Newshub Nation's political panel on Saturday said the country is in safe hands no matter who the next Health Minister will be.
Ella Henry and Ben Thomas joined co-host Rebecca Wright to discuss the 2023 Health Debate between Labour's Dr Ayesha Verrall and National's Dr Shane Reti.
Both doctors want the role of Health Minister in the next Government.
Also on the show this week was an exclusive Wellington Central poll, and more discussion of National's pledge on overseas home buyers.
Newshub Nation's 2023 health debate
Firstly, in the health debate, Professor Ella Henry from AUT's Business School reckoned Dr Verrall and Dr Reti performed graciously.
"They both accepted that there were strengths and weaknesses in each others' portfolios. I'd like to see that reflected in other portfolios as we move towards that last month," she said.
"We want to see what they are going to deliver and how they're going to do it."
Meanwhile, Ben Thomas, a former National Party staffer now working in PR, said it's interesting to have two medical doctors jostling to be Health Minister.
"Both [Dr Verrall and Dr Reti] know the system inside out. That's something that we don't see in a lot of portfolio match-ups across Parliament."
New poll on Wellington Central electorate
Also revealed on Saturday's show was an exclusive Newshub Nation-Reid Research poll of the Wellington Central electorate.
It showed Ibrahim Omer (Labour) on 30.6 percent, only marginally ahead of Scott Sheeran (National) on 28.0, and Tamatha Paul (Greens) on 26.6.
Henry told Newshub Nation she wondered if the high cost of living in the capital had pushed more-progressive voters out.
"Has there been a demographic shift in Wellington Central? That may be one of the explanations, because it's becoming increasingly expensive to live in that part of the world."
Whereas Thomas thought the Wellington Central poll results showed Labour is vulnerable in a safe red seat.
"At the same time, Tamatha Paul has a long local history as a councillor despite being only 26 years old in her second term. She's got a high local profile."
But he added Sheeran may have a chance "if the left gets its allocation a bit wrong".
National's 'tax hole'
And dominating headlines for the past two weeks has been National's promise to allow foreign citizens to purchase homes in Aotearoa above $2 million, while taxing them 15 percent.
Economists and tax experts of all political stripes have pointed out National's numbers don't add up - but leader Christopher Luxon again refused to accept that notion on Saturday.
Henry told Newshub Nation her three adult daughters are paying close attention to what National's policy could mean for them.
"Taxes are things that speak to those young ones, who are looking at 'will I ever be able to afford a house or pay off my student debt?'"
Meanwhile Thomas reckoned National was caught off guard with two weeks of continuous questions over their foreign home-buyer policy.
"I think National will be looking to move on from this as soon as they can."
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