivity, sensible taxation and the ballooning cost of superannuation are among the uniquely thorny, long-lasting issues that New Zealand hasn't been able to conquer. It's a politically-motivated cycle of short-term flip-flopping on these important issues that The Helen Clark Foundation's new book, Facing Up To Our Future, diagnoses as the problem - released, strategically, in a general electi
Will newcomer Andy Burnham oust PM Sir Keir Starmer?
Yet another challenge has been made to the embattled UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer's leadership. Former Manchester mayor and newly-elected Labour MP Andy Burnham is calling on the PM to consider his options for a handover of power just two years into the government's five-year term, the legacy party searching for renewed energy in the face of surging support for Nigel Farage's Reform party.
Full Show: 14 June 2026
Does Labour's public transport fare cap policy add up?
The Labour Party - the biggest party in Opposition, maintaining a tight lead in this year's polls - has decided to open its election year campaign with a public transport fare cap policy: $20 a week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 everywhere else.
Labour's transport spokesperson, MP for Palmerston North Tangi Utikere, says t
Why prison numbers will surge: Writer Asher Emanuel
New Ministry of Justice projections forecast a 35 percent growth in New Zealand's prison population over the next ten years, with those kept in remand - people who have been charged but not convicted, or convicted but not sentenced - set to swell by nearly fifty percent.
Asher Emanuel, a public lawyer and author of bestselling book The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City, says the
"Between one week and five years" to repair Strait of Hormuz
The United States appears poised to sign a deal to end the war in Iran following three and a half months of global disruption from the closed Strait of Hormuz.
Energy analyst David Keat joins Q+A to discuss how the conflict has permanently changed energy markets.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
Locals fear "low-probability catastrophic event" if LNG terminal built near city
The Government is pushing ahead with plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in New Zealand as a security buffer for when locally-made, renewable energy sources dry up.
Reporter Whena Owen travels to Taranaki, the proposed site of the facility, to ask residents how they feel about having LNG in their backyard.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that mat
Does Labour's public transport fare cap policy add up?
The Labour Party - the biggest party in Opposition, maintaining a tight lead in this year's polls - has decided to open its election year campaign with a public transport fare cap policy: $20 a week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 everywhere else.
Labour's transport spokesperson, MP for Palmerston North Tangi Utikere, says the policy delivers cost-of-living relief at a net cost
Full Show: 7 June 2026
Federated Farmers swing big for Election 2026
Agricultural lobby Federated Farmers have a lot to celebrate in the last parliamentary term. Their 2023 election policy priority list has almost all been picked up by the coalition government, with projects like revised freshwater rules, rethinking forestry incentives in the Emissions Trading Scheme, and scrapping the Labour government's 'ute tax' all
Election deadline rapidly approaching for small parties
Any political parties wanting to contest the 2026 general election in November need to have their registration papers submitted by the end of this week. Political hopefuls - and returning hopefuls like the Alliance party - are rallying to get the required 500 financial members in time.
Whena Owen reports for Q+A, meeting a set of smaller parties vying for the chance to win party votes.
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How three AI-linked IPOs could reshape economy
When Elon Musk's Space X is listed on the NASDAQ, it's set to be the biggest IPO in history - valuing the company at $3 trillion New Zealand dollars.
Two AI giants, Anthropic and Open AI, have also signalled they'll list in the coming months.
Jonty Kelt, the founder at Fantail Ventures, Q+A to preview the historic launches.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions th
Could Christchurch terror attack have been stopped?
He told us what he was going to do: that's the stark conclusion of two extremism researchers who've uncovered previously unreported public communications from the Christchurch terrorist in the years leading up to the 2019 March 15 attack.
Researchers Chris Wilson and Michal Dziwulski say the Royal Commission into March 15 failed to ask some of the most important questions after the attack - and w
Federated Farmers swing big for Election 2026
Agricultural lobby Federated Farmers have a lot to celebrate in the last parliamentary term. Their 2023 election policy priority list has almost all been picked up by the coalition government, with projects like revised freshwater rules, rethinking forestry incentives in the Emissions Trading Scheme, and scrapping the Labour government's 'ute tax' all achieved in the past three years.
Federated F
Why populist nationalism won't stop immigration
Five months from the election, immigration is being framed by political parties as a critical election issue, with the Prime Minister warning the wrong policies could damage social cohesion. In New Zealand in 2026, migration is the main source of population growth, with the nation's fertility rate slumping to 1.6, below replacement levels.
Is an immigration backlash the inevitable response to a g
Children's Commissioner: The cost of child poverty
In Budget 2026, Treasury published New Zealand's latest child poverty statistics. It's a grim picture, and one that isn't improving much: the number of households in material hardship is estimated to be 14 percent, with a 2028 target of six percent.
Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad joins Jack Tame to lay out the cost of persistent child poverty and discusses the workability of a forthcoming
Return to surplus? Nicola Willis charts economic recovery
Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered her third and final Budget Day speech for the parliamentary term this week. A Budget delivering investment in health, infrastructure and defence, the Minister has described it as "responsible" - while Opposition voices have criticised the lack of stimulus for ordinary New Zealanders facing cost-of-living pressures.
The big bonus is a forecast return to sur
Full Show: 31 May 2026
Return to surplus? Nicola Willis charts economic recovery
Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered her third and final Budget Day speech for the parliamentary term this week. A Budget delivering investment in health, infrastructure and defence, the Minister has described it as "responsible" - while Opposition voices have criticised the lack of stimulus for ordinary New Zealanders facing cost-of-
Full show: 24 May 2026
Featuring David Seymour, Richard Dawkins, and Whena Owen's story on social investment
Richard Dawkins at 85: Genes, God, and conversations with Claude
World-renowned biologist and writer Richard Dawkins is embarking on a speaking tour to mark the 50th anniversary of his first book, The Selfish Gene, a seminal text on the nature of genetics.
He joins Jack Tame from his home in Oxford to reflect on how science has progressed, and shares his impressions on whether artificial intelligence technology can be considered 'conscious'.
Richard Dawkins w
RNZ boss resigns amid David Seymour criticism
RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson will resign after 13 years in the job, board chair Jim Mather announced this morning.
Mather says while the decision for Thompson to resign at the end of 2026 was made in December of last year, the announcement has been pulled forward by "recent unhelpful external commentary about his future".
Deputy prime minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour, who is also
David Seymour: Public service cuts, new ACT immigration policy
Deputy Prime Minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour is welcoming the reduction of New Zealand's public service by 8700 staff over the next three years.
He joins Jack Tame to discuss a new map of New Zealand's 267 different regulators from the Ministry for Regulation. With less than six months to the general election, and the party polling slightly lower than its 2023 performance, David Seymo
Erica Stanford: NCEA, immigration and "anti-Māori" criticism
Erica Stanford: NCEA, immigration and "anti-Māori" criticism
Minister for education and immigration Erica Stanford joins Jack Tame to discuss the new scheme replacing NCEA, facing down public criticism over removing school boards' Treaty of Waitangi obligations, and why the National Party is toughening its rhetoric on immigration.
She also pushed back on education ministry plans to remove ESOL
David Kirk: Why rugby can weather storms around finances and fans
David Kirk: Why rugby can weather storms around finances and fans
NZ Rugby chair David Kirk sat down with Q+A’s Simon Mercep to discuss the state of rugby’s grassroots, whether NZR’s finances are in the sort of shape they need to be, and player retention issues. Kirk also revealed NZ Rugby is “considering” buying private equity firm Silver Lake out of their $262 million investment, and reflected
Wayne Brown: NZ being run 'like a wrecking yard'
Wayne Brown: NZ being run 'like a wrecking yard'
Running on a strident anti-Wellington platform, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown was re-elected to a second term in 2025 by a more than 100,000-vote majority.
In April of this year, he signed New Zealand's first-ever city deal with central government, an agreement which contains no new funding arrangements for Auckland, and kicks one of Brown's biggest
Chris Bishop: National leadership and his policy ambitions
Chris Bishop: National leadership and his policy ambitions
Chris Bishop's name has repeatedly been raised in media reports about discontent with the National Party's leadership.
Despite being stripped of his campaign chair and leader of the house titles, the Hutt South MP continues to carry some of the most important portfolios in government: transport, housing, and infrastructure. Just over six
Q+A 12 April 2026: Anna Breman: How the Iran war will affect inflation
Iranian ambassador: New Zealand no longer stands up for peace
The representative of the Iranian government in New Zealand says the small Pacific nation is now seen as a country that supports unilateral military action, having refused to condemn the United States' actions on the world stage.
After weeks of fighting, and days after ceasefire negotiations began, Jack sat down with Iranian ambassador
Iran ambassador: New Zealand no longer stands up for peace
The representative of the Iranian government in New Zealand says the small Pacific nation is now seen as a country that supports unilateral military action, having refused to condemn the United States' actions on the world stage.
After weeks of fighting, and days after ceasefire negotiations began, Jack sat down with Iranian ambassador Reza Nazar Ahari to discuss when the Strait of Hormuz will re-
Anna Breman: How the Iran war will affect inflation
When Anna Breman became New Zealand's Reserve Bank Governor in December of 2025, she promised greater transparency in how the bank makes monetary policy decisions.
Formerly First Deputy Governor at Sweden's Riksbank, Breman took over the reins of New Zealand's central bank after a year of high-profile resignations and criticism from central government.
After holding the OCR at 2.25 percent this
Q+A 29 March 2026: NZ’s foreign policy response to Iran falling short: Labour
NZ’s foreign policy response to Iran falling short: Labour
The government is breaking with long-held norms in foreign affairs in how it is approaching the Iran crisis, says Labour’s new foreign affairs spokesperson Vanushi Walters.
She tells Q+A that the government must be stronger in standing up for human rights and international law, and sets out what she’d do differently.
The AI startup tha
The tiny nation caught in middle of geopolitical tussles
Tuvalu is one of the world’s smallest countries, facing some of the world’s most challenging crises. The low-lying atoll nation faces huge threats from climate change, particularly rising sea levels, and many of its citizens are considering taking up the option of leaving. At the same time, Tuvalu’s diplomatic relationship with Taiwan leaves it increasingly isolated among its neighbours.
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The AI startup that could radically change legal profession
Amid the disruption being caused by AI, the legal profession could see massive changes in the next few years. Leading the charge is Ivo, whose founder Min-Kyu Jung spoke to Q+A about the potential for AI to take a much greater role how lawyers operate. The Kiwi former lawyer also talked about why getting massive scale in tech isn’t possible in New Zealand, forcing a move to Silicon Valley.
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Will fuel price blowouts push us toward electrification?
ReWiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey joins Q+A to talk about what the fuel crisis means for the future of energy, and why attention is increasingly turning towards electrification, rather than relying on precarious fossil fuel supply chains.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
NZ’s foreign policy response to Iran falling short: Labour
The government is breaking with long-held norms in foreign affairs in how it is approaching the Iran crisis, says Labour’s new foreign affairs spokesperson Vanushi Walters.
She tells Q+A that the government must be stronger in standing up for human rights and international law, and sets out what she’d do differently.
Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that ma
Q+A 22 March 2026: “Extreme risk”. How Iran war exposes NZ’s national security vulnerabilities
“Extreme risk”. How Iran war exposes NZ’s national security vulnerabilities
The world has fundamentally changed, and New Zealand is not yet grappling with what that means for our national security, says Retired Major-General John Howard.
After a distinguished 40 year career in the military, Howard is now speaking out about what the war in Iran represents, the limits of New Zealand’s military cap
Meet the urban planner who wants less planning
World leading urban planner Alain Bertaud speaks to Q+A about his vision for how cities should be allowed to develop through organic choices and markets, rather than central planning.
Bertaud is renowned for his work in cities around the world, and famous for long walking tours of cities to get a sense for them. He has been in Auckland as a guest of the NZ Initiative, and intends to walk as much
