Labour leader Chris Hipkins has revealed what he "confesses" is his "one weakness" ahead of his head-to-head debate with National's Christopher Luxon tonight.
Watch the debate live here from 7-9pm.
Luxon appeared relaxed ahead of the event, suggesting that while it's his first time, he would "have a lot of fun along the way" and that he hadn't been doing "intensive" prep.
Both leaders have kept their afternoons free for debate prep, ahead of tonight's 1News Leaders' Debate, after they made campaign visits in Auckland earlier today.
When asked about his debate preparation, Hipkins told media earlier this morning that he was spending the rest of the day "reading back over" notes.
"I am gonna spend the rest of the day, sort of, reading back over some notes, and I've got a few other things to do today as well.
"Look, one weakness and I'll confess it now. I don't have a photographic memory when it comes to facts and figures. I've been caught out on this before — so I will spend a bit of time trying to refresh my memory on those things.
"But again, I hope that we'll focus on the substance rather than the kind of gotcha moments which these debates can sometimes come down to."
Hipkins said he was "looking forward" to speaking to undecided voters tuning in.
"Christopher Luxon has been doing plenty of practice. We're both new at this. We're both going into these leadership debates for the first time, and I hope that people will focus more on what we say rather than the sport of it."
He added: "There's a lot of substance that I think is important," he said.
"I know there's a big undecided vote out there at the moment, so there'll be people tuning in tonight to make up their minds about how they're going to vote and I'm looking forward to being able to, through the debates, speak to those people."
"I think democracy relies on people making informed decisions when they vote.
"And a leadership debate is an opportunity for them to be more informed about what we're proposing, what the National Party is proposing, what the issues are that are at stake. I do hope people will tune in."
Luxon: 'I'll have a lot of fun along the way'
The National leader appeared relaxed when asked about his expectations earlier this morning, where he confirmed he had practised in mock debate sessions with staff.
"I did a bit in the last few days — in the evenings," he said, referring to debate preparation.
"I'm looking forward to it. I mean, this whole process of being leader of the opposition is probably the longest job interview I've ever gone through.
"And clearly the debate is a big part of that, or an important part of it. But in all seriousness, you know, I've never done one before. I'm looking forward to it. I'll do my best. I'll have a lot of fun along the way, and I'm looking forward to it."
When asked about appearing relaxed ahead of the debate, Luxon said of his preparation: "We started a little bit more of this yesterday and the day before — that was about it.
"And a few other sessions a couple of weeks earlier, but there hasn't been intensive debate prep — I've been doing other things, to be honest."
On Hipkins, Luxon said: "He's a great debater. I mean, he's actually better than Chris Bishop in Parliament."
"Chris is probably a bit upset about that actually," he joked. "Look, I'm just gonna go in, and do my best, and present my case to the New Zealand people. What they don't need is a great debater. What they need is a great leader and a great manager."
Luxon's comments echoed his comments to reporters when asked last week, when he appeared to temper debate expectations.
"I am excited about it, you know, Chris Hipkins is a 20-year career politician. He's a champion debater — probably the best in our Parliament.
"I haven't even done a debate before, and I lose a lot to my wife, so I have to say to you I am really looking forward to it, and it will be fun — but what the country needs is not a great debater. It needs a great manager."
The first live Leaders' Debate will take place between Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon tonight between 7pm and 9pm. Watch on 1News.co.nz, TVNZ+ or TVNZ 1.
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