Duncan Garner - Editor In Chief

This election is starting to look less like two competing visions and more like a choice between dumb and dumber. National’s telling us to wait while spending $20 billion more than Labour’s last budget, but Labour is turning up with an uncosted $21 billion shopping list. Chris Hipkins refuses to show us the money, Willie Jackson says they didn't spend enough, and everyday Kiwis are left carrying the bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A real estate agent with a 30-year career faces a lifetime ban for refusing to take a compulsory 90-minute course on tikanga Māori. She lost her license not for misconduct, but for holding firm to her personal beliefs. We ask when regulators got the power to take away a person's right to work over a compulsory course. Plus, interest rates go up again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labour has a massive problem 10 weeks out from the election. Between ditching fuel tax increases, entertaining pay equity claims, and relying on capital gains tax that will not bring in revenue for years, their numbers just do not add up. We look at how Willie Jackson is pouring fuel on the fire by telling unions Labour was too conservative on spending, completely torpedoing Chris Hipkins' message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Willie Jackson just let the cat out of the bag on co-governance. Labour hasn't dropped the policy; they are just planning to rebrand it under a new name to avoid scaring voters. We break down what this deceit means for middle New Zealand, why Chris Hipkins seems unable to control his Māori caucus, and how voters are reacting as National and Labour lock into a dead heat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An elected representative in the Far North gets voted off a major committee after challenging council decisions and raising questions on co-governance. Far North District Councillor Davina Smolders joins us to explain how she was ambushed, denied natural justice, and shut down during debate. We ask where the government is on local democracy and why elected members are being punished for doing the job ratepayers voted them to do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Opportunities Party just backed away from their controversial tax policy, admitting a minor party can't force through massive economic shifts. We break down what this tax reset means for homeowners, farmers, and your back pocket. Plus, our panel tackles National's strict no-new-taxes stance, the push for council rate caps, and why level crossings are about to gridlock Auckland traffic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have been given exclusive access to the raw data showing how kids are doing at every high school across the country. The numbers have been crunched, and it turns out over 13,000 kids leave school every year without a single qualification. Socioeconomic gaps are widening, and boys are falling way behind girls. Educationalist Alwyn Poole joins us to break down what is going wrong and who needs to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong joins us for a 30-minute interview on TOP’s radical tax reset. TOP wants to fund a $19,000 universal basic income by heavily taxing land, but it could drop house values by 15%. Is this an economic gamble New Zealand cannot afford? We break down the policy, Christopher Luxon ruling them out, and what this means for homeowners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government has introduced a bill banning social media for under-16s, and it is about time. Big tech platforms care about eyeballs and profits, not the health and safety of our kids. With one in three NZ teenagers spending five-plus hours a day scrolling, we ask why the two main parties must unite to pass this law. Minister Erica Stanford joins Duncan to break it down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Hipkins says Labour will balance the books, but he will not tell us how he pays for his promises until later in the year. Meanwhile, National claims to cut costs, yet they are spending $20 billion more than Labour did. Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union joins Duncan to break down why neither side’s numbers add up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Opportunities Party wants a chunk of your land value every single year. We look at what TOP's proposed tax means for everyday homeowners and farmers facing bills up to $1,000 a week. Duncan breaks down the numbers with Maurice and Ani, questioning how Kiwis are supposed to afford it and what this means for the upcoming election Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We thought 10,000 kids were leaving school every year without a basic qualification. The real figure is over 13,000. That is almost one in five young Kiwis walking out the gates with nothing to show for over a decade in class. Duncan breaks down the Ministry's math tricks, hidden numbers, and why our education system is failing on a massive scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

$106 million spent on consultants for a harbour crossing, and we still do not know if it is a bridge or a tunnel. Another $229 million on light rail with zero track laid. Duncan is fed up with billions going out the door to private contractors while everyday Kiwis tighten their belts. Plus, former Defence Minister Ron Mark steps in on fighting in Ukraine and why he wants back into Parliament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warning: This interview contains discussions of sexual assault and violence Qiulae Wong spent weeks riding high, but an uncomfortable interview exposed serious questions about party rules, political donations, and who actually calls the shots. Plus, Chief Victims' Advocate Ruth Money joins us to break down the Opportunity Party's youth justice policy and why extending the youth court up to age 25 leaves victims behind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elections always come down to one simple test: are you better off than you were three years ago? We crunched the numbers across 20 key economic indicators to strip away the political spin. With prices up 17 percent and wages lagging, most Kiwis are feeling the pinch. Economist Ed McKnight joins us to break down who is actually winning and who is losing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hastings District Council has just appointed five unelected iwi representatives to every single council committee, giving them full voting rights and payment. We ask where Local Government Minister Simon Watts is hiding while co-governance rules are blatantly ignored. Plus, Maurice Williamson and Ashley Church join Duncan to break down a chaotic week of National Party leadership drama and its implications for the upcoming election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hastings District Council has voted to place unelected, paid mana whenua representatives onto every council committee with full voting rights. The government told councils to hold off, but Hastings pushed ahead anyway. We speak to Councillor Steve Gibson about why he is fighting this decision, what it means for ratepayers, and whether Three Waters-style co-governance is slipping back in through local water entities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon survives a dramatic confidence vote, but has National just destroyed its own election campaign? In this special live episode, Duncan Garner is joined by political commentator Ani O’Brien and former National minister Maurice Williamson as the leadership crisis unfolds in real time. They take you inside the National caucus room, examine the attempted coup against a sitting Prime Minister and deliver a brutal verdict when Luxon emerges victorious, declaring his deeply divided party “united”. With just 87 days until the election, the coup has failed. The damage may be permanent. And National is left with the same leader, a shattered caucus and a mountain of unanswered questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were promised a functional train tunnel for $2 billion, but Auckland’s City Rail Link blew out to $5.5 billion. Unaccountable council staff and ministers went missing while gold-plating stations and dropping over a million dollars on public art installations. We take a hard look at the $3 billion cost overruns, who signed off on the lavish designs, and why long-suffering Auckland ratepayers will be paying off this massive bill for decades. PLUS, Minister Simon Court joins us to discuss who signed off on this gold-plated blowout and why Auckland ratepayers are left holding the massive bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National is demanding Labour "show me the money" on tax and spend, but their own numbers face serious scrutiny. Plus, former Opportunity Party candidate Matthew Phillips joins us to explain why he walked away, what goes on behind closed doors, and why ruling out TOP might backfire on Christopher Luxon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon has finally done something we weren't sure he had in him: he expressed a genuine, unscripted opinion. The Prime Minister suggested a referendum on MMP, asking whether our 30-year-old electoral system still works or has just created political paralysis. Is Luxon finally showing real leadership, or is this an unwanted distraction from an economy doing it tough? Plus, New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones joins us to talk mining, energy, and coalition politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are we importing 111,000 foreign workers when thousands of New Zealanders cannot find a job? Unemployment has hit an 11-year high at 5.6%, youth unemployment is nearing 14%, and real wages are falling. Yet the government continues issuing tens of thousands of work visas to overseas workers. We ask why Christopher Luxon and the government are letting Kiwis miss out in their own country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest Roy Morgan poll has the Opportunities Party at 8%. Is this a real political shift or just an outlier? Duncan Garner sits down with political commentators David Farrier and Jordan Williams to break down what this means for Labour, National, and the rest of MMP. Plus, we take a look at TOP's radical policies and ask whether voters actually know what they are backing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon told struggling small-business owners that they need an adult relationship with the government. After massive backlash, he finally apologised, but the damage is already done. We talk to Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young about high inflation, rising rates, and why local business owners feel completely abandoned by National. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TVNZ ran a lengthy news segment on the opening of Auckland's new Drury and Pukekohe train stations, but completely left out Rail Minister Winston Peters. He funded it and opened it, yet didn't get a second of airtime. Meanwhile, activists staged a mock execution of him in Auckland, and the media barely blinked. Where's the fair reporting? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winston Peters tells a Green MP to go home and the political world goes into full meltdown. Labour and the Greens are calling it racism, but is it actually prejudice or just classic Winston attacking a political ideology? We break down the Parliament circus, the deafening double standards, and why everyday Kiwis struggling with mortgages are fed up with the endless outrage machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don Brash has unloaded on Christopher Luxon, calling his leadership gutless, hopeless, and ineffective. I find it hard to disagree. National is drifting back to 30% because Luxon is so terrified of offending anyone that he stands for nothing. We break down the brutal critique, look at how Labour got back in the game, and ask if Erica Stanford should be taking over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Opportunities Party wants youth court extended to 25-year-olds, but we think it is total madness. Plus, Free Speech Union's Ani O'Brien joins us after facing threats to cancel her Auckland event tonight. We look at crime, justice, and free speech in New Zealand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Chris Luxon actually plan to rule out working with TOP, or did he just back himself into a corner under pressure? We sit down with pollster David Farrar to break down National's coalition strategy, TOP's radical tax and justice policies, and why the election race is looking tighter than ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National wants to extend paid parental leave to 30 weeks, but families will have to wait until 2030 to get the full benefit. Nicola Willis tried to blame ACT for the delay, but National never pushed for it in the first place. David Seymour joins us to set the record straight on cost, policy priorities, and whether Kiwis are just being sold another long-term promise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labour has completely lost the plot over Paul Henry playing a classic radio game on Hauraki. Calling a joke a genuine death threat is bloody ridiculous, especially when Chris Hipkins has played the exact same game himself. Plus, Stuart Nash gets dumped by NZ First before election day, and we break down a mad week in Kiwi politics with Maurice Williamson and Ashley Church. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Nash is out of politics for good after another massive, self-inflicted wound. After falling out of Cabinet under Labour and trying to rebuild his career with Winston Peters and New Zealand First, Nash lasted just one week before sending a text to former National minister Chris Finlayson criticizing a local Napier candidate. We look at how Winston Peters acted quickly to force him out, why Christopher Luxon ruled him out of Cabinet, and how Nash repeatedly ruined his own political comebacks through a lack of discipline and poor judgment. Plus, we speak with Mark Hooper, a Taranaki farmer with Federated Farmers, about the government stepping in to halt iwi co-governance agreements with local councils. We discuss what needs to replace these agreements under the new planning rules, the high costs and delays of cultural impact assessments for regular landowners, and why New Zealand needs a transparent, high-trust planning system that works for all farmers and ratepayers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We just handed $60 million in taxpayer money to Golden Bay Cement because our own Emissions Trading Scheme made it cheaper to import cement from overseas than to make it here. Why are we forcing New Zealand businesses to pay heavy carbon costs when our international competitors do not? Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers Union joins us to break down why the ETS needs an immediate freeze. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We told you co-governance was alive and kicking in local councils, and now the government has finally stepped in to stop it. While mainstream newsrooms looked the other way, local communities were left in the dark about major agreements affecting their rates and properties. Duncan is joined by Far North councillor Davina Smolders to break down what went wrong and how we fix local government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Zealand First wants to spend one billion dollars surveying what lies beneath our oceans to find oil and gas. Is this total madness during a cost-of-living crisis, or is it common sense to audit our resources? Duncan gets the hard answers from Resources Minister Shane Jones on how we fund it and if the big rigs are coming back Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forget what the pundits are saying about who is packing boxes for the ninth floor of the Beehive. The rolling poll of polls shows New Zealand is heading into one of the closest elections in modern political history, and the country is split straight down the middle. We break down the razor-thin margins alongside Ashley Church and Maurice Williamson. From the National Party strategy friction to the minor party wild cards, it all comes down to coalition mathematics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly one in five young Aucklanders has completely pressed pause on life. Shane Jones says New Zealand First has a radical plan to deploy unemployed youth into the military to learn basic discipline and routine. Critics will scream conscription, but doing nothing is a complete surrender. We ask if structured national service is exactly what our drifting generation needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The uncomfortable truth National MPs won’t say out loud is that nothing is moving the dial. With eight consecutive polls putting the party under 30%, Christopher Luxon has a massive messenger problem. Plus, the man himself, Paul Henry, joins the podcast. He reveals why he’s trading his runway for a run at Parliament with Act, and whether he can actually survive the mundane reality of Wellington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon just delivered one of the most animated speeches of his prime ministership to 10,000 Kiwi Indians at Spark Arena. He went all out, laying down massive praise for the community. But not everyone is happy. Coalition partner Shane Jones is calling out immigration overreach, and some viewers feel regular Kiwis were completely thrown under the bus. We look at the tight politics behind it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new Conservation Amendment Bill is moving through Parliament, and it is ringing alarm bells. Elected member Luka Jansen joins us to blow the whistle on a hidden clause that completely removes civil and criminal liability for board members. We look at the reality of co-governance on the ground, from burnt-down huts in the Urewera to wild dogs and blocked public access. Is this bill just a stalking horse for development and bureaucracy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another generation of kids is disappearing down the digital rabbit hole while politicians tie themselves in knots over complicated online bans. We talk to political commentator Ani O’Brien about a brilliant, simple solution: stop overcomplicating the technology and just ban the smartphone hardware for under-16s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Reserve Bank just delivered an interest rate hike that the National Party desperately wanted to avoid. This completely shatters their script, yet Nicola Willis is trying to spin this as a sign of a strengthening economic recovery. We check in with Ani O'Brien and Ashley Church to see if this economic turnaround is actually real or just more Wellington spin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are focusing on victims today as we look at Act's three strikes proposal for repeat burglars. Burglary is a home invasion, not a property crime, so why does our system treat it so lightly? Plus, Minister Shane Jones is in the studio. He is fired up about West Coast mining, the India trade deal, and why co-governance is growing like a tapeworm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labour is promising three free GP visits for everyone. It sounds great, but we are hundreds of doctors short right now. Outgoing GP boss Dr Brian Betty joins us to look past the political slogans at the reality of our healthcare system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have finally seen common sense win after Parliament ditched an absurd rule that banned real estate agents from working for five years over a missed 90-minute course. Plus, we dive into the multi-million-dollar road cone madness. A traffic boss fronts up on why Auckland is dragging its feet on new rules and why worker abuse is spiking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 40-year-old conservation system is broken, and bureaucratic delays are letting pests ruin our land. We talk to South Island farmers Richard and Simon, who are fighting for common-sense updates to the law. They are on the frontline while Wellington insiders argue over ideology. Plus, we look at your feedback on the political circus in the Beehive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We look at the massive shakeup to New Zealand's road cone madness as new deregulation rules kick in. David Seymour has already saved taxpayers millions of dollars, but the Wellington media bubble completely ignored the announcement. Plus, we expose the truth about The Opportunity Party and their actual political agenda. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The old political duopoly is cracking. The latest polling shows voters are walking away from National and Labour in droves while smaller parties surge. We sit down with pollster David Farrar to break down the rise of The Opportunities Party, their surprisingly left-wing policies, and why the mainstream media is completely ignoring the real story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Opportunities Party has climbed to 6.5% in the latest Roy Morgan poll as Labour falls to a new low of 25.5%. Duncan examines TOP’s policies and leadership and asks whether voters are being sold a centrist alternative that is, in reality, firmly aligned with Labour and the Greens. He also follows up on the controversy at Horizons Regional Council, the agreements being negotiated with 14 iwi and the pressure facing councillors who raise concerns publicly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another day, another massive bill dropped on Kiwi ratepayers with absolutely zero transparency. This week, Horizons Regional Council is quietly rushing through 14 separate co-governance agreements under the Resource Management Act. We speak to whistleblower councillor Luka Jensen about the information overload, the ballooning costs, and why local democracy is being compromised behind closed doors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices