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.