Election 2023 live updates: Chris Hipkins is running out of time, less than one week before first votes cast
ANALYSIS
Labour’s struggling campaign for re-election has endured fresh embarrassment with the party slumping further into the 20s in the latest public poll - its lowest performance in that poll since Andrew Little was leader six years ago.
Labour fell one point to just 27 per cent in the 1 News-Verian poll, well behind National which polled 37 per cent, falling two points. It puts even further pressure on leader Chris Hipkins to turn the ship around and cements the feeling that this may now be impossible.
Hipkins put on a brave face, saying the poll showed National was “coming down” having “previously peaked”.
He has less time than many think. The first votes will be cast in less than a week’s time when overseas voting opens on September 27. Voting opens to everyone else less than a week later on October 2. Each day of early voting locks in the gaping deficit between Labour and National, making a turnaround less and less possible.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
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OPINION: And that, people, is what an election debate should look like. Plenty of spark, and relatively cordial but robust bickering. And the loser of the debate is quite possibly National leader Christopher Luxon - since it went some way to illustrating why Labour leader Chris Hipkins decided to start saying that Seymour and Peters would run rings around him, writes Herald political editor Claire Trevett.
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"I'm beginning to pity Christopher Luxon," Wright said as she wrapped up the debate.
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"It's like an arsonist dressed up as a fireman showing up at a fire saying he's going to fix it all, it's just not credible," Seymour said of Peters.
"Of course he will!" Peters said when Seymour was asked if he could work with Peters.
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Davidson said there was no way Luxon would be able to control Seymour and Peters in government.
"Do people actually trust that Luxon is going to be able to manage these two, like for real," Davidson said while pointing at Seymour and Peters.
Seymour said ultimately he could make it work with Peters.
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After a rambling response Seymour was unable to give a single bottom line before he was cut off again for running too long.
"You keep going round in circles," Ngarewa-Packer said to Seymour.
Peters called out a "lack of inexperience" in Seymour's comments, saying doing so would "paralyse the government".
"You've got to get adults in the room and leave the trousers on," Peters said of the need to work together while in government as he also took a shot at Act and the Greens for not having ministers in Cabinet.
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Seymour said he was open to only entering a confidence arrangement with National, not necessarily including supply, if Act didn't get what it sought.
"I'm getting lost David, I'm getting lost," Wright said as Seymour attempted to explain how National and Act would work out their differences.
He deferred when asked if he could work with NZ First, with Wright calling time when he would not answer.
"I don't think it's fair to say that Act is on one issue," Seymour said when asked about his absolute bottom line.
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"This lot has to go, they've done too much damage already," Seymour said of Davidson and Ngarewa-Packer's impact in government.
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Ngarewa-Packer said a bottom line in any coalition negotiations would be a wealth tax. She said they would also seek to keep their intergenerational focus.
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Halfway into the debate and it’s clear none of the panel are holding back and tensions are high between some of the opposing politicians.
There has been plenty of eye-rolling from Davidson and jaw-dropping responses to comments from Seymour, standing next to her, while she and Ngarewa-Packer appear to have found plenty of common ground with two high-fives throughout.
Seymour and Peters meanwhile, staged the farthest apart and potentially for good reason, have also found plenty to butt heads about, despite canvassing similar territory.
Peters has consistently sought to one-up Seymour, including in his comments about prisons saying rather than simply increase the population gangs should be outlawed and all of them locked up.
The audience is clearly being kept very entertained, with plenty of laughs and even the odd jeer.
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Peters was being interrogated on his view that white collar criminals shouldn't be in jail because it costs too much and should be working six days a week. Davidson and Ngarewa-Packer both criticised that view while Wright challenged Peters on why victims of white collar crime shouldn't see the perpetrators in prison.
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Peters said rather than spending money keeping people in prison they should be made to work "six days a week".
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Seymour said he felt the cost of keeping dangerous people in prison was worth it. Ngarewa-Packer said the approach of being tough on crime and soft on poverty was not going to work. Poverty was the reason why there were these issues, she said.
"We can't prison our way out of justice," Ngarewa-Packer said.
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Seymour said he agreed with Davidson that the welfare programme had failed. Davidson said: "That's not what I said, bloody hell."
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Peters said gangs needed to be outlawed, put into 40-hour jobs and on the straight and narrow. He said there should be gang-only prisons.
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"The biggest victim of crime in the country is Māori and Pasifika," Peters said.
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The debate has satisfied expectations it would be fiery, much more heated than Tuesday's leader's debate between Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon.
On a strategy to address gangs, Davidson said the roots of the problems needed to be addressed, connections restored and more support given.
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In another quickfire round on raising the Super age, only Seymour said it should be raised. Peters said there was plenty of money to keep it at 65.
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"We have a bare cupboard," Seymour said of Government's excessive spending. "We know how to fill that cupboard," Davidson piped up. "Rebecca, start doing your job," Winston said before saying to Seymour: "that's enough, there are adults in the room."
"You're not on the marae now, behave yourself," Peters said to Davidson and Ngarewa-Packer. Davidson replied: "We would expect a lot more maturity than what you're showing."
"I'm not a cis, white man," Peters said to Davidson, alluding to the Greens co-leader's historical comments against cis white men which she later admitted was not said in the best way.
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Davidson called out Peters, saying he had been in politics 40 years and more maturity was expected.
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"That's enough... there are adults in the room," said Peters, interjecting a long-winded statement from Seymour, with a wry smile acknowledging his own tendency to speak at length.
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Davidson and Ngarewa-Packer then both spoke up in favour of a wealth tax, saying it was not Labour's to rule out - ending with a high-five between the pair.
It was their second high-five of the evening so far, after previously both speaking out against Seymour's defence of not race-baiting.
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"That's not up to you, it's up to the voters to decide," Davidson replied to debate host Rebecca Wright when she asserted the Greens' and the Māori Party's tax policies wouldn't be adopted by the Labour Party.
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Ngarewa-Packer said it was a "different party" when the Māori Party voted for National's previous GST hike from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent.
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On a long list of taxes proposed by Te Pāti Māori, Ngarewa-Packer said there was enormous poverty in New Zealand and that needed to be focused. It was a political choice not to address it.
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On Government spending and if it needed to be reined in, Davidson the focus needed to be on people and planet over everything else.
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On tax changes proposed, Peters said they had all been found out by the PREFU and didn't have enough money to pay for them. He also called on more powers to be giving to grocery commission to bring down prices.
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On Labour's cost of living policies, Peters said: "They're not dealing with the real problem."
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Asked if it was time to ditch the monarchy, Seymour said no, Davidson that it needed to "uphold Te Tiriti", Ngarewa-Packer said to get rid of it and have a Tiriti-centric constitution, while Peters said it was not for them to decide and rather "the people".
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"You can't have nice things until you've got a good economy," Seymour said of Peters' support for bringing the next Commonwealth Games to New Zealand.
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"What a deceitful way to take the eyes of the prize that ordinary Māori want," Peters said, citing the average Māori wanted a good education and good healthcare and not "woke projects".
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Peters said there was too much focus on "woke projects" and not fundamental issues.
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Asked if Seymour was race-baiting with comments like "ethno states", Seymour said he disagreed and that it was true when Māori ended up being appointed to co-governance boards. Davidson then retorted "like wealthy lobbyists".
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"Really, you are [race]-baiting and you always have and you know it," Davidson shot at Seymour.
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Ngarewa-Packer said there needed to be more focus on intergenerational inequities.
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He then defended his comments about Māori not being indigenous, saying he was Māori and he knew where he came from.
"The average Māori could not give a rat's derrière about the name, they want the roads fixed," Peters said in reference to his opposition to Māori names of government ministries.
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Peters said there was too much focus on things like language rather than actually fixing things.
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Ngarewa-Packer said it needed to be looked at through a Te Tiriti lens. She said it was actually about race, as there were other departments where more could be cut.
"You've had your turn," Ngarewa-Packer said to Seymour, waving him away as he tries to interject her answer about prioritising the treaty.
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"I too would love an Aotearoa that truly treats everyone the same, we haven't," Davidson said while taking a shot at the "wealthy few and David's mates" in response to Seymour.
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Davidson said Seymour was actually stripping away those who work to address inequities.
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Seymour has started off the debate answering questions about Act's plans to abolish ministries such as for women and Pacific peoples. Seymour said part of it was to reduce government spending overall. But he also said his party disagreed with those ministries targeting specific groups of people.
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David Seymour, Marama Davidson, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Winston Peters are up and ready for the debate to begin shortly.
Act, Greens, Māori Party, NZ First face off in debate
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Leaders of the smaller “powerbroker” parties will face off tonight in a debate expected to bring fireworks.
In the Newshub Nation Powerbrokers’ Debate, Act Party’s David Seymour, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and NZ First Leader Winston Peters will face off in an Auckland pub broadcast live across the nation.
Minor parties look to play a much larger role this election than previously.
No polls have Labour or National able to govern alone, with the latest polls showing a National and Act combination the most likely, but with potential for NZ First in the wings.
Labour MP Shanan Halbert rocked by bullying allegations
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Labour MP Shanan Halbert has been accused of bullying by several former staff, who labelled him “manipulative”, “scheming”, and “a narcissist” and that they lived in fear of him.
The allegations were aired in a story by Newshub and date back more than a year.
Halbert told the Herald he had “good working relationships with staff both inside Parliament and in other roles I’ve held outside of Parliament. Occasionally employment issues arise in any workplace but I have always done my best to work through those professionally and appropriately [and] sought advice and support where required”.
Read the full story here:
Disaster recovery unearths Chris Hipkins’ vintage Chippy
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Standing in sheep s*** in the paddocks of Central Hawke’s Bay, Chris Hipkins capped off a day where he showed some of that vintage Chippy character Labour is relying on to win this election.
Despite another poor poll result and a debate many commentators deemed dull, Hipkins appeared more vibrant and engaged on Thursday than he’d been at some events over the past few weeks while winding his way down the North Island’s East Coast.
It was a slow start attending a local candidate’s breakfast at the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce. Those following the Labour leader know Hipkins has a tendency to wear a slightly vacant expression when he’s seemed to be lost in thought, bored or tired - perhaps all three.
Read the full story here:
Government launches review of one of NZ’s most important laws
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Ministers are thinking about overhauling the Public Finance Act, one of New Zealand’s most important pieces of legislation.
This dry-titled piece of legislation sets the rules for how the Crown spends its money - about $160 billion a year or 40 per cent of GDP.
Documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show Finance Minister Grant Robertson greenlit a review of the PFA this year, looking at ways to make sure the public sector better matched spending decisions to actual outcomes, improved transparency of where money was going, and took account of te ao Māori viewpoints.
Read the full story here:
On the Campaign: Main parties fight over the economy and petrol prices
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The big parties had wildly different takes on today's GDP results. Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan joins to analyse what he has described as "one of the most serious claims made on the campaign" around petrol prices and emissions. Listen to this all in today's episode of On the Campaign.
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Winston Peters “might” vote Act - Seymour
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Act leader David Seymour has joked Winston Peters “might” vote Act.
Seymour was speaking about tonight’s minor parties debate in which Seymour and Peters will face off.
Seymour said he will be speaking to potential voters during the debate, and Peters was probably not a potential voter.
Then again, Peters “might” vote Act, Seymour said.
Peters joints Kate Sheppard and Nelson Mandela on a growing list of potential Act voters.
'A lower, fairer, flatter tax system' - Seymour
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"The net result is a lower, fairer, flatter tax system," David Seymour said of his tax changes. But he said the changes did not get the tax system as flat as he would like it to be.
Seymour said at a minimum people would be $238 better off a year. Lower income earners would pay higher tax rates, but these would be offset by a tax credit.
Raise NZ Superannuation age to 67 - Seymour
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Act leader David Seymour will also raise the NZ Superannuation age to 67 over the next eight years.
"I think we need to be honest and say 'we are in a hole'," Seymour said, about the importance of raising the superannuation age in the face of challenging fiscal conditions.
David Seymour releases alternative budget
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Act leader David Seymour has unveiled his party's alternative budget.
Seymour said the tax cuts promised in the budget were "dramatically" smaller than what it had promised in the past, but that these tax cuts needed to be scaled back to respond to the current fiscal conditions.
The cuts are $2.9b this year and next and rising to $4.4b in 2025 and $5.7b in 2026.
Act will no longer abolish the 39 per cent top rate as it had planned to do earlier this year. Deteriorating fiscal conditions in last week’s Prefu mean Act has had to scale back this promise. It will reduce the 39 per cent rate to 33 per cent and leave the threshold at $180,000.
There are large tax cuts at the bottom end of the income tax scale.
Income up to $60,000 will be taxed at 17.5 per cent, the next $10,000 will be taxed at 30 per cent, and remaining income up to $180,000 will be taxed at 33 per cent.
Seymour will also increase defence spending, saying New Zealand is "not pulling its weight" internationally.
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Hipkins on Queenstown water infection
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Chris Hipkins has asked the minister of health to look into getting the best information on the Queenstown water infection, and that central and local government could work together to find a solution.
"If the water supply is the issue, it makes a case for water reform.
"This is an example where more regulation would be a good thing."
Asked about Winston Peters, Hipkins said "one of the reasons I have said I won't work with Winston Peters is because I want to deliver stable government for all New Zealanders.
"I went to the Green Parrot a few times in my misspent youth"
Hipkins rules out sugar tax
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Chris Hipkins rules out a sugar tax in the next term if reelected.
'We're not opening up housing to foreign buyers' - Hipkins
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When asked what Labour is doing to bring rents down, he says "we're not opening up housing to foreign buyers."
He says they're pressing on with building more houses.
He says immigration is coming down to regular levels, but this isn't impacting rents.
He says the results from the Oranga Tamariki report is indicative of the system.
"I think it's important the recommendations are implemented.
"Bootcamps lead to high rates of reoffending."
Hipkins on cuts to the public service
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In terms of Labour's cuts to the public service, Chris Hipkins says that he can't guarantee there won't be job cuts. But he is confident departments can absorb the 1-2 per cent of cost cuts.
GST savings will be passed on to customers - Hipkins
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Speaking to media in Hawke's Bay, Chris Hipkins reaffirms that the GST savings from fruit and vegetables will be passed on to customers.
Chris Hipkins makes health announcement in Hawke's Bay
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Hipkins said he wants to acknowledge the good economic news announced.
Hipkins said the economy is growing faster than most major western economies.
"The New Zealand economy is proving to be resilient and we should be proud of that."
He said at a household level it is looking tough, but the country's economy is looking good.
I think we should stay the course and National's plan would only add to inflation.
He continued by saying that National's new education announcement is another "nothing announcement".
"Christopher Luxon has spent most of the last year talking New Zealand down.
"I think we should be talking New Zealand up and encourage people to visit.
"National spent nine years in government running down the system, we have spent six times as much on the health system."
When asked if he is more trustworthy than Luxon, Hipkins said "I try and be as honest as I can."
"I think I'm a very trustworthy person."
He called the fizzy drink ban debate a slip up.
He said the public is very concerned by National's planned cuts.
"The National party has one flagship policy and they can't explain how they're going to pay for it.
"The last person who held the role of prime minister and was that secretive was Rob Muldoon. He bankrupted the country."
Hipkins said the Dunedin hospital is probably the largest infrastructure project in that region as a generation.
"I have received a reassurance from Greg O'Connor that he is encouraging people to vote for Labour.
"The whole team is working hard to make sure we win on election day.
"We are going to do significantly better than the polls are saying."
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Earlier today, National finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis responded to today's GDP figures, saying Grant Robertson has been gaslighting NZers by claiming economic victory.
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Chris Hipkins in a 1940 packard owned by Tony Morris.
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Nicola Willis: 'Labour is completely detached from reality'
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National's finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis has responded to Robertson's claim that the GDP figures show a resilient economy.
"Labour is completely detached from reality and out of touch with everyday Kiwis who are struggling with the cost of living after six years of Labour’s economic mismanagement.
“Anyone who heard Grant Robertson claim ‘victory’ today would be well within their rights to feel insulted and outraged."
She said Robertson had gone "into overdrive" to try to convince people the economy was sound.
"The Reserve Bank and other major economists are predicting recession later this year.
"The reality for struggling New Zealanders is that it already feels like we are in recession.
"For many people, things feel so bleak that they are looking at opportunities overseas and voting with their feet, with almost 40,000 Kiwis permanently leaving the country last year."
Grant Robertson reacts to strong GDP result
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Grant Robertson said there was a "resilient picture" on the economy. He said it was important to get the balance right when it came to government spending.
"With due respect to economists, we are not just running a balance sheet here. We are running a country, where we have to look after people."
He urged National to release their full fiscal plan, something National has said it will do now that PREFU had come.
He said it was yet to persuade people about the costings around its tax policy, and it had a number of other policies which it also had not shown costings for.
He said Luxon needed to be upfront with voters now, but he suspected National would try to "bluster through" without producing full costings. He said there were big doubts about whether National's tax plan was affordable, and whether it would be inflationary.
On GDP growth: "We are 7.7 per cent bigger than we were before Covid. That is a good result, and given the headwinds we've been facing, 2.2 per cent average is pretty good too."
Robertson said any government had to be prepared to invest heavily in infrastructure to meet population growth, and they were in catch up mode. "The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, the second best time is today."
"My message is that the New Zealand economy is resilient, New Zealanders are working very hard and need a government that backs them."
He said Luxon had been talking the economy down, but needed to look at the actual numbers.
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Hipkins is now at the Henderson Rd dump in Hastings, following the Government committing $2.1 million to assist with dealing with waste material left over after Cyclone Gabrielle.
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While inspecting old juke boxes, Luxon expressed his fondness for country music. But his first cynic purchases were Grease and Saturday Night Fever, he said.
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“I loved working at Maccas," Luxon said.
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Luxon checking out old toys from McDonalds’ Happy Meals on display at Transport World.
Rawiri Waititi takes time out from election campaign to be with his mum
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Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi has taken time out from the 2023 election campaign to spend time with his mum who is in hospital.
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Luxon feeding his love of classic cars at Transport World in Invercargill.
Here he looks at an old Anglia, which Penny Simmons says was her first car as a young University student in the 1980s. She says she wanted Volkswagen so had to pretend to be pleased with when her father unveiled her car.
Luxon said his first car was a 1962 Riley Elf, which was written off when he was a sixth former when someone backed into him while he was driving to see his girlfriend at the time and now wife Amanda.
It was worth $1000, he said, and he had been offered $5000 for it the week before, which he had turned down.
He now has a 1966 Riley Elf, which he keeps in Christchurch and still drives when he’s down there.
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On his way out, Hipkins eyed up the breakroom’s vending machine which contained Coke Zero. Unfortunately the machine didn’t accept pay wave so he didn’t get one.
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Responding to a staffer asking if he was tired, Hipkins admitted he was a bit tired yesterday, saying he hadn’t had much sleep following Tuesday night’s leader’s debate.
However, he said if he got about 5-6 hours, which he got last night, he was usually OK.
Hipkins, who was quite chipper in his interactions today compared to previous events, told the staffer he was looking forward to when he next had time off which was one afternoon next week.
When the staffer asked about the debate and the ensuing commentary, Hipkins said he believed the commentary didn’t necessarily reflect the views of people at home who didn’t often engage in politics.
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“As long as it’s not more than one or two a day, it’s ok,” Hipkins said of his reputation for loving sausage rolls.
Pictured below, Hipkins and Labour Tukituki candidate Anna Lorck chatting with staff.
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Hipkins has just been presented two personalised bottles of tomato sauce, one branded with Chippy and another with Chris Hipkins.
“It almost seems a shame to use them,” Hipkins remarked, momentarily forgetting that he could refill them - an instinct slightly contrary to his comments during Tuesday’s debate that he was embracing recycling.
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Hipkins told staff it was his first visit to the factory and said it was “fascinating”.
He noted how he had brought with him a bottle of Watties tomato sauce when he met British PM Rishi Sunak, which was applauded.
“I twouldn’t quite be a sausage roll without Watties tomato sauce in my view.”
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Two staff at the Majestic told the Herald that they thought Luxon was friendly, and smaller than they were expecting. For some reason, seeing him on TV they thought he’d be bigger. Not just taller, but bigger.
They were going to vote for National and didn’t care that Luxon refuses to release the modelling behind the figures of his tax package. Ask why, one said because there seemed to be a method to his madness.
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Hipkins has finished his tour through the Watties factory in Hastings, trying his hand at packing a box of frozen Asian wok stir fry.
He was then taken through and shown various parts of the production line. Through a fairly fetching headset, Hipkins was explained the process. Due to the noise, no one could hear what he was told and how he responded.
Meanwhile, in Hastings
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Chris Hipkins is at the Watties factory in Hastings.
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Luxon’s cheese roll had a variety of reviews from the Majestic staff, from 8.5 to 10. The only constructive feedback was that there was a bit too much filling.
Luxon himself gave it a 10 out of 10. “This is perfection.”
Asked what he thought was in it, including the so-called secret sauce, he unsurprisingly guessed cheese, and onion.
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Luxon making cheese rolls at the Majestic in Invercargill.
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"Gangs want the right to be Kiwis, but they're not up to take the responsibility," Luxon said.
Luxon said gangs "hook people up to drugs" so they shouldn't get to run rehab centres.
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Luxon said he and ACT leader David Seymour had been neighbours for years.
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Luxon said he will be releasing his party's budget within the next week.
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"I saw Hipkins rock up to a meeting in Hawkes Bay... and commit eleven days out of the election that they are going to build a hospital," Luxon said.
"No disrespect, these guys cant deliver anything."
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"[Labour] have been useless."
The savings off of GST being removed on fruit and vegetables would not be passed onto customers, Luxon claimed.
"It's just a dumb policy."
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"We used to have about 60,000 international students," Stanford said.
Stanford said international students were doing part-time roles, such as working at McDonalds, and now we are having to get migrants in to do these jobs.
"We are going through a period of catchup," Luxon said.
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National spokesperson for immigration and early childhood education Erica Stanford said a lot of migrants left the country during lockdowns.
Stanford said immigration is tailing out currently.
STORY CONTINUES
If we continue to see large numbers of people cast ballots early, almost a quarter of votes could be cast in just a week of early voting. By the time the final of the four leaders’ debates rolls around on October 12, it’s possible more than half of all votes will have been cast.
Hipkins is staring down the barrel of a record defeat.
On current polling Labour would crash out of the Beehive with the worst result of an incumbent major party in the MMP era, worse than the current record holder, Jenny Shipley’s National government which took 30.5 per cent of the vote in 1999.
National has problems of its own. Its support is slipping, although the right bloc’s net support is unchanged with Act rising two points to 12 per cent.
Leader Christopher Luxon’s bigger problem comes in the form of NZ First’s Winston Peters, whose support in that poll was unchanged on 5 per cent of the vote.
The challenge is laid bare when the result is broken down to seats: National would get 45, Act would get another 15, giving the pair 61 seats - just enough to form a government.
But changes at the margins, particularly vote slipping away from National during the campaign could mean the right bloc’s vote slipping into the 50s and Luxon being forced to pick up the phone to Peters on the morning of October 15.
This is more likely than often thought. National’s support has fallen during the last five campaigns from its average polling at the campaign’s beginning.
Voters want Luxon to be clear about his intentions. Last night’s poll also asked voters whether parties should be “upfront about who they’re willing to go into coalition with prior to the election”. An overwhelming 82 per cent of those polled said “yes”.
But Luxon won’t even discuss the topic. For weeks now, Luxon’s answer to this question has been a variation of “I’m not worried about Winston Peters. He’s not in Parliament. He’s below the threshold. I’m focused on building a National Party vote”.
That excuse no longer stands.
NZ First is very clearly above the threshold in most polls. After a surge in August, only two of September’s polls have had Peters below 5 per cent - Taxpayers’ Union Curia on 3.9 per cent, and Newshub Reid Research on 4.6 per cent.
Peters is back - and he could be a problem for National and Act. Luxon must now answer for the NZ First’s eclectic policy positions, and what Peters might be like in government.
At meetings this week, Peters has been energising voters with a message that National and Act don’t have the guts to follow through on their promise to rip up co-governance arrangements for the likes of Three Waters and the Maori Health Authority. Peters entering a National-led formation could tilt a future National government too far to the right for Luxon’s more moderate tendencies.
But the even bigger problem for Luxon is Peters has come out swinging this week against his central promise: tax cuts.
Peters is himself running on a policy of making the first $14,000 earned tax-free, but said Treasury’s gloomy Prefu forecasts released this week meant it was unaffordable until 1 April 2026 at the earliest.
Worse still for Luxon, he trained his guns on National’s tax plan, blasting it as “voodoo economics”.
He said the plan was “not credible nor reconcilable with its spending commitments. No nation, nor household, can survive with far less money through the front door but spending rocketing up and out the side door”.
“Such is the deteriorated state of the nation’s books, no party can look voters in the eye and seriously say their tax cuts are affordable now,” Peters said.
Peters may have an unlikely ally on this front: Act’s David Seymour. Act is set to unveil its revised alternative budget today after Seymour put the original under review following Prefu to take into account the revised state of the books.
There are still good odds Seymour will be offering reduced tax cuts, but the state of the fiscals is that some voices on the right are calling for fiscal consolidation ahead of major tax reform.
Just what that looks like under National is unclear. Again, less than a week out from the first votes being cast, it is yet to release its own fiscal plan, setting out how it will afford its promises and what cuts those promises would require.
The delay is a cynical on the party of National. The longer the party waits to publish the plan, the less time it gives the opposition to find holes in the figures, should there be any.