Left wing or right wing? Qiulae Wong on vested interests, inequality, and what Opportunity really stands for

Opportunity wants to transcend left and right. But can a party of "pragmatism" take on the vested interests Qiulae Wong says are holding New Zealand back?

In the 30 years since New Zealand’s first MMP election, no new political party has made it into Parliament without already having a sitting MP.

But the Opportunity Party may now be on the cusp of making history, with a string of recent polls putting it above the 5 percent threshold.

Formed in 2017 by businessman Gareth Morgan, Opportunity has long sought to distinguish itself as a party of the centre, sitting outside the traditional left-right political spectrum.

But as its popularity has grown, so too has scrutiny of what the party actually stands for. Many on the right insist Opportunity is really a left-wing party. Many on the left say the opposite: that beneath its centrist branding, Opportunity is fundamentally a party of the right.

So which is it?

In this episode of Public Interest, Ollie Neas sits down with Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong to dig into the party’s politics and its vision for New Zealand – from inequality and tax to the role of markets, business and the state.

And with Opportunity potentially holding the balance of power after the election, we ask how the party plans to turn its ideas into political change – and whether it can overcome the vested interests Wong says are holding New Zealand back without having a mass movement behind it.

Watch the full conversation below and subscribe to Public Interest for more discussions making sense of politics and power in Aotearoa.

This episode was edited by Jeremy Leveridge. Research by Luke Maker. Video support by Andrew Struggnell.