Election 2026: The 1News kaupapa Māori debate, as it happened

Nau mai, haere mai and welcome to The Spinoff’s live coverage of the 2026 1News Kaupapa Māori debate, which kicks off at 7.30pm. If it feels like you have a slight case of déjà vu, that could be because you watched a very similar debate last night, hosted by Te Ao Māori News and Moana Maniapoto. The difference with tonight’s debate? Well, this one is being hosted by TVNZ, with Te Karere host Scotty Morrison and 1News reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui moderating. 

There are also a few more people invited along tonight, with Act Party’s deputy leader Nicole McKee and Opportunity Party candidate Eden Skipper adding to the already star-studded lineup of Labour’s Willie Jackson, National’s Tama Potaka, NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi (tagging in for fellow co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, who participated in last night’s debate). 

The most important difference, however, is that you can enjoy this debate through our incredible live blog. 

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 Māni Dunlop agreed the women won the debate purely for having better decorum than their male counterparts.

It has been a busy fortnight in Māori politics, with the most notable event being the resignation of Labour’s Tāmaki Makaurau candidate Kerrin Leoni in the fallout of a gang pad visit by members of Te Pāti Māori and the Greens. Leoni was critical of fellow Tāmaki Makaurau candidate and incumbent Oriini Kaipara in an electorate debate last week, resulting in Kaipara levelling accusations of hypocrisy at Leoni. The subsequent shitstorm resulted in Leoni’s resignation as Labour’s candidate in the electorate, only for her to confirm her intention to stand as an independent three days later.

Potaka and Jones – both of whom are ministers in the current coalition government – have been widely criticised by many Māori for their government’s policies, many of which have been labelled as racist and anti-Māori. Also high on the agenda has been constitutional reform, which is being championed by Te Pāti Māori 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.

Recent polls have shown that voters in the Māori electorates have shifted towards the Greens, with Te Pāti Māori campaigning strongly on the electorate candidate vote only. With only nine sleeps remaining until election day, the home stretch is in sight for many political hopefuls on the campaign trail.

Many viewers will be watching Act’s deputy leader Nicole McKee and Opportunity Party’s Eden Skipper closely tonight. The duo were notably absent from last night's Te Ao News Māori leaders debate (Act was invited but not Opportunity). With many condemning the actions of the coalition government as racist and anti-Māori, it will be interesting to see how McKee defends her party’s policies, such as the Treaty Principles Bill, in a kaupapa Māori debate.

Here we go… Seven Māori candidates hashing it out. No mucking around, we’re straight into Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The politicians are asked to name an ancestor that connects them to te tiriti. Easy work for all of them, bar Nicole McKee, who gives an honest answer about her not knowing on either her Māori or Pākehā side. Te Aniwa Hurihanganui follows it up with a question about – you guessed it – the Treaty Principles bill and Act Party policy.

Well, it took about two minutes for the abolition of the Waitangi Tribunal and a Ngāpuhi settlement to be raised. I was going to make a comment about this debate having more decorum than last night’s Te Ao News debate, but Willie and Shane are already talking over each other.

Māori Crown Relations minister Tama Potaka would not commit to keeping the Waitangi Tribunal when asked about where his party stands, especially given Act and New Zealand First’s policy to abolish them. Meanwhile, Marama Davidson reaffirmed her party’s commitment to make the tribunal’s recommendations binding. Willie Jackson stated his party would not entrench te tiriti, with Waititi labelling him a “sell out”.

Waititi’s first comments are, perhaps unsurprisingly, about the gang pad visit by his party’s MP Oriini Kaipara. He says “gangs have been politically manufactured” and reiterates that all those debating have whānau in gangs. Potaka says he doesn’t have a view on whether the heat from National over the gang pad visit was justified. Willie Jackson and Nicole McKee get into it after Jackson states his party doesn't support the Act Party and the Taxpayer's Union putting up billboards in Central Auckland stating Labour, Te Pāti Māori and the Greens support gangs.

Marama Davidson’s local New World apparently charges $12 for a block of butter. Meanwhile, Shane Jones says he has a wife and daughters who do the shopping for his whānau. “I’m not allowed to go shopping,” Jones says. Might have just saved his skin for that previous comment. Potaka speaks about growing vegetables as being a meaningful way of reducing food costs. Rawiri Waititi mentions his party’s policy on a kai credit and opening a Māori-owned supermarket supplied by Māori industry. Jackson uses the opportunity to highlight his party’s price-gouging policy. Shane Jones states he was ready to “take on Countdown” under the previous government but was not supported by Labour or the Greens. Meanwhile, Davidson talks about breaking up the duopoly and her party’s Kiwimart policy. Act’s Nicole McKee says red tape is the issue, followed by Scotty Morrison instructing her to fix up the kai in schools programme. “That’s a disaster,” Morrison says.

While Jackson and Skipper were eager to talk about capping fuel taxes and electrifying the country’s energy supply, Morrison and Hurihanganui were preoccupied with questions about who likes kānga pirau (rotten corn) and electric pūhā (Google yourself). Skipper was the only one who hadn’t tried it. Potaka likes it for dessert every once in a while, and Waititi has a couple of bags in the creek fermenting at the minute. Yum, I’m ready for supper now.

After images of the nation’s largest protest to parliament are played on the screen, Tama Potaka falls back to funding of Te Matatini (which Waititi correctly points out is less baseline funding per annum than it had been receiving) and marae infrastructure funding as indicators of where the government has done well by Māori. He mentions the Foreshore and Seabed when Willie Jackson criticises his performance on Māori kaupapa. Jackson and Potaka are doing well at taking up a lot of the oxygen in the room.

Similar to his party leader in a previous debate, Opportunity Party candidate Eden Skipper challenges the candidates to commit to a 10-year funded healthcare plan. Marama Davidson makes it known that her party already has a policy about that. Shane Jones questions (in te reo Maōri) who this young boy is challenging the matua. Only Waititi and Davidson raise their hands when questioned about who believes the healthcare system is racist. Jones and McKee share the view that healthcare policy should not be based on race, Jackson later says “there is institutional racism in the healthcare system”, while Waititi and Davidson say the data and science shows there is a need for targeted programmes. Meanwhile, Potaka is awfully quiet and manages to escape any questions.

We’re on to jobs. Willie Jackson is talking about the party’s trades and training policy. Shane Jones is talking about “dig baby dig”. Skipper says Opportunity couldn’t work with New Zealand First unless they change their mining policy. Skipper also mentions the party’s Healthy Oceans policy, which Jones says will gut the Māori fishing industry established via the Sealord settlement. Skipper doesn’t have a response for that one. Mining on conservation land is raised, and Nicole McKee claims 90% of New Zealand is managed by the Department of Conservation (this document says that figure is more accurately around 33%) and “they’re quite frankly doing a poor job,” something her and Waititi can agree on.

Tama Potaka avoids talking too much about his government’s policies to prioritise English over te reo Māori in the public sector and questions about school books having te reo removed from them. He does highlight funding for Māori broadcasting though. Rawiri Waititi wants to pay people to learn Māori. He also promises to not “strap the shit out” of people to learn Māori, not like what was done to Māori to learn English. He says to be a true New Zealander, you need to speak te reo Māori and that te reo Māori should be compulsory.

Manaaki, tū rangatira, whakarukea, dedicated, kotahitanga (x2), and mahitahi are all the kupu the candidates use to describe their parties. And just like that, this debate is over. Potaka scraped by while Skipper fell flat at points, granted he was up against some political veterans. Davidson was gracious, articulate, and self-assured, just like last night’s debate. Willie and Shane were the old uncles who clearly get too much free reign on the taumata. Waititi performed well, with his witty jibes being his sharpest points. I’d give the chocolates to Marama and Waititi, with Jackson in third.

Well e te iwi, I’m off for some electric puha rotten corn at home. Hope you all enjoyed that short and snappy debate. Like the saying goes: He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero. What is the food of the leader? It is conversation. Mā te wā.