New Zealand Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been taken to task over government debt and rising crime in a gruelling radio interview during the election campaign's final week.
The prime minister also admitted regrets over Labour's handling of quarantine and its failure to explain its embrace of "co-governance" as it shares power with Maori.
On Monday morning, Mr Hipkins subjected himself to the rigour of a two-hour slot with Kiwi talkback king Mike Hosking.
Mr Hosking is no fan of Labour and has promised to leave New Zealand should it triumph at the election.
The top-rating broadcaster is a white-hot critic of Labour's "addiction" to spending over its last two terms, which has produced more debt and no pathway to surplus until 2027.
"Are we still blaming COVID? How long are we going to blame COVID for?" Mr Hosking asked, quizzing Mr Hipkins on billions of dollars of over-spend beyond promised operating allowances.
"Well a lot has happened in that time, Mike," Mr Hipkins pleaded.
"If you look at some of our expenditure this year ... I'm not going to apologise for spending extra to support people through the cyclone recovery and the floods recovery.
"We've also been supporting New Zealand through an economic downturn and inflationary pressure."
Government spend is a huge election issue for Kiwis, with Labour promising a one to two per cent cut of the public service, and opponents National to make a further 6.5 per cent cut.
Mr Hosking and others also blame the soaring fiscal and monetary spend for adding to NZ's inflation problem.
The pair sparred over the country's anaemic economic growth, which compares poorly to much of the developed world, with Mr Hipkins urging a broader view.
"From or the beginning of the pandemic, New Zealand's economy is growing faster than Australia's, faster than the UK, faster than the US, faster than the Eurozone," he said.
"I don't believe you", Mr Hosking said, before Mr Hipkins retorted, "That's what the facts say!"
Crime is also a major concern, with Mr Hosking challenging Mr Hipkins to explain a 20 per cent drop in the prison population in five years, and a 150 per cent increase in bail being granted against police wishes.
Faced with galling examples of Kiwis on murder charges allowed out on bail, and who subsequently have committed fresh crimes, Mr Hipkins pledged a review.
Mr Hipkins was also COVID-19 minister through much of the pandemic, and said he had regrets over government positions.
"The exit from the elimination strategy ... to vaccination, that was clearly the point where the national unity around our COVID response became fractured," he said.
The Labour leader also laid the blame for disunity over co-governance at former prime minister Jacinda Ardern's feet.
"I don't think we've done what we should have done in terms of explaining to the public what we're doing and why we're doing it anywhere near enough," he said.
Mr Hosking is New Zealand's top broadcaster, hosting Newstalk ZB's dominant breakfast show after a career with TVNZ and Radio NZ.
The interview did end on a lighter note, with Mr Hipkins and Mr Hosking agreeing the prime minister had eaten too many sausage rolls on camera during the election campaign.
"It's become a compulsion," Mr Hipkins said, "whenever food comes out, the cameras suddenly swarm around me like bees and they will they won't go away until I've eaten something".
