I know what you're thinking, but please hear me out. There have been plenty of people outraged over Mike Hosking being picked to moderate the election debates since he's considered a National Party hack. But is there any unbiased person in our media class? They're all partisan hacks, every last one of them.
Sure, someone is going to comment on this article with some no-name journalist who might be considered impartial, but we can't possibly have someone like that moderate a debate. It's a celebrity event. It simply has to be moderated by someone who can out-shadow or even out-debate the candidates, like they do in the USA. Lastly, the moderator has to be someone who can draw viewers, something that some random unknown non-partisan journalist could never hope to achieve.
Enter Winston Peters. He might not be a journalist, but he's famous, he'll draw the crowds, and he could take on both Bill and Jacinda directly if he felt like it.
Why not treat the debates more like a series of interviews? According to all the polls and pundits, Winston is going to be the kingmaker after the election and that makes him the perfect man for this job.