Parliament
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Smaller political parties have called for unity, saying the latest poll results show people are sick of politics – while urging their own steady or growing support.
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll out last night showed a nearly six-point drop since April – to 32 per cent – for the governing Labor Party.
In the poll numbers, the National – up to 0.2 points to 40 percent – can form a government with the ACT Party, which has increased by 3.6 points to 10 percent.
Labor downplayed the results, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking out Morning report Labour’s own polls are more frequent and show the major parties neck and neck.
National deputy leader Nicola Willis said it was a good result for the party but pointed to the volatile nature of the poll, saying it was clear that next year’s election was very close.
ACT leader David Seymour said the poll showed a mood for change, but National and ACT would need each other.
“Labour and the Greens have certainly shown great rhetorical skill in selling a better vision but at the end of the day government is a kind of service industry where you take a certain amount of tax and you need to deliver recurring services.
“In many areas, whether it’s law and order, education or health, they’ve certainly done the tax part but they haven’t done the delivery part.”
According to him, if ACT and National form a government next year, ACT’s role is to “make sure that the change is real”.
“That we’re going to talk about the extent of government as a spender and as a regulator, because there’s a lot more beating down on people who are trying to make a difference and a lot less consequences for people who transgress. of the law and threatening others.
“The challenges people tell me about every day are lawlessness, economic mismanagement and contract fragmentation. What people want to see is proper law and order, real wage growth of a growing economy and an agreement that is a source of unity instead of division.”
The Green Party had a smaller 1.1 point increase to 9.5 percent, which co-leader Marama Davidson said showed consistent support for a minor government party in two terms.
“It also says that people support what we came in to do, which is to prioritize climate action, protect our environment, and push for everyone to live in dignity and have what they need.” to live the good life.”
The Greens have traditionally partnered with Labour, citing an ideological divide in National that is too great to allow them to work together.
Davidson said Labour’s decline in popularity was a matter for the Labor Party, but argued it had done little because of the parliamentary majority it won in 2020.
“That’s for them to solve. We’re very clear that there are levers that we’d like to see them pull more, especially with a lot of support that they’ve been doing with the government. The ability of people to pay their rent, pay their home and buying food is clearly on everyone’s mind.
The co-leader of the Green Party, Marama Davidson
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
“We see MMP in action, actually, in the polls regularly – and I think it’s positive for people. We’re just going to focus on putting ourselves out there, the Green Party is a strong, strong -on choice for people who want to find real solutions so that people can live and have what they need.”
He said that the Greens’ proposal last week for an excessive profit tax is one of their main policy plans that will help balance the inequality crisis.
“It is immoral to have corporations and companies making excessive profits for no other reason than the luck of the market and the world today.
“There are other policy boards but the Greens have always led in progressive tax systems, we have always led in many elections and many terms. fair for people.”
Te Pāti Māori slipped 0.6 points to 1.9 per cent, but co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer highlighted relatively steady numbers in several polls.
“If you look at all the polls that have been going on for the last year and Te Pati Māori is still pretty consistent …
“The polls come and go. It’s going to be a long year, obviously, but I think the messages that we’re always seeing – even in the mainstream polls – is that we’re supported but the most important thing is what we can see on the ground and the participation and support we have received is second to none.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
“We see ourselves sung, we hear ourselves mentioned in debates, we see petitions get support on the record.”
He said people are sick of back and forth politics and point scoring between major parties.
“The left and the right can shout at each other all they want – what people want to know from what we hear from is what action you take, how do you settle the government and the opposition?”
He held up Labour’s new childcare policy as an example, the latest in a series of policies from the two major parties that he said were “flawed”.
The policy – announced as Labour’s flagship for its party conference in Auckland this weekend – will see childcare subsidies increase for the first time since 2010, with eligibility extended to higher wage standards.
“That, you know, ‘let’s put in place a policy that encourages people to work’ – that’s good, but why don’t we have a policy that encourages people to stay at home and be well who are parents and take care of their children?” he said.
“Taking care of children and parenting is the most important job in the world and I think if we continue to go down this route where the left beats its drum and the right beats its drum, but none of them are innovation in how we grow and respond to ourselves as a nation, we always do it again and again.
“I think that a lot of the policies that come out of the two major parties are a little lacking in honesty.”
New Zealand First was voted out at the last election, but leader Winston Peters is confident of a comeback. The party doubled its support in the latest poll, increasing by 1.6 points to 3.3 percent.
As usual, Peters declined to talk about the poll, but was happy to open up about the party’s momentum.
“We took our campaign under the radar so to speak and we literally had no media coverage whatsoever but we took our campaign to ordinary people all over the country – and the halls and attendances were fantastic.
“We are building very, very fast and our latest conference shows that there is a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of change, and all we have to do is open our ears on our listening tour and work hard and we are confident in the outcome. .”
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
He said the increase in ACT and National had more to do with Labour’s performance in government this term.
“If you go into a campaign like Labor did in 2020 with a manifesto and promises and you throw it out the window the day after the election and you release your secret agenda when you don’t have permission, nothing’ y order, then the people will not accept it – and that’s what happened.
“You’ve got these pet projects costing billions of dollars as the focus of the government and that’s why Labor is in deep, deep trouble.”
His own views on the state of the political debate seem somewhat in line with Ngarewa-Packer, who describes the major party battles over tax policy as “historical, nostalgic, and juvenile”.
“There’s that view – and unfortunately you see it in the mainstream media – that goes like this: ‘Well, it’s our turn now’, that’s what one side will say, or ‘they can do no worse than finally. group’.
“Those sentiments are very bad for New Zealand because we need to have a serious change in economic and social development to move forward. We are a country with serious, very good resources. won’t happen because they haven’t become the focus yet.”
He said New Zealand needed to get back to thinking of itself as one of the best in the world.
“And remembering who we govern for – and it’s not for the political elite and it’s not for ideology. We govern for ordinary New Zealanders and our future has to be better than what we have now.”
