{"id":612666,"date":"2026-09-26T18:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612666\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T18:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:56:19","slug":"its-going-to-get-scrappy-tova-obrien-and-jack-tame-predict-a-heated-election-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/612666\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s going to get scrappy’: Tova O’Brien and Jack Tame predict a heated Election 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

As two of Aotearoa’s sharpest political journalists prepare to launch their Election 2026 vodcast, we subject the pair to a 1News Grill. <\/p>\n

Which three adjectives best describe the vibe of the 2026 General Election?<\/p>\n

Jack: Oppositional. Reactive. Disgruntled.<\/p>\n

Tova: I think people are worried it will be bland, apathetic and uninspiring. But because it\u2019s so close, with so many wildcards it will actually be thrilling, do-or-die and scrappy.<\/p>\n

\"Prime<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Which political journalist is or was the greatest ever?<\/p>\n

Jack: Interviewers: Jeremy Paxman and Kim Hill; Reporter: Maggie Haberman; Story: Tova O’Brien on the Paora Goldsmith fiasco<\/a> \u2013 the undisputed greatest New Zealand political report of all time. <\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/p>\n

Kim Hill, pictured during her famously fraught interview with John Pilger in 2003. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Tova: I don\u2019t think there can ever be any single GOAT because the work political journalists do is always so big and important in any given moment. It\u2019s so clich\u00e9 but we are greater than the sum of our parts. Just look at what happened<\/a> with the White House Press Pool this week. Competing media, united to fight for a free press. That\u2019s as important as Watergate or any other major political story. In saying that, of course, Jack Tame of Tame and Tova<\/a> fame is right up there.<\/p>\n

What’s one great political memoir or documentary that everyone should read or see?<\/p>\n

Jack: The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert A Caro.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Power Broker, dubbed a “riveting and timeless account of power, politics and the city of New York” won a Pulitizer Prize. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Tova: A couple of NZ political documentaries I love to watch and rewatch are Campaign (about the 1996 Wellington Central race) and the Revolution series (about this country’s 1980s to early-90s social and economic reforms). \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The four-part Revolution series (made in 1996) can be watched on nzonscreen.com. (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

Jack, what’s one thing you’ve learned about your craft by watching Tova?<\/p>\n

She is tenacious AF! And in an industry where everyone is always spinning a yarn or working an angle, Tova won’t be moved. She is principled, connected, charismatic, and tough. <\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/p>\n

Christopher Luxon, in April, speaking to Breakfast\u2019s Tova O’Brien about the latest poll numbers. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

Tova, what’s one thing you’ve learned by watching Jack?<\/p>\n

So much. Years ago, when I started doing long-form political interviews, one of the first things I’d do is search up: \u2018Jack Tame [insert politician’s name] interview\u2019. I still do that before big political interviews. He\u2019s the master. I know how much research, work, agonising over structure, questions \u2013 and the rest \u2013 goes into those interviews, but to then bank that knowledge, draw a line and just be fully present in the interview itself, that\u2019s Jack.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Hipkins speaks to Jack Tame. (Source: Q and A)<\/p>\n

What’s one election-night memory that lives rent-free in your head? <\/p>\n

Tova: Stapling my dress together at the 2014 NZ First election-night party. Having panic-bought the outfit that day, it was patently too short. Undeterred (once-stapled), as a cub political reporter I was determined to get the first interview with Winston Peters and chased him and his entourage into an elevator as they arrived. It was less interview, more telling off by Peters but we were first and we were live \u2013 and my dress held together. Win.<\/p>\n

Jack: The bewildered expressions of Hillary Clinton supporters filing out of what was supposed be her victory party in 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Hillary<\/p>\n

Hillary Clinton supporters in Los Angeles react to incoming results of the US election, ultimately won by Donald Trump, November 8, 2016.\u00a0 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Which political dark horse do you think might step up and get attention over the next few weeks?<\/p>\n

Jack: Statistics New Zealand! The next inflation data drops in the last week of October and the Reserve Bank has to make another call on interest rates just ten days before polling day. <\/p>\n

Tova: Mt Albert. The Opportunity party is the obvious one that could turn this thing on its head. There\u2019s been a lot of focus on whether the party can get over the 5% threshold after failing to do so for the last three elections but the dark horse could actually be the once-predictable electorate of Mt Albert. Opportunity\u2019s leader Qiulae Wong is running in the historically safe, and symbolically significant Labour seat, which nearly flipped to National in a nail-biter race last election. Could Wong win it? Or will she split the vote and make the high-stakes race even more suspenseful?<\/p>\n

\"Could<\/p>\n

Could Qiulae Wong follow in the footsteps of Robert Muldoon, Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern and win Mt Albert? (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Which interview still makes you sweat in retrospect? <\/p>\n

Jack: I once interviewed Australia’s then Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop while in the middle of a dental procedure. I’d been working to get the interview for months and she ended up calling an hour earlier than arranged. Faced with the prospect of forfeiting the interview altogether, I asked the dentist to stop his work and sat up in the chair, exaggeratedly annunciating my questions to try and counter the anaesthetic. <\/p>\n

Tova: Any interview \u2013 like this one \u2013 where I am the interviewee. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch Tame and Tova on TVNZ+ from Thursday (October 1), or catch it on any of the main podcast platforms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As two of Aotearoa’s sharpest political journalists prepare to launch their Election 2026 vodcast, we subject the pair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,2114,384,135,270122],"class_list":["post-612666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opinion","tag-people","tag-politics","tag-vote-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}