Labour's package for jobs matches National's

NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW: Labour has moved to match National's planned job-loss package, with Prime Minister Helen Clark today saying it will announce a transitional assistance package in the next few days.

National leader John Key said Miss Clark was playing catch-up and trying to distract voters from the latest embarrassing revelations around New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' conduct in the Owen Glenn donation scandal.

Speaking to a Grey Power audience in Kapiti today, Miss Clark moved to match recent promises by Mr Key to help those who could be affected by the economic downturn.

Miss Clark gave no details in the speech but said there would be announcements in the next few days.

Later, she told journalists Labour had already announced training allowances for those who lost their jobs and statutory minimum redundancy payments.

"But I have something further to say about transitional allowances for people caught up in global events," Miss Clark said.

Miss Clark said she was referring to "individual support for a particular group" who were currently not getting assistance.

"We will have more to say about it."

But Mr Key said Miss Clark's move was designed to divert attention.

"I have no doubt that Helen Clark is playing catch-up and I have no doubt she is trying to move this latest embarrassing scandal on by creating some kind of package she can roll out to divert attention," he told reporters on the campaign trail in Queenstown.

"That's what she does all the time."

Papers released yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Official Information Act showed Mr Peters, as Foreign Affairs Minister, had pushed in 2007 for Mr Glenn to be given an honorary consul role in Monaco -- two years after the expatriate billionaire donated $100,000 towards his legal fees.

Mr Key said Labour was "behind the eight ball and trying to play catch-up".

He was not afraid Labour would try to gazump National with its own package.

"New Zealanders will assess the merits of each package."

Mr Key has said National's package will involve temporary cash grants for people with significant financial commitments, such as mortgages, who lose their job as a result of the gloomy global economy.

Miss Clark said she believed Mr Key was making up his economic policy as he went along and it would be wrong to use in such a way money gained by the government from bank guarantee fees.

"We are not planning to raid that."

Miss Clark's speech today heavily emphasised the state of the economy and which party was best suited to deal with it.

She said she believed the public mood for political change had faded in recent weeks because of the international financial crisis.

Labour had the policies to get New Zealand through the troubled times while National offered only slash and burn solutions, she said.

NZPA rolling poll of polls has National support strong

NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW: National still holds a commanding lead over Labour and NZPA's average of published opinion polls shows that with its allies it would have a majority in Parliament and be able to form a government.

That is what would happen if the poll results turned into election night reality, but there is an important unknown factor -- New Zealand First.

Because it doesn't hold an electorate seat and is polling below 5 percent it wouldn't have any seats, but that could change if Labour supporters vote tactically in Tauranga.

Labour can't win the seat, and if enough of them voted for Winston Peters they could ensure his party stays alive.

Mr Peters is still insisting he can work with either Labour or National after the election, but he appears to be deluding himself.

Nearly every day since the campaign began, National's leader John Key has reaffirmed his decision to have nothing to do with NZ First or Mr Peters -- even if that means staying in opposition.

His latest comments, made on the campaign trail yesterday, included describing Mr Peters as "a walking soap opera".

If NZ First does get back with six or seven seats, the way the numbers stack up changes significantly.

National would be short of a majority and it would be up to the Maori Party to decide which of the main parties forms the next government.

And while NZ First could become National's nemesis, Labour has a problem with its ally the Greens.

It's not about which way they will go, the Greens are committed to supporting a Labour-led government.

But their strength in the polls -- they have climbed to 7.5 percent which means nine seats -- has happened at Labour's expense.

That's why Labour leader Helen Clark has started emphasising the importance of the party vote.

Labour needs the Greens, but it doesn't want to bleed votes to them.

Miss Clark also knows the Greens aren't going to rubber stamp a coalition or support agreement. She's going to have to negotiate policy concessions with them after the election before the deal is signed.

The poll results show National's partner party, ACT, is hovering between two and three seats.

Party leader Rodney Hide is almost certain to win Epsom and ACT won't have to reach the 5 percent threshold for seats.

It has two MPs now, Mr Hide and Heather Roy, and at number three is the former Labour finance minister Sir Roger Douglas.

Miss Clark is using the possibility of Sir Roger being back in Parliament to scare voters with the spectre of a rampant right-wing National/ACT government.

National's leader, John Key, has countered that by ruling out Sir Roger being in his cabinet, or anywhere near it.

Labour's big task in the remaining days before the election is to close the gap on National.

It has been closing, but very slowly. On current polling National stands at 47.9 percent and Labour at 35.2 percent. Labour has to at least move into the high 30s or low 40s to have a genuine prospect of winning a fourth term.

Miss Clark believes that's possible. She thinks the "mood for change" which was clearly evident just a few weeks ago is changing as voters start to realise how badly the international economic downturn could hurt New Zealand.

She is pushing the message that this isn't the time to change the government and rely on an untested administration to take the country through bad times.

TV ad attacks Labour

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National has started a series of attack ads against Labour's record in office, using newspaper headlines about crime, health and education to push its message it is "time to change".

The party has changed tactics just as Labour starts the second of its "two Johns" ads, which seek to dent party leader John Key's credibility by highlighting his comments on issues such as KiwiSaver and Working for Families. The ad then asks, "Can you really trust John in the tough times ahead?"

National has opted not to fight back against Labour leader Helen Clark personally, instead choosing a "time to change" message in its three new television ads attacking Labour's record on health, education and crime.

The advertisements begin as faux-Labour ads, on a red background and acclaiming Labour's record over the past nine years.

They then show newspaper headlines about violent crime, P-labs, police deaths, teenage crime, prisoner escapes, waiting lists and hospital bed shortages, teacher shortages or the numbers of students failing at school.

Viewers are then asked if they really expect things to change if Labour is given "one last chance".

Mr Key's initial response to the first Labour ads against him last week was to laugh them off, saying it showed Labour had run out of ideas and had nowhere to go other than to get dirty.

Last week he said National would not retaliate in kind as Labour was making a big enough fool of itself.

National "cold-hearted" - United Future's Judy Turner

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: United Future deputy leader Judy Turner says the National Party, is regarded as "cold-hearted, tight-fisted and downright mean" in its treatment of the less well-off.

The party's leader Peter Dunne has declared he will support National after the election, not Labour in whose Government he is currently the Revenue Minister.

Ms Turner made the comments when releasing the party's social policy.

"I think even National MPs will admit that historically there have been times in history where they have taken a very hard line on some of New Zealand's citizens that were least able to cope with that harshness," she told Radio New Zealand.

"And I think there'll be people within National that are very glad that they've got an option of United Future rather than just ACT."

National Party leader John Key brushed off Judy Turner's comments, saying they are based on a historical view, and won't affect the two parties' relationship.

"Politics has always had its fair share of colourful expressions and language, I'm sure our relationship runs deeper than some colourful language from Judy Turner."

Nat candidate admits Smith's comments were racist

STUFF.CO.NZ: National's Kaikoura candidate has admitted comments about Asian and Pacific Island vineyard workers made by his colleague Lockwood Smith, the party's immigration spokesman, were racist.

Kaikoura MP Colin King was speaking at a candidate forum organised by the Marlborough Express in Blenheim last night.

Last week, Dr Smith told The Marlborough Express the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme could be expanded under a National government to include Asian workers, who were better pruners because they had smaller hands. He also said Pacific Islanders needed to be taught how to use toilets, showers and washing machines.

Dr Smith later apologised for his comments, which came after a series of meetings he had with winegrowers, contractors and the Marlborough District Council.

Mr King and other candidates contesting the Kaikoura and Te Tai Tonga electorates were asked at the final candidate forum whether they thought the comments were racist.

Mr King said they were, but lashed out at the Government, which he said had put Marlborough's brand at risk.

"(The Government) imposed a regime on Marlborough that it wanted to hide; it wanted to deflect that by pointing the finger at Lockwood Smith and saying racist.

"And on that basis we're living in a PC world that says if you speak out against a socialist then you are at risk ... it was interpreted as being racist and on that basis Lockwood Smith apologised, but I'm not happy with the way the Government put our brand at risk and I put the two Labour members on notice," he said, indicating Labour candidates for Kaikoura and Te Tai Tonga, Brian McNamara and Mahara Okeroa.

Both men, as well as Greens candidate Steffan Browning, said the comment was racist.

"It's racist and absolutely appalling," Mr Okeroa said to jeers from the audience of about 150.

However, ACT's Dave Tattersfield, Democrats for Social Credit's John McCaskey and Kiwi Party's Al Belcher said the comments were not racist.

"I think his comments were an observation of reality," Mr Belcher said.

NZ First candidate Linda Waimarie King did not give an answer.

"I don't engage in that sort of thing, I know very little about it."

Candidates were also challenged on their policies for education, health, the environment, energy, marriage and abortion. Blenheim teacher Dave Paterson asked what they would do to reduce class sizes.

"With the best will in the world, with a class of 34, I can only give them 10 minutes each."

Most candidates spoke about the policies their parties had introduced, or planned to introduce, to tackle class sizes, but Mr McCaskey, who has sought election intermittently since 1972, said Mr Paterson had asked a "corny old question".

"That's been coming up since I was a boy. We had one teacher and she used to come out on the train with that rotten milk we used to have to drink," he said, provoking knowing laughter from the audience.

When asked if he had confidence he would still have a job next year, Mr McNamara, a contract teacher at Marlborough Boys' College said he looked forward to taking advantage of some of Labour's re-training programmes for the unemployed.

The school could be forced to lay off staff after failed ventures left it with a debt of up to $1 million.

The Labour candidate to doesn't pay school fees

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: A Labour stand-in education spokeswoman told an election meeting last night that she did not pay school donations and called on parents to protest against them.

Viv Goldsmith - a teacher who is standing for Labour in East Coast Bays - was filling in for Education Minister Chris Carter at a political forum in Auckland when she encouraged people to lobby Mr Carter on the issue of school donations.

The mother said in response to a question from an angry parent that she never paid them.

"We send our request for fees directly to the minister every time we get them," she said.

The meeting, organised by the Quality Public Education Coalition, erupted in cheers and laughter.

"I think more people should take the challenge like I do and let the minister know," she said.

The rest of Ms Goldsmith's answer followed a more regular political line, drawing attention to increases in schools' operations grant in past Budgets.

Mr Carter had been present at the start of the meeting but left early to attend another engagement.

The issue of school donations has been a hot topic for parents and school staff alike.

The School Trustees Association has repeatedly said schools are underfunded to an extent that funds raised in the community were spent on essentials rather than "nice to haves". In June, 15 North Shore schools - including Rangitoto College, the country's largest school, Takapuna Grammar and Northcote College - said they would not engage in the Government's Schools Plus initiative until the "dire" funding situation was recognised.

The group claimed 51 per cent of their finances e was raised from community sources, such as international students fees, community trusts, family donations and fundraising.

Mr Carter has repeatedly defended the level of funding to schools.

He has pointed out that education spending overall has almost doubled since 1999.

This year's Budget included a 5 per cent - or $171.6 million - increase over the four years for schools' operations funding.

This included $65.3 million to help meet new technology costs.

Mr Carter could not be contacted for comment later last night.

Key may have links to NZ's biggest white collar crime

STUFF.CO.NZ: National Party leader John Key faces accusations of misleading the public about his knowledge of one of New Zealand's most notorious white collar crimes.

An item posted on the NZ Herald's website said the allegations centred around the so-called H-Fee - two payments totalling $A66.5 million to Equiticorp funnelled via sham foreign exchange transactions in 1988 - and an interview Mr Key gave the Herald last year.

During the interview in August 2007, Mr Key confirmed he worked as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Merchant finance, part of Elders IXL, which made the payments to the Allan Hawkins-controlled Equiticorp.

But he said he left Elders in 1987, before the transactions were processed.

"Three months before any of these deals got decided I left Elders...I was never involved in them," Mr Key said during the interview.

The Herald said it had checked court documents made public by the Labour Party which included the fact that Mr Key resigned from Elders in June 1988, six months after the first payment.

It said there was no evidence Mr Key was involved in handling the sham transactions.

The Herald said it had read the 13,000 page court file in Melbourne which contained a statement by Mr Key in which he said he resigned from Elders on June 24, 1988, and was immediately placed on leave because he was going to a rival company.

It said Labour was planning to drop the "bombshell" on the election campaign trail tomorrow.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said if the Herald had published the story then they obviously believed there were questions to answer.

Miss Clark said it was not a story that she was handling, but whether it was a bombshell depended on the answers to the questions raised by the story.

Asked if it was appropriate for Labour to be digging around in Mr Key's past, Miss Clark said the lives of political leaders were open books.

Gang commission proposed by Labour

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: Labour will establish a Commission of Inquiry into gangs and organised crime if it wins the election, Police Minister Annette King said today.

She told the Police Association conference the commission would establish the extent of gang involvement in organised crime and its findings would provide a stocktake on the level of organised criminal activity in New Zealand.

"There has been a whole range of local solutions put forward to deal with criminal gang activities," she said.

"We need to ensure that any future measures we put in place continue to be effective."

Ms King said the commission would study not only the involvement of gangs in organised crime but also recruitment and other behaviour.

It would be asked to determine appropriate measures to curb and control gangs.

The commission would draw on police experience in New Zealand and would study overseas jurisdictions which were facing similar issues and problems.

The Police Association welcomed Ms King's announcement.

Association president Greg O'Connor said his organisation had been calling for an inquiry for several years, and the response had usually been that it would not reveal anything that was not already known.

"We simply don't know the full extent of organised crime penetration in New Zealand," Mr O'Connor said.

"But we do know we have a serious and growing problem with a violent street gang culture, especially among Maori and Pacific youth."

He said it was also known that traditional gangs such as the motorcycle gangs, ethnic gangs and now Asian organised crime had extended beyond "the poorer end of town" into syndication and franchising.

"Gangs are getting smarter, richer, their sphere of influence is growing by the day and the threat they pose is becoming ever more insidious," he said.

National's justice spokesman, Simon Power, said New Zealanders would be offended by Ms King's announcement.

He said Labour's only response to the scourge was to form a committee.

"Why should the public believe this is anything other than a way of avoiding any real action on gangs?" he said.

"National, more than a year ago, announced a number of concrete steps to clamp down on gangs including:

* Making it easier for police to conduct surveillance on gang communications;

* Giving police more power to storm and remove gang fortifications;

* Strengthening the law that makes it illegal to be a member of a gang; and

* Making gang membership an aggravating factor in sentencing.

"Compared those frontline actions to Labour's musings," he said.

Radical health reform proposed by Act

ONE NEWS: The Act Party wants to get rid of district health boards and put doctors and nurses in charge of hospital departments.

Act's deputy leader, Heather Roy, launched the party's health policy and says it has remedies for the poor governance and mis-management of the public health system.

"The public perception is that no one can fix health," Roy says.

"The common misconception is that pouring more money in is the only solution.

"When we accept that there is only so much taxpayers' money - and therefore rationing using public funds is inevitable - we can begin making some sensible decisions."

She says Act will inject a one-off payment of $500 million to clear hospital waiting lists.

Co-operation between public and private providers will be established for efficiency gains.

Hospitals will compete for delivering services by improving quality and lowering prices.

The Ministry of Health will be separated from day-to-day healthcare delivery. Its functions will be determined. "It isn't there to protect the health minister from an embarrassing situation."

DHBs will be disbanded and replaced with small, appointed committees to run local operations.

"DHBs are elected under phoney democratic processes," Roy says.

"In reality their job is to implement the government of the day's health policies. This farce of 21 DHBs replicating services nationwide needs to end."

There will be a return to the general medical subsidy, where doctors are paid a fee for service. Community cards will be used to determine the level of subsidy, which will be graduated depending on the cardholder's socio-economic status.

Business Roundtable release hospital productivity report

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The National Party says a report from the Business Roundtable pointing to a continued decline in the productivity of public hospitals contains nothing new and offers no solutions.

The report said the average cost of hospital services rose 18% between 2001 and 2006, but overall staff productivity fell by 8%.

Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr said this was despite large increases in health spending.

He said the report backs 2005 Treasury findings of a fall in hospital efficiency at that time.

Expenditure in the sector accounts for a fifth of Government spending.

National Party health spokeperson Tony Ryall said the report appears consistent with conclusions from the Treasury over the past few years.

Health Minister David Cunliffe said the fundamental weakness in the report is that it confuses efficiency with effectiveness.

Former Treasury Secretary Dr Graham Scott, who wrote the foreward to the report, said health funding has been increasing by about 8.5% a year.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Dr Ian Powell said the report was weak and information has been manipulated to make an ideological point.

Calls to be tougher on crime in Radio NZ debate

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: More prisons, police and and tougher sentencing are being advocated by the National and New Zealand First parties in the fight against crime.

But in a debate on Law and Order on Nine to Noon on Radio New Zealand National on Tuesday 28 October, the Maori Party argued the way to fight the increasing level of violent crime is to deal with the causes.

Labour's corrections spokesperson Phil Goff defended the party's policies of the past nine years, pointing to the introduction of tougher legislation on bail, sentencing, parole and gangs.

He also says police numbers have increased by 2,500 and despite an increase in violent crime, the overall crime rate is down.

"We have had an increase in crime, particularly violent crime, but the police tell us that the vast majority of that is in the domestic sphere. They say that back in the 1990s, maybe one domestic violent incident in five was reported."

National's corrections spokesperson Simon Power says Labour is underplaying the level of violent crime, which he says has increased by 46% over the past nine years.

He says National's policies would get the worst offenders off the streets by building more prisons and ensuring the worst repeat offenders do not get parole.

"We've got to keep the community safe and the fact is that the prison population is the end product of a more violent society," Mr Power says.

New Zealand First's corrections spokesperson Ron Mark is also calling for tougher sentencing.

But the Maori Party's Pita Sharples says stiffer penalties do not deter potential criminals and the best way to deal with crime is to fight the real enemies such as poverty and ignorance.

"I've been working in prisons since 1972, and I still am, and criminals don't think like that. You've got to fight the real enemy which is poverty, which is not having stuff, is ignorance, so it's about getting attack from the community by putting better education out, education that means people to read or write, that can get to the youth."

Listen to the debate

Brownlee attacked over energy shares

STUFF.CO.NZ: National's energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee has defended himself against accusations he should have declared he had shares in Contact Energy.

Mr Brownlee had asked questions and given speeches which related to Contact and wider energy policy, the left wing Labour-aligned Standard website said.

Mr Brownlee owned shares in the company at the time and should have disclosed them, the website said.

Mr Brownlee disclosed the shareholding when the MPs register of pecuniary interests came into force in 2006.

The blog site said Mr Brownlee used his privileges as an MP to obtain information that gave him special information on the value of those shares.

Mr Brownlee told reporters today he had only a few hundred shares, which hardly amounted to a pecuniary interest.

He had transferred them to one of his children after taking on the energy portfolio for National.

Before the register of interests came into effect MPs were required under Parliament's rules to declare financial interests in certain circumstances, such as when debating legislation concerning those interests.

Such declarations have been very rare with various Speakers' rulings stating they were only necessary when business before the House had a legal effect and caused a benefit.

Various rulings have also narrowed the need for any MP to declare a financial interest, with one ruling stating that even holding a shareholding in a company which stood to gain from general legislation did not constitute a financial interest for an MP in dealing with that law change.

Labour reinforces ACC plan

ONE NEWS: Labour says it is committed to keeping ACC in public ownership.

Helen Clark and MP Maryan Street released the party's policy in Motueka on Tuesday afternoon saying if elected, accident compensation will not be opened up to competition from insurance companies.

"Our ACC scheme exists as a public service with the sole focus on supporting people who have been injured. That is very different from the mandate of private insurers, who exist primarily to be profitable," Clark says.

The policy is in contrast to National's ACC policy, which was released in July.

National will allow insurers to compete with the Accident Compensation Corporation for the multi-million dollar business of compensating injured workers.

ACC receives a claim every 17 seconds for accidents at home, work, while driving or playing sport, paying out $2.4 billion last year in compensation and rehabilitation.

Under National, all employers will be able to get coverage from private insurers instead of ACC, essentially giving insurance companies access to an estimated $640 million a year in premium income.

"We're not afraid of a little competition and ACC shouldn't be either," John Key said when releasing the policy.

But releasing the Labour policy on Tuesday Maryan Street says research from PricewaterhouseCoopers found ACC offers broader coverage, faster return to work rates, lower costs and fewer legal disputes than alternative schemes around the world.

"The report, completed earlier this year, also found that employer levies in Australia were 250% higher than in New Zealand," she says.

Labour also says planned changes to the ACC scheme will see car registration costs drop by by the middle of next year.

The party will introduce an immediate law change to push the full funding of residual claim accounts back from the planned 2014 deadline to 2019. They say it has become increasingly clear the 2014 date will place too high a burden on the public.

The result will mean lower payments on some ACC levies, including a drop by an average $80 for the cost of registering a vehicle.

Unions concerned by National's prison numbers

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National Party leader John Key is "saying all the right things" when it comes to prisons but a union leader worries about the cost.

John Key said National would increase the number of prisoners in work schemes, review screening and treatment for prisoners with mental health programmes, expand literacy and arithmetic programmes and investigate the privatisation of prison management.

Corrections association president Beven Hanlon said the union would like to see more programmes in prisons but it is concerned that the only way National would be able to pay for extended programmes, tougher sentences and more prisons would be to cut the wages of prison staff.

He said the minor corruption cases in the corrections sector could increase in seriousness if pay packets were cut.

"Start paying peanuts and see what happens," Mr Hanlon said.

He said whether prisons are run publicly or privately, the tax payer still ends up paying.

"The scary thing for corrections officers around the country because the rest of the world is moving away from private prisons. Private prisons were the rage 15 years ago, they're now falling over. We would hate to see prisons the next thing that the government has to buy back - we would hate to see KiwiPrisons," Mr Hanlon said.

Mr Hanlon said the union would have liked to have seen the National party talk about the risks that corrections officers face. He said everyday corrections officers are assaulted.

The National Party is pledging to boost the number of prisoners learning industry-based skills and double those receiving intensive drug and alcohol treatment.

National Party leader John Key said today re-offending rates were too high and inmates had to learn to change their behaviour.

"At present, 43 per cent of all prisoners, and 65 per cent of those under 20, re-offend within a year of release, and we must do more to change that," Mr Key said.

"It's a waste of taxpayer money to let these people serve their time without challenging them to change their behaviour - only to release them and then throw them back into prison again when they re-offend."

Imprisonment should not just be a punishment but also give an opportunity for rehabilitation.

"Prisoners work just 15 hours per week on average, and that has to change. It's not good for anyone to have these people sitting around all day doing nothing," Mr Key said.

A National-led government would boost the number of prisoners learning industry-based skills through Corrections Inmate Employment by 1000 by 2011, at an estimated cost of $7 million.

That would increase the number of prisoners in skills-based work to 3500.

Mr Key said National was also concerned at the lack of drug and alcohol treatment beds for prisoners.

National would double the number of prisoners who are able to receive such treatment to 1000 by 2011. This was estimated to cost $3.4 million.

Mr Key said National would also allow the private sector to tender for the management of prisons on a case-by-case basis.

There was one privately run prison under the last National government, but Labour overturned this following the 1999 election,

Mr Key said National will be looking for a much better performance from the Corrections Department.

"There is also widespread public scepticism resulting from facilities such as under-floor heating and flat screen televisions now available to prisoners, especially in the new prisons," Mr Key said.

"The National Party believes prisoners should be treated humanely, but that prison facilities should be in keeping with public expectations, reflecting the fact that prisoners are paying a debt to society."

National would:

* Ensure prisoners who are able to work but refuse are not eligible for parole;

* Carry out a stock-take of support available to released prisoners, including substance abuse treatment, accommodation and employment;

* Talk to private enterprise about opportunities for meaningful work and training for prisoners;

* Investigate whether money earned from inmate labour could be directed into victim reparations, families, or a savings fund for their release;

* Re-visit the rules around eligibility for rehabilitation programmes;

* Review screening and treatment of prisoners with mental health problems;

* Expand prison literacy programmes.

United Future lists policies National should introduce

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: United Future has started listing the social policies it wants a National-led government to introduce.

Party leader Peter Dunne announced on Sunday he would back National after the election, under a deal that assures him of a ministerial position.

He is at present Minister of Revenue under Labour, but he has turned his back on the party and says National is better placed to deliver the stability and direction New Zealand needs.

United Future's only other MP, Judy Turner, said today the intention was to "knock the rough edges" off National.

"National is often regarded as cold-hearted, tight-fisted and downright mean when it comes to dealing with the less well off," she said.

"It will be United Future's job to ensure that help and resources get to those in greatest need and with as little bureaucratic interference as possible."

Ms Turner said an example was grandparents looking after grandchildren because the parents were too ill or drug-addicted to do the job.

"These people are under incredible financial and physical pressure, yet they receive less help from the state than foster parents," she said.

"We also want to see balance brought back into the Family Court so that shared parenting is the default position where both parents indicate they want to play a part in raising their children."

The party also wants DNA testing to be allowed so that fathers who contribute to family support arrangements can be certain they are supporting their own children.

It also wants pay parity between nurses employed by district health boards and those employed in resthomes.

Ms Turned said those were just some of the areas her party would work on.

Labour can entrench seats - welcomed by Maori Party

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Labour Party is now saying it cannot see a problem with entrenching the seven Maori seats, despite saying that it would not do so two days ago.

It is a bottom line for the Maori Party in any post-election deal with either National or Labour.

On Sunday 26 October Labour leader Helen Clark said there was no point entrenching the Maori seats, as her party is committed to their existence.

But on Tuesday 28 October Miss Clark said she had no problem in agreeing to do so.

"We're very committed to the Maori electoral option, which determines how many seats there actually are. I don't have any particular difficulty with entrenching those.

The Maori Party has a bill ready for the entrenchment of the Maori seats, under which a 75% majority vote in Parliament would be needed to get rid of them.

Co-leader Tariana Turia says both National and Labour would have to agree to that if they want to work with her party after the election.

Mrs Turia says she is surprised but pleased by Miss Clark's latest comments.

"Because it's not too long ago that they were saying that they didn't see the reason to entrench the seats because they would never go unless Maori people said so, but we never ever have had the political will for the seats to be entrenched before so yes, I'm pleased that Labour have said that they will."

Listen to Helen Clark talking to media in Motueka

Listen to more on Checkpoint

Listen to Tariana Turia talking to political reporter Kate Williamson

Labour will do 'anything' - Key

National Party leader John Key says he has always known that Helen Clark and Labour will do whatever it takes, not because they care about the issues that matter but because they care about keeping National out of Government.

He says National will hold its negotiations with support partners after the election, and not through the media.

Clark replies

Miss Clark says the Maori Party needs to realise that the seven seats are safer under Labour than National.

She says people are deluding themselves if they think entrenchment makes the Maori seats safe from a right-wing government.

Miss Clark says National could still overturn it with a 50% majority.

Claims National's plan to help jobless will create inequalities

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: National's leader John Key is denying the party's plan to provide assistance to victims of the recession would create inequities.

He has also been pushed to reveal more details about how the party intends to pay for the policy.

Mr Key floated the idea on Saturday 25 October, but will not yet give details, saying the full plan will be released later this week.

He has said help would be provided on a short-term basis to cover mortgage, rent and other bills.

On Monday 27 October he indicated it would come in the form of a grant.

The Greens say offering assistance to middle income earners with large mortgages would see some unemployed receive more help than others.

But Mr Key rejects that, saying helping people out on a temporary basis is the response of a compassionate government.

He declined to comment on speculation the policy would be funded from earnings generated by the bank deposit scheme.

Listen to John Key answering reporters' questions

For more on this, listen to Checkpoint

Mixed coalition prospects - poll

ONE NEWS: An overwhelming majority of New Zealanders believe that the party with the most votes should get to lead the government.
The latest ONE News Colmar Brunton poll suggests there could be a backlash if Labour comes a distant second to National but still forms a multi-party coalition.

There is a real fear that a string of minor parties may help influence the election outcome and get Labour back into power.
Even if National gets tens of thousands more votes than Labour, Helen Clark could still cobble together a multi-party coalition from second place.

But nearly 80% of people think that the party with the most votes should be the one that gets to lead the government, with just 15% disagreeing.

"We'll certainly be arguing very strongly that the largest party has the moral mandate to put together a government that is the will of the New Zealand people and I think all political parties would be sensible to consider that," says National Party leader John Key.

Key says it will be a five-headed monster if Labour does take power, but he believes history is on his side.

"All of the last four MMP elections have reflected that the largest party formed the government and I think that just reflects the will of the people. It's called democracy," says Key.

But Labour Party leader Helen Clark sees democracy working quite differently.

"If those who want to be in a government where Labour is the major party command the majority support of the parliament, there should of course be a Labour-led government," says Clark.

ONE News also asked voters whether they would like to see National or Labour take charge alone without needing any coalition partners.

Forty-seven-percent wanted one of the major parties to govern alone - a dead heat with those who want National or Labour to govern in coalition with other parties.

Clark says this is old first-past-the-post thinking.

"There's not going to be a winner-takes-all-government, there is going to be a government led by the party that can put together, a community of interest of parties," says Clark.

And there will be considerable interest from the voting community about whether they get the government they feel they voted for.

The minor parties will be attending the ONE News leaders' debate on Monday evening.

The debate is considered very significant for the parties because they don't get much attention during the election campaigning, with Labour and National getting nearly all the air time.

The debate can also help a party that is trailing in the polls.

Back in 2002, UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne came out as the winner in the minor parties' debate, helping him gain eight MPs in parliament.

This year, it's important for NZ First Party leader Winston Peters, who unlike the other party leaders, is without an electorate seat and desperately needs to get above the 5% threshold. Latest polls show he is still trailing behind that mark.

Pacific television channel on the cards - Labour

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Labour Party says it would establish a Pacific Islands television channel to ensure Pasifika perspectives, culture and languages are reflected on air.

The idea is part of Labour's Pacific Islands Affairs policy released in Auckland on Monday 27 October.

The details are yet to be worked through.

Labour leader Helen Clark says New Zealand On Air would determine the most cost effective way of launching the channel, which could be a free-to-air digital station.

She says New Zealand has the largest Pacific Islands population in the world, and so for Pasifika culture to flourish, it must flourish in New Zealand.

Miss Clark says she expects the channel would be a mix of English and Pacific languages, like the Pacific radio station Nui FM.

Labour's Pacific Affairs spokesperson Luamanuvao Winnie Laban says the Pacific community is hugely excited by the idea.

She says Pacific identity is central to New Zealand's identity and enjoyed by both Pasifika and Palangi people.

Listen to more on this from Checkpoint

Peters' announces economic solution

RADIO LIVE: Winston Peters has come up with a solution that he believes would save Kiwis from the economic crisis.

The New Zealand First leader told an audience at Auckland's Massey High School this afternoon we are facing dangerous times and the security of New Zealanders must be paramount.

Mr Peters is promising if his party makes it into the next government he would review the bond market and set up an Infrastructure Bond System.

Mr Peters is also is proposing a Homeowners Equity Access Scheme to assist people to meet their outgoings.

Expats begin voting

3 NEWS: While the big day for voting in New Zealand election is November 8th, overseas it has already begun.

Expat Kiwis are already casting their votes and with an estimated half a million people eligible to vote, the expats could be a deciding factor in marginal seats.

"It's really about exercising your right to vote as a New Zealander," Anna Groot from Kiwi Expats Abroad says. "If you have that right then I think it's really important that living in a democracy, that you exercise that right so that every vote goes towards the final solution."

A good party can be more important than good politics to many expat Kiwis - especially in London. However, with an increasing number of Kiwis choosing to remain offshore, the Every Vote Counts campaign is rallying them to reconnect with home.

A recent study in Britain found that only 22 percent of Kiwis living abroad planned to return home permanently, which raises questions about whether long-term expats should be eligible to vote.

Alan Gamelan, a Kiwi academic at Oxford University who carried out the survey, says historically expat kiwis only vote if they feel they have a stake in New Zealand.

"Some of the things that could be defined as holding a stake are planning to return one day, being brought up in New Zealand and identifying deeply with the country, and having family and extended family," Mr Gamelan says. "Those are the kind of things that could be defined as having a stake in New Zealand society."

Kateia Burrows has lived in London for nine years. She voted in the last election and says that she will vote next month too.

"I want to feel connected, I want to contribute to decisions being made about my country," she says. "But over that I feel it's really important as a Maori woman to vote and have a say about New Zealand and what's important to its future."

Only 28,000 ex-pats voted in the last election, despite an estimated 500,000 being eligible. The Every Vote Counts campaign hopes thousands more will vote this year, ensuring that expats help shape the future of New Zealand.

Labour's employment relations policy praised by unions

3 NEWS: Workers’ unions are pleased with Labour's employment relations policy released yesterday that will see union members rewarded for their hard work.

The Council of Trade Unions says that at the moment many employers negotiate with unions, but then offer non-unionised members the same deal anyway.

It serves as a means for discouraging employees to join the union as they will get the deal no matter what.
CTU president Helen Kelly says workers who join a union should be rewarded for their negotiating efforts.

Labour releases health policy and targets lifestyle factors

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Labour Party's health policy targets disease and disability caused by obesity, tobacco, alcohol and preventable cancers.

The policy, released on Monday 27 October, outlines Labour's vision for an affordable and accessible health system, but there is no new spending to go with it.

Party leader Helen Clark says Labour is committed to screening and vaccination programmes such as bowel and breast cancer screening and the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer.

She says Labour wants to link primary health organisations with district health boards through plans which would identify barriers to accessing health services and gaps in care.

Miss Clark says as economic conditions improve, Labour would work to future reduce the cost of doctors' visits, targeting those over 65 and aged between six and 17.

It would also prioritise shorter waiting times for cardiac, cancer and orthopaedic treatment as well as boosting medical school student numbers by 100 by 2011.

One News/Colmar Brunton Poll: Lab/Nat gap narrows

ONE NEWS: National's John Key will need a few friends if he wants to head the next government, according to the latest ONE News Colmar Brunton poll.

The poll released on Sunday shows National without an absolute majority for the first time in a year.

The last poll a week ago showed National 14 points ahead of Labour, but this has now narrowed to 12 points.

The National Party has dropped back three points, down to 47%. Labour has also dropped back by one point, now on 35%. Labour's friends, the Green Party have bounced back, up to 8%. Meanwhile, New Zealand First is on 3%, edging closer to the magic 5% threshold.

The Maori Party is sitting on 2.8%, however, their focus is on the electorate seats, so they will not be too concerned with the low party vote. The Act Party is still just above 2%.

Under those numbers, National has 59 seats in parliament and would need the three Act seats to get a majority of 62. UnitedFuture has one seat and would line up with National.

In opposition, Labour has 44 seats, the Greens have 10 and the Progessives one seat.

The Maori Party has four seats, but will not yet say who they will side with, and with these numbers, New Zealand First is out of parliament.

Key is still the preferred choice for Prime Minister on 38% but the race has closed right up. Clark is now breathing down Key's neck on 37%, up by three points. Meanwhile, 3% of voters want Winston Peters to run the country.

It is now shaping up to be a close election, with much coming down to how some of the smaller parties do and who can form a coalition.

Labour announces Maori Affairs policy

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Labour Party has issued its Maori affairs policy, promising to continue to help Maori into houses and jobs.

Leader Helen Clark announced the policy on Sunday, 26 October, at Otamatea Marae in Northland.

Miss Clark said that under the Labour Government, Maori unemployment has fallen from 44,000 to 6,500.

She said Labour would continue to increase industry training so that 10% of the Maori workforce is in recognised training by 2011.

Miss Clark said Labour would help Maori realise the full potential of their fisheries and aquaculture assets, and increase funding for Maori housing programmes.

Labour also pledged its commitment to retaining the Maori electoral option which determines the number of Maori seats - the abolition of which is a current sticking point between the Maori Party and the National Party.

"I know that Maoridom very much want a Labour-led government back," Miss Clark said.

"I also know how much the Maori seats mean to Maoridom. Ever since the Maori electoral option was introduced, which could have seen the number of seats go down or up, they've gone up and that tells us that Maori want that choice and it should never be taken away from them."

Greens cost Labour potential alley - United Future

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National is privately hoping that allies Act and United Future might pull a combined 5 per cent of the party vote at the election, which could yet be enough to fire John Key into the ninth floor of the Beehive.

United Future leader Peter Dunne yesterday threw his party in behind National and ruled out working with Labour after the November 8 election.

This is despite Mr Dunne being a minister in the Labour-led Government and enjoying a ministerial car and salary until the election.

Mr Dunne met Mr Key in Wellington yesterday and when the pair emerged, the United Future leader said National's policies more closely aligned with his party's at a time when the economy was particularly important.

Asked if he would work again with Labour, Mr Dunne said United Future had "probably gone as far as we can in a number of key portfolio areas with them".

He pointed to the likelihood of the strong-polling Greens playing a big role in a potential Labour-led government and suggested that wouldn't work well with his party.

"Particularly some of the impediments that the likely involvement of the Greens would bring to that government make it difficult to see how we could advance the policies we are most interested in."

He categorically stated that United Future would not give its support to a Labour-led government.

The move comes after months of open flirtation with National by Mr Dunne, who has been Revenue Minister in Prime Minister Helen Clark's third-term Government.

He did not inform Helen Clark of his decision before yesterday's press conference, but she appeared to guess what was going on when she gave a media interview at a remote Northland location out of cellphone range.

"I'm not particularly troubled by what's been announced today," Helen Clark said.

"I hope we'll be in a strong position to form a government across a number of parties.

"It will have little effect on the election because Peter Dunne's party has very low levels of support - it may only return him as an MP."

In the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey United Future polled just 0.2 per cent support, but Mr Dunne appears likely to hold on to his Ohariu electorate seat and return to Parliament. He denied a suggestion he might have been in trouble in the seat.

National sources have indicated to the Herald some hope Mr Dunne could lift his party's vote in the final fortnight of the campaign, and together with Act poll a combined total of around 5 per cent. It could still turn out that National would need the Maori Party to govern, but it may not.

Progressives leader and Labour ally Jim Anderton called on Mr Dunne to give up his ministerial post now, as well as the car and other trimmings.

"It's not a good look to drive around in a ministerial car saying you want to get rid of the Government you are still part of," Mr Anderton said.

It is understood United Future went further than National expected it to when it decided to back Mr Key's party.

Mr Dunne's move has clinched a ministerial role for him in a National Cabinet if Mr Key becomes Prime Minister, although neither side was willing to speculate on potential portfolios.

It appears National is also campaigning predominantly for the party vote in the Ohariu seat, leaving open the likely return of Mr Dunne.

National list MP Katrina Shanks, who is contesting the seat, said she was campaigning for a change of government and that meant the party vote.

Asked what she would do if a person asked her whether they should vote for Mr Dunne, Ms Shanks said: "I'd say first and foremost, I'm after your party vote - if you want to give me the electorate tick, then I'd love to have that as well."

The latest One News/Colmar Brunton political poll last night put National on 47 per cent support and Labour on 35 per cent. The Greens were up to 8 per cent, New Zealand First was on 3 per cent, the Maori Party on 3 per cent, Act on 2 per cent and United Future on 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Labour released its employment relations policy yesterday, promising to stand by workers during the economic crisis.

Greens want to freeze dividends to Aussie banks

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Green Party says Australian-owned banks should be stopped from sending dividends to their parent companies during the global financial crisis.

The call came after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand approved the purchase of residential mortgage-backed securities worth $8.7 billion for the ANZ National and Westpac banks.

The banks were the first to take up an offer by the Reserve Bank to provide extra liquidity during the global financial crisis.

The British government has taken a stake in many banks and in return, stopped the payment of dividends.

Greens co-leader Russel Norman says the Reserve Bank should do the same and make overseas-owned banks keep profits in New Zealand, until the crisis is over.

Neither Finance Minister Michael Cullen nor the Reserve Bank would comment on the Green Party proposal.

Westpac says it has not drawn on the facility yet, but may if market conditions remain difficult.

Polls good news for Maori Party

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: The Maori Party's hopes of winning all seven Maori seats in this year's election have been boosted by two opinion polls released today.

They show the party's candidate in Te Tai Tonga, Rahui Reid Katene holding a slender lead over sitting Labour MP Mahara Okeroa while in Hauraki-Waikato, Customs Minister Nania Mahuta was almost dead-heating with the Maori Party's Angeline Greensill.

But the DigiPoll surveys carried out for TV One's Marae programme also showed the party vote moving strongly towards Labour in Hauraki-Waikato and Te Tai Tonga.

In the Te Tai Tonga candidate vote, Mrs Katene rated 46.1 per cent against Mr Okoroa's 40.4 per cent while in Hauraki-Waikato Ms Mahuta rated 50.3 per cent against Ms Greensill's 49.7 per cent.

The margin of error for the polls which questioned 400 voters and were conducted between October 8 and October 21 was plus or minus 4.9 per cent.

Although the polls showed close races in both electorates, the swing in the party vote was back towards Labour.

In Hauraki-Waikato Labour was almost dead-heated with the Maori Party 41.3 per cent to 41 per cent. This reversed an almost 11 percentage point gap in the Maori Party's favour in a July poll.

In Te Tai Tonga Labour increased its lead to 14 percentage points to 44 per cent after both parties were within one percentage point of each other in the July poll.

In the 2005 election throughout the Maori seats, party votes went overwhelmingly to Labour and created a situation which would have made it very difficult for the Maori Party to support a National-led government.

A strong party vote for the Maori Party would give it more flexibility in dealing with the main parties after this year's election.

The Maori Party won four of the seven Maori seats in 2005 and hopes it can capture all of them this year.

National wants relief for recession jobless

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: National Party leader John Key is confident of being able to fund a promise to help out people hit by the credit crisis.

While campaigning in Canterbury, at the Rangiora A & P Show, on Saturday 25 October, Mr Key signalled his party's intention to offer short-term relief to people who lose their jobs due to the recession.

Mr Key has declined to flesh out the initiatives.

But he told the Agenda programme on TV One on Sunday 26 October National would help people with liabilities and commitments who lost their jobs - but were confident of getting back into employment.

Mr Key was asked about the cost of such moves.

"We are confident we can fund it. We're confident we have a sense at least of the numbers but it's going to be very important, I think, to put some confidence into those New Zealanders."

Financial obligations

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Key said National was being briefed by the Government on the ongoing consideration of the banking deposit guarantee scheme.

Mr Key says National wants to ensure there is liquidity in the money markets, and is looking at how to provide short-term relief to people who lose their jobs due to the recession.

He says National would want to help people meet their financial obligations, whether it be mortgage, rent or other bills.

He would not be more specific, about for example whether that would take the form of a grant or an interest-free loan, saying the detailed plan will be released in due course.

"For those who might be tossed out of the labour markets at the moment as we go through this economic turmoil, National have more to say in the next week or two about how it is we want to provide support to New Zealanders that might lose their job on a temporary basis, because they have commitments and liabilities that they'll need to continue to meet."

'No credibility' - Clark

Labour's leader Helen Clark says the National Party has no credibility when it comes to trying to help people in a depression.

She says when unemployment went through the roof in the early 1990s, National cut benefits, put up state house rentals, and charged people to go to hospital.

John Key looking at tourism

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National leader John Key has revealed he would like to take the tourism portfolio if he becomes Prime Minister, arguing that it offers big economic opportunities and is all about branding the country.

Mr Key made the comments on TV One's Agenda programme yesterday when he was pushed to say what portfolio he would want.

"It's no great secret, my interest would be to consider taking the tourism portfolio," Mr Keysaid.

"That's my thought process at this point, and the reason for that is I think it's a massive industry for New Zealand, where we can do an awful lot better."

Prime Minister Helen Clark holds the arts, culture and heritage portfolio along with her responsibilities at the helm of the Labour-led Government.

Former Labour Prime Minister David Lange held the education portfolio, while Sir Robert Muldoonwas Finance Minister while also being PrimeMinister.

Mr Key said tourism was potentially New Zealand's largest export earner.

National's current spokesman on tourism is long-serving MP Lindsay Tisch.

Green Party billboard "best ad"

STUFF.CO.NZ: A Green Party election campaign billboard has won international recognition in an online showcase for top advertising work from around the world.

The billboard, showing a young girl standing on a jetty by the sea with the words "Vote for me, Party Vote Green" imposed over her, has been selected as best outdoor advertising of the week on BestadsonTV.com website.

The guest judge who selected the billboard was Alan Russell, chief creative officer, DDB Canada, Vancouver. Mr Russell was Strategy Magazine's top-ranked copywriter for five consecutive years, and has been named in Advertising Age's List of Top 10 Creatives.

The ad was designed for the Green Party by Auckland-based, independent agency Special Group.

Green Party campaign manager Gary Reese said public response to the campaign had been rewarding.

"People really understand, in a simple heart-felt way, that it represents core Green Party values like caring for our children, our planet and our future," he said.

Green MP condemns trade during Radio NZ debate

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Green Party has condemned the trade policies of both major parties in the latest Radio New Zealand election debate.

The debate, titled Our Place in the World, covered trade and defence but also touched on the ongoing world financial crisis.

The New Zealand First and Maori Parties did not take part in the forum, but the Greens, Labour, National, United Future, ACT and the Progressives were represented.

On trade, Green MP Keith Locke was the only one to take a different view, questioning the link between trade and human rights, but was told by National MP Tim Groser the best way to promote human rights was through quiet, diplomatic channels.

Mr Locke was not impressed, and said New Zealand seemed particularly coy when it came to the record of its large trading partners.

Listen to political editor Brent Edwards on Morning Report summing up the debate

To listen to this and earlier debates in full go to radionz.co.nz

Greens release agriculture policy

NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW: The Green Party today launched an agricultural policy which calls for 15 percent of the nation's farms to be going organic by 2015, and for half of farm production to be organic by 2020.

Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimmons told the crowd at the Hastings Agricultural and Pastoral Show -- where the National Party released its agricultural policy yesterday -- that an essential part of the strategy was keeping New Zealand farming GE free.

"It's vital we retain and build on our international reputation as a clean, green country as this underpins our export industry," she said.

Making common-sense changes towards sustainable farming techniques was pivotal, and the policy focused on producing food and fibre in a way that not only increased profitability but reduced environmental impacts.

Organic farming had received only sporadic support, but could provide a model for sustainable systems to protect soil and water resources.

State-owned farmer Landcorp should be used to model sustainable farming techniques such as organic production, retiring riparian areas and areas of high erosion, conserving biodiversity, and reducing synthetic fertiliser use.

And urban sprawl should be limited to stop prime agricultural land being taken for housing, lifestyle blocks and commercial developments.

Regional councils could advise farmers on cost-effective options, and land and water management plans such as nutrient budgets and stocking rate limits.

Landowners should be offered incentives for appropriate land use, such as encouraging erosion-prone hill country to be planted in forestry rather than grazed. And there should be incentives for maintaining or enhancing the environment, such as riparian plantings or preventing soil erosion and nutrient run-off.

Expanding wetlands, lowland forests and green corridors would enhance biodiversity, and forests could include species such as macrocarpa and totara which did not need chemical treatment.

To wean farmers off using toxic chemicals, the Green Party wants to cut pesticide use by 50 percent in five years, and it says landowners using sprays should be responsible for chemical trespass when pesticides affect areas outside their property.

Aerial spraying would only be permitted when it was the safest, least toxic, most effective method of control.

On the sticky issue of controlling methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock -- a big chunk of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions -- Ms Fitzsimmons said sheep and beef farmers would not be liable for any of their livestock emissions until they exceeded 1990 levels.

"The main growth in agricultural emissions has come from dairying and deer, and the Government's plan has sheep and beef farmers subsidising them," she said.

The Green Party would take a more precautionary approach to biosecurity, and levy vessels, passengers and freight entering the country to better fund biosecurity services, Ms Fitzsimons said.

The Greens would amend the Overseas Investment Act to prevent people buying land here unless they were residents or held New Zealand citizenship.

And rather than farmers relying on price to compete in commodity markets, there should be a focus on producing higher value products for export.

And farmers should not have to face unfair competition at home from cheap imported food and agricultural products produced with lower environmental, health and safety standards, such as garlic from China and imported pork,

Importing sweetened condensed milk from Chile and Malaysia was not only absurd but unsustainable in terms of the energy required for transport.

Importers should have to show their products meet minimum environmental, labour, health and safety standards, and country of origin labelling for all single-ingredient agricultural products should be mandatory.

The nation's self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs, especially grains, should be boosted by improving seed supply, and contracting farmers to grow grains which are in short supply domestically.

Peters reveals the charities benefiting from overspending

THE DOMINION POST: Half the $158,000 of taxpayers' money illegally spent in 2005 by NZ First has now gone to a trust set up for violent-crime victims by barrister Brian Henry - the "blood brother" of party leader Winston Peters.

The party has also given "thousands" of dollars from the $158,000, which was supposed to be returned to taxpayers, to the family of a severely disabled child.

Mr Peters confirmed yesterday that $78,000 was given to The Susan Couch and Crime Victims Charitable Trust, named for the survivor of RSA triple-killer William Bell.

He issued a media release after The Dominion Post questioned him on the issue. He said he had not wanted to reveal the funding but his hand had "been forced by harassment by The Dominion Post".

Mr Henry confirmed yesterday he is a trustee. He said the trust was applying for registration and Ms Couch would be its patron. She declined to comment.

Mr Henry has acted for free for Ms Couch in her long-running legal battle to sue the Corrections Department. In June, he won a landmark Supreme Court case allowing her to sue for damages.

Ms Couch was severely maimed by Bell - who was under the care of the probation service at the time - in a murderous rampage at the Mt Wellington RSA club in 2001 when he killed Bill Absolum, Mary Hobson and Wayne Johnson.

The $78,000 is part of $1.2 million tagged for spending on parliamentary purposes, but found instead by Auditor-General Kevin Brady in 2006 to have been illegally spent on winning votes by every party in Parliament except the Progressives.

The other parties caught in the scandal have all paid their share back to Parliamentary Services.

NZ First delayed repaying any money for more than a year as its lawyers reviewed Mr Brady's ruling, but in April it started handing the money out. It has till now refused to name any recipient.

However, The Dominion Post can reveal that another of the donations - a cheque for thousands of dollars - went to the family of a severely disabled child.

The child's father said yesterday that his family was not a charitable trust and someone close to the family had approached NZ First on its behalf. The family was delighted to receive the donation, he said.

Other donations are believed to have gone to registered charities.

A spokeswoman for Speaker Margaret Wilson said she would not make public the list of payments without NZ First's approval. The party had told the Speaker's office it did not want it released.

The repayment of the $158,000 has dogged NZ First. The party gave $158,000 to Starship hospital last December but Starship chairman Bryan Mogridge returned the money, saying it appeared NZ First gave it for political capital and not "in a genuine spirit of philanthropy".

In June, Mr Peters said the money had all gone to worthy causes but three days later the Cystic Fibrosis Association said it was returning its $10,000 as it was unclear whether NZ First had the right to give the money to charities.

Pay Back

Auditor-General Kevin Brady's investigation into how parties used taxpayer funds for expenses before the 2005 election found that a total of $1.2 million was misspent – mostly on election advertising. Labour was the biggest offender, with $824,524. The NZ First figure was $157,934, National $11,912, Greens $87,192, UnitedFuture $71,867, ACT $20,114 and the Maori Party $54. All, apart from NZ First, have repaid the money.

Is National offending the Maori Party

THE DOMINION POST: National leader John Key has risked getting offside with one of his few minor party allies after aligning the Maori Party with Labour and warning against electing a "five-headed monster".

On the campaign trail yesterday, he said voters would have to choose between "a National government with potentially a lot less moving parts" or a government cobbled together by Prime Minister Helen Clark "with all sorts of different parties, pulling very hard to the Left".

"There could be six leaders, could be a multiple number of parties, and competition within that sort of arrangement.

"I think it's a very clear choice for New Zealanders."

His comments echo National's 1996 campaign against electing the so-called toxic trio - Helen Clark, the then-Alliance leader Jim Anderton and NZ First leader Winston Peters.

But National ended up being the one to do a deal with Mr Peters.

National's intention this time is clear - to use the spectre of a Labour, Greens, Progressive, NZ First and Maori Party coalition to urge voters to vote strategically.

It is likely to ratchet up its warnings amid continuing economic uncertainty.

But the strategy could backfire by pushing the Maori Party closer to Labour, leaving National with fewer post-election options for forming a government.

Yesterday Mr Key left open the option of doing a deal with the Maori Party, saying recent statements by the minor party could be interpreted "one way or the other".

He suggested, meanwhile, that it would come under "moral" pressure to do a deal if National won the most votes on election night.

Though, under MMP, the government has so far always been led by the party with the most votes, it would be possible for a party with fewer parties to stitch together a governing arrangement, with the support of other parties.

National has already ruled out NZ First, which some polls suggest could be on the comeback trail.

Miss Clark said Mr Key's comments yesterday showed he was rattled and getting more desperate as the polls got closer.

Any government Mr Key led would also need allies, including ACT, UnitedFuture and potentially the Maori Party.

"He knows that any arrangement from National that brings Roger Douglas anywhere near government is something that people do not want at all," Miss Clark told Newstalk ZB. "So he's trying to cover that very unpopular fact."

Recent polls suggest Labour is back in with a chance to form the next government, though polling has been volatile, producing wildly varying results.

Roy Morgan Poll shows rising lead for National, but Labour could still form Govt.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: National's lead over Labour has increased to 11 points in the latest Roy Morgan poll, in contrast to the research company's survey two weeks ago that had the lead narrowing to three points.

National's support rose to 43% in the poll, while Labour's support fell to 32%.

However the Green Party, which has said it would prefer to work with Labour post-election, has recorded its best ever result in this poll, of 11% support.

New Zealand First scored 4.5 percent, just below the 5% threshold needed to stay in Parliament.

ACT was unchanged on 3.5% while other parties barely registered.

The poll of 743 voters was taken between 6 October and 19 October, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

Other polls taken around the same time have returned different results, but all have National ahead of Labour.

John Key warns of "five-headed monster"

ONE NEWS: National is warning of the potential frictions that would exist if Labour managed to stitch together a multi-party coalition after the election.

Based on latest poll results, Labour would form a government involving The Greens, The Maori Party, New Zealand First and the Progressives.

National Leader John Key is warning of the dangers should that happen and says such a mix would be a very difficult government to hold together and manage.

He has even gone so fare as to describe such a coalition as a five-headed monster.

National announces rural policies

NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW: National Party MP David Carter today pitched for the 17 percent of the electorate living in rural areas with an agriculture policy which stretched to cover country doctors, schools and broadband links.

Launching the policy at the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Show, he argued that agriculture was the backbone of the economy -- responsible for 50 percent of export earnings and 17 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

"Our primary sector will be at the heart of the economic step change that New Zealand so badly needs," said Mr Carter.

Nation's contribution to this -- if elected to government -- would be to keep domestic cost structures low while creating the conditions for continual innovation in agriculture.

It would also provide voluntary "bonding" to keep veterinarians and doctors in unpopular rural areas.

Mr Carter predicted the agriculture sector would particularly welcome National's commitment to secure more rural vets.

But he devoted a fifth of his short 7.5 page policy to underlining National's determination for a less bureaucratic approach to the funding of research and development.

He promised to wind up Labour's Fast Forward Fund, which offers extra funding to primary sector research, and instead allocate $20 million a year to setting up an international centre for researching greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, and put another $25m into primary sector and food research, and a further $25m into "research consortia" in the primary and food sectors.

Key National concerns with the Fast Forward spending included its targeting of food - excluding wool, hides and wood - and its duplications of existing funding mechanisms.

Mr Carter said National would spend $210m on research over the next three years, compared to Labour's projected $135m.

He also promised to re-jig the Resource Management Act and criticised the Government's emissions trading scheme. He said high country farmers could do as well as the Department of Conservation in looking after the South Island high country.

National would not sell off Landcorp in its first term in office. And it would re-instate horticulture and agriculture as scholarship subjects at high school, give a temporary work visa to visitors with guaranteed seasonal jobs offers, and introduce a 90-day trial period for workers joining businesses with fewer than 20 staff.

It would double the spending of broadband and aim at providing internet connections to remote and rural communities.

Rural Affairs Minister Damien O'Connor criticised National's agriculture policy as "underwhelming". He said it was piecemeal and showed no sign of a coherent plan to cope with the global economic crisis.

The plan to axe the Fast Forward Fund and slash research and development tax credits, would be a big blow for the rural sector. Mr O'Connor said Mr Carter should say which specific MAF programmes would be cut to fund retaining veterinarians.

Green Party agriculture spokesman Russel Norman called on the National Party to support organic farming as a more environmentally-sustainable practice. "The National Party is a dinosaur when it comes to sustainable food production," he said. While Labour "isn't great" it did fund an organics advisory service, said Dr Norman. He described National as a representative of Federated Farmers and agribusiness, rather than family farmers who wanted to look after the land.

National keeps stance on Peters

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: National leader John Key says he would still not work with New Zealand First, despite the Electoral Commission clearing it of allegations about undeclared donations.

The Commission says no offence was committed by New Zealand First's Party secretary when she did not declare an $80,000 donation from the Spencer Trust in last year's donation returns.

Mr Key said while he has not seen the decision, New Zealand First was required to update its 2007 return so there were obviously discrepancies.

He said despite leader Winston Peters also having been cleared by the Serious Fraud Office, National would not enter a coalition arrangement with the party.

"National's ruled out Winston Peters and from our perspective we took a very considered view when we did that.

"We based that largely on our inability to reconcile his version of events with that provided by Owen Glenn to the Privileges Committee.

"At the end of the day he was censured by a majority of parliament."

In September, Parliament's Privileges Committee recommended that Mr Peters be censured for knowingly providing false or misleading information on a return of pecuniary interests.

The committee was considering whether the New Zealand First leader should have declared a $100,000 donation towards legal costs from expatriate businessman Owen Glenn in 2005.

The following day Parliament censured Mr Peters, by 62 votes to 56, with Labour and New Zealand First voting against the censure motion.

National stands by opening up ACC

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: It would seem no one - except perhaps insurance companies - wants a return to competition in the provision of accident compensation services.

Not even business groups are keen for a repeat of the brief period in 1998 and 1999 when the last National Government privatised the sector.

And yet the National Party is promising to investigate opening workplace cover up to competition again.

United Future also supports the introduction of some competition, and Act would fully privatise the service.

National's ACC spokeswoman, Pansy Wong, said New Zealand's workplace injury rate was on the rise.

"We don't believe the current system is providing incentive enough, particularly on prevention of injury, and also rehabilitation," she said.

Paul Jarvie, occupational safety and health manager for EMA (Northern), said employers were keen on competition at the "tail end", giving them the ability to choose private providers to manage their employees' rehabilitation.

But they were not keen on private insurers.

"The research really doesn't indicate that it's the best option.

"You might get some wins in the first couple of years as everyone's scrambling for your premium dollar." That was seen in the late 1990s, he said.

"But we were quite sure that year two, year three, those premiums would increase just to cover those costs again."

He said employers would like a return to the 1990s situation when each had an individual account and were assessed against an average. Those that came in under got a rebate, and those over attracted a penalty.

"It really spurred on the whole concept of return to work and rehabilitation. That has eased somewhat with people going back into groups again, because you can't individually have any effect on the premium."

Professor Bruce Arroll, head of general practice at Auckland University, said the privatised system was "a nightmare".

Patients never knew which company they were with and there was a lot of duplicated paperwork.

"From a GP point of view it was very inefficient, and I think one of the things about the system is its efficiency, really."

National Distribution Union national secretary Laila Harre said she found it "unfathomable" that any party was seriously pursuing a return to competition, particularly at a time when the risks of "financialising" the world were being seen.

ACC Minister Maryan Street said Labour had a renewed commitment "even more firmly expressed" to keep ACC as a Government-run monopoly.

Its 2008 ACC policy has yet to be released, but she has already promised a law change pushing out the date by which residual levies must be paid from 2014 to 2019.

Residual levies are left over from the period of privatisation, when injuries were not sufficiently budgeted for.

The catch-up was placing too much pressure on employers, she said. Pushing the date out would also help the motor vehicle account, and she anticipated being able to lower the vehicle registration fee from the proposed $287 next year to $203.

Hide remains adamant Re: Winston Peters donations scandal

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: ACT leader Rodney Hide is making no concession despite findings by the Electoral Commission that have cleared New Zealand First and instead put ACT in the firing line.

The Electoral Commission has ruled that no offence was committed by the New Zealand First Party secretary in relation to the party's 2007 annual return of donations.

The party has updated its 2007 return, to include an $80,000 donation from the Spencer Trust - the subject of a complaint laid by Mr Hide.

However, the Commission found ACT should have disclosed it was provided with rent-free office space by businessman Sir Robert Jones for a number of years before 2005.

Rodney Hide told Nine to Noon the ruling relates to one of the party's MPs who had secured an office.

"I understand they were advised that they didn't need to declare it, it wasn't throught the party, and since they they've decided that we should have declared it so we'll put out a return accordingly."

He is maintaining his claims against New Zealand First, and the party's leader Winston Peters.

Mr Peters also said he was advised a return did not need to be filed.

He described Mr Hide's continued allegations as the sounds of a drowning man.

Listen to Rodney Hide and Winston Peters on Nine to Noon

National would restore the sacked Hawke's Bay DHB

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The National Party promises to restore the sacked members of the Hawke's Bay District Health Board to a governance role if it forms the next Government.

Health Minister David Cunliffe dismissed the seven members eight months ago and appointed a Commissioner.

He said the decision was due to a deteriorating financial situation and dysfunctional relationships with management.

National does not have the power to restore the board to their previous positions.

Health spokesperson Tony Ryall says the party would restore democracy to the region's health system by asking the former board members to sit on a governance committee to assist the Commissioner.

Mr Cunliffe says the announcement is extraordinary given the issue is subject to a judicial review.

NZ Herald/Digi Poll: 24 October 2008

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: With two weeks to go, Labour has improved its polling a little, but not enough to dent National's commanding election race lead, the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey shows.

If the poll results were translated into votes, National could govern alone with 50.4 per cent of decided voters and 63 seats.

Prime Minister and Labour leader Helen Clark has improved in the preferred Prime Minister stakes, by 2.3 points, putting her fractionally ahead of National leader John Key, 45.4 per cent to 44.8 per cent. It is the first time she has been ahead since January.

Labour's 37 per cent poll figure means it would be able to muster 54 seats with the Progressives and the Greens.

The Maori Party, with four seats, would not hold the balance of power. Nor would it do so if it won all seven Maori seats but stayed on its 2.4 per cent poll rating in the party vote.

The economy remains the issue most likely to influence people's votes, and it has risen dramatically in importance. It is the No 1 issue for 34.6 per cent of those polled, against 28 per cent in the September poll.

Attitudes towards the Government are evenly balanced, 45.4 per cent saying it is heading in the right direction and 43.8 per cent saying it is not.

New Zealand First dropped to 2.1 per cent in the poll, and would disappear from Parliament unless leader Winston Peters can win Tauranga, eliminating the need to get 5 per cent of the party vote.

The gap between National and Labour in the Herald-DigiPoll survey is 13.4 points, a lot wider than last night's TV3 poll which showed Labour up a little to 37.4 per cent and National steady on 45.1 per cent.

Those figures translated into votes would mean Labour or National would be able to form a government with other parties. Either would require Maori Party support.

* The DigiPoll survey of 750 respondents was conducted from October 15 to 22. Undecideds were 12.4 per cent. The margin of error is 3.6 per cent.

3 News Poll: 23 October 2008

3 NEWS: The latest 3 News political poll shows the Maori Party will choose the next Government, and the Greens enjoying their best result in more than five years.

The poll is not good news for National: it effectively means the National and Labour blocks are neck and neck, despite National being by far the more popular major party.

National is steady on 45.1 percent, and Labour actually drops to 37.4 percent. But the Greens are on 8.8 percent, and can be added to Labour's total.

New Zealand First has crept up to 3.5 percent, so Winston Peters cannot be ruled out making a return to Parliament. National leader John Key will be sweating - remember he has ruled working with Peters out.

The Maori Party is on 2.3 percent, but they are expected to win six, or perhaps even all seven Maori seats. ACT is on 1.7 percent, with just two MPs.

Peter Dunne's United Future is pretty unpopular, polling at 0.2 percent, as were the Progressives, on 0.1.

On this poll, Parliament would overhang to 123 seats. National would have 57 seats, ACT two, and United Future one – a total of 60 seats, and not enough to govern. In opposition Labour has 47 seats, the Greens 11 and the Progressives one – a total of 59, also not enough to govern.

Bring in the Maori Party, and they will choose who runs the country for the next three years.

As for preferred Prime Minister, it is all locked up between Key and Helen Clark at 33.6 percent each.

The Greens have pinched some of Labour's vote, and they are celebrating.

Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons had the job of planting a pear tree in a community garden under the watchful eye and helpful hands of one of her supporters.

If the tree reflects new life in the party, Fitzsimons is trampling all over Labour's vote at close to nine percent, and she is not surprised.

The leap of faith in the Greens is Labour's loss. Helen Clark knows it, and is pleading with people not to desert Labour for her future coalition partner.

"My message is please vote Labour, give us the strength," says Clark.

Both National and Labour need the Maori Party to govern.

Clark's confident she can do that, while Key just does not believe the election is this close.

With the economy the main election issue, we asked voters: Who do you trust to best manage it over the next three years?

Clark and Labour: 45.4 percent. Key and National: 45.8 percent.

The nature of MMP means National's lead over Labour gives it a false sense of security, because Clark and Labour have so many friends.

This election is tight, and the Maori Party and the Greens are growing bigger and stronger by the day.

Victory for Winston Peters over donation scandal, commission finds ACT breached law

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: The Electoral Commission has ruled that no offence was committed by the New Zealand First Party secretary in relation to the party's 2007 annual return of donations.

But in a summary of a withheld decision, the commission said donations made to the party in 2005, 2006 and 2007 were not included in New Zealand First's returns of donations.

New Zealand First has already updated its 2007 return and is now required to do the same for the two other years.

On 10 October, the Serious Fraud Office cleared the party of any fraud charges relating to donations channelled through the Spencer Trust.

At the time, it referred information to the Electoral Commission and to police.

In its statement on Thursday, the Electoral Commission issued a summary but said it was withholding the decision for now to avoid potential prejudice to a continuing police investigation.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said allegations about undeclared donations made to his party were always baseless.

The party has updated its 2007 return, to include an $80,000 donation from the Spencer Trust.

He said the party was given legal advice that it did not need to declare that donation in its original 2007 return.

Commission decision against ACT

The commission has also found that the ACT party should have disclosed it was provided with rent-free office space by businessman Sir Robert Jones for a number of years before 2005.

It too is required to amend its returns for the years it received rent-free office space.

The commission said the office space was valued at about $20,000 a year, and was a party donation under the Electoral Act 1993.

Labour to increase defence force staff

RADIO NEW ZEALAND: Labour has released its defence policy, which reiterates its intention to increase defence personnel by 12% and upgrade and replace some equipment.

Defence spokesperson Phil Goff says funding for future defence needs has already been determined and will reverse the funding cuts of the 1990s.

"It represents expenditure of around $8 billion above base-line levels over the period, and reverses the 24% cut in funding for defence in the 1990s and a 30% cut in personnel numbers," he said.

Mr Goff says the Defence Force is almost two-thirds of the way towards achieving the goal of recruiting 1,600 extra personnel.

He says by mid 2009 a new military remuneration system will be in place, which gives staff an average wage rise of more than 10%.

Phil Goff says Labour is re-elected it would would publish a new White Paper on Defence next year.

New Zealand First not ruling out deal with National

MANAWATU STANDARD: The feeling might not be mutual, but Winston Peters is refusing to rule out working with the National Party after next month's election.

While National leader John Key has declared Mr Peters won't be part of a government led by him, Mr Peters suggested yesterday that might not be the final word.

"Mr Key is notorious for changing his mind every second day," Mr Peters said in Palmerston North.

The NZ First leader said Mr Key only discounted him from post-election negotiations because he was persuaded by National MP Murray McCully, who wants to be Foreign Affairs Minister in Mr Peters' place.

"We rule nothing out, and nothing in," he said.

Campaigning in Palmerston North's Downtown shopping mall, where Billy Joel's hit Honesty played as background music, Mr Peters said people regarded the donations saga surrounding his party as a sideshow.

He stood aside from his ministerial portfolios, including Foreign Affairs, while the Serious Fraud Office investigated before clearing him of fraud.

Mr Peters said his party now had to make up for lost time, but campaigning was "always exciting".

People were more and more concerned about the state of the world economy, mortgage costs and their jobs, he said.

A high immigration policy was flawed, particularly in troubled times, because there was "not enough work for our people", Mr Peters said. Shoppers were eager to shake his hand yesterday.

International students Abdullah Alabri and Muna Aldarwish said Mr Peters was "nice".

"Some call him racist, but I didn't think so when I met him," Mr Alabri said.

Mr Peters said rewriting the Reserve Bank Act would be a bottom line for NZ First in negotiations after the election.

Sharples prefers Labour

THE PRESS: Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says the party will still talk with National after the election, despite her co-leader Pita Sharples expressing a preference for Labour.

Dr Sharples admitted yesterday he would rather Labour won the election because it would be easier to deal with than National.

"We would prefer in the first instance that Labour got the higher share of the vote, because that's what our people want," Dr Sharples told The Press in Christchurch.

"The feeling is still there Maori are joined at the hip with Labour. There is no doubt about it," Dr Sharples said.

Dr Sharples' comments are a blow to National's hopes of forming a government with the Maori Party's support. The party is potentially crucial to the chances of either Labour or National forming the next government, with polls indicating it is on track to win six or seven of the Maori seats.

Mrs Turia today said she was surprised by his comments and the door was still open to National.

"We are interested in talking to all the political parties," Mrs Turia said on Radio New Zealand.

"Because we know that its really important for our people's aspirations for us to take MMP seriously.

"It's no good talking and then finding that the political party of your choice may not even be the government and so I think that we it owe it to our people to keep all the doors open."

Dr Sharples' remarks to a Press readers' forum followed an announcement yesterday that the Maori Party would require the entrenchment of the Maori seats as the price of its support of either Labour or National.

Mrs Turia announced the decision as part of the Maori Party's Treaty of Waitangi policy.

The policy, which may prove controversial, also calls for "cultural competency" tests in all government departments and a parliamentary commissioner for the Treaty. Entrenchment means a 75 per cent majority of Parliament would be needed to abolish the Maori seats.

Mrs Turia told reporters support for the legislation would be "a bottom line" in any post-election negotiations.

"There won't be any negotiation about it not being a bottom line," Mrs Turia said. "Support for the legislation will be a bottom line."

National has a policy of abolishing the Maori seats once all Treaty claims are finalised, which it expects by 2014.

Leader John Key had said the policy was not a "bottom line". However, yesterday he stopped short of endorsing the entrenchment of the seats.

"Our position has not changed," a spokesman for Mr Key said. "We don't want to have these discussions through the media as it is not helpful. If the Maori Party wants to bring this up, we will discuss it with them after the election."

Labour leader Helen Clark was also coy on the Maori Party's new position, saying only that Labour already had a commitment to allowing Maori to determine the future of the seats.