19 OTT 2020 · Labour's number two Kelvin Davis is getting strong backing for the job of Deputy Prime Minister, even from those in other political parties. The Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi, who has very likely secured the party's comeback seat in Parliament, says he would expect "nothing less" than for Davis to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Speaking of the wider Labour caucus, he says Māoridom will be expecting nothing less than for those MPs to get senior ministerial roles inside Cabinet. "As te iwi Māori, they brought a huge contribution to the whole make-up of Labour and I commend them for that," he said. "It is testament to the hard work they put in." Davis wouldn't be drawn to an answer when asked about whether he's pushing for the deputy PM role. "Those decisions are yet to be made," he told the Herald today. "Ultimately, the Prime Minister will make the call. Her and I will have a discussion, but I'm not going to make a call or announcement right now." Davis said the party was feeling "pretty upbeat" and proud after its landslide win. Davis has his eyes on retaining the Corrections portfolio. "I'd love to, if the Prime Minister allows it, to be the Minister of Corrections. We've got work to do still to improve outcomes in the justice sector for Māori. Māori education is still my big passion and the reason I entered politics." Another win for Labour is the high number of Māori MPs - 15. Davis says to have won so many Māori seats is "absolutely fantastic". "It just shows that Māori have a voice in the Labour Party, with 15 Māori MPs representing the interests and needs of Māoridom," he says. "It's wonderful to see the likes of Shanan Halbert win a general seat, as well as Jo Luxton, Kiritapu Allan, and Arena Williams. We're very proud of our efforts." Davis says Labour's landslide win shows that people are "sick of the negative and nasty politics"."They like what the Labour party are offering; kindness, compassion, seeing those attributes as strength. I think the country is just looking for something different to what we've experienced over the previous decades." Davis says he'd like to see the Government "up the number of partnerships" with Māori groups. "With hapū, with iwi, to hear what their aspirations are, and to pull the lever as a Government and make those aspirations a reality." He also has plans lined up to support kohanga reo, kura kaupapa and the wānanga. Oranga Tamariki, housing and meth are also key issues. "The cost of living, putting bread and butter on people's tables. We do have a recovery plan. We've already started rolling it out. People saw that we are a strong and stable Government and that we have a plan, and that's really a big part of the reason why we had such an emphatic victory on Saturday." On his election night speech to introduce Jacinda Ardern - which turned out to be a rhyming speech attacking the National Party - Davis said he was "playing to the audience". "As I've said, all the material was provided by the National Party. I was simply just holding a mirror up to everything that they had said, and their words and actions of the last six months." Davis won the Te Tai Tokerau seat from Hone Harawira in 2014 and kept the seat this election in a battle against Māori Party candidate Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Former Labour Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels says he expected Kelvin Davis to become deputy Prime Minister, making the current Te Tai Tokerau MP the first Māori electorate representative to hold the role. "I think this is an unprecedented mandate for Māori. I've never seen anything like it and I would expect Kelvin to be appointed the role." Samuels, who was a Labour MP from 1996 to 2008 and held the Te Tai Tokerau seat for two terms, said with 15 Māori MPs he had never seen so much political representation in a single party for Māori. He said the election had provided an "unprecedented opportunity to really deliver for Māori". "Clearly Māoridom will be expecting a lot from them." With W...

12 OTT 2020 · There are just five days to go until Election Day, and things are heating up on the campaign trail! Tune in today for the final Front Bench - Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There is no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. In today's topics, National has gone hard on the possibility of a wealth tax under a Labour-Green Government. Labour continues to say it is not going to happen, but Greens co-leader James Shaw says let's wait until after the election. Who should voters believe? Does it come down to whether or not we believe the Greens will just roll over in order to be in Government? It appears National's position is dire. They are struggling in the popularity column, with a drop in the last Colmar Brunton poll. Add to that the controversy surrounding the Ponsonby walkabout and the Denise Lee email that was leaked, to name a few. How much of it is leader Judith Collins' fault? Is this as bad as it gets for her chances on Saturday? New Zealand has just signed the first deal with a pharmaceutical company for a Covid-19 vaccine. The deal will give us access to 1.5 million vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, but it is an apparent move away from simply relying on the UN backed Covax-facility. Prime Minister Jacinda  Ardern has said in the past she is opposed to vaccine nationalism, but are we not doing exactly the same now? Does anybody think we shouldn't make our own deals - even at the expense of poorer countries?

5 OTT 2020 · Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. National leader Judith Collins has gone to great lengths to make sure people understand she is a woman of faith. Things ramped up yesterday when Collins went to vote at a church, and was filmed and photographed kneeling down. Do you buy it? Has she made a conscious effort to advertise her Christianity, and if so why? Did Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern politicise the Covid-19 announcement? All eyes were on the infamous 1pm press briefing again today, to see whether or not Auckland would join the rest of the country at alert level 1. Ardern is copping criticism for using the opportunity to criticise other party's border policies, as well as National's housing plan. Let's take a break from our election here and jump across to America. President Donald Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis has completely thrown the US election up in the air. It is unclear how bad his health is right now, but he earlier described the journey as 'interesting'. How will this impact the election? And does it make him look even more careless than initially thought? And early voting has started, and it is popular already. In the first two days of voting, 165,000 votes were cast, and early voting is expected to make up as much as 60% of the final vote. Why do you think it has become so popular?   WATCH ABOVE

28 SET 2020 · Join Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. This week, the panel discusses the polls and what they mean for Judith Collins and National, Winston Peter's Orewa speech, and Labour's pledge to keep Tiwai Smelter open - with a catch!

21 SET 2020 · National's momentum has slowed after its $4 billion blunder. The Party's promise to claw back $19.1 billion by ending Super Fund contributions was wrong - because Treasury's Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update only showed $15 billion.National Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith called it an "irritating mistake". Bu NewstalkZB Political Editor Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's more than that. "They model themselves as the party that can handle the economy and make big economic decisions and make them stick. "What did they do with this one? They botched it."  Soper joined du Plessis-Allan, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter on The Front Bench, Newstalk ZB's weekly show thrasing out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. This week, the panel is discussing National's admission of a $4 billion hole in their financial plans, the Prime Minister ignoring social distancing while taking selfies on the campaign trail, and what the latest poll in Auckland Central means for the Greens. 

14 SET 2020 · Catch live action of the second instalment of The Front Bench. Every Monday until the election, The Front Bench will take on the biggest talking points of the election campaign. Heather du Plessis-Allan, Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper, PR whizz and former Act Party press secretary Trish Sherson and former Labour Party minister Chris Carter have the insight word and analysis.  There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. Listen live from 4pm as they discuss the major topics, such as the Government's decision to remain at the current alert levels of 2.5 in Auckland and 2 across the rest of New Zealand. How does this decision reinforce Ardern's conservatism? Does it help Labour by making her look careful? Political campaigns have begun ahead of next month's General Election - who is winning the race so far? How does National come back? Is Labour on track to govern alone? And do voters want to minimise the size of the Labour win? Wallabies coach Dave Rennie lashed out at New Zealand quarantine measures, which played a significant role in the Rugby Championship hosting rights going the way of our trans-Tasman rivals. Rennie says they may not make it over - how damaging could this be for Labour? Why didn't they drop everything to make sure New Zealand were the hosts? And Labour is introducing a new threshold of 39 per cent on income over $180,000 - do you believe Grant when he says they will not be implementing any other taxes? Even if they're in coalition with the Greens?

7 SET 2020 · Labour is backing calls to make Matariki a public holiday. It would work out a winter date starting in 2022, to celebrate our national identity, cultures and traditions - and boost tourism and hospitality. Waitangi Day was the last public holiday introduced - nearly 50 years ago. Matariki - which heralds the start of the Maori New Year - would take the number of public holidays in New Zealand to 12 - counting regional anniversaries as one. Speaking on Newstalk ZB's The Front Bench, former ACT press secretary Trish Sherson's not a fan. "This election, and totally the wrong time, the big promise is another public holiday. I think it's tone deaf." But former Labour minister Chris Carter disagreed. "The Government is looking for ways in which, not only can we celebrate that Maori heritage, but also stimulate business." Meanwhile, Winston Peters is making headlines again. The New Zealand First leader butted heads live on air with TVNZ's Jack Tame yesterday - after being asked about leaking and fraud investigations. Peters accused the broadcaster of ambushing him on topics he hadn't prepared for. Speaking on Newstalk ZB's The Front Bench, political editor Barry Soper says it's classic Peters. "For Winston, this is theatre. He thinks by attacking the messenger, as he always does with the media - the public applaud him." Listen above to The Front Bench - Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020

3 SET 2020 · Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. Listen live every Monday at 4pm on Newstalk ZB and subscribe to the podcast on iHeartRadio.