In this edition of Gone By Lunchtime Plus, a phalanx of heavy hitters from the The Hui and Ben and Toby order soy mocha-lattés and size up a challenging month for Jacinda Ardern and her government.

Bookended by revelations of sexual assault at a Young Labour summer camp and calls for broadcasting minister Clare Curran’s resignation over a curious meeting with RNZ head of news Carol Hirschfeld, March has presented easily the steepest challenges for the new prime minister yet.

Discussing all this, along with the government’s big house-building announcement for the Unitec site, turbulence from NZ First, the Green leadership and also other things, are a five (5!) podders, who gather at Wellington’s famous Astoria Pastry Shop to ruminate upon the issues.

Spinoff editor Toby Manhire is joined by Exceltium’s Ben Thomas, and three editorial executives from the best television programme in New Zealand, The Hui: Annabelle Lee, Waimihia Rose and special guest star Mihingarangi Forbes.

To listen either download (right click to save) or stream the podcast using the player below, subscribe via iTunes and Spotify or here on Stitcher (RSS feed).

This section is made possible by Simplicity, New Zealand’s fastest growing KiwiSaver scheme. As a nonprofit, Simplicity only charges members what it costs to invest their money. It already has more than 12,500 plus members who, together, are saving more than $3.8 million annually in fees. This year, New Zealanders will pay more than $525 million in KiwiSaver fees. Why pay more than you need to? It takes two minutes to switch. Grab your IRD # and driver’s licence. It really is that simple.