Election 2023: The Front Bench
Oct 12, 2026 · 34 min · 15 segments
**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 Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper…
Trish ShersonGuest
Heather du Plessis-AllanHost
Josie PaganiGuest
Barry SoperGuestThe Front Bench.
And with us on The Front Bench, we have Barry Soper, Senior Political Correspondent, Trish Sherson of Shearson Willis PR and Joseph Ogani, Child Fund Chief Executive.
We'll start with you, Trish, because you've been giggling your way through that.
How grim is this? It's astounding, isn't it? The only way I can frame it up is that populism has just completely taken over this election to the point where those two major parties are actually fighting on the issues of last election.
It's actually a purchasing power problem that Kiwis have where wages haven't kept up.
And the bigger point I think about the promises this election is that with those two major parties, struggling to attract even three in every 10 voters to them, the bigger question is what policy mandate will they actually have post-election? And I think that's a different equation this time round.
I mean, what more could you want when the world is facing, just looking today at the news, the EU is preparing for war.
And we're not also talking about productivity, which is, as you said, Heather, in your intro, the big thing that's actually going to grow our economy.
And you know when you go around and you go, oh, I'll have sushi or lasagna, and then you end up with a plate with tiramisu sushi and lasagna on it, and you're going, I feel sick.
What's it going to cost? Either you've got to tax more or you're going to spend less or you've got to reprioritise.
The Front Bench.
And with us on The Front Bench, we have Barry Soper, Senior Political Correspondent, Trish Sherson of Shearson Willis PR and Joseph Ogani, Child Fund Chief Executive.
We'll start with you, Trish, because you've been giggling your way through that.
How grim is this? It's astounding, isn't it? The only way I can frame it up is that populism has just completely taken over this election to the point where those two major parties are actually fighting on the issues of last election.
It's actually a purchasing power problem that Kiwis have where wages haven't kept up.
And the bigger point I think about the promises this election is that with those two major parties, struggling to attract even three in every 10 voters to them, the bigger question is what policy mandate will they actually have post-election? And I think that's a different equation this time round.
I mean, what more could you want when the world is facing, just looking today at the news, the EU is preparing for war.
And we're not also talking about productivity, which is, as you said, Heather, in your intro, the big thing that's actually going to grow our economy.
And you know when you go around and you go, oh, I'll have sushi or lasagna, and then you end up with a plate with tiramisu sushi and lasagna on it, and you're going, I feel sick.
What's it going to cost? Either you've got to tax more or you're going to spend less or you've got to reprioritise.
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