Live: All anyone wants to talk to Winston Peters about is Michael Laws

Let's take a wee break from our own election and treat ourselves to a look at someone else's. In the US mid-terms, a blue tsunami has washed away Donald Trump's hopes and dreams.

As Anna Fifield writes in her World Bulletin for The Spinoff, Democrats have taken the Senate, the House, a string of Republican strongholds, and the Republicans are blaming the war in Iran.

You can read Anna's full round-up here.

The Treasury says the economic recovery has slightly stronger momentum than it previously predicted, though improvements have been delayed due to higher oil prices.

That's according to the pre-election economic and fiscal update released this morning. It found that the conflict in the Middle East had led to "increasing inflationary pressures and contributing to higher interest rates, resulting in subdued June quarter GDP growth".

While volatile oil prices remain a risk, Treasury expects the economic recovery to regain momentum in the final months of 2026, assuming that oil and fuel prices ease, inflation slows down and wages begin to grow.

The report found the government's books were in slightly better shape than the last update in May. The operating balance before gains and losses (Obegal) showed a government deficit of $3 billion, which is $1.4bn smaller than previously forecast.

"Higher tax revenue is the primary driver of the improved fiscal outlook," the report said. This was due to "higher business profits, consumption and employee compensation",

That higher spending was partially a result of inflation ticking back up. "Higher prices lift tax revenue by increasing nominal incomes, spending and profits," the report said.

Talk about targeted advertising. The Post has published a story on the BNZ's profit falling by 22%. Whose delighted face is looking on from an adjacent advertisement on the newspaper's homepage? One Winston Peters, of course. Early in the campaign, Peters declared he wanted to buy back the BNZ and has since grumped at experts who have insisted such a move would outrageously expensive.

Inside The Post's story, two more NZ First ads are served. The algorithm knows.

Speaking to the media in Napier, Christopher Luxon was firmly on message, warning people against voting for a "four party coalition with six leaders and nine new taxes".

He said the election was "tight and close", adding: "we don't want people putting it at risk with a Labour government and Chlöe Swarbrick as finance minister. That would be a disaster for New Zealand."

On the topic of NZ First MP Michael Laws' controversial comments about women in the Opportunity Party, Luxon said "the language was disgusting. There's no place for him in my cabinet [or] in our government."

When asked whether he was worried about the newly reported unemployment rate of 5.7%, the highest since 2013, Luxon said he expected the number to change over time. "We want to see unemployment coming down. That is the last part of the fundamentals. Once you get spending under control, inflation down, interest rates down, economy is growing, the last thing that gets solved is that new jobs are created."

With just two sleeps until election day, politicians are campaigning at terminal velocity as they try to reach as many voters as possible in the final hours.

Christopher Luxon and a cohort of National MPs are riding a blue campaign bus (nicknamed the 'No New Taxes Express') through Hawke's Bay and the Bay of Plenty. Luxon will be doing public walkabouts in Taupo and Rotorua.

Act is also on a road trip. David Seymour is on board the campaign bus Big Pinky in Huntly this morning and will be taking media questions at the Parnell Rose Garden at 12pm. It's the final leg of a journey which began in Wellington

The Greens are spread out across Auckland. Chlöe Swarbrick is visiting Café Saints in Grey Lynn to make coffee this morning and Marama Davidson is visiting Pest Free Kaipatiki this afternoon.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins is in west Auckland with with deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni and finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. They're visiting a primary school followed by a trip to a pharmacy to talk about free prescriptions. The afternoon's schedule includes sign-waving with volunteers in Ōtāhuhu followed by a beer at Brother’s Brewing in Mt Eden.

At 7pm tonight, every party will be tuning in to the Q+A People’s Debate on TVNZ moderated by Jack Tame. The debate will feature National deputy leader Nicola Willis, Labour campaign chair Kieran McAnulty, ACT leader David Seymour, Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong, Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick, NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones, and Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara.

The Platform's founder Sean Plunket has accused the media of running a "hit job" on Michael Laws. He said journalists were using Laws' comments to promote Opportunity.

It's not the only shock journalists have had this morning. The NZ Herald gossip columnist Ricardo Simich has revealed that reporters dispatched to stand outside the Luxon's home on Saturday night will miss out on savouries and pizza. Luxon's wife, Amanda, told Simich she hadn't realised in 2023 how much attention the snacks she served would garner and she was horrified by the "wellness" message they sent. "This year the food will be healthier," she told him.

Journalists on long night shifts aren't known for craving vegetable crudité or bliss balls, but, look, maybe their hearts will thank Amanda.

Michael Laws has really done Winston Peters dirty. With just days to go in this election campaign, NZ First's leader wants to be talking about the flaws of other parties' politicians and all the ways his own are best trusted to run the country.

But, this morning, all anyone wants to talk to him about is what he's going to do about Laws. Laws is running in the Waitaki electorate for NZ First. Yesterday, comments he made on October 29 on his show on The Platform emerged. He talked about a debate he'd attended with Opportunity's fourth-ranked candidate Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, calling her "rather severe-looking" and saying she was like "every officious primary school teacher, female that I'd ever come across in my life".

It got worse: "Must be hell dating people like that, just quietly. Can you imagine what it's like post-sex? Did I say that out loud? Yes, I did."

This morning, Peters told RNZ the comments were "simply unacceptable" and the Herald that the remarks were a "live issue". He said he'd deal with the candidate after the election and expected a board meeting would be convened to decide whether Laws could remain with the party.

As Hayden Donnell writes, after a fractious campaign, Laws' comments have really unified politicians, who were quick to vomit a bit in their mouths after hearing what he'd said.

It is, you would say a real scandal, unlike say, the Qiulae Wong's fun run bib controversy. Joel MacManus has outlined the other inconsequential scandals of the campaign here.

Meanwhile, NZ First's coalition partner, National, will no doubt face more tough questions today about the rising unemployment rate, after the latest rate was released yesterday and had lifted from 5.6% to 5.7%.