Twelve months after an election that delivered New Zealand its first three-party coalition, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire cast their minds and hearts back, recall those heady early days and seek to assess the opening stanza of the Christopher Luxon government. How has he fared with two noisy partners? How are the opposition doing? Which politicians have impressed and surprised? And what are the tripwires and opportunities in the year ahead? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The capital gains tax debate has lurched back on to the agenda thanks to the boss of our biggest bank and the housing issues faced by Christopher Luxon. Is it a good idea, and can Labour ever avoid getting electorally squashed by trying to push the rock up the slope again? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas chew it over. Plus: did the government underestimate the strength of feeling in Dunedin over its long promised new hospital? Is the swap of a teacher te reo programme for more maths resource a good idea? And a journey through the crust of the Earth in pursuit of the source of Casey Chatbot Costello's "independent advice" on tobacco taxes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The treaty principles bill continues to attract criticisms - from the leaders of churches, from the leaders of political parties including National. In revising it, is David Seymour stumbling, or is it all playing out as he'd wish? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas chew it over. Plus: the crime statistic puzzle and the power-blasted mill closures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tens of thousands have gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae over recent days for the tangi of Kīngi Tūheitia, who died on Friday morning after 18 years on the throne. Fresh from a visit to Ngāruawāhia, Annabelle Lee-Mather joins Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas to describe the mood on the ground, Tūheitia's legacy, and the role of the Kīngitanga in New Zealand politics. Plus: infrastructure, meta-infrastructure and a rethink on the fast-track bill, and Shane Jones' remarks about the judiciary, which have earned him a slapdown from Judith Collins, and from Winston Peters, but why not from the boss, Christopher Luxon? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prime minister travelled to the Māori King's Koroneihana this week, where he was assailed for government policies that had, according to Tuku Morgan of Tainui, hit tangata whenua with a wrecking ball and thrown them under the bus. Christopher Luxon seized the moment to declare unequivocally that National would not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, while Act leader David Seymour was a centre of attention despite being absent. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire chew over events at Tūrangawaewae, and whether Act's controversial bill is a divisive waste of time or a blunt reality of MMP politics. Plus: Luxon leaps in PM polling despite malapropisms, stats about mathematics, and the traffic lights flare up for beneficiary sanctions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A walkout at the Iwi Leaders' Forum, a call from John Key to turn down the temperature, and protests at parliament. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire test the air on the coalition government relationship with iwi Māori as former minister Tracey Martin urges National to back down on its coalition commitment with Act to repeal Section 7aa of the Oranga Tamariki Act. Plus: is Karen Chhour right that the pressure she's facing in parliament crosses the line? Should MPs in the house wear more or less party insignia? And how did Christopher Luxon go at the weekend's party conference? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With few pundits and certainly no podcasts willing to discuss the American presidential race, Toby, Annabelle and Ben come to the rescue, exchanging some long-distance reckons on the Biden-Trump-Harris melodrama, and whether Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters are right to be pivoting towards the US amid the prospect of a fresh Trump administration with so little love for the rules-based order. Back home, after more than six years, the final report of the Royal Commission on abuse in state care has been published. What does it say, why is it this such a big milestone, and what happens next? Plus: a word on the appointment of a commissioner as Health NZ Te Whatu Ora faces a financial crisis, and a troubling trajectory on emissions reduction targets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special crossover edition of Gone By Lunchtime meets Juggernaut, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the stage at a packed Hannah Playhouse in Wellington, joined by NZ broadcasting legend Kim Hill. Exactly 40 years after the 1984 election that saw David Lange and Labour derail the Muldoon train and sweep to power, unleashing a head-spinning period of economic, social and foreign policy reform, we reflect on those giddy times and the ways the Lange-Douglas legacy remains very much alive in 2024. This event sold out in 48 hours; to get advance access to Spinoff events, join our members programme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darleen Tana has quit the Green Party following a long-awaited report into her role in allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s e-bike business. She disputes the findings and, so far, has ignored pleas by co-leader Chloe Swarbrick to resign from parliament. Which leaves the Greens in a pickle: do they invoke the waka-jumping legislation they so publicly abhor? And what is the broader damage to the Greens? Plus: Chris Bishop’s promise to “flood” the housing market with a new density policy, and can Christopher Luxon have an important pull-aside chat with Joe Biden at the Nato gathering in Washington DC? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special Euro-vote edition of GBL, Henry Cooke joins Toby Manhire to chew over two fascinating results. Exit polls from France suggest the far-right National Rally’s ambitions have been repelled at the onzième hour. What happened, and is Emmanuel Macron vindicated? In the UK, Keir Starmer leads the Labour Party to a landslide victory, and yet it’s a shallow sweep, and he faces tests from the left. What next for British politics? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this GBL special from Manila, Toby Manhire sits down with John Nery of Rappler at the East-West media conference to discuss heightened disputes in the South China Sea and risks of the Philippines getting caught up in a great powers battle, the dynastic nature of politics in the country, and the state of media freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A ferry grounded, a power pylon upended thanks to missing bolts, the prime minister's plane borked again. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess sticky-taped, short-term New Zealand and what to do about it. Plus: a bright solution to a messy situation on cancer drug funding and the first ever scrutiny week at parliament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We thought you might like a wee taster of our brand new #1 series, Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government, hosted by Toby Manhire. Click here to follow Juggernaut so you get every episode as soon as it's released! 1. I love you, Mr Lange Fuelled by brandy and fury, Sir Rob Muldoon calls a snap election, sparking a 1984 campaign of contrasts – the menacing, protectionist National PM against the fresh, upbeat Labour leader, David Lange. The pretext for the election is the decision by Marilyn Waring, a young, gay MP, to back an anti-nuclear bill and quit the National caucus, prompting an earful from Muldoon. Lange, meanwhile, is joined at the hip by a hungry would-be finance minister, Roger Douglas. They are about to confront a profound crisis, and launch a revolution. Includes previously unheard interviews with David Lange from the 84 campaign trail, and new and exclusive interviews with Marilyn Waring, Roger Douglas, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble, Peter Harris, Margaret Wilson, Bob Harvey and Gary McCormick. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleven agencies were summoned for a meeting on Friday to discuss “action” to address a series of allegations involving Manurewa marae and Te Pāti Māori, the most serious of which is misuse of census data ahead of the last election, at which TPM’s Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp – then CEO of the marae – defeated Labour’s Peeni Henare by just 42 votes. Kemp and John Tamihere, president of TPM, strenuously reject the allegations and “baseless innuendo”. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire convene their own summit in an attempt to get their heads around the claims and counter-claims, and why they’re so serious. Plus: The enduring newsline for Nicola Willis’s debut budget was meant to be tax cuts and a tightening of belts. Instead it’s something else: a failure to deliver promised funding to 13 cancer drugs. We assess the severity of the backlash, the response, and the reception to the 2024 budget more broadly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicola Willis has delivered tax cuts in her first budget, largely as promised. But has the coalition government managed to square the circle of relieving cost of living pressures while avoiding the quicksand of encouraging inflation? In a special crossover episode of Gone By Lunchtime meets When the Facts Change, Toby Manhire quizzes Bernard Hickey on all that, plus: Is Willis right to say the tax cuts are not paid for by borrowing, and can she reasonably blame Labour for the bleak fiscal outlook? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode of GBL, recorded before a sell-out audience at the Auckland Writers Festival on May 18, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire haul the KPIs out of the cabinet and assess the first six months of the National-led government, the performances of Prime Minister Chris Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour, along with the efforts from the parties of opposition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spinoff has just launched a brand new series called Behind the Story, where site editor Madeleine Chapman sits down with a staff writer or contributor to gain more insight about a big story on The Spinoff from the week. We thought you might like to check out the first episode, and if you enjoy it please follow it wherever you get your podcasts! On Friday, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell sent her final newsletter, and took the opportunity to share what she’s learned about the news over two years of curating it for thousands of New Zealanders. Earlier in the week, she’d seen reports of Auckland dog owners discarding their pets’ turds on the ground after Auckland Council removed bins across the city. And so, the column “If you love a dog, you must also love disposing of its shit” was born. Anna joins Madeleine Chapman to talk about the power journalists have when framing a story and how to find the middle ground between boring and sensational. For The Spinoff editor’s thoughts on the week that was, as well as a handpicked collection of the week’s best reads, subscribe to The Weekend with Madeleine Chapman newsletter at thespinoff.co.nz/newsletters  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six months in, and it's hardly been a honeymoon. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management, and a how much just the persistent grey economic clouds. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas gather to stick their fingers in the wind. Also on the agenda: the two Winstons entwine as the foreign minister takes aim at former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr, who responds with a threat to sue. Did Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds deserve to be demoted? Plus, what the Waitangi Tribunal said about the decision to scrap Oranga Tamariki's section 7AA, and what the High Court said about children's minister Karen Chhour's refusal to turn up to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winston Peters and Helen Clark are at loggerheads over New Zealand inching towards "pillar two" status in a pact geared against China. Is cross-party unity on our foreign policy status splintering, and what does "pillar two" really mean? Plus: public sector cuts are suddenly becoming very real. What are the implications for the public services and what is the political risk? How is Melissa Lee navigating the media inferno in a coalition cabinet? And a stirring defence of the history curriculum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special edition of GBL, the former finance minister and soon-to-be vice-chancellor at the University of Otago chats with Toby Manhire from the nosebleeds at the Basin Reserve. On the agenda: tax reforms lost, the Covid legacy, the lure of Dunedin, and which White Fern Robertson most identifies with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite a deteriorating economic outlook and inconvenient calculations, Nicola Willis and Chris Luxon insist that they can deliver promised tax cuts without new taxes or higher borrowing. Or that’s the intention, at least. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas chew over the fiscal predicament. Plus: is the new fast-track consenting law, which concentrates immense power in the hands of Chris Bishop, Simeon Brown and Shane Jones, a necessary circuit breaker or a lurch towards Muldoonism? What to make of Winston Peters’ ramblings about Nazism, DNA and co-governance? And while Chumbawamba have urged New Zealand's veteran tub-thumper to cease and desist, is a better template for his contribution one of the Gallagher brothers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon can’t catch a break. His prime ministerial house is shabby. His prime ministerial plane is borked. But, ask Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas, how foreseeable was the blowback to his decision to take the $52k accommodation allowance to stay in his own mortgage-free Wellington apartment, how tin-eared was it to declare, repeatedly, that he was entitled to his entitlements, thank you very much, and the swift talkback-driven U-turn? It came hot on the heels of a whiplash week in parliament, with legislation to bin the Māori Health Authority, roll back smokefree legislation and unban pseudoephedrine. Is the government stretching the use of urgency to its legitimate limit? Elsewhere in a new edition of the Spinoff politics podcast Gone By Lunchtime: Warner Brothers Discovery has issued a death warrant for Newshub, all of Three’s news operations and a bunch of other local content. What does it mean for democracy, and how was the response from Melissa Lee and the rest? Plus: A word on Grant Robertson, who is leaving politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fa'anānā Efeso Collins, Green MP and former Auckland councillor, has died after collapsing while taking part in a charity run in central Auckland. He was 49 years old and is survived by his wife, Fia, and two daughters. The news reached Toby, Ben and Annabelle while a podcast recording was under way. At that point the planned recording halted and we shared reflections on his life and legacy. We have chosen to include the early part of the podcast; to skip past discussions that in the circumstances feel trivial, listen from approximately 22 mins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee-Mather returns from the cauldron of Waitangi to discuss with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire the rhetorical flames and gently roasted marshmallows at the hugely attended commemorations. Did Christopher Luxon navigate a copy-paste path between his coalition partners and how many tails does it take to wag a dog? Also on the podcast this week, Ben explains why new minister Casey Costello's explanation for seeking advice on freezing tax on tobacco is consistent with the enigmatic NZ First school of biblical interpretation. Plus: James Shaw is quitting the Green co-leadership. What legacy does he leave and what difference might Chlöe Swarbrick, the favourite to replace him, make for the party? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The political year has begun with a sharp focus on the new coalition government and te ao Māori. In the first pod back for 2024, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the messages from the packed Kiingitanga hosted hui ā motu and an unusually politically barbed Rātana. How is Christopher Luxon dealing with questions – and fury – over the Treaty Principles Bill agreed to as part of the deal with Act? Should David Seymour have shown up? And what is NZ First – the third bonce of what was called a “three-headed taniwha” – looking to gain? Also on GBL: Is New Zealand’s deployment of NZDF to the Red Sea as part of the retaliatory action against Yemen’s Houthis a smart move, and is it plausible to say there is no link to the Israeli action in Gaza? And the resignation of Green MP Golriz Ghahraman returns questions around mental health, abuse and responsibility to the foreground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of a long year and a hectic few weeks for the new government, Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather ask: What is the story of the three-headed coalition so far? Plus: how do we rate the various parties' performance across 2023? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUPERPOD is back! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Gone By Lunchtime's Annabelle Lee-Mather, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, Bernard Hickey from When The Facts Change and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler and Samuel Robinson, SUPERPOD 2023 is the crossover to end all crossovers. From intense discussion of government policy to figuring out what the heck a skibidi toilet is, we celebrate the best and worst of what has been a rollercoaster year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first fortnight of the three-part coalition government has been anything but dull. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas review Christopher Luxon's performance as his deputy PM Winston Peters steals thunder, a 100-day plan lays out an ambitious programme of undoing, and Te Pāti Māori command attention in the house and on the streets as parliament gets back into business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon has scaled his Big Rock candy mountain and today the new National, Act and NZ First coalition has its ministers sworn in at Government House. Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather rattle through the two coalition deals and ask: Who scored the big wins? Will there be further changes when the books are opened and a mini-budget published? What is the message to Māori? And what can we learn from the dynamics at play between Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The special votes have confirmed a "worst case scenario" mélange à trois comprising National, Act and NZ First. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the state of coalition talks. What are the, as Christopher Luxon's puts it, "big rocks", "additive things" and "things we've got variance in"? Plus: Te Pāti Māori triples its caucus, Chris Hipkins faces a leadership vote, and our predictions on when the new government will be announced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National has won the election, but what kind of victory is it? Will a coalition with Act be enough, or is Winston Peters’ phone about to ring? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire sift through the results the morning after, sizing up Christopher Luxon’s achievement, the Labour plunge and the future for the Greens, NZ First and Te Pāti Māori. It was a night that produced some big surprises, in Auckland seats and across the Māori seats. Plus: what next for a wounded Labour, what kind of government would a National-Act coalition mean, and the task ahead for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of living and breathing this year’s election campaign Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman and The Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell join together to discuss the events of election day. Toby arrives fresh from a whirlwind tour of various party events while Mad and Anna emerge from an evening spent devouring election coverage and reporting on results. Go here to watch this episode on YouTube, where it broadcast as a livestream on election night. Keep an eye on this feed later today (Sunday 15th October) for a morning-after-the-night-before deep dive with Toby, Annabelle and Ben. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last pre-election pod, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire comb through the final polls and take stock after a hectic final few days in which panicked-looking National has gone really negative - on a government led by them. Meanwhile, Labour might have inched back up, but is it enough to give them even a distant hope? Plus: Thoughts on Act, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, and a not entirely fond farewell to the campaign of 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Labour leader has Covid-19, which means a campaign rejig and a protracted squabble with Christopher Luxon about who is quitting the Press debate and who isn’t. Meanwhile, Winston Peters has gone into bombastic overdrive, parts of the campaign have gotten ugly, and a clutch of new polls indicate tight races in Auckland Central, Tāmaki, and Hauraki Waikato. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the pulse. Plus: Christopher Luxon has declined to be interviewed by The Spinoff or on the pod. We extend again a warm invitation to the man who could be prime minister in a few weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second leader debate, Chris Hipkins went full-mojo against Christopher Luxon. Did it work for him, or did he overdo it? The NZ First leader wasn't there and yet he really was, after Luxon ruled him in at the start of the week. "I don't know him," professed Luxon of Peters, but will that wash? And what was the thinking behind the ruling-in, and why now. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire tackle all of that, and pick the stars and the flops across other debates of the last week, including the powerbrokers clash on Newshub Nation, and the young voter and kaupapa Māori debates on TVNZ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 12th and final hour of the Election 2023 Megapod, the Mount Rushmore of political podcasting returns and makes a desperate dash for the finish line. There is some discussion of polling and the campaign trail as it hits mid-point, but mostly it’s Annabelle pounding her chest and shouting, “there’s nothing left in here for you.”  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s getting late and unruly on the Election 2023 Megapod, and that means it’s time for The Real Pod’s Jane Yee and Duncan Greive to join Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas – as well as Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman – to remember The Worm, the strange and transformative graphic that once crawled across debate screens. The quintet then look back on key appearances by politicians on reality television.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an extended interview, Toby Manhire talks to Bernard Hickey about his life in media, politics and the economy. We also discover why Bernard has totally changed his approach to journalism.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ollie Neas of Policy.nz joins Toby Manhire to reflect on the history and purpose of New Zealand’s best policy comparison tool, how it works, and what it can tell us already about the parties’ priorities in this year’s election.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the second season of The Spinoff video series Youth Wings is released, two of the participants from the previous season join Toby Manhire to give their impressions of the new crop, reflect on responses to their own appearances three years ago, and reveal what they’re up to now.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite a poll that put him in third place, Raf Manji insists that he can win the seat of Ilam and bring the Opportunities Party into parliament for the first time.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does Labour’s economic record stack up after six years? Toby Manhire talks to Grant Robertson about his approach to politics, memories of 2005, and whether he feels he’s achieved what he hoped for.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just how much power does the governor general wield, is David Seymour’s thought experiment of “confidence but no supply” plausible, and what would happen in a 60-seats-all tie? Constitutional expert Andrew Geddis joins Toby Manhire to chew through the scenarios.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Act leader David Seymour explains why he thinks political dramas on television are a dangerous drug for politicians. Plus: does he want Act to “own” policy areas in a coalition, or to feed in across the board? This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Australians will vote on October 14, too: on creating a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. What would the creation of this body mean and how is the debate shaping up? Plus: how interested are Australians in New Zealand politics now Jacinda Ardern has left the scene?  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Act deputy leader has launched an audacious challenge in the east Auckland seat of Tāmaki. She joins Toby Manhire to discuss her philosophical differences with Simon O’Connor, whether Act could live with an anti-abortion MP in its caucus, and the policy issues that fire her up. She also reveals that Act has written a letter of complaint to Newshub about coverage of its campaign launch.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Which electorates have pulses racing in this campaign? Toby Manhire is joined by Spinoff colleagues Charlotte Muru-Lanning, Stewart Sowman-Lund, Shanti Mathias and Joel MacManus to pick the seats they’re most excited about, including Tāmaki Makaurau, Tāmaki, Wellington Central and Ilam. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first debate, Labour leader Chris Hipkins appeared to suggest he had not read a book. On our epic 12-hour megapod, he confirmed that in fact he has, and what his favourite books are. Plus, Hipkins’ self-assessment of his mojo, the mood in Gisborne, his prediction for turnout and political TV comfort food. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

International issues have so far had stuff-all airtime in the campaign. University of Otago professor Robert Patman talks Ukraine and Russia, Aukus, and the geopolitical questions the leaders should be facing.  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High-flying National MP Erica Stanford joins Toby Manhire to explain why she wants to be education minister and why the National Party wants to mandate structured literacy. Plus: the pressure politicians face and a response to the suggestion a two-woman party leadership wouldn’t fly. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victoria University of Wellington political scientist, Lara Greaves, talks about changes to how the Māori roll works, online harassment and the pros and cons of polling. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Green Party co-leader James Shaw joins Toby Manhire to explain how he’s striving to get climate change on the agenda in a cost-of-living campaign, the “ultimate threat multiplier” and the agony of rewatching The West Wing. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh from a poll that puts her second in Te Tai Hauāuru, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer talks with Toby Manhire about her prospects, the party’s priorities, and how the party has changed from the days of Tariana Turia. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire is joined by the three leading candidates in the race for Auckland Central: sitting MP Chlöe Swarbrick of the Greens, National’s Mahesh Muralidhar and Labour’s Oscar Sims. What do they have to say about transport in the city? Housing? Crime? And will Toby storm out of the studio and leave them to debate without him?  This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labour MP Michael Wood talks to Toby about the impact of his resignation as a minister three months ago (“It was really awful to be honest”), the campaign to date, and what he hopes to do next. Plus: we enquire about his redemption animal (clue: it’s not a yak). This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire is joined by Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell and founder Duncan Greive to critique the performances of Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon in the 1News debate, and critique the critiques. This is an excerpt from our day-long Election 2023 Megapod, recorded on September 20. Watch the full megapod livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas size up the big first clash of Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon under the hot studio lights at 1News. What were the flashpoints, would have emerged the happiest, and is this going to change people's votes? Plus: the angry fence man disrupts Act's campaign launch and the latest from the campaign trail with 24 days to go. Plus: the latest Ipsos Issues Monitor and a new poll on Te Tai Hauauru. (This is the first hour of our 12-hour Megapod, streamed live on September 20.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Seymour has led the Act Party from the edge of extinction to a major force in the NZ parliament and stands today on the brink of bringing multiple MPs to the cabinet table. In a wide-raning conversation with Toby Manhire, he talks about why he doesn't want to talk about Winston Peters, the reasons behind the party seeing five candidates withdraw within two months, and defends his assertion that Nelson Mandela would back his party. Plus: Is Act's housing policy a Nimby's charter, why he's not interested in the baubles of office, and would Mary Poppins vote for Act? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the first leaders' debate less than a week away, Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire ask if the National leader is staging an epic hustle. Does mounting pressure on National over purported numbers for a foreign buyer property tax offer hope that Chris Hipkins and Labour can reclaim some of the lost ground, or do a succession of polls that put them in the 20s mean they're in furniture-saving mode? Plus: how is the energy on the campaign trail, do the numbers of the Prefu change things, and why Winston Peters' claim that Māori are not indigenous to New Zealand amounts to much more than a quirky academic exercise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A big day in the 2023 campaign as Treasury opens up the books and sets out the pre-election fiscal update. Toby Manhire is joined by When the Facts Change host, Kākā pilot and sage of the political economy Bernard Hickey to explain what the Prefu reveals, how New Zealand's numbers compare internationally and what it means for the financial scrap playing out between National and Labour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire sits down with the co-leaders of the Green Party to discuss the successes and failures of the last six years, how they're approaching a crowded, antagonistic campaign, the electorate seats they're taking seriously and the great dance of rulings out and bottom lines. Plus: what was going through their heads as they stood a few metres away from Elizabeth Kerekere when she denounced an "epic failure of leadership" and the latest on the incident in which Davidson was struck by a motorcycle during the Posie Parker counter-protest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the campaign kicks into full ice-cream-and-robotic-hands mode, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire size up the state of play. On the agenda: National's tax plan and the complaints of "heroic" assumptions; Labour's dental pledge and the promised land of 2026 (and memories of the old days when kids were bussed off to the "murder house"); the Labour and National campaign launches, their slickness and protester interruptions; and which other historical figures would have voted Act? Plus: an important update on Annabelle's pigeon situation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The state of the campaign, the struggling Chrises and the electorate battles to watch are all on the agenda as Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the stage at the Word Christchurch festival. Joining the trio is Lianne Dalziel, former cabinet minister and Christchurch mayor, to share her thoughts on the Labour campaign, the Christchurch electorates to watch and the local-central balance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new poll lays bare National's ascendancy and the scale of Chris Hipkins' challenge. Is it about Labour's strategy, the state of the economy, or Christopher Luxon polishing his act? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the state of play with just over 50 days to the election. Plus: David Seymour's Guy Fawkes fantasy and Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who is on course to become the youngest MP since James Frederick Stuart-Wortley in 1853. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will all the good polling in the world make up for the lampooning of Labour's big policy on GST and fruit and vegetables? Will Ben Thomas's coconut with a straw be exempt? Ben, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire discuss Chris Hipkins' launch into campaign mode, Grant Robertson's Damascene moment, and whether the initiative was seized back with a kindergarten launch of paid partner parental leave. Plus: Are we on the cusp of something special (in 2026)? Has Act revealed its worry about NZ First with a weird Winston Peters attack ad? Does the Robertson-Willis "liar" stuff point to a relentlessly belligerent campaign? How about those Greens? How about National's pledge to ban cellphones in schools? And should Sam Uffindell be appointed groceries commissioner? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The man who managed five National election campaigns joins Toby Manhire to talk about his new book, about going from Mr Fix It to Phone-a-friend, the National meltdown, the secrets to campaigning and working with the public service, and his encounters with fiscal holes, Eminem, a phallic squeaky pecker, and an MP who made headlines for talking about his testicles.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Hipkins sits down with Toby Manhire for a wide-ranging interview spanning his political foundations, the record of the Labour government after two terms, coping with a string of ministerial scandals, and what to expect in the campaign to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire in a deep dive into the holes of the emerging campaign. Is it time for a costings unit to stop the fiscal squabbles? Is Labour on the brink of reviving its GST-free fruit and vegetable policy, what does that mean for boondoggles and beetroot? What sticks out in the freshly announced Labour list, and how can Chris Hipkins halt the party's bad momentum. And why is Christopher Luxon refusing to state clearly whether National would work with NZ First to form a government? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Zealand woke to news this morning that cabinet minister Kiri Allan had resigned and will face charges for careless driving and resisting arrest after crashing her car last night. Toby Manhire recounts what we know so far, and reflects on Allan's extraordinary political story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Hipkins has dashed the hopes of some of his most senior colleagues and Labour progressives by burying the prospect of a wealth tax or new capital gains tax under his leadership. Is that a surprise, and what does it say about the state of the party and the campaign, wonder Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire. Also on the list in a busy patch of pre-campaign activity: Labour launch a slogan and a week of law and order policy; National growls at potholes and offers KiwiSaver solutions to rental bonds; the Greens pledge to return stolen Māori land; the Dawn Raids report that made the apology ring hollow; and the major parties on course for their worst combined result since 2002. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kiri Allan is under pressure over her relationships with staff – what exactly is she accused of and does it add up to a serious controversy? Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather size up the pressure on the minister, and the poly-distractions confronting Chris Hipkins. Also this week: the National Party doubles down on law and order as it targets 45%; the prime minister walks the tightrope in China before setting off for a Nato summit in Lithuania; and what is the mood on the ground in one of the most exciting electorate battles, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti? Plus: your plucky political podcasters debate who has correctly counted the number of days to the election – Toby Manhire or Mike Hosking? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman has just returned on the NZDF workhorse from covering Chris Hipkins' big week in China. She sits down with Toby Manhire to describe the scene in the Great Hall of the People, how Hipkins managed the tricky political challenges from Xi Jinping to Kiri Allan, and the prime minister's suboptimal approach to snacking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As PM Hipkins leads a big delegation for a big week in China, Toby Manhire is joined by Newsroom's national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva (author of The China Tightrope: Navigating New Zealand's relationship with a world superpower) to discuss the state of the relationship, the shifting fault lines and the tripwires Chris Hipkins needs to avoid as he prepares to meet President Xi Jinping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing says election year quite like writ day, rosettes and pledges to crack down on gangs. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire look at the debate around the influx of gang members and police to Ōpōtiki. Also on the agenda: it's officially a recession - what kind of political weight does that carry? National embraces GMO and abandons He Waka Eke Noa as it attempts to wrench the rural vote back from Act - does it risk alienating voters in the middle? Plus: the Green Party's tax policy, the resignation or not of Meng Foon and the question that goes to the zeitgeist: have we, as Christopher Luxon says, really become a "very negative, wet, whiny, inward-looking" country? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The review of electoral laws calls for wide-ranging changes, across the voting age, thresholds and donations. It also prompted derision from the likes of Mike Hosking, David Seymour and Winston Peters. Panel chair Deborah Hart joins Toby Manhire to explain the thinking behind the recommendations, and responds to the critics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Teenager Michael Wood's purchase of Auckland airport shares, and his failure to get rid of them as transport minister, have left Chris Hipkins with another big headache. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas assess the mess and its implications. Plus: Simeon Brown and the many intersections of the National Party position on te reo and road signs; a Voyager media award for the Birkenhead Bowling Club interrogators; Christopher Luxon snookered on contraception fees while Labour goes full panto with Handmaid's Tale allusions; and all the big calls from the electoral review panel – are they right, and to they stand a chance of coming to pass? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire crosses live to our correspondents in Wairoa and Ponsonby, Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee-Mather, for an assessment of Grant Robertson’s attempt to thread the needle in the so-called no-frills budget and a National Party response that had a hint of artificial intelligence about it. Plus: is the $140 million being handed to foreign-owned NZ Steel for an electric furnace money well spent? Was Chris Hipkins’ whistlestop visit to Papua New Guinea time well expended? And is there anything more absorbing than the moody upheavals of Mayor Ben Bell and the Gore District Council? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the political and economic gravities pulling in various directions, the finance minister was tasked with providing support for the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis without heaping sugar in an already high-inflation sauce. And on top of that, it's an election year. To assess whether Grant Robertson managed to thread that needle, Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire sits down with When the Facts Change’s Bernard Hickey to discuss their Budget 2023 reactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with te Pāti Māori, lambasted the “coalition of chaos” and invoked “separatism”. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire assess the strategy, the timing and the rhetoric. Plus: the latest on Meka Whaitiri and the reasons for her defection, the resignation of Elizabeth Kerekere and what it means for the Greens, and important discourse on the oiling of Charles III, king of New Zealand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big news: The MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and government minister, Meka Whaitiri, has jumped from the Labour Party to the Māori Party. Were Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas, and Annabelle Lee-Mather as blindsided as Chris Hipkins, as he lived it large in London ahead of the Coronation? What exactly were her reasons for defecting? How damaging is it to the government? And, if she has really notified the Speaker that she has quit Labour, doesn't the waka jumping law dictate that she should no longer be an MP at all? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the report on tax paid by the wealthiest New Zealanders valuable data or political stunt, and does David Parker's campaign for a wealth tax stand a chance against Chris Hipkins' no-frills crusade? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss potential future Labour tax policy, relocating the podcast to Australia to take advantage of the new citizenship pathway; Kiri Allan, Meng Foon and donations; candidate selection, deep scrolls and the dangers of poetry to politicians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Chris Hipkins rebrands water reforms, making four entities into 10, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire ask whether the changes will be enough to mollify the critics. Plus: Jacinda Ardern's valedictory speech, reviewed; the Covid-19 settings decision, assessed; crybabygate; and the confiscation of lobbyists' swipe cards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Nash is goneburger and Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas are here to file through his laundry list of infractions to decide whether or not Chris Hipkins should take further action. Could Nash end up in NZ First? Will he be snapped up by Ben and his lobbyist comrades? Plus: Marama Davidson calls out cis white men and Erica Stanford delivers the National Party's education policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh from round two of Chris Hipkins’ “reprioritisation” (but pre-Stuart Nash’s resignation as police minister), Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas wade through the long list of culled policies to discuss the hottest topics in New Zealand politics. What is the meaning of the ever-shrinking government programme? Have the Greens been shafted? Is Christopher Luxon's role as leader of the National Party in trouble? We break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an online excoriation of National's Three Waters policy, Rob Campbell has insisted he will not be "politically neutered" and has been sacked as Te Whatu Ora chair. Was that fair, ask Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire. And was he right about National's policy? Plus: Grant Robertson says it's too early to decide how to pay for the Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild. Is a flood tax on the cards? How did the first clash of the Chrises at parliament go? A word on Maureen Pugh. Vale Chester Borrows. And the politics inside and outside Te Matatini. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A week after the cyclone ravaged swathes of the North Island, the northern Hawke's Bay community of Wairoa is still assessing the damage and slowly, piece by piece, reconnecting to the world from which it was isolated. Ben Thomas, who has been in Wairoa since before the storm hit, calls in to talk with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire about the experience, the response and the political ramifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How has Chris Hipkins performed in his first big tests as prime minister? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas debate the deluge aftermath, as well as assessing Wayne Brown's emergency response, and a pair of polls that show an election year in the balance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the blink of an eye we'll have a new NZ prime minister. Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess the coronation, the reset and what it all means for election 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An out-of-gas Jacinda Ardern is standing down as prime minister. What prompted the decision, what legacy will she leave, who is in the running to succeed her, and what does it all mean for election year? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas race from their own caucus retreat into the studio for this emergency episode. Get tickets for Morningside Block Party here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's election year! In the coming weeks Jacinda Ardern will reveal the date of the upcoming general election. Toby Manhire uses his superior deduction skills in an attempt to predict the date before its announcement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the occupation at parliament to disruption within the National party, Toby Manhire flips through the calendar, circling key dates as he waves goodbye to a year that felt like it would never end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUPERPOD is back! And for 2022, we're bigger than ever! Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime's Toby Manhire and featuring Jane Yee and Alex Casey from The Real Pod, Duncan Greive from The Fold, Leonie Hayden from Nē?, Simon Pound from Business Is Boring, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman and The Spinoff Podcast Network's Te Aihe Butler, SUPERPOD 2022 is our multiverse of madness. From the Black Ferns' historic win to Mike King's villainous turn on Celebrity Treasure Island, we cover the incredible highs and lows of what has been a terribly special year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the current state of our political parties as 2022 grinds to a spluttering halt? On the eve of election year we ask; can Labour rejuvenate? Will National survive the spotlight? How did Act and the Greens keep their polling so strong, and how do they play 2023? Plus: Te Pāti Māori, NZ First and even TOP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr paints a gruesome picture for the year ahead, Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire ask what it means for the election ahead. Plus: National kills its tax cut darling, Christopher Luxon stumbles on super numbers, the boot camp brouhaha, Winston Peters’ break from tradition, and an extended constitutional corner in which the GBL team impersonate public law intellectuals and assess the entrenchment malarkey and the supreme court ruling on the voting age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five years ago, three would-be MPs accepted invitations from The Spinoff to write diaries chronicling their efforts. Five years on, in a special live event made possible by Spinoff Members, Kiritapu Allan, Erica Stanford and Chlöe Swarbrick talk candidly with Toby Manhire about that incredible 2017 campaign, and their extraordinary first five years in parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Labour lurches from upbeat conference to buzzkill poll, Ben, Annabelle and Toby look at how they’re changing their tactical approach to National. Plus: Jacinda Ardern’s verbal salvo at the banks, the Adrian Orr war of independence and David Parker launches a ream raid on the RMA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Labour Party gathers in Auckland for its annual conference, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the impact of the just-passed fair pay agreement legislation, the likely fate of three waters, and the great National repeal agenda, as well as whether National's own tax cut plans will survive to the election. With a byelection in Hamilton West less than a month away, what do the lineups tell us, and who has most to lose? Plus: All the juiciest gossip about precisely when, where and why Jacinda Ardern maybe definitely will resign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this year, former Christchurch councillor Raf Manji became the third leader of the Opportunities Party. In this GBL special, fresh from the unveiling of a tax overhaul policy, Manji tells Toby Manhire why he took on the new job, how he hopes to win the seat of Ilam, why he doesn’t want to be part of government, and just how he feels about cats. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To cap off a tremendous Escape Festival in Tauranga, Minister Jan Tinetti and the incoming mayor of Rotorua, Tania Tapsell join the GBL trio of Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas before a live audience. On the agenda: the meaning of the local elections, the kind of election to expect in 2023, some wild predictions and which hat will Jan Tinetti wear? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A whistle-stop tour of the biggest and most surprising results in the 2022 local body elections, from south to north, with The Spinoff’s local election squad of Toby Manhire, Shanti Mathias and Stewart Sowman-Lund. Plus: what message do they send as a whole to Jacinda Ardern and the Labour government, the role three waters played, and what to do about another dismal turnout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 40 years and 14 election campaigns, Phil Goff is departing politics. He completes his farewell tour in a discussion with Toby Manhire, spanning his early years as a long haired, idealistic activist and being at the controversial cabinet table with David Lange and Roger Douglas and later with Helen Clark. Plus: his time as mayor of Auckland, whether local government needs an overhaul, and what's next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben, Annabelle and Toby huddle around the new TVNZ/Kantar numbers to warm their frostbitten fingers. What does it mean for the year to election day, who will be happiest, and, for the first time ever in political punditry they ask: Can Winston Peters be written off? Plus: Is Christopher Luxon onto a winner on tax attack, was the Sam Uffindell report sufficiently transparent, and is the Public Service Commissioner’s investigation into potential Nanaia Mahuta conflicts necessary – or even overdue? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On their 18th hour queuing outside Westminster Hall, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas pause to discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the accession of KC3 and what it means for Aotearoa and the national appetite for going republic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No, KC3 is not on the pod, but we have the next best thing: Otago University professor and royal correspondent Andrew Geddis, in conversation with Toby Manhire following the death of Queen Elizabeth after 70 years on the throne. What is the monarch’s role in New Zealand’s political apparatus? Can the head of state intervene in our stuff? And what might the accession of Charles mean for the republican cause? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "squeezed middle" payment was meant to be a political circuit breaker, but it's left the government on the defensive. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire speak on what went wrong and the demands for an apology - does the scramble to explain adding GST on KiwiSaver fees just add to a sense that they're not in control of the story? Plus: Slán leat to Trevor Mallard and kia ora to new speaker Adrian Rurawhe, the potential for Brian Tamaki's new Freedom NZ political project, and Marama Davidson gets grief for use of the C-word (chocolate). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special episode to mark the publication of his book Yes, Minister, the former National cabinet minister talks to Toby Manhire about the Key years, the state of the National Party, the colleagues he’d admired and those he loathed. He reflects on his role in building and promoting principles of Crown-Māori co-governance, his time as attorney general, and why he lived in terror of winning an electorate seat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two junior MPs, one new and the other very new, have become the centre of political attention in the last 10 days. Both have been suspended from their party caucus. Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire examine the allegations by Labour's Sharma, the extraordinary way it played out and Jacinda Ardern's response. And what of National's Uffindell? Should he be punished for an assault more than 20 years ago, has he atoned and how did Christopher Luxon deal with it? Plus: what do the cases together tell us about the culture in the parties and the strange workplace of parliament? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our biggest city is gearing up for its fifth Super City election, and the golden-voiced Todd Niall – formerly of RNZ and now senior Auckland reporter for Stuff – has seen them all. He joins Toby Manhire to discuss the leading contenders for the office some call the country’s second most important elected role, including Efeso Collins, Leo Molloy, Viv Beck and Wayne Brown, who have recent been joined by two unexpected candidates: John Palino (of Florida) and Lisa Lewis (of Hamilton). Plus: How does 2022 compare with previous campaigns? Why are turnout numbers so risible? And what can a mayor actually hope to achieve? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Green Party AGM voted to make James Shaw reapply for his job, but so far his only challenger is Ron, aka Re-open Nominations. Toby, Annabelle and Ben ask what it means for the party. Plus: Thousands of people around the world have been given $350 they don’t deserve by the NZ government – is this a big cock-up or a big beat-up? Is enough being done to close the gaping loophole exposed in political donations law? And a comprehensive history of Ben Thomas’s political career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guardian journalist Richard Adams joins Toby Manhire to recount the scandals and fabrications of "a government run by journalists" and assess the contest for a new Conservative leader and prime minister. Also: the state of the Labour opposition, and what Christopher Luxon and New Zealand can learn from the English education system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hell years of National since John Key's departure are revisited in jaw-dropping detail in Andrea Vance's new book. In a special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, she talks to Toby Manhire about the revelations, and whether Christopher Luxon can consign the bad times to history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rats are back: Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas have been released from isolation and there’s a lot to catch up on. With Toby Manhire, they discuss the surging winter COVID wave, the new measures and the health system; what Jacinda Ardern achieved at Nato, the EU and in Australia; and Christopher Luxon’s own trip abroad and his response on abortion and policy as MP Simon O’Connor cheers the Roe v Wade overturn. And there’s more: Te Pāti Māori’s AGM and the petition on Te Matatini funding, plus Act’s conference and David Seymour’s demands for the first 100 days of a National-Act government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is a plasterboard shortage turning into a political crisis? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire unholster the tape measure. Plus: Who were the winners and losers in Tauranga’s byelection, Jacinda Ardern heads to Europe to speak at Nato, all the ups, downs and sleights of hand in a “minor” cabinet reshuffle, and the legacy of Trevor Mallard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus episode, Toby Manhire talks to former Green MP Gareth Hughes about his new book on Jeanette Fitzsimons, a giant of green politics in New Zealand. They talk about her role in the Values, as co-leader of the Greens and within the Alliance in the formative years of MMP. Plus: what does he make of the Green Party in 2022? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire dress head to toe in union jacks to assess Jacinda Ardern's US visit and the furious Chinese response to her joint statement with Joe Biden on the Pacific. Plus: the prime minister returns to sobering domestic polls, a word for Queen Elizabeth, and the prospects of a King Charles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a globetrotting edition of our politics podcast, Toby, Annabelle and Ben look at the Australian election and its meaning for New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern's trip to the United States, and how much hinges on a meeting with Joe Biden. Plus: A look back at last week's budget and the so-called "squeezed middle", electoral reform, and the NZ on Air funded Chlöe Swarbrick doco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire (Gone By Lunchtime; Auckland studio) and Bernard Hickey (When The Facts Change; parliament studio) join forces for a budget reaction crossover special. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Grant Robertson pull a cost of living rabbit out of the hat? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas talk budget day, the big emissions reduction plan, Te Pāti Māori and an early burst of coalition negotiations. Plus: can Jacinda Ardern forgive Trevor Mallard's trespasses, and what is the speaker playing at? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus extra pop-up edition of GBL, Toby Manhire calls AAP NZ correspondent Ben McKay, currently watching the campaign from Tasmania, for the latest on the race. Can Anthony Albanese’s Labor dethrone Scott Morrison’s Coalition? Will the ‘teal wave’ crash ashore? How does Australia’s electoral system work? And just how different is Australia’s media and political culture to Aotearoa’s? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five months in, how is the new National leader faring? Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire give their verdicts. Plus: the Rotorua representation bill, grounded kiwis and existential kiwifruit garnish Ardern’s trip abroad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As NZ dispatches a 1969 Herc, 59 personnel and “lethal aid” cash to support Ukraine, how big a shift is it in our contribution? Plus: will fair pay agreements be this government’s biggest achievement? What is Ashley Bloomfield’s legacy? What is Louisa Wall up to? And a word on Moana Jackson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vaccine mandates, passes and other restrictions are all on the way out. But our Covid numbers are worse than they've ever been. Leading pundit-podiologists Annabelle, Ben and Toby do the maths. Plus: David Seymour and Act call for a referendum on Māori co-governance, Louisa Wall quits parliament, and a Solomon Islands defence deal with China causes alarm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The morning after announcing he's quitting politics, former National leader and self-proclaimed “regular dickhead” Simon Bridges joins Gone By Lunchtime in a candid conversation to explain the decision and his future plans – and reflect on the people "who exploded on me". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle and Toby are joined by The Spinoff’s political editor Justin Giovannetti to talk about the latest from the parliamentary occupation and the government's response. Did Jacinda Ardern get it right? Was Chris Luxon right to diagnose a New Zealand divided? And should the action be called “an anti-mandate protest” or is it something else? Also: the dramatic wave of omicron washing across the country, Ashley Bloomfield’s mea culpa on a big overestimation of PCR test lab capacity and the New Zealand response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the anti-mandate occupation of parliament grounds enters its ninth day, Toby, Annabelle and Ben ask: just who are the protesters? Have the police got the response right? What about Trevor Mallard? And is it a good idea to engage? Plus: The latest from the Auckland mayoral race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle, Ben and Toby celebrate their sixth year of close pod contact. Jacinda Ardern's opening up speech, reviewed. The Bellis saga, assessed. RATs, digested. The polls, examined. And Ben's Covid test result, revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021. From November: Judith Collins is out as leader of the opposition after a spectacularly messy 24 hours of politics. But who’ll replace her? The Gone By Lunchtime team assembles for an emergency edition of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021. From October: Annabelle, Ben and Toby spend 24 hours Zorbing the length of the country in the cause of vaccination and political commentary. On the agenda: what comes after elimination, the vaccine rollout, and MMP at 25. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a short break over summer. We'll be back with new episodes soon, but until then here's one of our favourites from 2021. From March: Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas as they discuss Labour’s now week-old housing package, the National caucus's fluoride vote, Christopher Luxon, travel bubbles, Police 10-7 and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosted by Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire and featuring representatives from The Real Pod, The Fold, Nē? and Dietary Requirements, SUPERPOD 2021 is the crossover podcast event we’ve been waiting all year for. Join us as we relive the highs and lows and heroes and villains of the longest, shortest year in living memory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the sun sets on 2021, Toby, Annabelle and Ben are joined by a cast of very special guests with a crop of hard-boiled good-time questions for the inaugural Gone By Lunchtime Christmas quiz. Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a Gone By Lunchtime exclusive the identity of the new National Party leader can finally be revealed. Who is Christopher Luxon, what kind of job does he have in front of him now, how has he performed in his first 24 hours as leader of the opposition, is Nicola Willis a good choice as deputy, will we see any signs of Luxonmania at the polls – and what now for Judith Collins and Simon Bridges? Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Judith Collins is out as leader of the opposition after a spectacularly messy 24 hours of politics. But who’ll replace her? And what about all the other quite important things this saga has overshadowed? The Gone By Lunchtime team assembles for an emergency edition of the podcast. Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is back in the socially distanced studio this week and the vibe is roughly akin to a Peter Sinclair hosted TVNZ panel show from the 1970s. Topics of conversation include the changes to borders, restrictions, mandates, numbers (both vaccine and poll), Kiwi Christmas and how Annabelle’s house is being reclaimed by local pigeons. Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without support from The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby, Annabelle and Ben meet via Zoom under alert level three step one to discuss the newly announced traffic light system, vaccine rates, mandates, MIQ, housing policy... and how Annabelle rescued a pigeon. Vote for Gone By Lunchtime in the NZ Podcast Awards! Visit nzpodcastawards.com to vote. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle, Ben and Toby spend 24 hours Zorbing the length of the country in the cause of vaccination and political commentary. On the agenda: what comes after elimination, the vaccine rollout, and MMP at 25. Gone By Lunchtime wouldn’t exist without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Zealand’s main opposition parties (and Sir John Key) have released their master plans for what to do about Covid-19 in the past week. Toby, Annabelle and Ben weigh them up in this late night lockdown edition of Gone By Lunchtime. Also: vaccination rates, MIQ, air-fryers. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t exist without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle, Ben and Toby set their Zoom backgrounds to Wānaka, take on the role of the official opposition, and ask how long Judith Collins can survive – all while defeating delta with nothing but celery and refried beans. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t exist without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From deep within the level four fortress, Toby, Annabelle and Ben discuss a terrorist attack in Auckland, what's next in the Covid response, and Judith Collins losing the plot. Plus: wtf was David Seymour thinking? The Spinoff Members lets our audience contribute to our work and play a role in directing new areas of coverage. If you’d like to support our mission, please donate to become a member today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gone By Lunchtime team enters the second week of lockdown with another late night Zoom edition of the pod. In this episode: vaccines, tests, case numbers, locations of interest, elimination strategy, the border, The Croods. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Less than 24 hours into level four, the Gone By Lunchtime team assembles over Zoom for one of their famed late night lockdown pods. On this episode: the inevitable return of Covid in the community, the Skegg report, vaccine hesitancy, Afghanistan, Winston Peters and a snub from Simon Bridges. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What links Labour's poll drop, the Covid response, Judith Collins' challenges, Mātauranga Māori and a proliferation of professors? Vibes. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire return with New Zealand's most reverberating analysis. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben, Toby, and special guest star Mihingarangi Forbes demand all the debates and debate all the demands. In this episode: The farmers’ howl of a protest! The Mongrel Mob and meth programmes! David Seymour's successes! Fish + chips + communism! Freedom Day in England! Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In another triumph of love speech over hate speech, Annabelle, Ben and Toby discuss Covid, vaccines and roadmaps, the three waters reform, Willy Jackson’s UNDrip response, the National Party purge and the malice that lives in Ben’s soul. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an eight month absence, the Winston Peters bus burst back out of the barn at the weekend. How did he do, and where is he going? Plus: the electric car rebate row, "legitimate" utes, the vaccine roll-out and heated development battles in Wellington and Waiheke. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been another week of National making headlines for the wrong reasons, with Nick Smith, Jake Bezzant and Paul Goldsmith making life difficult for Judith Collins. Plus: the Climate Commission's final report lands, bridges, bike lanes and roads, and the ScoMo-Jacinda Queenstown summit. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this once-in-a-generation edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess last week's benefit-boosting budget, chew over plans for unemployment insurance, discuss the immigration "reset", and ask: is David Seymour now the leader of the opposition? Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a big week for pay, Annabelle, Ben and Toby discuss the public sector pay freeze-not-freeze and the less heralded but bigger deal that is the fair pay agreement. They're joined, too, by "the masked podder", who may or may not be Mihingarangi Forbes, to discuss the He Puapua report and Judith Collins' "segregation" claims. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special pink moon edition of the podcast, Toby, Annabelle and Ben discuss the government’s recently announced health reforms, National’s race-baiting response, Nanaia Mahuta’s China speech and big hopes for her review of local government. Ben also goes in big time on the major celebrity beef (allegedly) between Jacinda Ardern and Selena Gomez.  Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an impeccably-observed 45 minutes of silence for the Duke of Edinburgh (edited out of this version), the Gone By Lunchtime team get on to discussing the latest big stories in New Zealand politics. In this episode: the temporary ban on arrivals from India, the Māori Party’s donations strife, drug policy and leadership ructions in the National Party. Gone By Lunchtime couldn’t be made without the support of The Spinoff Members. Find out how to join at members.thespinoff.co.nz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas as they discuss Labour’s now week-old housing package, the National caucus's fluoride vote, Christopher Luxon, travel bubbles, Police 10-7 and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime briefly pauses Rocking the Dock to discuss the latest poll results and other highlights from the fortnight in New Zealand politics.  On this week’s episode: The latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll results and the death of landline polling; Jacinda Ardern quitting her weekly Mike Hosking radio slot; the National Party review under lock and key and the push for diversity in candidates; Covid lockdown 4.0 for Auckland and how that was handled; the vaccination roll-out announced and lessons from Hui polling on Māori attitudes to vaccines; and a thorough grilling of Annabelle and Ben for their podcasting betrayals.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Zealand’s leading political podcast pivots to true crime this week to investigate the disappearance of political commentator Ben Thomas from Twitter. Where did he go – and what’s he been doing with all his hot takes on The Bachelorette NZ? Also discussed in this week’s episode: the latest short, sharp three-day lockdown, the ongoing Covid response and the need for specialist MIQ facilities, trans-Tasman relations, raising benefit levels and the great parliamentary neckwear debate of 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee Mather and Toby Manhire kick off the year in political podcast punditry, taking on the major parties, Waitangi plans, councils, and the whopping great climate report. As news reaches Gone By Lunchtime that it’s already the second month of the year, The Spinoff’s political podcasting triumvirate sits down to study the 2021 tea leaves. On the agenda in this episode: The National Party cautions against taking the bait while chewing furiously on a rusty hook; a big week for Māori seats and Māori wards; Waitangi Day commemorations; Ben’s grand plan to abolish all councils; Damien O’Connor’s big moment in the Chinese and Australian media; and the roadmap/cycleway laid out in the Climate Change Commission report. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over summer, so we're republishing some of our favourite episodes of 2020. This week: the one where everybody was really, really tired. First released October 18, 2020. It's the morning after a very successful election night for Labour, and a pretty good one for the Greens too – especially in Auckland Central, where Chlöe Swarbrick looks to have turned the electorate green for the first time. She joined the Gone By Lunchtime trio in the studio the morning after to talk the campaign, election night and the cannabis referendum, and get some advice from Annabelle's mum (Sandra Lee, Auckland Central MP 1993-1996). Also on this rare Sunday edition of the pod: What will Labour do with its historic victory? Is there a place for the Greens? What happens to National after their annus horribilis? And what is Winston Peters' legacy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite episodes of 2020. This week: Mervmania hits the election campaign trail. First released August 11, 2020. With 39 days to go until New Zealand goes to the polls, talkback caller 'Merv' has lit up the election campaign, delivering a deeply unmellow curtain-raiser to the National Party's Auckland Central candidate selection. Plus: the Labour launch, NZ First's terrible poll, and what is Gerry Brownlee playing at? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite episodes of 2020. This week: Simon Bridges opens up on his time as National Party leader. First released July 31, 2020. For the third Politics in Pubs event, recorded live at Meow in Wellington, former National Party leader Simon Bridges joins Danyl Mclauchlan to talk the events of 2020, what the role of the opposition leader is in a time of national crisis is, what he thinks of the election campaign so far, the challenges facing New Zealand politics... and of course baby yaks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite interviews of 2020. This week: relive the 53-day reign of Todd Muller as National Party leader. First released July 14, 2020. At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job. How did it come to this, and who is likely to emerge as the new leader, with less than 10 weeks to an election? Will deputy Nikki Kaye be promoted by caucus tonight? Is it Judith Collins' time? Can Simon Bridges complete the great arc of redemption? What about Gerry Brownlee or Mark Mitchell? Or maybe just chuck a baby yak in charge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff’s podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was. Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and villains of 2020. From National’s botched election campaign to Ben Thomas’ take on TikTok, via the collapse of Bauer, the rise of oat milk, with a detour through controversial frozen grapes and Simon’s Sausage Spot, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Superpod. Featuring special guests producer T and Covid-19. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prime minister drops in for a chat with Toby Manhire in a scoop-filled bonus episode of Gone By Lunchtime. When Jacinda Ardern looks back on the year 2020, what one day stands out in her memory? And when she slides open the lid of a dairy freezer this summer, what ice cream will she be reaching for? Find the answers to these questions and more in this end of year special. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh from the Press Gallery Christmas Party, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas convene for the final time in 2020 to recap the year in New Zealand politics.  What do Jacinda Ardern, Chlöe Swarbrick, David Seymour, Labour’s Covid-19 response, the Maori Party’s return to parliament, National’s Todd Muller era, that disastrous campaign day on Ponsonby Road, Winston Peters and the Bad Boys of Brexit all have in common? They’re all solid SEO terms, and they’re all up for discussion in Gone By Lunchtime’s recap of all the biggest winners and losers and movers and shakers from the year in New Zealand politics. Join the three-headed politics podcasting hydra as they look back on the last 12 months, relive all their social gaffes from the Press Gallery Christmas Party and decide what they want to put in The Spinoff Aotearoa 2020 Time Capsule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of the opening of the 53rd parliament of New Zealand, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dress up as Black Rod. As 120 familiar and fresh faces swarm upon the tropical paradise of Wellington for a brand new parliament, the Gone By Lunchtime trio ruminate on the politics to come. What state is the National opposition in after an AGM that saw Peter Goodfellow hang on to the presidency despite his party's dismal election? Was he right about the celebrity tyranny of Jacinda Ardern, or was John Key more on the money in urging his kinfolk to examine their own shortcomings? How susceptible, meanwhile, is the majority Labour government as house prices continue to soar into the stupidsphere? Plus: Rawiri Waititi and outdated oaths, Stuart Nash and tourist poo, and an incoherent bit about fireworks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather and Ben Thomas return, electrolytes replenished after the election marathon, to assess the newly-announced Labour cabinet and more. It’s been 17 days since the election, and about 24 hours since the Labour announced the composition of its new cabinet. Really wanted to do a Nothing Compares 2 U reference there but just couldn't get it to work. Anyway, the important thing is Gone By Lunchtime is back and fully revitalised with a raft of new cabinet appointments to discuss, not to mention the Green-Labour agreement and the fate of the referenda. Was Kelvin Davis right to turn down the role of deputy PM? Did Ben actually manifest Ayesha Verrall’s ministerial appointment? Is Jan Tinetti real? And whatever happened to TrueBliss? All these questions and more answered – or at the very least asked – on this week’s Gone By Lunchtime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greens MP Chlöe Swarbrick joins Annabelle Lee Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire to pick over the remains of election night in a special Sunday edition of Gone By Lunchtime. It's the morning after a very successful election night for Labour, and a pretty good one for the Greens too – especially in Auckland Central, where Chlöe Swarbrick looks to have turned the electorate green for the first time. She joined the Gone By Lunchtime trio in the studio the morning after to talk the campaign, election night and the cannabis referendum, and get some advice from Annabelle's mum (Sandra Lee, Auckland Central MP 1993-1996). Also on this rare Sunday edition of the pod: What will Labour do with its historic victory? Is there a place for the Greens? What happens to National after their annus horribilis? And what is Winston Peters' legacy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bulletin's Alex Braae, fresh from his tour of Aotearoa, joins Toby Manhire to reveal what he witnessed on the road in this special pre-election bonus episode of Gone By Lunchtime. For 40 days and 40 nights (roughly, who's counting) Alex Braae packed up his Bulletin in his old kit bag, threw it in the back of a Jucy van and toured the country to take the campaign pulse. He joins Toby Manhire for a special bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime to discuss the mood of the nation beyond the main centres, the small parties' prospects and the seats he's fizzing about watching on Saturday night. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire gather around the giant orb of truth for the last time before polls close to assess the parties' campaigns, select the seats they'll be drooling over, and put their pundit reputations on the line by predicting the final election outcome.     We're leaving together. But still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, to earth, who can tell? After a long, fascinating, long, intriguing and long campaign, the Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate size up the main parties' campaigns, nominate some of the seats they'll be watching closely on election night, and foolishly issue predictions for the outcome. Featuring a special cameo by Sandra Lee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the Press debate in Christchurch, National's leaky redux, the advance voting surge and the rest of the big stories with a week and a half to go. In 10 short days the skies will clear and for a few blessed hours the only hint of politics will be dogs outside polling stations on The Spinoff. Can Judith Collins close the gap? Has her caucus reverted to its self-sabotaging leaky ways? How did she fare in last night's third of four leader debates against Jacinda Ardern? The Gone By Lunchtime trio provide definitive answers on all of these matters, as well as looking at Collins' suddenly visible Christianity: heartfelt devotion, or fiscal holy? Which of the Māori seats hangs most in the balance? And what explains the rush for early voting? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather, Ben Thomas and a very special guest go over what we learned from last night’s Newshub leaders’ debate between Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins.  It’s a four-person episode of Gone By Lunchtime this week as special guest Mihingarangi Forbes (The Hui, RNZ’s political podcast Party People) joins Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee Mather, both of whom were in the audience at last night’s Newshub leaders’ debate, and Ben Thomas, who wasn’t. How was it, what did we learn, and how did Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins perform? Was democracy the winner on the day? Or Patrick Gower? Also, how much fish should we be eating? There’s also a couple of new polls to assess, some other debates to look forward to, an SFO announcement – and an election day looming in a little over two weeks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election debate season is finally upon us, and the Gone By Lunchtime trio are here to talk Tuesday night’s two big debates. The Hui’s livestreamed Waiariki candidate debate between Hannah Tamaki, Rawiri Waititi and Tamati Coffey, and TVNZ’s leaders’ debate between Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern. One was raucous, robust, interesting and entertaining. The other was the leaders’ debate. There’s also, after weeks in the polling darkness, a new set of Colmar Brunton numbers to crunch, and a new multi-billion dollar fiscal hole has opened up. Join Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee Mather and Ben Thomas as they don their hard hats with the light on top and go exploring for political insights. – Sign up to The Spinoff's newsletter Rec Room for weekly recommendations along with all our latest videos and podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas never attends a party without a whakataukī in his pocket, and he does not disappoint in this week's edition of Gone By Lunchtime. Along with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire, Ben sprinkles the wisdom on everything from the Māori Party policy to jettison "New Zealand" in favour of "Aotearoa" to the Labour Party policy to suffocate the tax debate in the 2020 campaign. Are National and Labour about to pull muscles in their scrap for the centre ground? Why can't the Greens make an impression in the space left unclaimed? Does Winston Peters have a point in lambasting the cabinet decision to extend the current alert levels? How excited does the word "Prefu" make you? Plus: why is Jami-Lee Ross? All this and more on this week's edition of Aotearoa's only(?) politics podcast. – Sign up to The Spinoff's newsletter Rec Room for weekly recommendations along with all our latest videos and podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2020 election has risen, bleary eyed, from its slumber, and so have Annabelle, Ben and Toby. This week: Labour are promising a Matariki holiday, National are promising a health-driven response to meth addiction, and the Greens are trying to put the train back on the rails with the aid of several million apologies from James Shaw following the Green School debacle. Meanwhile, Winston Peters has found a path back to power: chugging ciggies, playing ping pong, and calling Jack Tame "James" a lot. Plus: In an exclusive bonus feature, Toby chats to comedian Alice Snedden about the new season of Alice Snedden's Bad News. – Sign up to The Spinoff's newsletter Rec Room for weekly recommendations along with all our latest videos and podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join the the country's most mellifluous political pod trio, the Alert Level Three, for another late night lockdown edition of Gone By Lunchtime. Covid-19 continues to dominate the political agenda, with Jacinda Ardern and cabinet having extended level three for the Auckland region until the end of the weekend. Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the risks of lockdown fatigue, the new rules around masks, and the general sense of pre-election limbo. Plus: has the National Party finally worked out the formula for effective opposition in the face of the Covid crisis, with Dr Shane Reti at the forefront? And the definitive answer on whether or not the voting age should drop to 16. Bonus content: Listen right to the end to hear Ben's review of Mountain Dew flavoured Doritos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas forget how to record a podcast over Zoom. Most elements of life under lockdown feel a little bit easier the second time around, but not recording an episode of Gone By Lunchtime. After being held up for over an hour by a confusing tech issue (Ben’s new phone doesn’t have a headphone jack), the renowned podcasting trio finally get stuck into the week’s political issues, of which there are a few. Topics include: the election date (it’s changed), community transmission (it’s back), Gerry Brownlee, Judith Collins, conspiracy theories, why National should run a Fat Freddy's Drop inspired campaign, and the concept of “political edging”. Ben's a bit mean about Ashley Bloomfield, there’s a bit of Zorb chat, and a nostalgic shot out to Merv and the Bad Boys of Brexit too. Miss those guys. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merv Lee-Mather, Merv Thomas and Merv Manhire gather to discuss the most pressing issues of election 2020. With 39 days to go until New Zealand goes to the polls, talkback caller 'Merv' has lit up the election campaign, delivering a deeply unmellow curtain-raiser to the National Party's Auckland Central candidate selection. Plus: the Labour launch, NZ First's terrible poll, and what is Gerry Brownlee playing at? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas denounce new poll results that very slightly contradict their opinions. The scale of the summit for the National Party? A poll came out last week with Labour at 53%, and that was considered good news for Judith Collins and the Strong Team. With a month before advanced voting begins, Annabelle, Ben and Toby assess the state of the race, as well as the Act surge and Seymourmania, the valedictory speeches, the state of social liberal thinking in National, the battle for Auckland Central, the Māori seats (which are up for grabs), and the Burnham inquiry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the third Politics in Pubs event, recorded live at Meow in Wellington, former National Party leader Simon Bridges joins Danyl Mclauchlan to talk the events of 2020, what the role of the opposition leader is in a time of national crisis is, what he thinks of the election campaign so far, the challenges facing New Zealand politics... and of course baby yaks. Politics in Pubs is supported by The Spinoff Members (https://members.thespinoff.co.nz) and in association with Verb Wellington (https://www.verbwellington.nz). Live sound by Sam Shallcrass, livestream by Tane Hipango. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dust off the bazookas scattered around New Zealand politics in this week's Gone By Lunchtime.  A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins' National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern's Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a "rogue poll". Annabelle, Ben and Toby impersonate Nate Silver and assess the veracity of the thing, and ask: is this the result of the disarray in National or Ardern's performance through the Covid crisis? Plus: Was the Iain Lees-Galloway appropriately handled or a dirty politics throwback? Marama Davidson and James Shaw launch the Green campaign. Winston Peters lashes out (again). And is the political marriage of Jami-Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika Jr a serious prospect or a sideshow? Either download now, subscribe through Apple Podcasts, or visit Gone By Lunchtime on Acast or Spotify Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on the Andrew Falloon scandal and its implications for a beleaguered National Party, a big weekend for Winston Peters and NZ First, and the chorus calling to charge arriving New Zealanders for their hotel isolation.  Less than two months out from the election, the National Party remains bedevilled by controversy. Just a few days after she became leader, Judith Collins has successfully demanded the resignation of Andrew Falloon, dismissing one of the claims around the circumstances under which unsolicited pornographic images were sent by the first term MP to more than one young woman as "clearly a lie". The latest saga came to light wrapped up in declarations around the role of mental health. Are these messages reasonable or reprehensible? Did Collins handle the scandal appropriately? Where does it leave the National Party? Annabelle, Ben and Toby take on these questions, as well as the state of Winston Peters and New Zealand First. With the party languishing well below the 5% threshold in polls, does the weekend's conference and big leader speech suggest there is a way back to parliament for Team Winston? Plus: both the National Party and the government now look set upon introducing charges of around $3,000 for returning New Zealanders, to contribute to the costs of their mandatory hotel isolation. A fair demand to pay a share in the broad effort of the team of five million, or a breach of the basic right of citizens to come home, born of plain meanness?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas reel at the announcement that Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the opposition.   At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job. How did it come to this, and who is likely to emerge as the new leader, with less than 10 weeks to an election? Will deputy Nikki Kaye be promoted by caucus tonight? Is it Judith Collins' time? Can Simon Bridges complete the great arc of redemption? What about Gerry Brownlee or Mark Mitchell? Or maybe just chuck a baby yak in charge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on ministerial resignations in the recent and middle-distant past, a new book from Judith Collins, and the reinvention of Simon Bridges The Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate convenes to chew on all the issues, or at least some of them. Such as: Judith Collins' new book; the resignation of David Clark as health minister; the Clare Curran interview from the weekend and toxic politics; the Labour Party congress and "let's keep moving"; the social media cult of Simon Bridges; and the departure of Paula Bennett. And, mostly important, a major mea culpa over vulgar and offensive statements in the last podcast.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second of our pre-election events, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, Danyl Mclauchlan talks to Chlöe Swarbrick, the MP seeking to tip the table of politics from inside parliament.  The third Politics on Pubs, featuring Danyl with Kevin Hague and Tamatha Paul, takes place tonight, 6pm, at Meow in Wellington. Limited tickets are still available, and there will be a handful of door sales: come early! Details here. Chlöe Swarbrick first leapt into the spotlight with an audacious, cynic-defying and unsuccessful run for the Auckland mayoralty. After being courted by a number of parties, she ran with the Greens, and has made her mark for, among other things, winning international headlines by dropping an "OK boomer" (at Todd Muller, no less) in parliament and proving comfortably the most lucid political voice in favour of legalising cannabis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on efforts to resolve the failures exposed in the self-isolation system.  As the saying goes, a week is a long time in the response to an unprecedented global pandemic, and so it has proved, with the military called in to fix the issues in border control following the revelation that two women recently arrived from the UK had been allowed early exit from self-isolation despite not being tested and one having symptoms. They later both tested positive for Covid-19. Plus: Can David Clark hang on to his job? Has Todd Muller rebooted his leadership of the National Party? And what's the deal with the review of Māori media?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on Simon Bridges' fight to hang on to the top job in National.  On Friday National MPs gather in Wellington to vote on the future of Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett. After miserable poll results a challenge has been launched, with Todd Muller and probably Nikki Kaye angling to replace them as leader and deputy. The Gone By Lunchtime team offers a bold and, frankly, mind-blowing verdict on what will go down. Plus: the budget, and other bits and pieces, such as the Covid-19 crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first of a series of now-virtual events, Danyl is joined by a journalist and a former political staffer to discuss politics and the media. Two months ago today, Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington cheerfully unveiled a new collaboration: a series of live events at the tremendous Meow bar. And, well, everyone knows what happened next. But the prospect of Danyl Mclauchlan talking to brilliant Stuff journalist Andrea Vance and the always insightful former chief-of-staff to the Labour leader turned director of Capital Government Relations Neale Jones was too appetising to abandon entirely. So the trio logged on and podded up. As you might expect, it wasn't quite the conversation we'd imagined when we dreamed the whole thing up. Please pour yourself a beverage of your choice and hit play. Brought to you by Verb Wellington and The Spinoff Members.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the world's first ever podcast undertaken by people in remote locations, it's New Zealand's leading epidemiologists and economists, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas.  An exclusive reading by the velvet voiced Jacinda Ardern biographer Madeleine Chapman kicks off the return of Gone By Lunchtime, who will not be muzzled by alert level four. On the agenda: How has the political leadership fared in the Covid-19 response? Is the international fawning over Jacinda Ardern warranted? What about the domestic opprobrium levelled at David Clark and Simon Bridges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire are not medical doctors, or in fact doctors of any kind, but here they overcome this minor impediment and solve coronavirus. The Gone By Lunchtime trio look at the political and economic implications of the outbreak, weigh up Jacinda Ardern's "don't deport your problems" broadside at Scott Morrison in Sydney, and sigh painfully at Shane Jones's latest round of conspicuous xenophobia. Oh, and a completely sober and non-histrionic assessment of rich people getting superannuation.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire inhale the unsweet aromas of donation scandal enveloping NZ First, National, and by association the prime minister herself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas are back to kick off the election year with Winston, roads, and serious fraud charges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join various hosts of The Spinoff podcasts Gone by Lunchtime, On The Rag, The Real Pod, Paper Cuts, The Offspin, and Dietary Requirements as we look back at the car crash that was 2019. In this special end of year podcast hosted by Leonie Hayden, we dissect the country's response to national disasters, the highs and lows of MAFS, international literary scandals, the madness and tragedy of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Mad Chapman's Pulitzer Prize-winning chip ranking and more, plus we add our entries to the official The Spinoff 2019 Honours and Dishonours board. Pour yourself a Baileys and settle in. Check out more of our podcasts here including the pop up pod The Spinoff Book Out Loud (The Spinoff Book is available in stores now). If you want to continue to support the work we do, behind the mic or on the site, check out The Spinoff Members, where you can support independent media for as a little as a dollar a week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month on the politics podcast it's the Gone by Lunchtime Christmas Party and Toby's brought a baggie of oregano. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But he did play a crucial role in helping Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Area man Hayden Donnell joins Toby Manhire for a bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, leading a whistlestop tour of the local elections. Fresh from an assignment in the Far North, the mayor of the Spinoff’s local elections pop-up section, Hayden Donnell, takes us on a journey from Kaikohe to Dunedin, stopping along the way in Hamilton, Auckland and Porirua. And he gets fired up. Fired up for democracy. Guest starring Tina Tiller. The Spinoff's local elections pop-up section is funded by Spinoff members.   The Spinoff politics section is made possible by Flick, the electricity retailer giving New Zealanders power over their power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Revelations around alleged sexual assault by a Labour staffer and the party inquiry into his behaviour have dominated the week. Alex Casey and Mihi Forbes join Gone By Lunchtime to survey the damage. Alex Casey, author of the Spinoff feature published on Monday, "A Labour volunteer alleged a violent sexual assault by a Labour staffer. This is her story", joins Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee – together with another special guest, Mihingarangi Forbes – to discuss an explosive week for the Labour Party and New Zealand politics. Also featuring: Ben Thomas's answerphone message. Recorded on Thursday afternoon, before the resignation of the Labour staffer at the centre of the allegations. For a timeline of the story, see here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee-Mather, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas feast on the political morsels of the month. including the National Party conference and a challenge to Jacinda Ardern over Ihumātao. Plus: a new jingle. The Gone By Lunchtime team look at Simon Bridges' efforts to firm up his leadership with just over a year to the election, and his "part-time prime minister" swipe. Jacinda Ardern is in Tokelau, but should she have made the effort to personally visit Ihumātao, and does the protest movement there presage something bigger? But first, an overwhelming response to our call for new theme submissions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this new edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas weigh reshuffles in senior ranks of both the big parties as well as Oranga Tamariki and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. Plus: a desperate plea to listeners. Podding against the clock, aka Annabelle's stopwatch, the Gone By Lunchtime trio reshuffle their portfolios, look at Jacinda Ardern's demotion of Phil Twyford from the big housing job and Amy Adams' decision to chuck in the old politics lark. Also on the slate: Oranga Tamariki and the uplift scandal, and the progression of legislation that would allow assisted dying to its third reading. Oh, and do you fancy writing us a jingle? It's time for a change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was the wellbeing budget truly transformational? Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas size it up, along with the high drama prelude of the so-called Treasury hack. Plus: Is the time ripe for a new Christian Conservative political party? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus edition of Gone By Lunchtime, the prime minister talks to Toby Manhire at the Auckland Writers Festival Last weekend at the Auckland Writers Festival, Jacinda Ardern spoke with Spinoff editor Toby Manhire about the extraordinary election campaign of 2017, and the book it inspired, Stardust and Substance, edited by Stephen Levine for VUP. Before a packed house at the Aotea Centre the prime minister talked candidly about everything from Andrew Little’s decision to resign and the rush to remake the campaign to the less-than-delighted mood on election night itself. If Facebook cannot change its ways, will they still use if for advertising in 2020? Why is she a fan of Nancy Drew and Ernest Shackleton – and its lessons for “how not to die on the ice”? All that plus Jacinda Ardern does an impression of Helen Clark. For more podcasts and videos from the Auckland Writers Festival, click here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the bond of trust and confidence between Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather as strong as that between Judith Collins and Simon Bridges? In the latest Gone By Lunchtime, also featuring Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas, we investigate over a cool, refreshing slushy. Special guest Mihi Forbes joins the usual rabble to discuss the fallout from Jacinda Ardern's controversial captain's recall on capital gains tax, the ongoing speculation around Simon Bridges' leadership and the rabbits that need to be pulled out of the slushy in Grant Robertson's second budget at the end of the month. They also gargle the icy issues of the crackdown on social media post-Christchurch and bullying at parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the appalling act of terror in Christchurch, the Gone by Lunchtime team assemble to asses the event and its political implications. Topics discussed include the impact on an often-marginalised community, the move to change our gun laws, the performance of Ardern and what the event says about the performance of our intelligence services.  The team also discuss the way politicians have blithely aired Islamophobic views prior to now, and Annabelle suggests the media consider the diversity of its newsrooms when it asks what it must do differently in the aftermath. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire send their lifeboats into the great capital gains tax minestrone ocean. Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group report has been published, sending the nation into untold capital gains tax convulsions. The Gone By Lunchtime panel piles in. How is Jacinda Ardern faring in making the case? What case even is she making? Is Simon Bridges suddenly good? What is the Kiwi way of life and are you living it? Once we've solved all that, it's on to the Golriz Ghahraman bill that seeks to change electoral law, including a threshold cut to 4%, and more high-level discourse about the Year of Delivery &c. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gone By Lunchtime peloton roars into 2019. Just as you’re wondering whether it’s too late to say Happy new year to people, Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas wish you a happy new year with a return to the Gone-pod. On the agenda: A hell-poll for National sees Judith Collins casting a shadow over Simon Bridges, Jacinda Ardern begins the “year of delivery” with trips to Davos and Waitangi, KiwiBuild targets take the form of a house of cards, and relations with China go frosty. Like and subscribe, friends, like and subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last politics podcast of the year, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rub their weary eyes and stick out their stockings. Trevor Mallard has hogged headlines in recent days: first after his commissioning of an inquiry into bullying and harassment at parliament and then over allegations of bias from Simon Bridges. We get into all of that, the Maggie Barry controversy, the wash-up from the Iain Lees-Galloway Sroubek farrago and more. Oh, and we nominate the big winners of the NZ political year. Happy new year! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too. The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire to discuss the Jami-Lee Ross fallout and whether Simon Bridges can survive it, Jacinda Ardern's first Labour Party conference as leader, the pressure on immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway and the scrap around Phil Twyford's KiwiBuild scheme. Includes sealed section featuring interminable chin-stroking about the US elections.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess an extraordinary 24 hours in NZ politics, as a relatively unspectacular expenses leak transmogrifies into the biggest Jami-Lee-based farce since A Fish Called Wanda. Guest starring Sam Brooks with a critique of Ross's incredible dramatic monologue as he quits parliament. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kia ora tatou, my name is Toby Manhire and this is Gone By Lunchtime Extra, a special marking the first anniversary of that white smoke moment when Winston Peters appointed Jacinda Ardern the pope of New Zealand. And as luck would have it our guest star on this podcast special is Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, who pope in to the Gone By Lunchtime studio on Wednesday morning. You can read the print version of this podcast at thespinoff.co.nz - as ever a thousand thanks to our sponsors Flick - click through from any Politics post on the Spinoff and you can snag a sweet, sweet deal. I started by asking the PM to cast her mind back to a year ago, the final days of coalition negotiations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day, from Clare Curran getting the boot to Party of Five. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime is not dead, it's just been sleeping. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas reunify in an emotional podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back once again with the renegade bluster, the Gone By Lunchtime team climb many flights of stairs in the cause of NZ political discourse.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bookended by revelations of sexual assault at a Young Labour summer camp and calls for broadcasting minister Clare Curran's resignation over a curious meeting with RNZ head of news Carol Hirschfeld, March has presented easily the steepest challenges for the new prime minister yet. Discussing all this, along with the government's big house-building announcement for the Unitec site, turbulence from NZ First, the Green leadership and also other things, are a record high five podders. Spinoff editor Toby Manhire is joined by Exceltium's Ben Thomas, and three editorial executives from the best television programme in New Zealand, The Hui: Annabelle Lee, Waimihia Rose and special guest star Mihingarangi Forbes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GBLT quartet chew over all the leadership changes. Coruscating analysis of the new leader of New Zealand's biggest parliamentary party. Hot'n'smoky takes. Terrible but melodic puns. All that and more in a new audio content presentation from Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Toby Manhire and a mostly cross Waimihia Rose.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🚨🚨🚨 Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire on the English legacy and the contenders to succeed him as National Party leader in this collectible special edition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas return for the first Gone By Lunchtime of 2018, guest starring a real life baby who reveals all about her encounters with a pregnant Jacinda Ardern.  Your friendly GBLT content providers return to swelter in an obscenely overheated “studio” to splutter out a word or two on the announcement that Jacinda Ardern will produce a brand new human being in the middle of the year, and the prospects of Winston Peters babysitting the nation. Also: Ardern’s plans to spend five days at Waitangi, the state of te reo, the revamped “progressive” TPP, employment law reform, whether Bill English wants to be leader of the National Party, the Green co-leader race, and the biggest story of the week: why did Ben quit Twitter? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To punish you all for being naughty this year, The Spinoff made an unholy mash-up of four of its podcasts. Join Leonie Hayden, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Duncan Greive, Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Henry Oliver as they discuss the biggest events of 2017 (and Married At First Sight) in a grotesque rat-king of piping hot takes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacinda Ardern! Bill English! Metiria Turei! Winston Peters! Those are the names of some people who were in the political news this year. Ben Thomas! Annabelle Lee! Toby Manhire! Those are the names of some people who in the last GBLT of 2017 talk about the people above, and conclusively decide how they got on. May also contain: emotional tribute to Leighton Smith and awkward exposé of a non-disclosed participant in politician's clutches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas, Toby Manhire and the land's favourite baby podcaster discuss an embarrassing start for the new government in parliament, Winston Peters' legal blizzard, the state of the National Party "monster" opposition, and Paddles the cat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gone By Lunchtime team chews over the new government, what it means for Labour, NZ First, the Greens and where it leaves National – and how we got there. Guest starring an exciting new podcasting talent. With a showmanship to put Dominic Bowden to shame, Winston Peters yesterday took the fate of the next government to the wire, revealing in the deep afternoon (in the evening) that New Zealand First would support Labour over National, and crowning Jacinda Ardern as the next prime minister. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and a very special three-week old guest recap the events, and weigh up the implications for Ardern's Labour Party, Peters' NZ First and the supporting Green Party led by James Shaw. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2017 election took place on Saturday but in reality it may never end. It's all around us, it's in us, it is us. The Gone By Lunchtime team* react in the appropriate way by dissecting it and making more definitely correct predictions of the future. *Toby Manhire is currently away in an undisclosed location being indoctrinated by a foreign power, so The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive joins Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee to discuss the small matter of the 2017 election. They farewell the Māori party, discuss the weird situation where all four main parties were plausible winners on the night and lay their predictions down for the next government... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has the Jacindaphoria evaporated? Who won the last debate? Are National's attack lines defensible? What happened to NZ First? Who will win the election? The Gone By Lunchtime team fearlessly answer these questions with definitive and irrefutable opinions. We're leaving together. But still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, To earth, who can tell? I guess there is no one to blame, We're leaving ground (leaving ground). Will things ever be the same again? It's the final countdown, and Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee and Toby Manhire meet again, in the politics podcast that was around long before every fucker was doing a politics podcast, to chew the juicy fat of an extraordinary campaign. Listen as they debate the legitimacy of Steven Joyce's tactics. Gasp as they probe Bill English's eyelines. Weep as they quite literally carve open their hearts and let the truth spill out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DEBATE SPECIAL: Relive the historic first ever Spinoff Great Debate, featuring Paula Bennett, Kelvin Davis, Marama Davidson, Shane Jones, Marama Fox, David Seymour & Gareth Morgan, with Toby Manhire, Leonie Hayden and Simon Wilson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spinoff presents its exclusive poll of the opinions of Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire as New Zealanders flock to vote in chilled out Election 2017. Toby Manhire welcomes Annabelle Lee of The Hui, Ben Thomas of Exceltium, and the spirit of Newstalk ZB legend Leighton Smith into the penultimate Gone By Lunchtime pod before voting day. On the agenda: the gobsmacking Newshub poll, whether National's campaign is working after all, Labour's tax pickle, the Greens' encounter with catastrophe, and the fortunes of the Māori Party. Also Gareth Morgan revs past on a motorbike, probably. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire weigh up the first big Bill English v Jacinda Ardern clashes, the shock National target on child poverty, the claims of a massive hole in Labour's numbers and the poll convulsions.  Advance voting opens on Monday, and election day is less than three weeks away. Burning hot with debate fever, the Spinoff Gone By Lunchtimers take stock. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was this the feted mother of all scandals? Is it the bastard son of Dirty Politics? How many of Bill English's children were on the stage at the National launch? Is Bob your uncle? This and more in NZ's top genealogy-based election podcast. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas take a moment's pause from gaping at the news headlines and social media hyperbole-parody to weigh up the latest chapter in a scandal-bedeviled campaign, as Winston Peters and his pension overpayment transmogrifies into a controversy about the no-surprises policy and anonymous tip-offs. Plus: Billmania as the National Party campaign launches, a review of the minor party leaders' debate and a preview of the big kids' debate on Thursday. Listen now before it's completely obsolete. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The very latest from the Ardernified election campaign, which has claimed yet another leader resignation. Fresh from having read all 140 pages of the Prefu just minutes after it was published, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rest their chins upon their fingers and analyse the issues of the moment. How is National coping with the Labour momentum under Jacinda Ardern? Is Labour's position on tax a bit crap? How will we remember Peter Dunne? Does anyone give a flying fuck about Gareth Morgan? And just how nighmarish a metaphor can Ben Thomas conjure up to explain what Labour has done to the Greens? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the breakneck pre-election pace continues, the Gone By Lunchtime committee convenes to discuss the big issues such as cabbages. With Ben Thomas marooned in Wellington, Duncan Greive pod-hops to join GBLT's Toby Manhire and Annabelle Lee, but we do take a moment to call and sing him a song. With Metiria Turei having resigned, the Green Party is trying to start over, at once moving on and holding tight to its talismanic former co-leader. We talk that through, as well as the National Party's return to law'n'order tough talk: how does that square with evidence-based social-investment thinking? And how about Labour's water policy? All that, and more, including Duncan's confession to becoming absorbed in ACT leader David Seymour's new book, and a long Sopranos analogy. NB Recorded Tuesday at 1pm, shortly before Aussie foreign minister Julie Bishop launched a broadside at NZ Labour.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stop the election bus for just one second, please. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas have new Gone By Lunchtime podcast and it will probably be overtaken by events any moment. Two third-term Green MPs have in effect jumped ship, saying Metiria Turei is not fit to lead the party. Will that torpedo the party, will it help or hinder a Labour Party re-energised by the Jacinda miracle? What about Bill English's mysterious deleted texts? And just generally, what the bejesus is going on with this election? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spinoff's Gone By Lunchtime trio frantically gather their thoughts following the exit of Labour leader Andrew Little, who has been replaced by Jacinda Ardern, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy, with just over 50 days to an election. Within seconds of watching Jacinda Ardern conduct her first press conference as Labour leader, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas bundle into the studio to chat. The disastrous polls, Andrew Little's bizarre decision to announce that he'd been thinking of resigning, the flurry of activity leading up to today's caucus meeting, the Little legacy, the new pair's debut peformance, the Winston factor, and what it means for those accursed billboards: all that, together with a rare insight into Ben Thomas's erotic fantasies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With less than two months to polling day, Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, returns to the GBLT pod salon, joining Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Toby Manhire of the Spinoff to discuss the Green co-leader's headline grabbing admission of benefit fraud, the contrast with tax evasion, Labour's alternative budget proposition, and, inescapably, the latest manoeuvres of the Winston Peters bus. And in open defiance of the schooling from professional broadcaster and Guy Williams, guest star of the last pod, the confectionery remains, with all its sonorous slurping and spluttering. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the best thing about Gone By Lunchtime gets tied up with actual work, three white men finally sit down to talk politics and whether or not some of them should be allowed to talk politics. Toby Manhire is joined by Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Guy Williams of televised comedy to discuss the Green’s attack on New Zealand First, Winston Peters as rockstar or racist, Labour’s new families package, and whether those who work in politics or PR should be enlisted for political punditry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Loaded to the eyeballs on performance enhancing mint chocolate, the Gone By Lunchtime beat combo pick over the remains of a momentous week in New Zealand politics. As the election build-up lurches through the gears, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to discuss the scandal that led to Todd Barclay's resignation as National candidate for Clutha-Southland and the resulting mayhen that threw Bill English's "delivering" conference plans into disarray, as well as the volunteer fiasco that enveloped the Labour Party, the relentless march of Winston Peters and Mana leader Hone Harawira's call to execute P importers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gone By Lunchtime team returns, with more hot takes than a jalapeno thief. In the latest medium-intensity-hitting Spinoff politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee of The Hui and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to sigh, pontificate and radio-jingle on a range of subjects including a dramatic UK election and what it means for New Zealand, Labour's freshly unveiled immigration policy, the knighting of former PM John Key, the budget (yes, it's been a while) and what's up with Ngapuhi and the crown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gone By Lunchtime stumbles on a new theme tune to accompany Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire's sleepy reflections on weird court rumbles, Māori places on the Labour Party list, Gerry Brownlee's clumsy start as foreign minister, and Winston Peters bursting out of the electoral traps. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this overdue and mildly anticipated podcast, we traverse the vast savannah of topical political happenings. Bill English's pizza? Yes. The Greens and that magazine cover? We have that. The Little-Hagaman defamation brouhaha. Yes. The Hit and Run non-inquiry. Yup. The already sizzling election battleground in the Maori seats? Also yes, we have that. Renewed calls for an inquiry into abuse in state care? That is another thing we have. A desperate attempt to parrot world-famous podcast S-Town and mysterious hot cross bun scoffing noises? Afraid so. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the historic first ever Spinoff Gone By Lunchtime podcast since the arrival of LifeDirect as sponsor of the politics section, we discuss a range of important topical issues, before eventually making it to politics. On the agenda: • Bill English announcing a change in superannuation qualifying age a mere 23 years from now; • the political management of that change; • calls for an inquiry into abuse in state care; • Jacinda Ardern's Mt Albert triumph and rise to Labour deputy, the departure of Annette King and the leadership of • Andrew Little (including that kaupapa Māori thing); • whether the best thing to be in the Green Party today is an old bloke; and • Are the stars aligning for a storming year for Winston Peters and NZ First? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a hiss and a roar and an ear-splitting primal scream, the political year is under way. Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire to chew over the prime minister's Waitangi decision, the $10k Te Tii charge to media and the hotly anticipated Trump-English dog-and-bone. They debate the first couple of months of Bill English's prime ministership and his perceived sluggishness over the Trump visa ban, and weigh up the surprise announcement that Willie Jackson is to be a high-placing Labour list candidate. Plus: Is Ben Thomas the Liam Gallagher of Gone By Lunchtime? You decide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special edition of Gone By Lunchtime, we patch in Ben Thomas from Washington DC, where he's been rubbing shoulders among the crowds on Inauguration Day and the manifestly bigger crowds at the Women's March. It is done: Donald J Trump is the real, actual president of the world's most powerful country. Ben Thomas, PR guy from Exceltium and Gone By Lunchtime regular, had a silver ticket for his spot on the Capitol and was there to breathe it all in. Toby Manhire Skypes him up to hear about the occasion, the speech, the record-setting balderdash of press guy Sean Spicer, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An old year, a new prime minister and a very tired world. Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas bedeck themslves with boughs of holly and size up the winners and losers of the year 2016, and what to expect in the next one. Ho, ho, ho, really, when you think about it. Ben and Annabelle sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they make of Bill English so far, struggle to remember the previous PM's name and survey precisely everything that happened in politics in 2016. That covered, they move fearlessly on to what 2017 holds for Winston Peters, Marama Fox, Andrew Little and the rest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A gaggle of shell-shocked geese, in the form of Toby Manhire, Ben Thomas and Hayden Donnell, splutter hot-take spittle all over the mid-price microphones in the Spinoff podcast studio. Guest starring Annabelle Thomas and José Barbosa. John Key, the prime minister of New Zealand, has announced his resignation. He's done. He's had it. He's out. An urgently convened podcast chews over the reasons for his departure, the legacy he'll leave, and who the bejesus is going to come next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas brave the Spinoff stairwell of doom to join Toby Manhire for another Gone By Lunchtime, the hi-energy Zumba workout of political podcasting. The Spinoff political podcast trio abandon all good sense and attempt to analyse the auditor-general's report into the Saudi sheep farrago and what it means for Murray McCully even before it is published. They fearlessly assess the legacies of exiting MPs Hekia Parata and David Cunliffe, they recall that day last month when Paula Bennett was running the country and the future leadership of the National Party, they ruminate on Mt Roskill byelection "bribes" and they share every thought they can summon about the Max Key scandal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Spinoff's monthly politics recap, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas join Toby Manhire for a power-walk through the topical rain forest. If you're interested in hearing what Toby, Ben and Annabelle have to say about the local elections, the excitements of Phil Goff, someone called Tana winning the Porirua mayoralty, voter turnout, a byelection in Mt Roskill, the 20th birthday of MMP, the Hobson's Pledge thing, Marama Davidson's Mediterranean cruise or John Key's analysis of Aaron Smith's toilet fucking, then this is the podcast for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What will Annabelle Lee do when she sees the Labour leader nude on a rug? How will elitist lickspittle Ben Thomas insult Winston Peters? How much fake cocaine will Toby Manhire snort? All these questions answered in a new Gone By Lunchtime. The Spinoff's unrivalled monthly politics podcast returns with a deep audio dive into the pool of truth. Joining Toby Manhire are journo-turned-political-adviser-turned-PR-flak Ben Thomas and Annabelle Lee, the boss of everyone at the country's leading current affairs television programme, The Hui. On the agenda: sushi, Winston Peters, cocaine, Andrew Little on a rug, runaway Labour staff, runaway Kevin Hague, Winston Peters, the Maori King and Labour, Tuku Morgan, Winston Peters, John Key descending on the UN, Winston Peters and Winston Peters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parliament may be enjoying the longest recess of all time but the Spinoff's Gone By Lunchtime podcast is 100% sitting, friends. Joining Toby Manhire in the futuristic audio-pod are Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas Among the fat being chewed: Auckland Unitary Plan adventure (but only briefly; if you like that sort of thing, there's more UP-podding here), the Māori Party utu-treachery-treason over Helen Clark's bid for the UN top job, the prospects of Māori-Mana Party unity breaking out, Todd McClay's apology to the PM over steel and kiwifruit and that so-called "trade war" with China, Saudi sheep, (non) legal threats and Murray McCully, and the David Bain (non) compensation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By Jove, it's only the hotly anticipated return of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff's epoch-defining politics pod with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire The Gone By Lunchtime podcast team has been roused from its slumber to fearlessly tackle the big political topics of the day/week/month/etc. Equipped with nothing but Lemsip, ginger beer, some decidedly odd tasting strawberry champagne flavoured Tim Tams and their cold-addled wit, Spinoff politics editor Toby Manhire, The Hui producer Annabelle Lee and Exceltium man Ben Thomas talk Brexit, Winston Peters, Paula Bennett under pressure over housing, Te Puea Marae, Simon Bridges, Hone Harawira's return, the Shewan review of trust laws, and the Lindauer paintings on shower curtains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Going off like a frog in a sock, the third edition of the Spinoff politics pod, featuring Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas with Toby Manhire A brand new Gone By Lunchtime is here – unless you’re reading this some time in the future, in which case it will no longer be brand new. On the slate: John Key, the Panama Papers, and a U-turn on reviewing foreign trusts; the continuing struggles of NZ Labour Party as it approaches its 100th birthday; and Helen Clark’s campaign to become the secretary general of the United Nations: not as universally popular in New Zealand as some seem to think. All that, along with ruminations on the craft beer scene and songs about special rapporteurs and changing nappies, on Gone By Lunchtime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second installment of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of political PR company Exceltium to discuss Ranginui Walker, Judith Collins and gangs, Pharmac, the flag, and Auckland’s unitary woes. Oh, and John Palino, naturally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s new politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by former Native Affairs producer Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas of political PR outfit Exceltium to discuss the Waitangi kerfuffles, the trade deal row, state of the nation speeches from the four main party leaders, and home baking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices