Mean Policies, Hapless Lists and the Midterms Closing In

Hosted by **Phil Gof**f and **Chris Finlayson**, **Cross Party Lines** battles on with Phil broadcasting through a lurgy picked up on the flight home from Australia — it’s an episode that moves from the campaign’s most mean-spirited policies to OIA reform, a hilariously hapless New Zealand First list, and the American midterms closing in on the Republicans like a freight train. All thanks to Frank Risk Management, the 100% Kiwi-Owned Insurance Brokerage. Find out more at frankrisk.co.nz. **In this episode:** \* **Foreign aid cuts, drug testing and the return of compassionate conservatism — in theory** — National and ACT’s decision to slash overseas aid draws Phil’s sharpest moral language of the season: we spend 0.24% of GDP on foreign aid, the international goal is 0.7%, and the cuts will fall on humanitarian crisis relief — Gaza, Ukraine, the World Food Programme, UNHCR. Chris is equally unimpressed — and notes the whole exercise is likely to be reversed anyway, given Peters has already come out against it. On drug testing for beneficiaries, both men defer to Jonathan Coleman who wrote a lengthy Herald piece calling the policy wrong, unprincipled and ineffective. \* **Air New Zealand, OIA reform and the right of the citizen to know** — Chris’s flight from Gisborne was cancelled, supposedly due to weather — suffice to say he wanted to know more about Labour’s consumer policy package, which mandates automatic refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights, levels the playing field for smaller regional carriers, and takes aim at airport monopoly pricing. On OIA reform, Chris is in full historical mode: the Official Information Act was a complete philosophical switch from the Official Secrets Act — from withholding as default to availability as default, built on the work of Ken Keith, Alan Danks and Jim McLay. What is happening now, across multiple governments but accelerating under this one, is a quiet reversal of that principle. \* **New Zealand First’s list, the midterms and Trump renames the ocean** — Chris turns to the New Zealand First list and cannot contain himself: Ron Mark at number 16, behind Hārete Hipango and Alfred Ngaro. He applies the Hanoverian principle — anyone who looks like a potential successor gets marked down — and notes Peters describing the list as representing rejuvenation after 50 years of his own continuous political presence. Stuart Nash and Shane Jones are in there. Michael Laws features, and Chris declines to comment further on defamation grounds. On the American midterms, both men identify their must-watch races: South Carolina — a seat Democrats haven’t held since the 1990s, now within a point or two — and Kansas, which hasn’t returned a Democratic senator since 1938, and is now genuinely in play. If both flip, Democrats could reach 55 or 56 Senate seats. Along the way: Phil’s voice threatening to become a high-pitched squeal when Trump comes up; Chris being recognised at Gisborne Airport and told he looks better in person than on screen; a man on the airport bus praising Phil’s tenure as Foreign Affairs Minister; and the promise of a full American election deep-dive next week, ***Cross Party Lines* exists to lift political literacy and create space for calm, good-faith political conversation. New episodes every Tuesday. If you value thoughtful debate, follow the podcast and share it with someone who might too.** *📋 Election day is 7 November. Make sure you’re enrolled.* This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit crosspartylines.substack.com