Focus on Politics

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 Politics, Political Reporter Katie Scotcher takes a look back on what was a turbulent year at Parliament and on the campaign trail.

Summary

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 approaching on the other side, the government will have plenty to work through. In this week's Focus on Politics, Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch examines the start of the 54th Parliament and the racially charged indignation that heralded it.

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 making a material difference for New Zealanders is a hefty workload for a Cabinet which has so far been dogged by distractions - driven partly by new Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Katie Scotcher looks back at the coalition's first week in power and the distractions that dogged it.

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 signing on the dotted line in the ultimate Black Friday deal. In this week's Focus on Politics, Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch examines the coalition deals and the personalities behind them.

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 dumped out of Parliament entirely in 2017, but co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says that was a critical part of the party's growth. They are also looking ahead to their next generation of leaders, she says, and plans are afoot to shake Parliament up and normalise it for Māori. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Giles Dexter asks Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to reflect on what the party did to win all but one of the Māori electorates and what it has planned for the 54th Parliament.

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 Hipkins meanwhile has survived a vote on his MPs' endorsement of him as leader with Carmel Sepuloni taking the deputy leadership as the party prepares for opposition. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Editor Jane Patterson examines politicians' progress towards the incoming government and opposition.

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 Peters is sure to demand more in negotiations. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Editor Jane Patterson speaks to Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch, analysing the state of play after the final election result.

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 are calling for a wider refocusing on the party's values and relationships to avoid the kind of fracturing that often so plagues parties banished from government. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Katie Scotcher explores the challenge Labour faces in rebuilding after its clear election defeat.

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 to the opposition benches. National's exact path to government is not fully clear, and depends on the final vote count. Even so, it's far preferable to the position Labour's in, having to put on a brave face despite anger and recriminations at the result. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Editor Jane Patterson gets the lay of the land as the nation waits on the final election results.

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 the voters.

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 Peters, National and ACT have been continuing to talk down his appeal - but it remains preferable to defeat. In Focus on Politics this week, RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch dissects the past week, speaking to Guyon Espiner alongside RNZ and NBR political editors Jane Patterson and Brent Edwards, and RNZ political reporter Anneke Smith.

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 threshold - and furthermore in that most pivotal of spots - necessary for National to form a government. In Focus on Politics this week, RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch breaks down the latest week of the election campaign, a week where Winston Peters came to the fore.

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 recession for New Zealand, although inflation remains high. This week's Focus on Politics is RNZ's roundtable discussion covering the major happenings of the 2023 election campaign. RNZ political editor Jane Patterson, deputy political editor Craig McCulloch, and Newsroom and Stuff political editors Jo Moir and Luke Malpass spoke to Morning Report host Corin Dann.