The Labour leader is defending his performance following a drop in support in a recent poll, saying his party is doing “significantly better” than the last election.
According to a Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll released on Friday, Labour had dropped 3.7 points to 27.8 percent since the last poll in July.
Chris Hipkins dismissed the poll as being funded by a “right-wing lobby group” that wanted to keep the current government in office.
It comes as the prime minister’s grip on his leadership is again being questioned following a week of communication gaffes and a fresh report his MPs are unhappy.
Weekly interview with opposition leader, Chris Hipkins
Morning Report
On Morning Report, it was put to Hipkins the same poll in March showing National’s support had dropped was impactful on Christopher Luxon’s leadership.
Hipkins said Labour considered all the polls, but RNZ’s Reid Research poll also showed a drop in support for Labour between March and July.
He maintained that Labour was doing “significantly better” than the last election, despite acknowledging the party had been annihilated in 2023.
“The fact that we, within three years, are back in a position where people are talking about the fact that we could be forming government after the next election is a very good sign for Labour.”
Both the recent TPU-Curia poll and RNZ Reid Research poll still had the current coalition able to form a government.
Asked why he wasn’t doing better, Hipkins said the election campaign was just getting underway.
“My job in the next few months is to get out there and campaign on the policies that Labour’s put out there around tackling the cost of living, around supporting small business, and we’ve got plenty more policy to come.”
He said Labour was putting out policies that would “make a difference to New Zealanders” such as capping public transport fares, and making it free to go to the doctor.
Hipkins said people were currently “disaffected and disillusioned with politics”.
“I totally get why people are pretty despondent, particularly when they see politicians arguing about things that don’t matter to them, or that actually are the wrong things to argue about.”
He referenced racist arguments and politicians arguing about whether English should be an official language, saying “people get pretty frustrated with politics” as a result.
“That’s a a pretty common vibe at the moment.”
Hipkins maintained he would lead the Labour Party into the next election, and voters could make the decision about whether he was doing a good enough job for the party.
He also said he was “absolutely committed” to leading Labour into government after the next election, without specifying if he would lead Labour into opposition if the party did not win.
Labour has a policy announcement in Rotorua later on Tuesday, and Hipkins didn’t say if it was planned ahead of Luxon’s comments to small business owners at a Rotorua Business Chamber event.
Last Monday Luxon apologised to leaders from the Rotorua Business Chamber after he criticised them for having a “parent-child mentality” and relying on government too much.
Hipkins said on Tuesday “treating people like adults is generally a good approach to take when you’re a politician”.
New Zealand First ruled out
It also comes as Hipkins finally and officially ruled out working with New Zealand First in any government he leads.
Asked what led him to shift from previously saying it was “highly unlikely” his party would work with New Zealand First again, to a formal rule out, Hipkins mentioned racist remarks by Winston Peters and Shane Jones had caused “a lot of upset in our community.”
“We’ve heard direct feedback from Chinese New Zealanders, from Indian New Zealanders, that they are now being subjected to more emboldened racism out in the community, and that racism is being emboldened by the actions of parties like New Zealand First.
“That’s not who we are as a country, we’re a better country than that.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters had already ruled out working with Labour.