Cross Party Lines

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines opens with breaking news — a Chinese missile test heading for the South Pacific — before working through a packed episode that moves from America at 250 to Brexit at 10, and closes with a forensic dissection of New Zealand Firsts increasingly chaotic behaviour inside the coalition. Thanks to our foundational partner Frank Risk Management...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines goes fully domestic this week — a weekend of wall-to-wall policy announcements gives the panel plenty to work with, a centrist party is suddenly polling close to the threshold, and a government that spent three years going hard on conservation and fisheries has quietly started walking backwards. All thanks to Frank Risk Management , the 1...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns for a policy-heavy episode — a weekend of conference announcements, party platforms and pre-election positioning gives Phil and Chris more material than they can get through in an hour, and they try anyway. All thanks to Frank Risk Management, our foundational partner and the 100% kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: *...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns for an episode that moves from the Iran peace deal to the election campaign taking shape around them. And all thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi Owned Insurance Brokerage. In this episode: * The Iran deal — incomplete, expensive and Trump’s to own — A purported peace deal between the US, Isra...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines welcomes Phil back from China with a packed episode that moves from the streets of Beijing to the corridors of Parliament — and closes with a sharp verdict on American politicians who can’t stop telling other countries what to do. Thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this...

Hosted by Chris Finlayson, Cross Party Lines welcomes a familiar face from across the Tasman, special guest co-host Annette King — beaming in from Sydney while Phil is in China. All thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management. The 100% kiwi owned insurance brokerage. 🎟 Live shows — Auckland 8 August, Wellington 12 August. Podcast listeners get pre-sale access. Head to tapliveevents.c...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines dive into a budget week episode that is almost entirely domestic: 8,700 public service jobs cut, state house rents going up, culture war bills clogging Parliament, and a defence announcement both men broadly welcome but want to interrogate. Cross Party Lines is made possible by Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokera...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns — fresh off the stage at Featherston — for an episode that opens with a tribute to one of New Zealand’s greatest legal minds and moves through a week of elections, populist tremors and an education debate that has been going around in circles since the 1990s. Thanks to Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokerag...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , this is a special bonus episode of Cross Party Lines — the live Q&A from the Featherston Booktown Festival, released separately so nothing from that remarkable afternoon gets left on the cutting room floor. Before the questions, Sam takes the temperature of the 400-strong room with four quick audience polls. The audience then takes over: * Could the Opport...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines goes live for the first time — recorded on stage at the Featherston Booktown Festival, with Sam Collins moderating one final time before he heads to the campaign trail as Labour’s North Shore candidate. All thanks to our foundational partner Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * Council amalga...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from a coalition-shaking email leak to the demographic time bomb nobody in government wants to defuse — and closes with a verdict on King Charles III’s Washington masterclass. All thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi-owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * The P...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from caucus chaos to media warfare — and lands on the most delicate diplomatic mission of the year: King Charles III heading to Washington to deal with Trump. Thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management . The 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * Luxon’s confidence vote —...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson , Cross Party Lines returns without Sam for the first time — and the boys don’t miss a beat. In a wide-ranging Anzac week episode, they move from wartime gallantry to National Party treachery, and from All Blacks in Parliament to the politics of immigration dog-whistling. All thanks to our foundational partner Frank Risk Management , the 100% kiwi owned insu...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines marks a milestone this week — Sam Collins signs off as moderator after announcing he is standing as the Labour candidate for North Shore. Thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management. In this episode: * James Christmas and the Tāmaki question — The panel turns to Tāmaki, where James Christmas — described by C...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines takes a break from the weekly news cycle for an Easter special — handing the microphone to listeners for a wide-ranging Q&A that covers cabinet reshuffles, grand coalitions, MMP thresholds, polarisation and Rocket Lab’s military contracts. Thanks to our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% kiwi owned ins...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from the murky obligations of a joint statement to the foundations of democracy itself — and finishes with a close read of the parliamentary chessboard ahead of the election. Made possible by Frank Risk Management , the 100% Kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * The Strait o...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from the kitchen table to the Crown balance sheet — and takes in the rise of populism across the Tasman along the way. Thanks to our foundationa partner, Frank Risk Management. In this episode: * Cost of living — With diesel up 67% in under a month and food prices running at 4.6% annuall...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that sweeps from the parliamentary pecking order to the Strait of Hormuz — and lands on a question New Zealand still hasn’t answered about its own pandemic past. Proudly supported by our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * Party...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines is back with an episode that flows from domestic political turbulence straight into the fires of the Middle East — and lands on the economic storm heading New Zealand’s way. Proudly supported by our foundational partner, Frank Risk Management , the 100% kiwi owned insurance brokerage. In this episode: * National in freefa...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from homelessness policy at home to war and international law abroad. There may be many headlines this week — but there is really one global story dominating the conversation. In this episode: * Move On Laws and rough sleeping — Are proposed “move on” powers a practical response to visib...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines tackles three of the biggest structural questions facing New Zealand: how we build the country, how we keep our young people here, and how we respond when politics drifts into populist rhetoric. This week’s episode moves from infrastructure to immigration — and ends with a firm defence of decency in public life. In this e...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with an episode that moves from minor party positioning to the power of inquiries, and ends with a timely reflection on civility in public life. Recorded against the backdrop of severe storms in the lower North Island, the episode opens with a renewed call for cross-party cooperation on climate adaptation — before...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with a wide-ranging episode that moves from the rituals of Waitangi Week to the most serious questions of global security — before closing with a sobering discussion on power, corruption, and trust in public life. In this episode: Waitangi Week, politics and performance — A clear-eyed assessment of what unfolded i...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns with a grounded, institutional-focused episode that looks at how democracy works when it’s doing its job — and where it still needs strengthening. This week’s conversation centres on law, legitimacy, national rituals and rare moments of bipartisan progress . In this week’s episode: Judith Collins and the Law Commi...

Hosted by Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson with Sam Collins , Cross Party Lines returns for a weighty, wide-ranging episode that moves from tragedy at home to turmoil abroad — and asks what leadership looks like when the stakes are this high. This week’s conversation is shaped by three forces: climate reality, global disorder, and election-year positioning . In this week’s episode: * Climate change a...