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Recent items from Focus on Politics
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Winston Peters navigates troubled waters with India, China
7:00 PM.New Zealand must pull its weight on defence and security, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says in a sit-down interview with RNZ, after talks with both India and China.
While trade was a driving… Read more Audio
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Labour prepares to be prepared for power
6:30 PM.Humiliated and humbled in last year's election, Labour has spent its first months back in opposition licking its wounds.
At the party's caucus retreat this week - a gathering of its MPs at a remote… Read more Audio
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Clock stops on coalition's urgency-filled 100-day plan
6:30 PM.The House has been in full swing for four weeks, with MPs sitting long hours as the government pushes through legislation under urgency to complete its 100-day plan.
What's in it? Did the government… Read more Audio
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Fa'anānā Efeso Collins' death brings unity in grief
7:00 PM.Parliament was brought to a standstill on Wednesday, with politics set aside after the sudden and shocking death of first-term Green MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins.
A champion for his people, a tireless… Read more Audio
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Councils get their Three Waters wish - but will they regret it?
7:00 PM.The coalition has ticked off another objective - repealing the troubled Three Waters programme - but in doing so may have just delayed the bigger problem for another day.
In this week's Focus on… Read more Audio
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Government faces the music at Waitangi
7:00 PM.This year's record-breaking Waitangi celebrations drew 80,000 people to the Treaty grounds over four days, half that on Waitangi Day alone.
With the dust settling on the event's biggest turnout in… Read more Audio
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Shaw's message for his successor as he prepares to bow out
3:00 PM.Green Party co-leader James Shaw talks about his decision to step down, his time in the role, and the message he has for whoever succeeds him. Read more Audio
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Luxon fronts fierce criticism from Māori ahead of Waitangi
7:00 PM.Coming hot on the heels of last weekend's Hui-aa-Motu and the Rātana celebrations, Waitangi Day this year promises to be highly emotive and political.
The government's policies have prompted calls… Read more Audio
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A year of political turmoil comes to an end
7:00 PM.Three prime ministers, four ministerial scandals, one general election and a three-way coalition: New Zealand's political landscape has been well and truly shaken up in 2023.
In this week's Focus on… Read more Audio
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Māori dissent sets the scene as Parliament returns
7:00 PM.The resumption of Parliament this week has been underlined by outcry from Māori, soon matched by fury within the debating chamber.
With just two weeks before the Christmas break and Waitangi Day fast… Read more Audio
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Distractions assail coalition as it lays out ambitious agenda
7:00 PM.The new government's first week in office saw it get straight to work, setting high expectations and unveiling its 100-day plan - but it's not exactly been smooth sailing.
Fixing the economy and… Read more Audio
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Bonus episode: The meaning of Tāmaki
5:00 AM.When ACT's Brooke van Velden won the Auckland seat of Tamaki at the election, it was a triumph of shrewd campaigning. But it was also a failure for Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. In… Read more Audio
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Coalition deals signed and sealed, now it's time to deliver
7:00 PM.It took 40 days and 40 nights - but at long last, the country knows what its new government will look like.
New Zealand's first-ever three-way coalition: National, ACT and New Zealand First finally… Read more Audio
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Te Pāti Māori plans for future as it reflects on success in Māori seats
9:00 AM.After its most successful election - taking all but one of the Māori seats - Te Pāti Māori is amping up for the next three years as "the only true opposition".
It's a dramatic turnaround for a party… Read more Audio
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Coalition talks pick up pace behind closed doors
7:00 PM.With National's potential partners ACT and NZ First finally getting together in Wellington this week, a sense of momentum is building for the trio to form a government.
Labour's Chris… Read more Audio
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Peters' stock rises on final vote count, how much will Luxon pay?
7:00 PM.The final act of the 2023 election has reset the calculus, blowing apart National's dream scenario and driving up the price for forming government.
With NZ First's support now a requirement, Winston… Read more Audio
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Labour faces vexed reset and return to opposition
10:00 AM.After a devastating collapse in their vote on election night, the Labour Party is examining what went so wrong and who is best to lead them from the opposition benches.
Current and former MPs alike… Read more Audio
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Election results in a clear winner, a clear loser, a complex path to power
10:00 AM.The battle for the hearts, minds and votes of New Zealanders is over - nearly - with the preliminary results on Saturday putting National in a position to form the next government and Labour consigned… Read more Audio
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On the campaign trail, final week: The highs and lows
7:00 PM.It has been a rollercoaster campaign, fiscal fights, feisty debates - all with the aim of taking the government benches.
In Focus on Politics this week, a look at the campaign as it all comes down to… Read more Audio
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On the campaign trail, week five: Luxon grapples with his 'last resort'
10:00 AM.TVNZ's multi-party debate this week illustrated key features of this election campaign: the minor parties' rising popularity, and the complicated role of NZ First.
With polls they would need Winston… Read more Audio
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On the campaign trail, week four: The week of Winston Peters
10:00 AM.Call this the week of Winston Peters - with the New Zealand First leader, riding a wave of renewed relevancy.
In not one, but two TV polls, New Zealand First featured above that critical 5 percent… Read more Audio
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On the campaign trail, week three: Debates, polls, sausage and cheese rolls
7:00 PM.The minor parties gave glimpses of their own cooperation styles at the Newshub Nation Powerbrokers' debate, while polls continued to signal Labour on the downturn.
GDP numbers also showed no… Read more Audio
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On the campaign trail, week two: Tax plans and spending
10:00 AM.The second week of the election campaign has been all about the economy.
There was the pre-election opening of the books, with National's tax plans and Labour's spending coming under fire.
This… Read more Audio