September 30, 2006

Abstract: - The opposition National remains the most popular political organization in New Zealand, according to a Digipoll published in the New Zealand Herald. 45.7 per cent of respondents would support National in the next legislative ballot, while 38 per cent would vote for the governing Labour party.

- The opposition National remains the most popular political organization in New Zealand, according to a Digipoll published in the New Zealand Herald. 45.7 per cent of respondents would support National in the next legislative ballot, while 38 per cent would vote for the governing Labour party.

The Greens are in third place with 6.8 per cent, followed by the Maori Party with 4.1 per cent, and New Zealand First with 1.6 per cent.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand's prime minister since December 1999. Don Brash became the leader of the National party in October 2003. Support for both National and Labour dropped by 0.7 points since August.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

Yesterday, in an opinion piece submitted to the New Zealand Herald, Brash commented on specific differences among his countrymen, saying, "If Maori New Zealanders die more frequently from lung cancer than non-Maori do, for example, it is almost certainly because Maori New Zealanders choose to smoke more heavily than other New Zealanders do. (...) Similarly if there are relatively few Maori at the Auckland Law School—and that despite preferential arrangements for Maori—that is not a failing of the government, but a result of decisions made by individual Maori."

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia expressed dismay at Brash's statement, saying, "The sadness for me is that a political party leader is unable to articulate the value of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a foundation for modern living in Aotearoa."

Polling Data

If an election were held today, which party would you vote for?

	Sept. 2006	Aug. 2006
National	45.7%	46.4%
Labour	38.0%	38.7%
Greens	6.8%	5.8%
Maori Party	4.1%	3.4%
New Zealand First	1.6%	2.8%

Source: DigiPoll / The New Zealand Herald
Methodology: Interviews to 500 New Zealand voters, conducted in September 2006. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.