In this week's episode of Raw Politics, we discuss if ministers crowing about the drop in interest rates deserve all, much or any of the political praise.

Newsroom senior political reporter Marc Daalder, political reporter Emma Hatton and co-editor Tim Murphy weigh the coalition's claims to having started to beat the ravages of a high cost of living.

We also assess this week's two big restructures of government agencies – one responsible for Crown-Māori relations and the other for services for the disabled community.

Our reader question asks why the Government is dipping back into old fashioned welfare policies again, one of the core staples for the National Party over generations.

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This week's recommendations:

Emma -  The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus on the shady conspiracy-aligned group setting itself up to influence the 2025 Wellington local council election. 

Tim - A revelation by Andrea Vance on The Post that David Seymour’s new regulation ministry is looking to hire a senior communications person at up to $170,000 a year.

Marc - Jono Milne’s scoop on the new Health NZ commissioner’s waning confidence in his chief executive.

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Raw Politics will be available every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube too.

Read more on newsroom.co.nz.