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-living pressures. The big bonus is a forecast return to surplus in financial year 2028/29, one year earlier than previously forecast, using the government's favoured forecasting tool, OBEGALx. Five months out from the general election, Nicola Willis joins Jack Tame to discuss the government's record on economic stewardship, why the new bank tax won't be passed onto consumers, and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's "freeloaders" comment on New Zealand's defence spending. 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 ban of social media for under-16s. 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 globalising world? Jack Tame speaks to author and CEO of geospatial analytics company AlphaGeo Dr Parag Khanna. 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.