"Drastically increasing the minimum wage will increase productivity and stimulate the economy," said Peters, who reconfirmed the party's long-standing policy to remove GST from the price of "essential food".
NZ First polled 10 per cent support in a poll taken over the five days to Wednesday by Colmar-Brunton for TVNZ's OneNews, down one percentage point from a poll take last month and before the change of Labour leadership to Jacinda Ardern and the resignation of Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei, both of which have caused great volatility in the centre-left vote.
With a 13 point jump to 37 per cent support and with the Greens'4 per cent support suggesting it may not return to the next Parliament, NZ First is the best-placed small party to allow either National or Labour to form a government, although on the latest poll figures, Labour and NZ First would not yet command a majority on their own.
Anticipating the usual argument against GST exemptions because of so-called 'boundary' issues, Peters said: "for those armchair critics who have long forgotten, or have never known 'Struggle Street', who don't know what basic or essential food is - I recommend they ask their grandmother".