Councils in New Zealand are in a precarious position and require a significant overhaul to secure their future which could include four-year terms, lowering the voting age to 16, amalgamation, and an annual transfer from central government starting at $1 billion. The independent Future for Local Government panel released its report into the sector last month after two years of work and meeting with every council in the country as well as other stakeholders. Panel chairman Jim Palmer joins Georgina on the podcast this week to discuss some of the recommendations and why local government needs an overhaul. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Tiles is taking a break from new episodes this week due to Matariki and the rare Friday public holiday, but in a week where the polls are pointing at a close election leaning towards National and Act, we're revisiting Thomas' chat last year with Act leader David Seymour on his political philosophy and priorities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh off following PM Chris Hipkins around China, Thomas is joined by Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls to review the trip, the highs and the lows, and look ahead to Hipkins' 'Hot Girl Summer' in Europe - is a secret trip to Ukraine on the way?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Thomas is away following Chris Hipkins around China, Georgina is going national this week - and what a week it has been! While Hipkins is finding success with our biggest trading partner, Minister Kiri Allan has come under fire, proving a welcome distraction for National after dropping the ball on their big law and order policy. To discuss all this and the other big political moments of the week, Georgina is joined by Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Aaron Dahmen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‘Coalition of chaos’, ‘bread and butter’, ‘if I may’ - all politicians have phrases they like to deploy in interviews and media appearances to try and sway the public to their cause, or take control of the interview. A new series from RNZ has taken a deep dive into the phrases and words used the most by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, National Party leader Christopher Luxon, and former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern when they are being grilled by the media. The Interview journalists Guyon Espiner and Farah Hancock join Thomas to discuss what they learned from the data. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week's Local Edition, Georgina is looking at the biggest stories across the country at a council level. She is first joined by Bernard Orsman for an inside look at Auckland Council's contentious budget process, and Katrina Bennett to discuss Welington's latest water concerns and why the issue is likely to get worse before it gets fixed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's trade deal with China makes it one of our most important foreign partners - but it's a relationship proving increasingly controversial as China faces diplomatic battles with many of our other allies. Sam Sachdeva, author of the new book The China Tightrope, joins Thomas to discuss our relationship past, present and future, and how different leaders have handled the juggle. Plus, they dig into a problematic week with the Government that National failed to capitalise on. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Current polling shows that much of the public is unhappy with the direction New Zealand is going in - but those polls also how it is incredibly tight between the left and right of the political spectrum. So why isn't National rating better with the wider country? In the first of a series of examinations of the state of different political parties pre-election, Thomas talks to political commentator, lawyer and member of the National Party Liam Hehir about the state of the party and its internal and external challenges. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a special monopod, Thomas runs over the major stories of the week - from the first post-Budget poll, how people have responded to that Budget, and how Christopher Luxon's u-turn on housing could shake up the election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After getting his initial thoughts out there yesterday from inside the Budget lock-up, Thomas is joined today by Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny and Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls to discuss the policy winners and losers from Grant Robertson's sixth Budget, the Government's approach to spending, and which policy is the clearest election bribe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.