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PoliticsApril 30, 2025

Gone By Brunchtime: The fizz and flop of Australia’s election – and its lessons for NZ

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With just a few days to polls-time, Ben McKay joins Toby Manhire to chat about the Albo v Dutto denouement.

This Saturday Aussies will (compulsorily) head to the polls. At the start of the year, Labor under Anthony Albanese was staring down the barrel of defeat and the first one-term government for almost 100 years. But with a few days to go, the pollsters are all picking that he’ll return to power. What changed? Where did Peter Dutton’s makeover go wrong? What happened to the Coalition campaign? Did Donald Trump play a role?

To tackle these questions, complete with yarns about salmon and wallabies and paddling pool anomalies, is Ben McKay, Pacific editor for AAP and an illustrious former inhabitant of the New Zealand press gallery.

In a special edition of the podcast temporarily renamed Gone By Brunchtime in recognition of the time difference, McKay joins Toby Manhire to unpick all of that, what it means for the New Zealander pathway to citizenship, the New Zealand influence across the Tasman, and what political parties here might learn from there with 2026 just around the corner.

Follow Gone By Lunchtime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.