Distractions aplenty as we head to polls

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

As one of the most interesting elections in recent history nears its climax the level of doubt seems to be increasing and there are even fears the outcome could be a hung Parliament or require a second election.

With five days to go, political polling suggests that National — which is leading the race to the line, as the most popular party — will not achieve its preferred option of being able to form a coalition with just Act, while Labour will need something of a miracle to get to the winning post.

Over the weekend National campaign chairman Chris Bishop and leader Christopher Luxon actually talked of the risk of a second election if no agreement can be reached between the three centre-right parties, but this is probably very unlikely.

The Australian bookmakers have National at $1.10 to win with Labour at $6.10 and this is the way most political pundits see the situation, but that did not stop former prime minister Sir John Key issuing a call to arms for his party.

There is a lot of pressure on National to increase its party vote, to give it a stronger voice in any coalition. This must be the first election where neither of the two largest parties is sitting above 40 percent in the polls. Will that change on Saturday?

It is not as though there are not a lot of distractions in the coming week.

Palestinian fighters have launched a major offensive in Israel which quickly resulted in death tolls in the hundreds on both sides as Israel retaliated.

The attack came on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war which also started as a surprise attack on a Jewish holy day.

Unfortunately for the Palestinians the eventual result is likely to be the same because of Israel’s massive advantage in firepower, just adding more tragedy to an already decades-long list.

The long-suffering country of Afghanistan has been hit by a major earthquake near the western city of Herat, with hundreds of dead.

Another major distraction is the also fast-approaching Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, where Ireland have thrown the gauntlet down to the All Blacks by demolishing Scotland. At least that game is not until 8am on Sunday, by which time the result of this unpredictable election will be known . . . or perhaps not.

It is always nice to end on a positive note and that came with Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway winning the Bathurst 1000 at the weekend. They were only the second New Zealanders to do so since Greg Murphy and Steven Richards in 1999. Nascar-bound van Gisbergen has now won the great race three times.

Party leaders and the All Blacks will be hoping they have something to celebrate this Sunday.