The political year kicked off in full force this week. 

As politicians return from their summer break, they already appeared to be in election mode, with both parties touting their achievements and potential ahead of the vote later this year.

The first big event was Rātana, which had both Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National Party leader Simon Bridges in attendance. 

The event had not even begun before the first cross-party spats of the year occurred, with the Government criticised for not sending a representative to a holocaust remembrance service in Israel, and National faced pressure to sign up for Facebook's transparency toolkit after Labour announced it would do the same. 

TVNZ political reporter Katie Bradford joined Tim Roxborogh to discuss the first big week on the political calendar and what the events say about the coming election battle.

LISTEN ABOVE