The Panel

The Pre-Panel for 9 December 2025

Wallace Chapman and producer José Barbosa preview tonight's instalment of The Panel.

Photo: RNZ / Jeff McEwan

The Panel LIVE Part 1
 
Tonight, live from Revelry bar on Ponsonby Road Auckland, the Panel comes to your ear holes for a riveting hour of pub politics and current affairs.

Joining Wallace for a look at some of the year's biggest issues is Heather Roy (ex ACT MP), Holly Bennett (former advisor to Minister Paul Goldsmith and founder of kaupapa Māori government relations firm Awhi), Phil Goff (former Auckland mayor) and Simon Wilson (senior writer NZ Herald). 

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

The Panel LIVE Part 2

In part two, the Panel discusses a year of job cuts, everyone knows someone who has been hit by industry closures or corporate restructuring: will 2026 be more of the same? Then, we get into the nitty gritty of the bombshell revelations of the IPCA report into Police mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints. Has trust in the Police taken a knock?

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, right, with Police Minister Mark Mitchell announcing the police's new national gang unit. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell

The Panel Plus
 
An extra half hour of The Panel with Wallace Chapman, where to begin, he talks to Dr Rebecca Meiring, senior lecturer in exercise sciences at Auckland University about her research into the relationship between lifestyle behaviours and menopause.  
Then: he talks to Decult director Anke Richter about New Zealand's history of cults and whether we need dedicated legislation to protect people from coercive groups.   

Photo: Supplied by TVNZ