Election 2023: Leaders' debate review - Chris and Chris, the best we’ve got?

​Last night I watched the first Leaders’ debate of 2023 on TVNZ's channel one with my 21-year-old sister and my two younger cousins, who are seven and 13. 

My cousins were not fully engaged throughout the entire two hours - and to be honest - neither was I.

Between playing with our dog Koko, and eating a chicken sandwich, the seven year old said: “Why are they both called Chris?”

How was I going to tell my cousin that these two men were our country's best and only options as leaders?

Yesterday was the 130th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand and yet here we were in 2023 watching two white, cis men debate over our futures. 

Way to limit a young girl’s ability to dream big.

The truth is, we were looking at two people who appeared nearly identical in ideological standpoints and priorities.

And the Leaders’ debate confirmed that both Labour and National party leaders have more in common than just their names.

My sister described them as almost twins - they agreed on almost all the quick-fire questions - indicating that not only were they incapable of being original, but that they really thought playing it safe was their best bet.

However given the current economic situation and the state of our healthcare system, surely not? I looked at my cousins and sister and thought they deserved better than leaders consigned to playing it safe.

Labour’s leader had sleepy vibes - I put it down to exhaustion after a grueling term in government, but his expressions very rarely gave us anything - not even anger at National’s pettiness or passion for some of their own policies. And when he tried to jab at National’s top dog, he sounded whiny.

Meanwhile, National's leader was like a school bully and a teacher's pet rolled into one. He was extremely quick to jeer at Labour, and managed to earn extra points by hogging the mic and speaking for longer, like all know-it-alls do.

After watching Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins speak over each other like children, my sister commented on how both reeked of privilege and could never truly understand or care about what was happening to your everyday Pacific person.

From Luxon shaming gang members to Hipkins siding with the wealthy again by sidestepping a wealth tax; my sister and I were both focused less on who was able to deliver their points with precision and more on who would be able to speak with depth and humility to the problems we - and so many others - have lived through.

Instead, both leaders danced around the deeper causes of crime and poverty before agreeing that - yes, climate action needs urgency, building more homes and decreasing inflation are important - but hang on, we want to achieve these things via different methods. And by the way, we can’t give you straight answers on how we will pay for it or how long it will take.

My sister and I swore and shook our heads in disbelief when Chris and Chris shared they both owned their first homes at the age of 24.

I turned to my sister and laughed: “Bro, I'm 24.”

What we watched was two desperate, white men vying for more power and ultimately failing to prove to us anything other than: they wanted the same thing.

Given Labour are falling in the polls and National is refusing to front up to accurate modelling for their proposed tax plans, there was no sign of courageous leadership; despite both contenders giving a stack of reasons why they want to be leaders now.