Herald poll: Greens lead in Coromandel

By HELEN TUNNAH

Green MP and co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has a strong chance of holding the vital electorate seat of Coromandel, a Herald-DigiPoll survey has shown.

The survey has found that Ms Fitzsimons has a comfortable lead over her main rival, National's Sandra Goudie, with 37 per cent of the electorate vote.
Mrs Goudie was supported by 22 per cent of those surveyed, while Labour candidate Max Purnell had just 10 per cent support.

His chances were weakened after Prime Minister Helen Clark said she would not "discourage" Labour voters supporting Ms Fitzsimons with their electorate vote.

Coromandel will be a key seat in this year's election, with Ms Fitzsimons keen to remain the local MP so the Green Party does not need to get 5 per cent of the party vote to qualify for seats in Parliament.

But Mrs Goudie is expected to be a much tougher opponent for Ms Fitzsimons than the man she beat in 1999, incumbent National MP Murray McLean.

Mrs Goudie, a dairy farmer, is a straight-talking Thames Coromandel District councillor and is well known in the region.

The poll - of 516 people with a margin of error of 4.3 per cent - asked if people would vote for Ms Fitzsimons, or a candidate from another party.

Apart from National and Labour, no other party passed the margin of error on the electorate vote. Labour was comfortably in front on the party vote, with 49 per cent support, ahead of National on 33 per cent and the Greens on 10 per cent. The poll follows two media surveys which gave Mrs Goudie a slight lead over Ms Fitzsimons.

Ms Fitzsimons told the Herald the poll result was pleasing. But she said the Greens had core electorate support and wanted to boost their party vote.

National is preparing to play tough against the Green Party, with deputy leader Roger Sowry telling delegates at its northern regional conference in Auckland over the weekend that the public needed to be aware of the risks posed by greater Green Party influence in Government.

He said the break-up of the Alliance meant the Greens were Labour's only realistic coalition ally, and he did not want an anti-trade party having influence in portfolios such as agriculture, energy and trade.

"It's time to expose the views the Greens hold on a range of issues," he said.

Before the 1999 election, National released a postcard containing personal attacks on Ms Fitzsimons and other Green candidates, in a move widely believed to have backfired on the party.

Mr Sowry said no such postcard would be released this election, but he would continue to ask questions about the views of the Green MPs.

National portrayed itself as an environmentally friendly party at its conference, but Ms Fitzsimons said National's "green" credentials were poor.

She looked forward to negative campaigning from National, because attacks on the Green Party increased its popularity.