Half of New Zealanders are not confident Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver good economic growth over the term of this Government, according to a new 1News Verian poll, while 34% of people are confident.
For the 1News Verian poll, people were asked: “Nicola Willis is the Minister for Finance and Minister for Economic Growth. Are you confident or not confident that Nicola Willis will deliver good economic growth over the term of this Government?”
The responses found 50% were not confident, 34% were confident and 17% didn’t know or didn’t want to say. The poll of 1002 eligible voters was conducted from February 3 to 7.
Confidence on party lines
Those more likely than average to be confident were ACT supporters (70%), National supporters (67%), men aged over 55 (45%) and NZ Europeans (37%).
Those more likely that average to not be confident were Greens supporters (76%), Labour supporters (76%) and Māori (65%).
Asked to respond to the level of scepticism, Willis today told 1News: “I would say to them I get it, it is tough for you right now but my job is to make sure things get better.
“If we hadn’t had tax relief, things would be a lot worse for many families, because if we’d taken that money away from people they’d be struggling even more.”
The Government has signaled growth as a key plank to its objectives for the first part of this year, with some ministers reiterating “signs of green shoots”.
Willis previously dubbed May’s upcoming Budget “the growth Budget”, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon used his first speech back in Parliament in late January to lay out his “growth agenda”.
Willis said the Budget would include “bold steps to support economic growth, including measures to address New Zealand’s long-standing productivity challenges”.
Across the country, households and businesses in particular are keen for a sighting also of the “green shoots of growth”, as signalled by the Government.
Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ali Boswijk said: “Businesses are increasingly looking at their costs, they’re looking at their bottom lines they’re not necessarily investing because they’re not certain about how things are going to pan out.”
However, Treasury’s Half Year Fiscal Update in mid-December pointed to a much slower path for economic growth, unemployment to peak at 5.4% in the middle of next year and the Government’s debt path to be much steeper than previously thought.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said “the downturn started earlier, was deeper and persisted for longer than previously expected”. (Source: 1News)
Responding to the confidence poll, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Willis was “clearly out of her depth”. Hipkins hinted she wanted Luxon’s job and reminded the public about the Government’s struggles to replace a scrapped contract for new Cook Strait ferries.
“What’s Nicola Willis more likely to replace this year, the Interislander ferries or him as Prime Minister?”
Pulling levels, looking for a lift
At the weekend, Willis announced plans to adjust migrant investor visa settings, hoping to incentivise more people to invest in the New Zealand economy.
Inflation currently sat within the Reserve Bank’s target band at 2.2%, while unemployment rose to 5.1% in the three months ending December.
Poll results with comment from 1News Political Editor Maiki Sherman. (Source: 1News)
Yesterday, 1News’ main political poll revealed the left bloc had the numbers to form a government.
It found a bloc of Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori would have 61 seats — enough to govern. The right bloc of National, ACT and New Zealand First would have 60 seats, one short as a result of an overhang.
National fell to 34% compared to their previous result of 37% recorded in December, while Labour rose to 33% — up from the 29% they recorded in the last poll.
