Q+A with Jack Tame

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...

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...

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 tha...

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 say...

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. Join Jack Tame and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 beh...

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.

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 answe...

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 ta...

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...

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 gr...

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.

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 int...

'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 poli...

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.

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. Ma...

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.

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 un...

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,...

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. Join Jack Tame and the...

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 te...