Nau mai, haere mai and welcome to The Spinoff\u2019s live coverage of the 2026 1News Kaupapa M\u0101ori debate, which kicks off at 7.30pm. If it feels like you have a slight case of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, that could be because you watched a very similar debate last night, hosted by Te Ao M\u0101ori News and Moana Maniapoto. The difference with tonight\u2019s debate? Well, this one is being hosted by TVNZ, with Te Karere host Scotty Morrison and 1News reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui moderating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are also a few more people invited along tonight, with Act Party\u2019s deputy leader Nicole McKee and Opportunity Party candidate Eden Skipper adding to the already star-studded lineup of Labour\u2019s Willie Jackson, National\u2019s Tama Potaka, NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, and Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi (tagging in for fellow co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, who participated in last night\u2019s debate).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The most important difference, however, is that you can enjoy this debate through our incredible live blog.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If last night was anything to go by, then tonight should be a cracker. Jackson and Potaka were going at it like two cousins fighting over the same sheila. Matua Shane Jones pulled no punches, while Davidson and Ngarewa-Packer agreed on just about everything. The post-debate panel of Rukuwai Tipene-Allen, Whatitiri Te Wake and M\u0101ni Dunlop agreed the women won the debate purely for having better decorum than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n
It has been a busy fortnight in M\u0101ori politics, with the most notable event being the resignation of Labour\u2019s T\u0101maki Makaurau candidate Kerrin Leoni in the fallout of a gang pad visit<\/a> by members of Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and the Greens. Leoni was critical of fellow T\u0101maki Makaurau candidate and incumbent Oriini Kaipara in an electorate debate<\/a> last week, resulting in Kaipara levelling accusations of hypocrisy at Leoni. The subsequent shitstorm resulted in Leoni\u2019s resignation as Labour\u2019s candidate in the electorate, only for her to confirm her intention to stand as an independent<\/a> three days later.<\/p>\n Potaka and Jones \u2013 both of whom are ministers in the current coalition government \u2013 have been widely criticised by many M\u0101ori for their government\u2019s policies, many of which have been labelled as racist and anti-M\u0101ori<\/a>. Also high on the agenda has been constitutional reform, which is being championed by Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and the Greens. Labour has tended to take a more conservative approach to this topic, with both NZ First and National not seeing matters like entrenching Te Tiriti o Waitangi as an urgent issue.<\/p>\n