Election 2026: Live updates from the final leaders' debate

The debate is over and everyone is standing awkwardly next to each other on stage while we wait for the post-debate panel to start up.

It was a relatively lively debate in the end, with Hipkins getting heated and knocking Luxon off-balance quite a few times, particularly when it came to the parties' respective economic management. But Luxon had his own lines prepped to go, and often went personal, reminding Hipkins the country had got rid of him three years ago after the Labour leader brought up National's failed leadership coups. He also attacked Hipkins as the most abysmal education minister in New Zealand's history.

Despite all that, perhaps the most stinging line of the night comes from The Post's Matthew Hooton in the post-debate panel. Both men come across as bureaucrats, he says. "One is a corporate bureaucrat and one is a Wellington bureaucrat."

Hipkins wants to lower the bowel cancer screening age to 50, and 45 if we can. Luxon wants to lower the age as well. Most shockingly of all, neither man wants to front for a debate involving all seven main party leaders. They want to keep having these debates with each other, forever and ever, into infinity. "It's a shame he only agreed to three," says Hipkins, ruefully. It might be the most out-of-touch line of the night.

Hipkins will not proceed with the definitions of a man and a woman bill put forward by NZ First. He accuses National of attacking trans people. Luxon says it's a complex issue. Hipkins is open to having a conversation on introducing life sentences for child sex offenders, which has been promoted in a viral social media campaign recently. Luxon is as well. Hipkins would like to ban gambling ads in sports. Both would be open to holding a referendum on a four year term. Neither think the word Aotearoa has become divisive. Neither know that cocaine has become "socially acceptable in New Zealand. "I dunno, it might be your circles Paddy, it's not my circles," says Luxon. "No comment," replies Gower. Neither man has tried cocaine.

Chris Luxon is calling Erica Stanford, a minister who was widely rumoured to have tried to coup him a few months ago, one of the greatest education ministers in New Zealand's history. He urges Hipkins to get behind National's back-to-basics approach and commit to making kids do one hour or reading, writing and maths every day.

Hipkins responds that Luxon has cut back on Labour's efforts to foster apprenticeships and he's committed to getting students into jobs.

But then things get personal. Luxon is taking aim at Hipkins' record as education minister. "He is without doubt the most abysmal education minister this country has ever had," he says, saying kids didn't attend school when Labour's leader was in charge of the portfolio.

"They were at home with Covid," Hipkins responds.

"Was Donald Trump's war in Iran a mistake?" asks Luke Malpass.

"Yes," says Hipkins.

"Yes," says Luxon.

But that's not what you said at the time, Hipkins retorts. He brings up the fact that Luxon was reluctant to condemn the war at its outset, resorting to a statement that involved him not being clear about his position and repeatedly saying he didn't know how to be more clear about his position.

Gower challenges both politicians to say something that might convince normal people they know how hard things are for them at the moment. Both resist the temptation to talk about their personal circumstances, potentially due to their both being on salaries of more than $300,000. For Hipkins it's seeing people at the supermarket in the weekends. They used to put back nice-to-haves. Now they're putting back essentials, he says. "They are putting back things like their kids' nappies."

Luxon says he's tried to deliver personal assistance to people in dire financial circumstances. "I've spent time with people who really are struggling with their finances in budgeting services," he says. But he wants to remind us that for some people, life has got better in the last three years. Renters for instance. Their rents are more stable than they have been in decades.

This doesn't sit well with his rival. "Things haven't gotten better. It's gotten harder," Hipkins says. Luxon says he's got a plan. It's working.

"Your plan's not working," yells the Labour leader.

He says 48,000 more people are unemployed. Business liquidations are at their highest level in years. Luxon says actually it's Hipkins who crashed the car of the economy and he's getting it back on the road. It's not on the stinking road, Hipkins retorts, in essence, spinning off a host of figures that illustrate how we're basically all sitting in a butter prison. Now they're just yelling at each other. They're being shuffled over to sit down with Luke Malpass and think about what they've done.

It was inevitable gangs would come up after the Greens and Te Pāti Māori's well-publicised visit with the Mongrel Mob. Luxon is momentarily on the front foot here, bringing up the fact that under Jacinda Ardern, Labour funded rehabilitation services run by the gang. But then Hipkins reminds Luxon that the programme in question was actually kicked off under National PM John Key. "John Key left politics a long time ago," stammers Luxon, his voice rising slightly. "I'm not John Key." Gower reminds the pair that they've traversed this territory already in a previous debate.

Gower asks Luxon to state once again that he won't work with Opportunity. He does, because they want a land tax and that's not compatible with National. Hipkins has a line ready to go here. "Here's the difference between me and him," he says, before saying Luxon thinks that he has to do whatever his coalition partners tell him to do.

"I wouldn't go there," says Luxon, reminding Hipkins that last time he was in government, he was on his own and his justice minister crashed a car in Wellington.

Hipkins says Luxon won't have to talk to Wong because his colleagues will remove him the day after the election and whoever replaces him will do the talking. "The public of New Zealand removed you in 2023 and you're still here," Luxon retorts.

For a long time, our leaders have been standing in the bridge of a particularly bleak starship while The Post's associate editor Luke Malpass stares at them from a table nearby. "Why is he here?" the people may have asked. "What is he doing?" Well that question has now been answered. The leaders have been invited to sit down with Malpass to talk figures, numbers and the general economy.

They proceed to tread over some well-traversed ground. Luxon accuses Labour of overseeing budget blowouts and an inflation crisis. Hipkins reminds people that Labour was hampered by a the minor matter of a global pandemic, which saw inflation spike around the world.

They move on to superannuation. Hipkins commits to allowing our resident young people, Finn and River, to retire at 65, saying it's not right that they should pay for older people's retirements and then not get the same generosity in return. Luxon says the current settings are unsustainable and the age needs to be raised eventually.

But wait, the leaders are being pulled away. "They'll be back with you soon Luke for another probe," says Gower, worryingly.

Sheesh we're whipping through the topics. Gower urges both politicians to commit to allowing people the option of switching off their social media algorithms. Australia's getting underway with that move. Hipkins happily commits, which isn't particularly surprising given Labour announced the same policy yesterday. Luxon wants to focus on banning social media for under-16s. "I'm sick of admiring the problem," he says.

Then, a slightly painful exchange. "Paddy Gower's got issues," quips Luxon, after Hipkins says the word "issues", before chuckling quietly to himself in the otherwise silent room. "Yeah, I've got issues with the algorithm," Gower replies.

It's time to talk move on orders. Patrick Gower urges Luxon to defend the legislation that gives police powers to shift people who are being disruptive or just sleeping rough in the wrong place. He says we need to have a way of moving people on if they're causing trouble. "Criminalising homeless people is not going to address the problem," Hipkins responds. He's committing to repealing the potential criminalisation of homelessness.

"Chris, I'd just say to you... look, if you want to have a debate about it," Luxon ventures. He talks about the need to think about homelessness as part of an overarching housing picture. If housing is too expensive, then there will be homeless people, he says. So managing prices is important.

Chris Hipkins flusters the PM a bit by relaying some news from a hospital visit today. "The nurses that I spoke to today are treating children with cancer. Giving them chemotherapy drugs in a hospital waiting room," he says.

Luxon searches for a comeback and settles on urging the Labour leader not to politicise the issue. Hipkins insists that children's cancer care is a political issue. Luxon gets back on track by saying we have more nurses now than we did when National came to power. But wait, Hipkins is now accusing him of lying because as it turns out, those nurses weren't hired by National. "You're claiming the credit for thousands of new nurses that were hired by Labour," he says.

The debate is under way and we have a columnist-studded audience in attendance. That's Verity Johnson and Sir Ian Taylor in the front row.

Both Chrises start off by talking to two first-time voters, teenagers Finn and River. Hipkins says owning a home will be within reach for them and the cost of living may even come down under Labour. Luxon urges the teens to stick with National's plan on the economy. He mentions the Indian free trade agreement. It can feel like neither leader is talking specifically to the teenagers they're ostensibly addressing.

National's big blue bus is parked outside and every necessary Chris is now in Stuff's building. Chris Hipkins walked through a crowd of cheering supporters to get into the building, which possibly lifted his poll-dampened spirits.

Chris Luxon’s spirits willl be in the black tonight after a 1News-Verian poll showing his party moving the big rock of dire unpopularity and plotting a strategic pathway back to the Beehive. It has National at 32%, the party’s strongest result since February, while Labour is down a percentage point at 27%, its lowest result in this poll since the election. After flooring Chris Hipkins with their party vote allocations, poll respondents took the opportunity to kick Labour’s leader in the electoral nads, sinking his preferred prime minister rating by three points to 17%.

PSA: This is a Stuff debate, but you won't be able to see it on Three, even though Stuff makes the 6pm news for Three. Stuff is also making Three's election night show, with Paddy Gower a host, but Three chose to stream NZME's debates during the campaign. But wait there's more: Luke Malpass, associate editor of The Post is also involved tonight. Why? Because Stuff and The Post are in the same stable… sort of. Actually Stuff Digital, which is running the debate, is now a separate company from Masthead Publishing, which owns the stable of former Stuff newspapers. Welcome to the complicated, potentially imploding world of media, but just be warned that the debate is on Stuff and not Three. 

Kia ora and welcome. Are you ready to watch two men who, statistically speaking, you don’t like even a little bit slugging it out for the right to oversee our collapsing health system and metastasising mince prices? Hope so, because the Stuff leaders debate is on at 7.30pm and we are live blogging the entire Chris from Chris to Chris.

One good thing about this debate: it’s over fast. Stuff is promising an hour of uninterrupted verbal jousting between two of the top 10 politicians named Chris in New Zealand. No ad breaks. No charisma. Just strong political messaging on the top issues facing Kiwis.

Patrick Gower is our moderator tonight and if the past is anything to go by, there's every chance he'll get our next prime minister to commit to something random like funding massage therapy for horses or making the ice bucket challenge legally mandatory. He has spent the afternoon writing affirmations including “let them debate!”, “this is for New Zealand” and “don’t lose the will to live”.

Oh sorry that last one was me. All funny and totally not serious jokes aside, I love democracy and it's great to have you with me as I develop RSI in record time. Don’t these people know ad breaks are for catching up on live updates? I seriously don't know how I'm going to do this and if nothing else it’s worth following along just to see if these updates are still being typed in English by the time Chris utters his final Chris and Chrises into the void