A collage shows multiple images of a man in a suit and tie making different facial expressions and gestures, surrounding a central bald man in a suit who points to his ears, set against an orange and white background.
A representation of the situation. (Image: Tina Tiller)

Mediaabout 1 hour ago

All the times Jack Tame has shamed out politicians for not going on Q+A, ranked

Senior writer
A collage shows multiple images of a man in a suit and tie making different facial expressions and gestures, surrounding a central bald man in a suit who points to his ears, set against an orange and white background.
A representation of the situation. (Image: Tina Tiller)

Jack Tame is an excellent political interviewer. But his greatest talent is hassling Christopher Luxon for not appearing on his show.

There’s a reason politicians are scared of Jack Tame. Q+A’s presenter has a habit of asking for an important statistic, waiting for them to fudge and obfuscate, then hitting them with the exact figure he was asking for in the first place. He asks tough questions and doesn’t let them get away with waffling interminably about nothing or retreating to their preordained talking points. 

Three people in a TV studio discuss a topic; one man speaks, a woman with curly hair listens, and a second woman smiles. Cityscape graphics are visible in the background. Subtitles read, "Oh, Corrections does 2700." and "It's 3%, right?.
Politicians reacting to Jack Tame saying “don’t worry, I’ve got it” about the stat they just failed to produce.

The more nimble guests can escape mostly unscathed. The slow-of-tongue or wit struggle. Perhaps because of that, many of them, including but not limited to prime minister Christopher Luxon and foreign minister Winston Peters, have started boycotting the show. That’s allowed Tame to hone an ability just as important as interviewing: delivering shame outs. 

For several years, he’s been issuing blistering, lengthy reproaches of the cowardly elected members who have slithered their way out of sitting down opposite him for an interview.

As good as its segments on urban planning, interest rates and whether we should all just die have been, the callouts might be the best tele Q+A produces. With the latest one airing just five days ago, it’s time to rank them all using The Spinoff’s trademark mix of empiricism and data.

A collage of three video thumbnails: a man speaking with the title “Six rules for a healthy life”, elderly hands holding with “No place to grow old”, and a man in glasses with “Making assisted dying easier.”.
What are you trying to tell me, Q+A?

5. March 2026

Tame’s March 2026 message to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is more of a disappointed telling off than a full-blown shame out. Despite that, it’s still written and directed with Q+A’s trademark flair. “Despite the international volatility, for more than two years now, foreign minister Winston Peters has refused to be interviewed by me,” says Tame, looking tired, beaten down, haunted. But then the camera angle changes to a wide shot and the tone lightens as our host cheerfully drives home the dagger. “But Labour has a new foreign affairs spokesperson,” he says, as a photo of a grinning Vanushi Walters appears behind. Caustic stuff.

A news anchor in a suit speaks in a studio, with cityscape backgrounds in both frames. In the lower frame, a large screen shows a smiling woman with dark hair next to the anchor.
Winston Peters hasn’t showed, but don’t worry, help is on its way.

4. December 2024

A quick roll of dishonour rattled off as a capstone to Q+A’s final show of 2024. Winston Peters is once again a target, along with his New Zealand First colleague Casey Costello and Māori development minister Tama Potaka. There isn’t a lot of flashy direction, with the Q+A crew opting to stick with a mid shot of Tame talking straight into the camera for just over a minute.

The setup evokes a presidential address, as if Tame is about to tell us he’s assassinated Osama Bin Laden. Maybe that’s the point. He’s speaking as our representative. “In all of these interviews we’d hope to speak to the subjects not about party politics, but in their capacity as cabinet ministers representing a government elected by you,” he says. That’s my president.

3. December 2025

Now we’re starting to rip into the really meaty strips of shame. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this list picks up steam in its first entry focused on the king of the Q+A no-show, Christopher Luxon.

In December, 2025, Tame hasn’t seen the PM in a year, and he’s a broken man. The tone is sombre to the point of funereal. But the only thing that’s died is democracy. “We had been hoping to bring you a feature interview in-studio with prime minister Christopher Luxon,” Tame says. “But that won’t be happening this year.” He proceeds to list off the other politicians who have rejected him, including Peters and social development minister Louise Upston. Tame may as well have added “hope” to the list of things that have deserted him in the godforsaken 2025. 

A news anchor in a suit sits at a round desk with city buildings in the background. Beside him is a large screen showing a man in front of a partial New Zealand flag.
Pain.

2. September 2024

Tame’s September 2024 shame out is a mostly no-frills affair. It begins with him pointing out it’s been more than a year since the PM appeared on his show, then proceeding to reel off some fun facts. “Just for the sake of context, we went through our records, and the last National prime ministers, Sir Bill English and Sir John Key, were interviewed on Q+A more than four times a year on average,” he says. “Dame Jacinda Ardern was interviewed more than twice a year.”

That’s definitely some interesting context. The monologue is notable for the fact that it actually worked. Luxon showed up on Q+A two months later for what proved to be a tough interview on Māori-Crown relations and the economy. “Never again,” he seems to have thought afterward.

1. May 3, 2026

Tame’s most recent shame out is also his best. After reaching his emotional, spiritual and probably physical nadir in December 2025, Q+A’s host bounces back with some snazzy camera switches, snappy graphics and fun cutaways. The whole segment reeks of pizzazz, starting off with the intro recalling one of Luxon’s recent broadsides, where he claimed that New Zealanders expect the media to “ask us the tough questions about our policies”. Tame goes on to spend two minutes asking, in essence, why Luxon has spent 18 months rejecting that exact opportunity.

The segment is notable for including a devastating email sent by the PM’s office to Tame’s producer and former Spinoff employee Alex Braae. “Hi Alex. The PM is not available. Cheers,” it reads. That may be bad for our democracy but it at least has the upside of making for great TV.

More Reading