KEY POINTS:
Labour and National candidates were accused of not going all out to win the seat of Epsom at a televised candidates' debate last night.
The audience of about 250 - including supporters for National MP Richard Worth, sitting MP and Act leader Rodney Hide, Green Party MP Keith Locke and Labour's Kate Sutton - asked questions and hurled abuse as the candidates discussed their policies at Epsom Girls Grammar School.
Host Rawdon Christie grilled Dr Worth over signs National supporters were holding up.
"I look at the National signs here and they're saying ... party vote, party vote ... have you given up on winning this seat for yourself?"
Dr Worth replied: "I'm still a constituency candidate but the critical vote is the party vote because of the pure nature of MMP - if you have 46 per cent of the party vote, you have 46 per cent of the seats."
Christie said that in the last election Labour was keen on National and Labour supporters in Epsom voting for the opposition in a bid to keep Act "out of picture". He asked Kate Sutton if something similar would happen this election.
"At this stage we're running a two ticks campaign for Labour so that's a candidate vote for Labour and a party vote for Labour," she replied.
The pre-recorded debate, which screened on TVNZ7 last night, covered education, crime and the economy.
Solo mother Susanne McKay, who moved to Epsom from Hillsborough so her teenage boys could be within the zone to attend Auckland Grammar School, grilled the candidates.
"I'd like to know what policies your parties would have for single mothers like me paying crazy rents so the kids can go to school, the immigrant family squashed in the flat across the road and the elderly people who can barely pay their rates."
Dr Worth said the last nine years the Government's plans for economic transformation had been "a disaster". He said there had been low-quality spending and more needed to go on front-line services such as police, teachers and nurses.
Ms Sutton said if the country went into a recession New Zealand needed a government they could trust. Her comment was met with laughter by anti-Labour residents. She said more than 800,000 had signed up to KiwiSaver but National had "cut it in half".
Keith Locke said the Greens were pushing to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Mr Hide said over the last 10 years government spending had doubled.
"That's why your family is being squeezed by $230 extra a week that the Government is taking extra that it wasn't taking nine years ago ... we need to cap the growth in government expenditure.
"The other thing we need to do is get rid of the great big red tape that is strangling businesses."
Ms McKay was then asked who she believed. "I'd just like to thank Auntie Helen for giving me Working for Families," she said.
