About two-thirds of people believe the country is in the same shape or worse a year on from the general election, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.
However, almost a third believe the country is in better shape than before, a year since Labour was evicted from the Beehive by voters.
Of the 1000 people surveyed, 40% said the country was in a worse shape, 26% said there was no difference, 30% said NZ was in better shape while 4% didn’t know or preferred not to say. (Source: Breakfast)
The poll, which surveyed 1000 eligible voters and ran from October 5 to 9, asked them if they thought, a year on from the election, if the country is in a better shape or worse shape or no different than it was before the election.
Of the 1000 people surveyed, 40% said the country was in a worse shape, and 26% said there was no difference.
Those who thought the country was in better shape was 30% of respondents, while 4% didn’t know or preferred not to say.
Māori and university graduates were more likely than average to say the country was worse off, as were Green voters and Labour voters.
Those more likely than average to think the country was in better shape were ACT Party supporters — 64% — and National Party supporters — 59%.
Some of the 1000 respondents were asked: “A year on from the election, do you think the country is in a better shape or worse shape or no different than it was before the election?”
While pollsters Verian put the question in a different order to approximately half of the respondents: “Do you think the country is in a worse shape or better shape or no different than it was before the election?”
‘It’s been a really tough time for New Zealand’
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins were asked for their thoughts – although they did not know the poll results before providing their responses.
“It’s been a really tough time for New Zealand, there’s no doubt about it. Kiwis are really struggling, they are going paycheque-to-paycheque every week, they are working hard and struggling to get ahead,” Luxon said.
“But I think what you can see is there are some green shoots and encouraging signs, early signs with falling inflation, falling interest rates, next comes economic growth, after that comes employment.
“That’s our immediate job, get our books in order, get our finances in order – why? It’s not just about money, that enables us to then to have the platform and the foundation that we need to be able to invest in the country, whether it’s around infrastructure, whether it’s around health or education.
“So we know we’ve got a big turnaround job. As I’ve often said, the last government put New Zealand into a ditch, we’re hauling the car out of the ditch, we’re getting into first and second gear and our goal is to get moving at top speed.”
Hipkins said the country had gone backwards under the “coalition of chaos” over the past year.
“We’ve seen unemployment going up, we’ve seen the health system descend further and further into crisis, race relations is worsening, New Zealanders aren’t getting what they voted for.”
More details from the 1News Verian Poll — including party vote and preferred prime minister results — will be revealed tonight at 1News at Six and online at 1News.co.nz.
