Raw Politics: The end of an era for the two major parties

This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Is National and Labour's dominance over? Politicians get desperate on supermarkets; plus what to do about the police

Are we at the end of days for the dominance by two big anchor parties in our governments, or will normal order be restored once things get back to ... normal?

Today, the Raw Politics panel discusses Labour and National's combined polling being stuck down below 60 percent and whether the two 'major' parties will soon just be two of five or six parties of varying strength.

Join senior political reporter Marc Daalder and associate editor Sam Sachdeva at Parliament and Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy in Auckland for analysis of the reasons behind National and Labour's decline.

The panel also examines National's radical, interventionist plan to force NZ-owned grocery co-operative Foodstuffs to carve itself up into separate businesses to compel competition in the supermarket sector - while leaving Australian-owned corporate Woolworths exempt.

Our third topic is the ongoing series of controversies involving our police department, from its top executives to its high profile, flawed pursuit of Tom Phillips and his children and then the peculiar political attacks against a top officer who decided to stand for Labour.

Finally, we offer recommendations for you to read, watch or listen to over your weekend:

Sam: Fact-checking Farmer Kev and Landlord Larry: Do Opportunity’s tax tales stack up? – Emma Ricketts, Stuff

Tim: David Williams' Newsroom electorate profile of Christchurch Central, where the Greens are getting serious and the majors are nervous

Marc: Why rebuilding after climate disasters is no longer enough – David Wallace-Wells, NY Times

Raw Politics will be available wherever you get your podcasts at the end of each week, and to watch on YouTube.