Charlotte Cook leaning on a bench and smiling. Beside her is a stack of cookbooks and a bowl of tomatoes.

White text reads, "Grilled, with Charlotte Cook".

12m

The leaders of ACT, the Greens, Labour, and National face Midday Report’s Charlotte Cook, who grills them over policies, technique in the kitchen, and how they got into politics.

Produced by RNZ

Series details.

About

Instead of the usual campaign diet of sausage rolls, lollies, and caffeine, in this web series our top four polling parties put their leaders on the chopping block in the kitchen.

The leaders of ACT, the Greens, Labour, and National faced Midday Report’s Charlotte Cook, who grilled them over policies, technique in the kitchen, and how they got into politics.

Each party got to pick a meal of their choice. Some made bolder decisions than others, but all provided the perfect way to see who could be leading your country, from the comfort of a kitchen.

Watch the series to find out if they could handle the heat, who tried to serve raw chicken, and if knives came out.

Te Pāti Māori and NZ First declined to take part in the series.

Credits

Charlotte Cook
Presenter, Director, & Producer
Angus Dreaver & Sam Rilstone
Camera Operators & Editors

Get in touch

More like this

  • Geoffrey Palmer

    Guyon Espiner talks to five former NZ Prime Ministers, starting with reforming lawmaker Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who became our 33rd PM in 1989.
    The 9th Floor/Episode 1
    60m

  • The Great NZ Sell-Off

    From Telecom to Air New Zealand, the BNZ to our power companies why did governments sell our state assets, and what did we get in return? Now the Government is eyeing a sale of its Chorus debt. Join Guyon Espiner and Corin Dann as they look back at four decades of selling the family silver.
    Context/Season 1/Episode 10
    42m

  • Melissa Chan-Green | Til Death

    Content warning: discusses death and loss, and sexual assault. After his bride’s death just hours after their wedding, a devastated groom struggles to process his grief. Five years later, he turns to Melissa Chan-Green to tell his heart-wrenching story for the first time.
    re_covering/Season 5/Episode 8
    57m

  • Metiria Turei

    Did Metiria Turei mean to turn the 2017 election on its head? Earlier that year, the former Green Party co-leader made an admission that would upend their entire campaign.
    Matangireia/Season 1/Episode 1
    45m

  • Tākuta Ferris levels new allegations against Te Pāti Māori executive

    New
    Ousted Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris speaks candidly to Mihingarangi Forbes about the mounting internal tensions within Te Pāti Māori that led to the current fall out. John Tamihere was approached to respond to the allegations made in this episode. He declined to comment on what he described as "any matters based on hearsay, innuendo, accusation, or insinuation."
    MATA with Mihingarangi Forbes/Season 3/Episode 22
    48m

  • Chelsea Winstanley: Overcoming trauma and coming out on top

    Oscar-nominated film producer Chelsea Winstanley talks to Anika about overcoming trauma, taking risks, and coming out on top.
    It's Personal with Anika Moa/Season 1/Episode 1
    47m

  • Anne Applebaum

    New
    "Ruled by thieves." From Putin to Trump, the global web of dictators stealing vast wealth and laundering it through the West is on the march.
    30 with Guyon Espiner/Season 4/Episode 5
    31m

  • Lost Property: How Police Lost Two Houses and an Iwi's Trust

    New
    MATA Reports investigates how two rundown police houses in the Horowhenua town of Shannon slipped through the cracks of government process when they were supposed to be protected within a treaty land-banking process. Instead of being held for Ngāti Whakatere, the homes were quietly on-sold into private hands, leaving the iwi and the community asking how taxpayer-funded houses could vanish during a housing crisis. Lost Property exposes the gap between policy and practice, revealing the real-world impact when Crown agencies fail to protect assets meant to help address historic wrongs.
    MATA Reports/Season 2/Episode 3
    27m

  • Mamas Return to Play

    Juggling new motherhood in often-isolated countries and continuing a sports career can have big pressures on Pasifika women.
    Outside the Lines/Episode 1
    9m

Video section home

Browse all
A large group of smiling young performers in traditional Polynesian attire pose together outdoors. They wear orange and yellow garments, necklaces made of white spikes, and have black markings on their faces. Above them, on a yellow banner, bold black text reads “SEVEN WEEKS,” with the subtitle “JOURNEY TO POLYFEST” in italics.
A yellow baroque style wallpaper. A white line drawing of a house is in the bottom right corner. White handwritten text reads, "Kāinga".
Text reads, "House Talk" on a white brick wall background.
Framed by a purple fabric design is a plus-size model in a green dress. In front of her, in black-on-white text, reads: "CUTTING THE CURVE."
Three figures from different original images have been edited so that they're all standing next to each other and are of varying sizes. All three people are in the midst of performing. The background in a flat bright red colour. Text in the style of graffiti reads, "The Collective". A spray painted illustration of a crown appears above the 'e' in 'Collective'.
The back of a woman walking down a path, she's wearing white pants and a silver shiny top with silver tassels coming off the back and arms. Her arms are outstretched. Text reads, "Inside Splore".
A wide long beach withe dark grey sand and blue ocean. Text reads, "Chatham Islanders, Tchakat Tchatam Airani". There is an illustration of an indigenous Moriori tree carving in between the words "Chatham" and "Islanders".
A group of people performing a haka outside amongst the trees. The person at the front is in focus and doing a pukana. Text reads, "NZ Wars: The Stories of Ruapekapeka".
Young man with soot on his face looking into the camera, in his left hand he's holding a Patu (weapon). Text reads, "NZ Wars: Stories of Tauranga Moana".
The side profile of a man holding a guitar with a microphone on a stand in front of him. Text reads, "Legacy: Katchafire" and has a boarder around the perimeter of the frame.
A green graphic with text reading "Five Nights at Everybody Eats" in the center, a small graphic of stacked yellow plates in the bottom right, and text reading "Making a difference one plate at a time" beneath it.
A school of fish swim together in the ocean. The text reads "Turning the Tide"
Person on purple background resting their head in their hand. Only their head and chest is visible. Purple text along bottom of image reads, "AMPLIFIED".
A man with their back towards the camera, they're looking on onto an ocean. The image is in grey scale. Text reads, "The Art of War".
A coastal scene of a land mass with cliffs leading down to a beach and the ocean. Text reads, "My Cyclone Gabrielle, Four Filmmakers Four Views".
A podcast cover for "The Aotearoa History Show" features the title written in colorful, chalk-like letters on a blackboard background. The words "THE" and "AOTEAROA" are in light blue, "HISTORY" is in pink, and "SHOW" is in green with green chalk lines radiating outwards.
A person sitting on a stool, they're looking down. The image has been edited so that there's a strong orange toned light covering the image, obscuring the figures face. The text reads, "The Outliers".
Dark grey background with yellow text reading, "The Barber Shope". There is a illustration in the same yellow of a Māori design.
A multi-media illustration of four different figures in different art styles. Text reads, "Our Aotearoa".
A close up of a video game controller, the lighting makes it look slightly pink and blue. Text reads, "Game Change".
In an animated graphic, the top of a man's face is seen in front of fence, above which are a collection of native New Zealand birds. In the middle of the image, in the middle of the birds, is the text: "BIRD'S EYE VIEW 2."
In a graphic made up of differently coloured brown tiles, the two main hosts of Whakamāori season three pose. Behind them is text reading: "WHAKAMĀORI."
An animated graphic of green trees and leaves in a forest, along with a red flower. The text in front reads "What Will I Be Today?"
A group of Pasifika women pose for a picture. Below them the text reads: "Myths & Maidens."