Three Pundits, Podcasters and Reckon-Havers – Gone by Lunchtime: Live! at WORD Christchurch 2025

Comfortable in front of a crowd, microphones and cameras, the three self-described pundits, podcasters and reckon-havers settled into the living-room set on stage at The Piano and started their mid-afternoon kōrero.

I missed the previous Gone By Lunchtime appearance at WORD Christchurch 2023 during the run-up to the national election. To catch everyone up, they played clips from that event, with predictions about what was about to unfold around the motu. It started with the lengthy coalition negotiations, including the role of Deputy Prime Minister being split between minor parties. The bit became clearer as they continued to rattle off a summary of the government so far, such as Te Pāti Māori using the debating chamber as a bit of a platform, and ending with a clip predicting that towards the end of the term, Taylor Swift would get engaged and announce that she would be getting married in Christopher Luxon’s backyard, transforming public perception and ensuring many further terms. The only thing dry about this politics chat is the humour. If you want the full context, their colleague Lyric Waiwiri-Smith has written about it for The Spinoff: A plea to Gen X leaders: please stop being cringe about Taylor Swift on social media.

Toby Manhire then threw in a bookish element by asking for a title and genre that would summarise the 21 months of government. Ben Thomas suggested "Picnic at Big Rock”, an allegorical novel with seething undercurrents about three children heading out for a nice picnic but encountering difficulties – he wasn’t sure of the ending, but it’s a murder mystery. Toby’s suggestion was for a novelisation of the 1977 Roger Hall play “Middle Aged Spread”, which is a dystopian tale about the population battling to find affordable butter.

Despite polling being neck and neck, the trio pointed out that we don’t really do one-term governments in New Zealand – I also learnt that there has never been a one-term National government. Toby outlined three paths to re-election: the economy turns a corner, Labour self-immolates over a wealth or capital gains tax, or National convinces voters that “your coalition circus is more circus-y than our circus”. Annabelle Lee-Mather said that so much of it is out of their control:

“It’s Trump’s world and we’re just living in it”.

She predicted a new National leader before the next election and discussed the phrase “the year of growth”, which voters only see in relation to mortgagee sales, liquidations, unemployment, and the cost of living. Toby likened cost-of-living woes to the maxim: you can have many problems in your life, but if you have a health issue then you only have one problem.

It’s worth tracking down this podcast when it comes out if you want to hear more of their takes on the track record of the current Government. They all got plenty of laughs, but Annabelle definitely got the most claps. She spoke about her disappointment to hear about the proposal that is supposedly being drafted to have the Ministries for Women, Disabled People and Pacific Peoples absorbed into other ministries (the ACT Party campaigned on “abolishing demographic ministries”). Toby also observed that it’s been a while since he’s heard the word ‘threshold’ as most of the minor parties are polling well above their usual numbers. There was a bit of chat about the merit of Labour announcing a wealth or capital gains tax sooner rather than later so that the media attention runs out of steam before the election.

Next up was a pub quiz with questions recorded by various political figures. Green MP Kahurangi Carter asked for another nickname the Garden City has held since the early 20^th century. They had to put that to the crowd, the answer being “Cyclopolis”, on account of the wide, flat streets and the number of cyclists.

The final question came from Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger: “What is the best city in New Zealand and why is it Christchurch?”. The panel agreed that Ōtautahi is indeed on the rise. Ben took the opportunity to backpedal after some earlier jabs, noting that housing is more affordable than elsewhere, the post-rebuild relationship between local government and Ngāi Tahu is strong, and he’s always pleasantly surprised when walking along the banks of the Avon and seeing the “functional light rail.” They left that with a quick reminder of the importance of the upcoming local elections. If you’ve read this far then I’m guessing you’re already enrolled to vote, but if not, or if you have moved house since the last election, updating your details only takes a minute.

After a few audience questions, they wrapped up with a hot take on the next general election. Toby’s is that if Christopher Luxon gets rolled, the impetus would be Mike Hosking deciding he’s had enough of him. Annabelle predicted a churn of the Māori seats, while Ben speculated that there’s a better-than-average chance that we’ll see a government led by a major party with a poll result in the 20s. Whether they can replay these clips next time, or if they have to dub over them to correct their takes, I’d like to be back either way.

Hamish
Tūhuratanga, Tūranga

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