Q+A with Jack Tame

Why the Taxpayers' Union wants government spending slashed The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is the largest taxpayer advocacy group, per capita, in the English-speaking world. They're known for high-profile stunts over public spending, like Porky the Waste-Hating Pig in 2017, Nicola's Fudge in 2025, and for the 2026 general election, the group have launched a Bribe-O-Meter tracking the projected fi...

Mike Turner's Freshwater Strategy public polling firm has run the numbers in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. He joins Jack Tame to explain why he thinks the two big parties in this year's general election, National and Labour, aren't quite spent yet - and whether New Zealand has anything to learn from the rise of Reform in the UK and One Nation in Australia. Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and...

Labour's Rachel Boyack held the electorate seat of Nelson by just 26 votes in 2023 - and that's after a recount. Reporter Whena Owen meets the candidates vying to take New Zealand's oldest-continuous seat. 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.

The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is the largest taxpayer advocacy group, per capita, in the English-speaking world. They're known for high-profile stunts over public spending, like Porky the Waste-Hating Pig in 2017, Nicola's Fudge in 2025, and for the 2026 general election, the group have launched a Bribe-O-Meter tracking the projected fiscal footprint of political parties' campaign promises. Exe...

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 campa...

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.

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...

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. Join...

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.

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 t...

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 Abel...

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...

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 fin...

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 an...

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 th...

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 t...

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...

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 challeng...

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 with...

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 Ta...

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 mat...

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 b...

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...

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 Kaip...

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. T...