After 271 questions, more than one million interactions and over 200,000 comments, Waatea’s #QuestionOfTheDay is painting a powerful picture of what people across Aotearoa are worried about heading towards Election 2026.
For more than a year, Radio Waatea and Waatea News have asked audiences about everything from politics and the economy to housing, health, education, climate change, homelessness, immigration, Te Tiriti and the cost of kai.
The results are not scientific polling — people choose whether to participate and some questions generate considerably more interest than others — but after 271 separate conversations, some consistent themes have emerged.
Jobs and housing are dominating economic concerns, particularly for rangatahi. Many respondents worry young New Zealanders increasingly see Australia and overseas markets as offering better wages, careers and opportunities, while home ownership is increasingly viewed as being beyond reach.
Health discussions repeatedly return to access — finding a GP, waiting for specialists and dealing with shortages of doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
For Māori, another powerful theme has been frustration with the continuing political battles over Te Tiriti, te reo Māori and kaupapa Māori, while conversations about homelessness show many people questioning whether enforcement can solve problems rooted in housing, mental health, addiction and poverty.
Education, climate resilience and immigration have also generated significant debate, but one issue cuts across almost everything: the cost of living.
Perhaps most striking is that Waatea’s audience does not fit neatly into a single political camp. Respondents regularly challenge policies from across the political spectrum and sometimes change their positions as discussions develop.
With Election 2026 approaching, the message emerging from more than one million interactions is increasingly practical — people want to know whether political policies will actually deliver better jobs, affordable housing, accessible healthcare, stronger communities and a better future for their tamariki.
The question for those seeking to govern Aotearoa is whether they are listening.
#QuestionOfTheDay #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #Election2026 #Jobs #Housing #CostOfLiving #Healthcare #Education #TeTiriti #TeReoMāori #KaupapaMāori #Rangatahi #Tamariki #Homelessness #ClimateChange #Māori #Whānau #NZPolitics #NZElection #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa
