Every Monday until the election, The Front Bench will take on the biggest talking points of the election campaign.

Heather du Plessis-Allan, Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper, PR whizz and former Act Party press secretary Trish Sherson and former Labour Party minister Chris Carter have the insight word and analysis.  There's no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast.

The Government has decided to remain at the current alert levels of 2.5 in Auckland and 2 across the rest of New Zealand. How does this decision reinforce Ardern's conservatism? Does it help Labour by making her look careful?

Political campaigns have begun ahead of next month's General Election - who is winning the race so far? How does National come back? Is Labour on track to govern alone? And do voters want to minimise the size of the Labour win?

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie lashed out at New Zealand quarantine measures, which played a significant role in the Rugby Championship hosting rights going the way of our trans-Tasman rivals. Rennie says they may not make it over - how damaging could this be for Labour? Why didn't they drop everything to make sure New Zealand were the hosts?

And Labour is introducing a new threshold of 39 per cent on income over $180,000 - do you believe Grant when he says they will not be implementing any other taxes? Even if they're in coalition with the Greens?