Duncan Garner - Editor In Chief

Duncan Garner goes straight at a deal most people weren’t watching. Just before Christmas, New Zealand quietly agreed to a free trade deal with India. On paper it’s being sold as a win. In reality, there’s a clause that changes everything. For the first time, New Zealand has agreed to uncapped numbers of Indian students. No ceiling. No off switch. Full work rights during and after study. We dig in...

The election date is locked in and the gun has officially been fired. November 7 is now circled, but as we head into campaign mode, the biggest issue facing New Zealand is still being quietly ignored. Chris Hipkins delivers a State of the Nation with no new policy and plenty of familiar lines. Duncan argues the real problem isn’t revenue, tax or spending. It’s courage. National superannuation is n...

Christopher Luxon had the stage, the timing, and the attention. Election year. State of the Nation. A chance to set the agenda. And yet, nothing new landed. We unpack why the Prime Minister’s speech felt safe, steady, and completely underwhelming. From cost of living pressures and power prices to debt, borrowing, and that familiar “green shoots” language, Duncan asks the question many households a...

After two years of talk, the granny flat breakthrough is finally here. You can now build a 70 square metre flat in your backyard without resource consent or a building consent. It’s a big shift, and one that could unlock thousands of homes across the country. On this episode, Duncan breaks down why this reform matters, how it cuts straight through council red tape, and why it could be one of the m...

Why does the cost of living still feel out of control for so many Kiwis? And why is National struggling to convince voters they understand the pressure at the kitchen table? In this episode, Duncan Garner digs into why the government’s cost of living response has failed to land, despite repeated promises. From power prices and rates to food bills and fixed incomes, Duncan argues the real economy i...

Chris Hipkins, Labour, and the 2026 election take centre stage as Duncan Garner lays out why this is the year hiding is no longer an option. Labour’s polling has remained strong, with Chris Hipkins consistently rating well personally. But Duncan argues that goodwill doesn’t equal trust, and trust won’t come without hard answers. Who would sit around the Cabinet table under a Hipkins government? Wh...

Good polling doesn’t let you off the hook. It puts you right on it. In this Slam Dunc, Duncan turns his attention to Chris Hipkins and asks the questions he believes aren’t being asked loudly enough. Hipkins is polling well, personally popular, and sitting comfortably while the Government absorbs most of the heat. But Duncan argues that’s exactly why the scrutiny now needs to ramp up. This is an e...

Do you want progress or paralysis? This week, Duncan lays out what he sees as the starkest political divide in years, and why the Government’s fast track legislation sums it up better than anything else. We dig into how endless consultation and red tape stalled housing, infrastructure and regional development for years, and why the new approach is being sold as a course correction rather than a sh...

Welcome to 2026, and we’re back... even if Parliament and the school system aren’t. This is the first Editor in Chief of an election year, and Duncan isn’t easing into it quietly. We dig into the long summer shutdown for politicians and teachers and ask whether it’s completely out of step with how the rest of New Zealand lives and works. While families, businesses and tradies are already back at i...

After a brutal stretch for job seekers, are we finally seeing signs of life in the employment market? Tom O’Neill from cv.co.nz joins Duncan Garner to break down what he’s seeing on the ground. Job ads are lifting, employers are starting to move again, and there’s cautious optimism that 2026 could be a turning point. We talk about why hiring is one of the clearest signals of economic confidence, h...

The dangers of electric scooters for children and teenagers that nobody seems to be talking about. From real-life injuries to reckless riding, Duncan highlights the urgent need for schools and councils to act now before more lives are put at risk. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSypyI8wbnZgJDYY0VCdwJQ/join Get in touch with Duncan - duncan@rova.nz and jo...

Alright folks, here’s the deal. I’ve been reporting on New Zealand politics for 30 years, and let me tell you—nothing bloody changes. Every year it’s the same chop-and-change nonsense, short-term thinking rules, and our leaders keep kicking the can down the road. We need leadership. We need courage. We need politicians to stop playing games and actually get in the same room and sort this stuff out...

Christine Rankin joins Duncan Garner for an in-depth discussion on New Zealand politics, local government, leadership and the state of the country heading into the new year. The conversation covers joint management agreements with iwi, the importance of public consultation, and the pressure local councils are under to deal with complex race and governance issues. Christine explains why transparenc...

New Zealand politics in 2024 was messy, intense, and sometimes downright ridiculous. In this episode of Duncan Garner: Editor-in-Chief, Duncan reviews the political year, highlighting the winners, losers, and everything in between. He names Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon as the political MVPs, applauds Winston Peters’ masterclass in chaos, and examines the missteps of Te Pāti Māori and John T...

With an election year looming, Duncan is joined by Ani and Damian for a wide-ranging, no-nonsense look at the political year that’s been and the one ahead. They dig into why the economy still feels flat despite falling interest rates, what rising insolvencies really signal, and why cost of living continues to dominate everything else. The conversation turns to whether the government has squandered...

Child poverty in New Zealand is the focus of this episode of Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief as Duncan speaks with Susan Glasgow from Variety, the children’s charity supporting kids living in hardship across the country. Variety’s sponsorship programme helps children aged 5 to 18 with the basics many families struggle to afford. That includes school uniforms, stationery, clothing, and essential ite...

New Zealand retail is under serious pressure, and in this episode of Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief, Duncan speaks with Carolyn Young from Retail NZ about what’s really happening on the ground. Carolyn explains why the last few years have felt like a three year recession for retailers, with rising costs, higher rents, increased insurance, and falling consumer spending. Even when shops look busy, c...

Duncan sits down with Education Minister Erica Stanford for a straight-up conversation about what’s gone wrong in our schools and what’s finally being done to fix it. From the state of maths and literacy to why thousands of kids are leaving school without qualifications, Erica lays out the reforms already underway. New curricula, textbooks back in classrooms, an hour of maths a day, and tens of th...

A former high-ranking police officer avoids jail after being caught with thousands of horrific images on his work computer. Duncan asks how a four and a half year sentence turns into a nine month holiday at home. Plus, the team wraps the year by digging into a "rogue" election poll and the confusing money trail surrounding Willie Jackson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

The alleged misappropriation of taxpayer money by the Māori Trust under the leadership of John Tamihere. He questions the lack of oversight and transparency after Tamihere receives a $385,000 loan for a political campaign, then later receives the same amount as a bonus to pay it back. The episode calls on government departments, regulators, and the media to step up and restore public trust. Garner...

In this episode of the Duncan Garner Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Duncan Garner discusses David Seymour's plan to reignite the treaty principles debate in the 2026 election year, arguing it's a strategic move to address public unease over race relations in New Zealand. Garner is joined by former Finance Minister and Prime Minister Bill English to discuss the current political and economic climate, inc...

The media landscape has changed forever, and trust has gone with it. On the podcast, Duncan sits down with Shubz, a digital creator who’s built a following by calling out corruption, hypocrisy, and misuse of power, regardless of who’s involved. Shubz talks openly about his upbringing, identity, and why he refuses to stay silent when taxpayer money is misused or when truth gets buried under ideolog...

Willie Jackson, the Manukau Urban Māori Authority, and 19 personal grievance cases now before the Employment Relations Authority. This episode of Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief breaks down a fast-moving and explosive political story. Duncan is joined by veteran trade unionist Matt McCarten, who is representing workers alleging bullying and unsafe workplace behaviour at MUMA. 19 workers have taken...

Tonight on the podcast... KING Homeboy give a little https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/king-home-boy-whip-round Stuff article from dec5: https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360910267/hip-hop-champ-hits-mute-beatboxing-after-brain-surgery Shubz on Willie Jackson and John Tamihere, Nicola Willis vs Ruth Richardson, and Chris Bishop’s RMA reforms — a massive week in New Zealand politics and media, and Dunc...

Westpac has stunned everyone. The Reserve Bank cuts the OCR, the government does a victory lap promising relief is finally coming, and then Westpac sprints out of the blocks with a mortgage rate hike. Kiwis are on their knees, desperate for a break, and the bank that holds the government contract is the first to crank rates up. You honestly couldn’t make this stuff up. This episode, we call it exa...