This week on the Raw Politics podcast: Another week, another two ministerial issues for Chris Hipkins, plus: is Labour's funding for universities too little, too late, and are there votes in National's criminal sentencing plans?

Political editor Jo Moir is in China and national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva is in Europe, so this week Tim Murphy is joined by senior political writer Marc Daalder and The Detail podcast senior producer Sarah Robson.

The Raw Politics team examines Kiri Allan's latest headline-making behaviour and whether it matters or is just indicative of end-of-termitis for a government.

The team also discusses the 11th hour intervention by Labour to pour another $128m into universities, and who is to blame for the financial holes the institutions found themselves in, before turning to National's big play on getting tough on crime.

This week's question asks if the Air Force really needs a passenger transport jet, with two used this week to make sure the Prime Minister and a trade delegation made it on time to Beijing for his China engagements.

This week's recommended reads include an in-depth New York Times report on a phenomenon in physics and the real world, a Guardian story revealing the UK PM uses a disappearing ink pen on official documents, and a notable The Detail podcast on a tale of two NZ gang towns.

Every Friday, Newsroom editors and political journalists talk through the big issues and scrutinise politicians’ performances in a lively 25-minute show aiming to take viewers and listeners inside the actions and motivations of our elected leaders. Watch Raw Politics on YouTube, or download or listen to it as a podcast on Spotify, or via Apple Podcasts. And send us your burning political questions to tim.murphy@newsroom.co.nz and we’ll endeavour to find the answer and explain the issues.