The Panel for Monday 16 February 2026

The Pre-Panel for 16 February 2026

Wallace Chapman and producer Tessa Guest preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.

Photo: RNZ / Jeff McEwan

The Panel with Georgie Stylianou and Ed McKnight, Part 1

Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Georgie Stylianou and Ed McKnight.

First up, yet another weather event has hit the North Island. The Panel talks to affected residents of Otorohanga and Wellington.

Then, in Australia, One Nation, for the first time in its 29-year history, is polling above 20 per cent nationally and is ahead of the combined vote of the Liberal and National parties. The Panel talks to political scientist Jill Sheppard.

Australian politician Pauline Hanson. Photo: AFP

The Panel with Georgie Stylianou and Ed McKnight, Part 2

In part two, there's moves to ban car access to the northern coast of Ruakākā. The Panel talks to a local who says if they remove his vehicle from the beach, it will fundamentally alter his family's way of life. Then, the government has announced that there will be a State of Origin match in New Zealand. RNZ producer and newsreader Tama Muru is a massive State of Origin fan and he'll be in studio to celebrate.

Photo: AAP / Photosport

The Panel Plus

An extra half hour of The Panel with Wallace Chapman, where to begin, he's joined by Nights host Emile Donovan.

Then: Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić is the Director of the Warramunga Seismic & Infrasound Facility in Australia. It's one of the most sensitive nuclear detection facilities on Earth and after the expiration of the only remaining US-Russia nuclear treaty earlier this month, the New START treaty, its work is even more important than ever.

The mushroom cloud expanding above Hiroshima after the nuclear explosion, on 6 August 1945. Photo: Supplied