Election 2014: Act rules out deal involving NZ First

Act Party leader Jamie Whyte. Photo / Paul Taylor

Act would not enter a coalition government with National if it involved New Zealand First, the party's leader Jamie Whyte announced today.

At his last pre-election campaign speech, Dr Whyte said the party "certainly wouldn't go into the cabinet, certainly wouldn't go into government" with National if it meant having also to work with Winston Peters' party.

"I'd say Winston is probably the most authoritarian politician ... he's anti-globalisation, he's against everything that we're in favour of, so we can't in good faith work with him.

"But, on the other hand, we are not going to -- out of a fit of ideological purity -- let a Labour-Greens government through. We are committed to seeing a John Key-led government on Sunday."

Dr Whyte defended the statement by saying there was "a very good chance" Act wouldn't sit at a cabinet table anyway, as it could be "a bit tough on minor parties".

"You get absorbed into the Government and your distinctive characteristics get forgotten and lost. I think that has happened to Act to some degree."

Dr Whyte said he expected to be elected "along with a number of Act MPs".

"Once a party wins an electorate, the number of votes needed to include a list seat are very low.

"Just 28,000 votes will add me to David Seymour and 44,000 party votes in total will give Act three MPs."

He added that most current polling -- the majority of which has Act at less than 1 per cent -- was wrong.

"On some Chinese website polls Act is in second place, ahead of Labour. We've used the internet to poll and so we know that the landline polls are wrong, as all the landline polls are different and the differences are greater than the margin of error.

"Act's polling shows that 11 per cent of New Zealanders supports Act's message of low-tax, less regulation and more personal responsibility."

Dr Whyte said the build-up to the election had been dominated by side issues, as opposed to policy debate.

"Voters are smarter than the media gives them credit for. Voters know that in 12 month's time the issues that matter will be jobs, the economy, the cost of a house and whether or not people feel safe.

"Mr Dotcom will have left our shores for America and nobody will even remember what Dirty Politics was all about. As Helen Clark might have said, 'we will have moved on'."

If in Parliament, the Act Party would highlight that the current company tax rate was unsustainable, Dr Whyte said.

"We have explained why cutting the company tax rate from 28 per cent to 12.5 per cent will increase investment, economic growth and wages."

Dr Whyte also used his final speech to highlight Act's core policies, including charter schools, lower taxes, introducing a three-strikes for burglary policy, lighter regulation and repealing the RMA.

"The RMA is fundamentally flawed. Act's policy is to admit that the RMA experiment has failed, repeal the law and start again."

Dr Whyte concluded that it would be Act and not New Zealand First that would hold the balance of power for the next three years.

"I believe that this election is the beginning of our revival."