There was standing room only as hosts Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie led four MPs with Queenstown ties through topics including the airport shares sale, healthcare, foreign ownership and local living costs.
The hosts called on several local faces throughout the hour-long session, including Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt, and tied the show together with pre-recorded material such as a very tongue-in-cheek interview with local cruise-boat operator Wayne Perkins.
Chapman and Christie kept the mood jovial and the debates to the point and soon hit on one of the area's most contentious issues: Should Auckland Airport have a stake in Queenstown Airport?
Act New Zealand MP Hilary Calvert said the airport deal should "absolutely" have gone ahead. Green Party MP David Clendon said while the minority stock should remain locally owned, the Auckland stake was preferable to the airport's being owned by offshore interests.
However, Labour MP David Parker drew cheers from parts of the bar when he called the airport share sale "a dirty deal done behind closed doors".
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden was also called on for her views on healthcare when a pregnant member of the audience said she would have to travel to Invercargill to give birth.
Ms van Uden said many Queenstowners were disappointed in the services available and uncertain about what healthcare services they would see in the future.
The 1.8 million people annually who visited the region also complicated matters, she said.
"We have struggled with the one-stop-shop mentality in services here. We don't necessarily fit that model across all sectors such as police, hospitals etc ... We need special consideration made in terms of those 1.8 million visitors."
The show will be aired on NZ7 on Wednesday evening at 9pm.
