Polls diverge on whether National or Labour manage key issues the best
A new poll suggests National is considered more capable of handling more of the most important issues facing the country, despite another issues monitor survey indicating Labour holds more authority.
Today’s Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, which shows a hung Parliament election result but doesn’t account for a potential overhang, asked 1000 respondents which party was the “best” on 10 key issues.
National emerged ahead of Labour on the economy, inflation, taxes, education, safety, spending and environment. Labour was considered the best on health, poverty and housing.
It painted a different picture to earlier in the year, when the Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll in March found Labour was considered the best in eight of 10 issue categories: health, poverty, inflation, education, safety, taxes, housing and environment. National had the authority in the economy and spending. It’s worth noting Labour in March held thin margins on inflation, education and safety.
This month’s poll, showing voters chose National as more able on most key issues, contrasts with results from successive Ipsos Issues Monitor surveys, which are published every few months.
Ipsos’ latest survey, released this week, suggested Labour was seen as the most capable party on 16 of the 20 most important issues for voters, including the five most important: inflation/cost of living, healthcare, fuel prices, the economy and unemployment.
National was regarded as having better management of crime, while the Green Party was top for climate change and environmental concerns. Te Pāti Māori was the only other party to lead on an issue, which was Māori issues.
In the Ipsos surveys released in July and September, Labour was seen as more capable on the same five top issues. In the September survey, National had crime and defence/foreign affairs. In July, National and Labour were viewed as equally capable on defence/foreign affairs.
National last led one of the Ipsos survey’s five most important issues in February, when it was considered more capable on crime, the fifth most important issue at the time. National and Labour were considered equally capable on the economy at the time.
Speaking after this week’s survey was released, National leader Christopher Luxon dismissed the results, saying he was more interested in data that promised increased economic growth and positive signs in manufacturing, tourism and exports.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he was “very optimistic” based on voter feedback and repeated his criticism that National had “nothing to offer”.
The Ipsos poll was conducted between October 19 and 27 and surveyed 1008 New Zealanders aged 18 or over using online panels. The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated with a credibility interval for a sample of 1000 people accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points.
Ipsos said it weighs its results by age, gender and region to ensure they reflect the New Zealand population.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.