The 2020 general election will be held on Saturday September 19th. It will give New Zealanders the opportunity to vote, not only for those we want to govern the country for the next three years, but also on whether we want cannabis and euthanasia to be legalised.
While provisional election results will start coming through as soon as polling booths close at 7pm, the referenda results will not be released until October 2nd. Final results for the election and referenda will be declared on October 9th.
The three-month ‘regulated period’ for election advertising starts on June 19th. During that period expense limits apply – for party vote advertising it is $1,169,000 plus $27,500 for each electorate being contested, and for candidate advertising it is $27,500.
There are only 16 sitting weeks before the House rises on August 6th. Parliament will be dissolved on August 12th. After that, the incumbent government assumes a caretaker role until the new one is sworn in.
Overseas voting will begin on September 2nd, and advance voting – which is proving to be increasingly popular with 47 percent of votes at the last election cast ahead of polling day – starts on the 7th.
Around 3.57 million people were registered to vote in 2017. At 79.8 percent, the turnout was the highest since 2005.
In 2017, over 446,000 special votes were cast, including 62,000 from overseas. As a result of these votes, Labour’s party vote increased by 1.1 percent, the Greens by 0.4 percent, while National lost 2.6 percent and New Zealand First lost 0.3 percent.
Under MMP, everyone has two votes – one for the party they would like to see govern New Zealand, and the other for the candidate to represent their electorate in Parliament.
As we know only too well after the Winston Peters “kingmaker” debacle at the last election, winning the most votes does not necessarily give a party the right to govern. Under MMP, it’s the party that can secure 61 votes in our 120 seat Parliament that has the right to form a government.
The months ahead are likely to be action-filled as political parties jockey to win our support. For Labour, the Greens and New Zealand First, the Budget, which is scheduled for Thursday May 14th, will be a key.
Election-year budgets provide the incumbent parties of government with a huge political advantage by allowing them to ‘bribe’ voters with billions of dollars of their own money – without it being counted as election-year ‘treating’!
The Prime Minister has promised Labour will run “a positive campaign, a factual campaign, a robust campaign”. However, some of the facts she is unlikely to dwell on can be found in Treasury’s Budget Policy Statement. Released on December 11th, it shows Labour is a poor manager of our economy. While they inherited what had been described as “rock star economy” – growing at one of the fastest rates in the OECD – since taking office, growth has declined.
While last year’s Budget forecast had the economy growing at 3 percent in 2020, that has now been downgraded to 2.2 percent.
The forecast surplus of $1.3 billion for 2020 has also been downgraded – to a $900 million deficit.
Labour’s $12 billion infrastructure spending spree will increase net core crown debt to 21.5 percent of GDP in 2022, breaking Labour’s pledge to reduce debt to below 20 percent. As a result, a new debt target has been announced: net core crown debt must stay between 15 and 25 percent after 2022.
Unemployment is expected to be higher than the 4 percent forecast, rising to 4.3 percent – in spite of businesses crying out for new workers.
Labour’s Budget announcements started earlier this month with housing – $300 million to ‘prevent homelessness’.
Housing has become the Government’s Achilles heel. Their 2017 flagship KiwiBuild policy of 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years has been a disaster. By December only 239 Kiwibuild houses had been built!
But it gets worse. Labour’s political attack on landlords has exacerbated the housing hardship that many families are now facing.
Their treatment of landlords can only be described as disgraceful. They are penalising them at every turn with expensive new requirements and draconian restrictions that will make it more difficult to manage their tenancies. They are driving many Mum and Dad investors out of the market, and as a result, they are forcing up rents.
This has led the waiting list for public housing to explode from the 5,800 Labour inherited in 2017 to 16,867, with tens of thousands more people homeless, accessing grants, and in emergency housing.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, retired economist Dr Edward Hudson, has been looking into the country’s housing affordability crisis and outlines the problem:
“The cause of high and rising house prices is basic economics – demand exceeds supply. In the short run, excess demand bids up prices. This is what has happened and continues. In the longer run, high prices will lead to an increase in supply, particularly in new construction. But we are not yet in a balanced demand-supply situation.”
Dr Hudson blames local councils and the Resource Management Act for restrictions in the supply of housing: “District plans and council actions restrict the supply of land for new building. Some councils will not allow division of larger rural land blocks into smaller, residential-sized blocks. The Resource Management Act also increases the cost of building as a result of all the hurdles that must be jumped before getting a consent to build.”
The simple fact is that the planning and consenting difficulties created by environmentalists have prevented the private sector from delivering affordable homes to the market.
If Labour had been serious about wanting to provide cheaper housing, they would have taken steps to rein in local authorities and to replace or significantly reform the Resource Management Act. They did neither.
It’s a dreadful situation where low income families can no longer get a foothold on the home ownership ladder, essentially because successive governments have allowed an unbridled bureaucracy to develop. Instead of addressing the problem, Labour has sidestepped it by ensuring its new housing authority has the power to override council plans and consenting laws. So with its own agency free to operate in a timely manner, it has turned a blind eye to this shocking policy failure that is killing the home ownership aspiration of so many young families.
Ironically, while the Government intends presenting another ‘wellbeing’ budget, sorting out this housing mess is not included. Instead, their election-year priorities include supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, encouraging innovation, increasing Maori and Pacific incomes, reducing child poverty, and improving health outcomes. They will be hoping that this is a winning formula.
Two polls released this month show the election will be a very tight race.
The February 13th TVNZ-Colmar Brunton poll had National on 46 percent, Labour on 41 percent, the Greens on 5 percent, New Zealand First on 3 percent, and ACT on 2 percent.
Under this scenario, National could win the Treasury benches with 61 seats compared to Labour and the Greens on 59 – as long National continues to support ACT leader David Seymour in holding onto his Epsom seat.
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones has announced he will stand in his home electorate of Northland – a seat currently held by National MP Matt King, but previously held by Winston Peters. If he won that seat, the Labour-Green-New Zealand First block would have the numbers to govern.
A Newshub-Reid Research poll, released on the 9th of February, had National on 43.3 percent, Labour on 42.5 percent, the Greens on 5.6 percent, NZ First 3.6 percent and ACT on 1.8 percent.
Under that scenario Labour and the Greens could form a Government with 62 seats, compared to National and ACT on 58.
As a result of the polls showing the Green Party vote is softening, their Campaign Director sent out an urgent e-mail plea for funding: “I won’t lie, the last two polls aren’t looking good for us. Last night’s poll marks the second in a row that indicate we are at risk of falling below the 5% threshold…”
New Zealand First, which is embroiled in a donations scandal, is in a worse position. Their plea for funding support, in which Winston Peters refers to journalists investigating irregularities over the New Zealand First Foundation as the ‘Media Party’, has Trump-style overtones: “New Zealand First has been under attack from the media in the last few weeks. The ‘Media Party’ have not liked it when we have told the truth about them, and we expect them to continue campaigning against us in the lead up to the election. We need a fighting fund to run campaigns that get our message direct to voters, rather than have the media filter everything we say… No matter how big or small, your donation will help us level the playing field against the ‘Media Party’, and continue fighting for hundreds of thousands of forgotten people like you. New Zealand First stands up for those who some in the media loathe and we make sure that your views are heard in Wellington. Help us beat the ‘Media Party’ & the liberal elite who have always opposed people like us.”
Meanwhile National is off to a flying start announcing policies it will introduce, as well regulations and laws it wants to repeal – all the while repeating the mantra that ‘this is a do-nothing, incompetent government and only National can get things done’.
National’s leader Simon Bridges used his address at Waitangi, to announce that the Maori seats should ‘eventually’ go – citing the 1986 Royal Commission which proposed that if the country adopted MMP, the Maori electorates should be abolished.
But his promise is insincere as he says that it is Maori themselves who should decide whether they are abolished: “We have more Maori in Parliament today than in a very long time under an MMP environment, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to impose that. You would need to see Maori voices realistically proposing that the time has come.”
He knows very well that this will never happen. It is disingenuous promises like this that explain why his rating as preferred Prime Minister is so far behind Jacinda Ardern.
In fact it’s a damning indictment that only a third of National voters prefer Simon Bridges as Prime Minister. This suggest voters are supporting National despite him. Imagine how much better the Party would do if voters actually liked the leader!
National’s election year economic plan includes tax relief, building infrastructure, regulatory relief, a families’ package, and a small business package.
They’ve said no new taxes. They’ll shift transport investment back to roading, instead of buses, cycles and rail. They plan to raise the retirement age to 67 from 2037. And – yet again – they’ve promised to overhaul the Resource Management Act.
They’ve also pledged to “set a bonfire” to regulations so businesses “can thrive” instead of being “strangled by red tape”. Their plan is to scrap 100 regulations as well as a number of government policies if they are voted into power – including cancelling the regional fuel tax, and repealing the ban on oil and gas exploration.
National has also ruled out working with New Zealand First after the 2020 election. Their commitment to building a four-lane highway from Auckland to Whangarei is no doubt aimed at preventing New Zealand First from promising such a policy to win support in Northland.
Without a doubt Election 2020 will be extremely close – especially if the coronavirus outbreak becomes more serious, as incumbent governments will often gain support for the way in which they handle a crisis.
Winston Peters is again likely to be a key in determining the election outcome – but this time it will be whether or not his party returns to Parliament rather than choosing the Prime Minister.
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you think New Zealand First will be back in Parliament after the election?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| But I hope not! | Peter |
| However, Mr Jones may win the Northland Seat. | Frederick |
| Unfortunately, I think they may be; with no help from me after the last election. | Paddy |
| after the lies and corruption from nzf allows them to return to parliament means this country is well and truly down the drain | Richard |
| I hope not. If Shane Jones doesn’t win the Northland seat I doubt if party votes will make 5% and that’s the end of Winston. I gave him my vote at the last elections as he was to have a referendum on the Maori seats but he sided with Ardern who got all the Maori seats so that ended that. Plus I thought he would go with National; how wrong I was! | Eric |
| And they don’t deserve to be!!! | David |
| Hopefully the NATS and ACT will tip the balance in their favour. | Robert |
| Sadly, I think we’ll be burdened by that self-seeking narcissist for another term. While I detest the mad rooster I think his party has a few good policies. If Labour gets in again then we’re going to need NZ First. | Jenny |
| hell I hope so. They are our best chance to stop the increasing maori racial divide which is almost beyond control.[ china initiated ?? ]Public must wake up !! | norman |
| Thats the way it should be. In this country we are all New Zealanders At 81 yrs old i have lived here alot longer than alot off our so called Maori residence | Barry |
| They are a bunch off titts | Barry |
| Hope Not | Don |
| It is not run by women | George |
| No, I am sick and tired of their tactics and it is time they went. | Fraser |
| The horns of a dilemma, sadly we may need W.P. to rein in the excesses of this woeful socialist gov’t. Having him in gov’t is a nightmare, but, having him cast out just may be a whole worse, OMG!. | Bart |
| Not only will NZF not be there, neither will the Green party as they are trending down. The only decent delivery Ms Ardern has had, is a baby, but essentially she is an unmarried mother and we need to throw out her radical left wing agenda for at least a generation. I will be voting against all 3 referendums ie: the government, cannabis legalization and euthanasia. How do we get National to change their leadership to at least J. Collins and then they will romp in? If S.Bridges and P.Bennett are still there, I will be voting Act. | Monica |
| I think not because a large number of their supporters expected them to go with the largest party | Hugh |
| Why would anyone vote for a party whose leader promises one thing and then does the opposite! – think immigration – OR renegs on at least2 other “bottom line” statements that encouraged many people to vote for his party last time. Folk should look at www.nc.org.nz to see a party that, if they get enough support would make a real difference with sensible, practical solutions. | Ted |
| I am being hopeful that people will see what that will bring and win stones broken pledges | Bev |
| Winston should be going into this election as the Elder Statesman of NZ politics. He is instead heading in as the usurper, the liar, the one who no one can trust. | Craig |
| I voted NZ First last election due to their policy “one law for all” but was gobsmacked when they went with Labour. Will Never vote for them again!!! | Jan |
| I hope NOT….. My Vote National, National. | Carl |
| No I do not. Winston Peter’s has not lived up to his bold words. In fact he appears to be quite jaded and cynical generally. Maybe an inheritance of prolonged political involvement. | Marilyn |
| I certainly hope not. | Jim |
| There is still a chance they will get back in but they are not welcome! | Cyril |
| How could any voter believe that NZ First is a party with integrity is hard to imagine. Any “Bottom-Line” utterances will be as they were last election, all smoke and mirrors and what the public want to hear not what they will actually do. The Hon Shane Jones with his $2 B largess fund is about as trustworthy as his Party Leader – how can a Minister of the Crown take pride in taxpayer fund his portn viewing – a true example to the nation. However, Miss Ardern is still able to convince a majority that she is our preferred leader so who knows – I could well be wrong. | Michael |
| Hope Not. NZ1st like all current political parties have no intention of getting rid of the maori seats and stopping our slide into apartheid. Current parties are only interested in themselves and not the future growth and stability of the country under one law regardless of ethnicity. Corruption and self interest abounds. | Sam |
| I do not see that happening. I voted for NZ First and was utterly disappointed when he supported Labour.. That decision went totally against what we were told during the election campaign .I listened to Ron Marks speech in Parliament about the new FA legislation and I’d say that all comes too late and can be — at most — described as pandering. My big worry is — once NZ First is gone — will ACT be able to fill the gap — or the New Conservatives????? If National had any balls they would get SB to get his shit together or get rid of him pronto and start with a well balanced and witty campaign. ( that is something hardly found in politics anyway but they could at least try) | Michael |
| Hope not anyway – once we return to a two party system, MMP will be obsolete. | Russ |
| Regrettably, not enough Labour and Green voters are prepared to vote strategically for Shane Jones in Northland, and consequently he won’t win the seat, which is the ONLY WAY of keeping National out of it, this being imperative. Without the coattails NZFirst, having not reached the 5% threshold, will be gone. That could tip the balance in National’s favour which will be disastrous for the nation. A ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation. Labour and Green Party supporters in Northland, don’t waste your candidate vote. Depending on polling, the Coalition may need NZFirst back in the House? | Wally |
| Hopefully not. | Angela |
| People who voted for Winston thought he would go with National. Those same people have said they will not vote for him again. | Carol |
| Winston and his mates are on the way out | Gerard |
| I am not overly pleased with NZ First these past 2 yrs, they are a let down. too much pushing and pulling and getting nowhere | Barbara |
| They are too slippery. They had my party vote last time just to keep the winner honest but not this time round. | Gary |
| I have voted for Winston as he orated upon favouring equality of New Zealanders prior to election, but he turned around and did the opposite afterwards. A man who cannot be trusted is UNSAFE. | George |
| I would certainly hope not. | William |
| Winstone will pay for the treachery at the last election. We ended up with an undemocratically appointed government. They were not elected by the people – they were appointed by Peters and voters have a long memory. | Kerry |
| Equal attention and care for all should be the goal for our country. The problem is the elephant in the system. Who are Maori exactly? People can claim to be Maori, but if they are actually less than 50% direct blood then they are something else. European, Asian, or what ever and are riding on the coat tails of Maori who are more than 50%. So its all a bit of a ripoff of the system. | Darrell |
| It would be an up hill battle considering the antics of some of there members. | Darrell |
| I think and really hope that NZ First have had their chips and will fade away as a just a bad memory. | Roger |
| N Z First will not be back in Parliament come 2020 and to confirm my position and the SFO onto his party Foundation and more importantly the scandal about donations from the horse racing industry will tip him over the edge as he is the Minister for Racing. Watch this Space. | ken |
| Had enough nonsense | Jim |
| They are a complete mess led by a buffoon. | Martin |
| There is no place for a non transparent party | Jeff |
| I hope | Moyra |
| Not on recent pole results but then again the public are fickle. | Helen |
| They are a moderating influence to the current coalition, however they let so many supporters down after the last election by not siding with National. They have lost my vote. | Dennis |
| A lot of people are over Winston! | John |
| I think no, though I fervently hope, no. Peters does not deserve to be in parliament. Whether NZ First achieves the 5% needed to remain in parliament will depend again on what sort of scaremongering Peters introduces before the election. In my view he announces something contentious too soon before each election to allow proper investigation before the election takes place. | Peter |
| This is a very difficult Question. They could be back if they campaigned on policies they said they would have in the last election and then join with the Party that said they would also vote with them if elected. | John |
| Peters has shit on too many people and supported too many dodgy secret commie policies to command a successful vote. Jones is an imbecile who throws my money around like it is in endless supply. Watch New Conservative come up in the polls! | Neil |
| Not if they rely on my family’s votes! | Eb |
| wake up NZ’s please , this farce has been going on too long…..Winston the parasite , should voluntarily step down , [ he will not ] ; the damage he has forced upon NZ is not repairable….his ego has and is causing us all much grief . | Roy |
| He’s toxic. So glad National has ruled him out. | Jackie |
| I sincerely hope not! | Peter |
| Goodness me I sincerely hope not. If they are then New Zealanders deserve what would come out of it | Elizabeth |
| I believe that NZ First has been exposed as a party for the Northland tribes. Shane Jones and Winston Peters cannot be trusted and voters are awake to the parties real motives. | Darryl |
| I would like to say no but enough of the RDF has been kept aside to allow NZF to promote itself and possibly land a seat. | John |
| Time for them to GO | Mark |
| Peters has been exposed as a charleton too many times, the party needs to be removed. | Jim |
| The facade has now crumbled and Peters can no longer fool all of the people all of the time. | Nev |
| Yes but just. Give them credit, they have kept a lid on a number on contentious issues pushed by Labour and the Greens | David |
| Not if my vote has anything to do with it. | Jill |
| What can I say – I’m a pessimist when it comes to judging the integrity of our politicians and the malleability of the voter base. | Pavel |
| I was a supporter and contributor from conception of NZF. Their support of Ardern and the Greens persecution against law abiding gun owners (although I am not one) is an assault on democratic rights and can easily be used against similar groups. I predict NZ First won’t exist after the next election – Winston will get his knighthood and ambassadors job and Shane Jones will attach himself to another feeding trough. | Rex |
| N.Z. voters are not that naive to have the last election results repeated. To W.P. back will be the ruin of N.Z.’s future for the next 10 years. | Densi |
| I think maybe they have had their time and need to go. | Laurel |
| Peters lost credibility when he reneged on the promise that got his party supported last time. People will not be so trusting again | Bryan |
| He will do a deal with anyone to get back He has lost all credibility. | Graeme |
| Had their time | Joe |
| Hope “Winston the Weasel”, plus Jones the “Taxpayer funded Porn surfer” and their Party are passed over into the dustbin for “has been arsehole politicians” | Tom |
| In voting no , it is with some doubt as many voters do not take enough interest to be able to vote sensibly | Tom |
| Winston has been such a dead loss he is history | Russell |
| Never trust a little man with a brief case | Graeme |
| As a longtime supporter of NZ First I won’t be voting for them this time. Winston is looking tired and doesn’t have anything new to contribute. His next in line Shane Jones is nothing but a blowhard who likes throwing money to the wind. NZ First’s days are numbered. | Mary |
| they betrayed all their followers previously and did nothing promised pre election last time | bud |
| Politicians are selected by the people to serve the people. Winston forgot or rather disregarded this essential tenant of authority when he fancied his scheming political dance of self interest and power broking to stay in power, took precedence over effectively serving The Nation. Bridges to his absolute credit has called this bluff and picked the balloon of bluster and ego, casting NZF forever into the wilderness that by its ineffective actions , t so justly deserves. Winston has had a long run and has now well past his retirement date, Shane cannot appeal across the board so is turning NZF into a defacto maori party. I don’t see any prospect of NZF gaining any electoral seat by any candidate which with their dwindling 3% party vote descending toward 1% means no place for NZF on the benches. Voters should be aware of what happens to its wasted (protest) vote, it gets divided to the successful parties prorata, don’t send half your precious vote to the wrong side. | Richard |
| The current 3 headed show pony government that is allegedly lead by the most lame and amateur PM we have had in decades needs to be shown the door. | Luke |
| Not if I can help it. I voted NZ First last election and I’ve come to realise that their promises were hollow and they simply cannot be trusted! Never again. | Colin |
| the latest move to finance St.John Ambulance – is a strong issue that no party has made an issue of – it is like the Westpac Helicopter another issue that is a must – | Beth |
| Well I certainly hope not they are not to be trusted | Peter |
| This is based on the fact that NZ logically should say we have had enough of MMP and decisively vote National. | Maurie |
| With Winston looking a bit shaky, I think the loss of confidence in him and the party will show in the voting | sheryl |
| I sincerely hope not. Mr. Peters has proved that he is a traitor to his country and people by siding with labour. The only reason that he is involved in politics, is to further his own ends. | John |
| Knowing Winston he’ll sneak in by the smallest margin. | Andrew |
| Definitely, NO vote from me. | Coral |
| With Winston it is always possible. But this time with the NZ First Foundation troubles it may be a bridge too far for him and the NZ First party. | Warwick |
| I hope and pray that I am wrong as NZ First is a disaster. Peters is a cheat and a liar and does not deserve to be in parliament. I will no vote for them | Andrew |
| Hope not | Rod |
| well I hope not. | Lionel |
| I hope not! | Russell |
| Other people were smarter than me, but I believed Peter’s claim that there should be NO colour in politics, but he certainly didn’t come through on his campaign promises. I can only imagine (and Hope) that others that voted for his party are as disgruntled as I am. I would NEVER vote for him again. | Joyce |
| Winston the magician. A great pity he & National have fallen out. Centre left or centre right need a moderator. | Doug |
| Hopefully not! | Helen |
| I think Winnie has burnt all his bridges. Time to go. | Graeme |
| They can not be trusted, , they could have killed the Abortion bill and shamefully refused. | Ken |
| The rubbish needs to be winnowed out! | Errol |
| I hope so. | Sheena |
| Winston & Co, at last given the chance, have failed to keep election promises they made, for many years, to give New Zealanders EQUAL citizenship. Obliteration is the price they’ll pay! | Paul |
| Hopefully “done his dash” by aligning NZ First with the Muppet parties last time | Dave |
| Winston has done his dash. But lets hope the loony greens are also booted out. We cannot have Julie Anne and Chloe telling us what to do and what is good for us. A lot of people I talk to are switching to Act.. I don’t really want National either so decisions to be made before September. | Alan |
| Too many lies by Winstone & Co. | Mike |
| sadly the NZ voter is too stupid to kick them out. | Russell |
| They broke every promise they made last time. They are dead in the water. I voted for them on the grounds of the promise’s made. QED | David |
| Broken promises! | Peter |
| Winston Peters has proven to be untrustworthy and Simon Bridges did well to rule out working with New Zealand First. | Gavin |
| And unfortunately I feel we will be in for another three Years of absolute Incompetence, back with the Coalition Government. In part due to the National Leader Simon Bridges. | Geoff |
| Many who voted for them last term wanted them to steer National away from U.N. and racist policy making. They have supported U.N. affiliation and spent a fortune on propping up Iwi Business in the North. They have failed and swung to a more socialist agenda. They have been found lacking and will be out! | Bruce C |
| Not if I can help it | Mike |
| I sincerely hope Winston will get his comeuppance as a result of the NZ First donations scandal | Terry |
| Hope not anyway. Got to get rid of that total tosser Jones who is an absolute crook in my opinion. | Peter |
| The SFO will finally sink Winston | Mark |
| NZFirst have trampled on the rural industries and have not had the spine to support farming . The failure to bring the Article 2 of the Paris Accord into debate that states all food producing land must be protected from Zero Carbon . NZFirst singularly and collectively have failed NZ | Basil |
| It seems completely unlikely that New Zealand First will survive this year’s election. Public reaction to missteps by leader Peters and his second-in-command are alone likely to unship this change-coat party forever. | Rob |
| Shane Jones will get them in. | Terry |
| I sincerely hope Not. | David |
| I hope they have only a minimal effect and not game changers. | Brian |
| The little Maori Lawya and pompous sidekick are going to learn that if you fly with the crows eventually you get shot with them BRING IT ON | Phil |
| NZF always polls 3% at this time in the Cycle. ALso Kiwii’s aren’t buying into the NZF foundation Saga, but most seem sure that National is corrupt. and just waiting till jaimie Lee sings like a bird. | Rusty |
| no way | Pete |
| I hope their numbers will fall. | Brian |
| The talks with National and Labour after the 2017 election were an absolute farce, especially as Peters had taken legal action against National MPs before those talks began. That was not a “level playing field”! If the polls are right, NZ First is out anyway. But the Provincial Development Fund (= Shane Jones’ “slush fund”) is a very thinly-veiled attempt to “buy” Northland votes because of the disproportionate amounts going there as compared to the rest of the country, especially the South Island. | Laurence |
| If NZ First voters vote against Winston Peters decision at the last election to go with National despite in excess of 60 percent of NZ Voters preference for him to choose the National Party then his voters this time could leave in droves and give their vote to National. I bet this happens. | Andrew |
| Regrettably, as he is the only MP who has the best interests of the racing industry at heart. | Mark |
| Hope not – there has been too many “what’s in it for Winston” moments, from the Labour/NZ First agreement document to the latest troubles re donations etc. It never ends! We need clarity, honesty etc., not the whiff of corruption in our elected officials. | Roy |
| I sure as hell hope NOT. | Brian |
| They betrayed their base. End of story. | Mitch |
| Fingers crossed…. | Mark |
| No more lies and deceit thanks. | John |
| I certainly hope not! Politicians are some of the lowest life forms, and NZ 1st are among the lowest of the low. Don’t agree? Think W. Peters and S. Jones! Need I say more? | TOBY |
| I have answered “no” on the basis of their track record to date, but given Winstons’ proven level of animal cunning and his ability to pull something out of his bag of tricks at the most opportune moment, I am not so sure. Couple the above with the short memories that some voters seem to have, plus the wretched MMP system that we so foolishly saddled ourselves with, it is always possible that we have not seen the last of him. One thing is certain – if we get another three years of this gaggle of ineptizoids running the country, we face a bleak future indeed. | Scott |
| Certainly hope not!! | John |
| It’s unfortunate, but the ‘sheeple” will once again be conned by the smooth talking rogue that is Winston. Idiot voters flock to leaders and their rhetoric. The have scant knowledge of actual policies and/or consequences thereof. | Geoff |
| I really hope not, Winston should NEVER be allowed to play kingmaker ever again. | Graeme |
| He is a traitor to New Zealand, and his offsider is just a crook. | Mike |
| Unfortunately | Graham |
| Interested parties will ensure NZ First is back | Dave |
| Still too soon to call | Ken |
| Who would be stupid enough to want them again? | Tim |
| W Peters has charism and will attract votes. | Laurie |
| Not if I can help it | Terry |
| NO> Hell No how much punishment can a country take. | Frank |
| Too many liars and fools for my likes | John |
| I feel they will, but certainly hope not – will have to wait and see and it will be close. | Denise |
| Hope NOT, the promises they made in the last election THEY BROKE so I hope people WAKE up Winston is a promiser before the election but after he forgets what he promised. | Cindy |
| I an only hope the voting public remember what a lying, self serving sack of shite Winston Peters is and vote accordingly | John |
| NO .. NO .. NO! Very few of those who voted for Peters last time will ever trust him again. Most of his votes would have come from National supporters who wanted to see him go into a coalition with National and keep the Nats honest. He has shown himself to be a self opinionated traitor and an arrogant arsehole that can NEVER be trusted again … not mention ” Mr Porno ” Shane Jones whose arrogance makes me want to vomit. They should both dissapear from all politicks, never to be seen again. They are both a total waste of space and this country has slid sooo far downhill under the current government,. Landlords need to be given back their rights as Landlords, lowlife losers on the dole should be made to work or kept in cages .. not motels where this government pays for their keep, and supports their drug habit with taxpayer money. Police need much more powers and all lowlife crims need to taste what REAL penalties are like for all crimes that are committed .. not just a slap on the hand and released with a warning. … And don’t get me started on illegal Maori occupations! | Des |
| No matter what Winston Peters bribes the voter with, he would not have the sole power to fulfil his bribes since Labour will have the final say now that his party is firmly embedded with Labour. I therefor believe that all the moderate right leaning voters will not have a bar of him. | Ron |
| The Shane Jones slush fund is likely to buy enough votes. | Jon |
| Sold out their supporters on immigration, migration compact, firearms laws, farms to foreigners for forestry, Zero carbon act and on and on. | Charmaine |
| I hope not. Certainly not dis-honerable Peters | Peter |
| They have too much against them. | June |
| No!!! There will be three worth considering, National, ACT & New Conservatives – not necessarily in that order. For me it will be ACT or New Conservatives. | Don |
| I sincerely hope NOT | Dennis |
| He has not delivered on so-called bottom line promises | Arthur |
| Hope not – he should have gone with Nat : A bit of a betrayal to the elderly who voted for him. | diane |
| I certainly hope not | Elsa |
| to much deceit and underhand tactics | Merv |
| I think Winston has done his chips and ACt will be come a dominant force thru the Party Vote | Graeme |
| NZ First is a prime example of why MMP is wrong for NZ | Bryan |
| Not if I can help it. | Mike |
| winnie the poo has to go | Graeme |
| NO! Please NO. I hang my head in shame because I voted NZ First at the last election, almost as a protest vote, as I think all politicians are tarred with the same brush. I thought Winston might keep them honest … how naive can you be! Giving the poacher the run of the hen house … The Greens are not in the real world and Labour and National are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb (sic) Oh well, I will take a deep breath and give some thought to the referendums. Bruce | Bruce |
| Winston is essentially responsible for enabling the Labour-Greens cabal. His use-by date has long since expired. “His” followers may find New Conservative a more honourable option. | Philip |
| Hopefully not, Winston can’t be trusted, he only looks after number one! | Laurie |
| Nore Labour, Had enough of distraught governance damaging this country. | IAN |
| Dear God I truly hope not, but Winnie is like the proverbial ‘bad penny’, he just keeps showing up! NZ does not need him, in fact his whole party is a sham in my view, but still people fall for his CR*P!! | Maddi |
| Unfortunately | Graham |
| I bloody hope not. That traitorous Peters and his motley crew should be forever destined to the scrapheap of politics. He committed the ultimate perversion of the election process by forming a coalition with the two minor parties. | Tony |
| I voted no, so I hope they wont be. There were too many broken promises | Murray |
| No, I think people will realise that NZ First (Winston Peters) has held the country to ransom for too long. | Greg |
| not now National has ruled out any deal with NZ First | Hylton |
| I certainly hope not. also if the greens disappeared it would be better for the country | David |
| Their vote will move ot the right mostly and the Greens vote will move ot Labour so no net change there. I have predicted a green government made up of blue and yellow to form a green that is sustainable and stable with a slight tinge of blue. | Greg |
| He has shown himself to be the slimy, deceptive rat that he is. | rod |
| I trust NOT.I was in Australia visiting at the last election. The Aussie headlines were – ‘The Losers Take power.’ Don’ want a repeat of that ! | Dick |
| Hope not | Brian |
| I hope not | Roger |
| Better NZ First than the Greens | Graeme |
| Only if Labour needs them to govern. | Barbara |
| Winston finally has too much baggage that cannot be ignored | Kevin |
| I hope this is the case! It is probably fair to suggest however that NZF has acted as a hand brake on some of the more way wood ideas this current government has endeavoured to pass into law. Nevertheless NZF has proven yet again that they simply cannot be trusted but this pretty much sums up the whole of the current administration. Send them packing – I’ll make an interesting election. | Chris |
| But only if National and NZ First agree to work together | Keith |
| no hope not lets all go back to fpp and forget about coat tail political ratbags as we have at present, GO SIMON GO for it. | James |
| But only if they can buy the Northland seat which is what they( Jones and Peters) will do . we must bear in mind also that the announcement that National willn’t deal with NZ First.puts Labour in the position of telling them ( NZF ) exactly what they are prepared to offer as opposed to what happened last election. | Barry |
| “New Zealand First” it is Time To Walk Away….you have had your DAY….Fare Well. | ChrisH |
| Winston betrayed all those who voted for him, believing him to reflect their desire for a right of centre government. Instead he handed us over to the extreme left..Even though 56% voted for a rightist government, we were given a green tail swinging a red dog! | Kris |
| No because Winston Peters is a proven liar. | Chuck |
| I can see a lot of previous nzfirst voters flicking over to ACT | cliff |
| Winston shafted 250,000 law-abiding citizens by supporting the firearms amendments. We haven’t forgotten your betrayal! | DJ |
| I sincerely hope not He betrayed all the National voters who thought he would go with the National party. Lets hope Shane Jones does not win Northland and they go under 5%.. | Colin |
| Not likely with the number of idiots in the party at the moment | John |
| I sincerely hope not. Winston is a huge let-down and I don’t trust him one little bit. We should all be treated the same and many thought he would work towards this but no, he has not. I sincerely hope they do not make it back in Parliament | Helen |
| A Party that promises everything delivers nothing led by a charlatan who has had his snout in the public trough for far too long. Peters let far too many down be going with Labour and the Greens at the last election and in doing so has seriously jeopardised the future of NZ. The sooner this bunch of losers who are currently running the country are booted out the better off we all will be. | Allan |
| But I surely hope NOT !! Winston has a certain following, and if anything happens to him (illness etc) I suspect his support or that of his allies in NZ FIRST would likely evaporate or at least dwindle toa useless minimum. However, I would not want to see him continue in a position of power in this country any longer than this present term, and we;ve all heard my opinion that he got this job under “fast timing” with a touch of good luck and failure of the pregnant person to share the knowledge she must have had tho she claimed she did not at that moment know. Bah, as a midwife for years, you can’t convince me! But Winston’s following is also ageing. Maybe we will see a demographic shift? It is important for those voting for any other party, particularly the two principal, Labour and National, , to NOT split the vote by putting party votes over th NZF, because that will serve only Peters who exists, as far as we can tell, to self-serve,, long term, rather than otherwise. He has had a long enough innings; he loves Power with a capital P,and he has done some good things in his time, but this needs to be the time he steps out of the limelight and gets out of the way. If labour cannot stay afloat without him, well, that’s just their bad luck. It has to happen sooner or later? | Mabel |
| Jones and Peters are a couple of rat bags with their noses in the trough | Don |
| I truly hope not…I’m very tired of Jones & Peters pseudo-intellectual blustering, yet failing to provide anything meaningful for the people. That’s exactly why Peters lost his Northland seat to King. I hope the voters remember that should they consider replacing him with Jones. | James |
| No or at least sincerely hope not. The voters that wanted him to go with the National Party last time will not be voting for him this time He has burnt that bridge and that is reinforced by Simon Bridges ruling out a Nat-NZF coalition. In addition a lot of his bottom lines have not been fulfilled The Maori Seat referendum comes to mind. Sorry but in my opinion Winnie can not be trusted and as NZF is a one man band I hope they are a gone burger | Robin |
| A lying untrustworthy, conniving, person | Bruce |
| With Peters at their helm I sincerely hope not. NZF are a bunch of narcissistic drop kicks. While we’re at it, Bridges also needs to stand down for the sake of National’s integrity … Maybe, the likes of Todd Muller could take over the reins ! Meantime and until such changes happen I now tend towards ACT. | Alan |
| I pray not anyway. | Chris |
| I certainly hope not | Maurice |
| NZ First would be more electable if Winstone retired/died. If Soymon had any nounce he would have put pressure on that party by ruling out any deal as long as Winston remained there in a position of influence. The truth should by this time have dawned on the voting public that you can’t trust Winston even when you can see him! | Alan |
| I believe we have woken up, at last… | Donald |
| The donations fort with NZ First foundation will sink Peters and the party | Ray |
| He is the only politician who has something to most everyone young and old | Kevin |
| Certainly hop not | Ian |
| It will be very close and who knows what tricks the old conman will bring to the party. | Ian |
| Heaven forbid, just go away once and for all and take radical greens with you winnie | Allan |
| sincerely hope not | Erin |
| Too many people feel betrayed by Winston Peters. He eschewed the policies that retained his support base. This will not be forgiven. | Lee |
| I SINCERELY HOPE NOT! | CLIVE |
| Winstone is very popular with the Maori voters, and in all probability will be back as NZ First. I think, ordinary NZ Voters, have lost faith in the MMP government system, as it gets minorities in to control the Country !! | Pierre |
| hope not | Greg |
| I hope not | jenny |
| No NZF will be out of Parliament and they deserve to go – they betrayed us over their promise to hold a referendum on the Maori seats. They had no intention of holding it. | Anthony |
| Winston Peters should have retired years ago. It is a one-man party and since he’s on his way out so is the party. | Paula |
| They do not deserve to be reelected. They lied at the last election. I hope they are wiped out. | Brian |
| Shane Jones thinks he will buy the Northland seat by splashing the Provincial Growth Fund cash, but I think voters are smarter than that! | James |
| They are a goneburger! | Harry |