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Being interviewed on a programme he helped found back in his university days was a full circle moment for National MP James Meager.
Back in 2011 when he was at University of Otago Mr Meager co-founded a series called Vote Chat — aimed at increasing youth engagement ahead of the general election.
The show — now called Vote 2026 — has continued to this day and on Thursday Mr Meager found himself in the hot seat.
“It was a lot easier being behind the camera than in front of it”, Meager told the Otago Daily Times.
Vote 2026 is a video series ran by students, for students, where politicians are pressed on the issues that matter to young people.
Prominent guests include Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and ACT candidate Paul Henry.
Mr Meager said he was happy to see his work continued.
“If this show continues to produce great journalists and great broadcasters, and we see that influence in the media for years to come, I think that is something to be proud of.”
“I actually think a lot of our modern journalists could take a leaf out of their book.”
Co-producers Alex van der Vliet and Sophie Bowmar said Vote 2026’s goal was to get young people engaged and educated in politics before the upcoming election.
The pair said they adapted the show’s format to appeal to social media audiences by editing interviews into short-form content.
They acknowledged clipping content came at the risk of taking guest’s words out of context.
Therefore they treaded lightly.
Ms Bowmar said that “we want some of [the politicians] to come back in three years”.
The producers emphasised you could no longer enrol on election day after changes made by the current government to boost efficiency and achieve a quicker result.
Mr Van der Vliet agreed the October 25 enrolment deadline made it more difficult for young people to vote.
Mr Meager said the consequences of a lower voter turnout was a trade-off for greater administrative efficiency.
“I think that is a reasonable limit when you balance it against some of the administrative difficulties that are caused when you have to process same-day enrolments.”
Mr Van der Vliet was not convinced by the coalition’s line of thought.
He said the coalition “haven’t satisfied the burden of showing that this change is necessary compared to the risks”.
Ms Bowmar noted that the enrolment date falls at the end of The University of Otago’s exam period, a busy period for students.
Vote 2026 head of media production Alexandra Newman said the experience had encouraged her to engage more with politics.
Ms Newman said “politicians aren’t that scary. They’re just people, and I think that is something that we forget”.