The Government’s growth policies are clearly not working the way they were intended, as growth is stalling, and the electoral consequences for the coalition could be dire. The latest NZIER Consensus Forecasts point to a downward revision in the pace of the recovery over the coming year. The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll has Labour still narrowly ahead of National but neither bloc able to govern on its own. Labour is up 1.1 points to 34.3%. National is close behind on 32.5% up 1.8 points. As the Government struggles to control the cost of living, Growth Tsar Nicola Willis has come up with a new suite of moves which she believes will help boost competition in the market – by increasing regulation. ACT’s attacks on local democratic rights is being stepped up as the party’s local body candidates target “unelected” appointees in a bid to remove their voting rights on council committees. This week's guest is Associate Professor and Director of Global Studies at the University of Auckland Chris Ogden, who is a proponent of New Zealand joining the BRICS grouping of countries.