Jack Tame’s Q+A interviews are often a litmus test for political discourse in Aotearoa, but his recent frost-fest with Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick exposed a troubling bias that contrasts sharply with his kid-gloves treatment of other politicians, such as ACT’s Brooke van Velden in prior appearances. The disparity in tone and scrutiny raises questions about Tame’s fairness and whether he’s more interested in sneering at the left rather than probing the issues that matter...like New Zealand’s economic lethargy, woeful productivity and the mass exodus of talent driven by low wages.
The recent Q+A interview was a hard watch. Jack Tame, after a cordial introduction, soon resorted to spitting tacks at Swarbrick, his condescension stronger than Mike Hosking’s Sunday morning G&T. Swarbrick, armed with evidence and conviction, argued for a higher tax rate on the ultra-wealthy to tackle New Zealand’s obscene inequality, where the top 1% own a quarter of the wealth while half the country scrapes by on just 2%. All of that was lost on Tame, who failed to professionally inform the audience about any details of the Green budget, which he, just like ACT and National Party propaganda, poured cold water on.
Chlöe, with a calm and resolute demeanour, said she would need to get back with some statistics about the myth that taxing the rich would spark a capital flight. She was right to point out that Jack Tame was trying to get a Gotcha moment, which caused Tame to become even more annoyed that Swarbrick wouldn’t entertain his line of questioning. Tame went at it with all the ignorance of someone with a personal interest in keeping taxes on the wealthy low…a vested interest that clearly skewed his interviewing style.
The biased interview even caused 1 News (the government's mouthpiece), to publish a report largely in support of Jack Tame, conveniently glossing over his incorrect assertions and combative interviewing style...a publication that wouldn’t have been required if the Q+A interview had been even handed.
Yesterday, 1 News reported:
She was then questioned about the risk that new taxes could lead to capital flight, which Treasury officials have previously warned of. Swarbrick said the issue had been "accounted for" and that the plan had been independently costed.
But the co-leader conceded she wasn't across the "specific figures", adding that she "didn't think it's a constructive display if we're just focusing on those gotcha moments".
"I'm going to be completely honest with you and say that I'm going to need to come back to you on those details," Swarbrick said, to pushback from interviewer Jack Tame. He later said the question was "not a gotcha".
The point is that New Zealand’s lifestyle, community, and stability keep the wealthy anchored here. Studies back this up: the OECD has long shown progressive taxation doesn’t drive mass emigration when paired with strong public services. But Tame wasn’t having a bar of the truth. He berated Chlöe, framing her push for fairness as naive idealism, his tone more suited to a schoolyard bully rather than a public broadcaster seeking clarity. It was a mainstream media exercise in missing the point.
Contrast this with Tame’s earlier interviews with Brooke van Velden, ACT’s workplace relations Minister. Van Velden has always been handed a hospital pass when it comes to New Zealand’s shameful workplace safety record, which is still one of the worst in the OECD, and countless injuries due to lax regulations and underfunded enforcement. Yet Tame, in his previous interviews, barely pressed the ACT Party Minister on this issue.
However, ample time was provided for Brooke van Velden to talk nonsense, with her interviews feeling like a cozy chat, not the scrutiny a minister overseeing such a dire portfolio deserves. The Jack Tame interview from last year was nothing like the interrogation Chlöe Swarbrick endured, and you can pretty much guarantee that van Velden’s push to gut pay equity laws, scrapping claims for 150,000 low-paid women, would received a similar free pass as well, if she had allowed herself to be interviewed on the matter.
Tame then went on to call Swarbrick a liar while talking about recidivism statistics, even though she was quoting from former National Party MP Chester Burrows’ Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group review. Tame wouldn’t accept the fact that prison doesn’t generally rehabilitate people, arguing that those who stay longer in prison are less likely to commit crimes when they’re released, effectively parroting ACT’s argument for longer sentences. Perhaps he’s unaware that the National-led government has cancelled funding for most prison rehabilitation services, rehabilitation which is now a requirement to receive parole. Along with sentencing changes, this is pushing the prison population upwards, a travesty to ensure the government's new jails are kept at capacity.
Jack Tame's ignorance and double standards are galling when you consider the stakes. New Zealand’s economy is stagnating, and low wages combined with the cost of living crisis are fuelling a mass exodus. Around 64,000 Kiwis left last year, many young and skilled, chasing better wages abroad. But where is the media outrage about this major issue? Treasury’s own data shows real wages have barely budged in a decade, while housing costs soar and inequality festers.
Swarbrick and the Green Party’s tax proposals (which would address the IRD’s findings that the richest pay effective tax rates half that of average earners) aim to fund public services and stem this exodus. She’s not reinventing the wheel; countries like Denmark and Sweden thrive with higher taxes and robust social safety nets. Their living standards are well above New Zealand’s. Yet Tame painted Swarbrick as a radical, ignoring the evidence and economic lethargy the Green Party's policies are designed to alleviate.
The questioning then turned to the worthwhile proposal for free dental care for everyone. What Tame seems to misunderstand, while insinuating that Swarbrick wasn’t being an adult, is that the Green Party’s plan would actually save the country money, as fewer people would have sick days or be hospitalised. With New Zealand’s productivity being comparatively low, this is something that must be addressed.
As a conservative estimate, unmet dental healthcare in New Zealand likely costs the economy several billion dollars annually, with $2.5 billion in lost productivity, $103 million in sick days, and $4.7 million in emergency care because people cannot access proper dentistry services. Contrast those costs with what the government is currently paying for oral health care, around $242 million annually on the public health system and $4.7 million annually on government dental grants for the poor.
Tame’s bias in the Chlöe Swarbrick interview isn’t just a personal failing; it’s a betrayal of public broadcasting’s role. Q+A should challenge power, not coddle it while attacking opposition MPs. Tame invariably lets the government's neoliberal policies slide, while the Green’s vision for a fairer Aotearoa gets talked over or sneered at. The real story...New Zealand’s economic lethargy, wage stagnation, and an all too preventable brain drain caused by the government's socially destructive austerity...gets buried under the mainstream medias selective outrage.
Swarbrick’s right: taxing wealth won’t scare the rich away, but ignoring inequality will drive everyday New Zealanders out. Tame needs to ditch the political bias, equally hold all politicians to account, and let the public decide what future government they want. Until then, Q+A risks becoming just another stage for establishment narratives designed to keep the status quo.
