National Party leader Judith Collins says National voters worried about the Greens in government should vote National, not Labour. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National Party leader Judith Collins says National voters worried about the Greens in government should vote National, not Labour. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National leader Judith Collins is urging supporters to vote National if they want to be strategic and avoid a "far left" government that includes the Green Party.
She made the comments this morning following last night's poll that showed that Labour, while still riding high with 47 per cent support, couldn't govern alone.
This morning Greens' co-leader James Shaw this morning talked up the Greens, which were on 7 per cent - being part of a Labour-Greens government.
"One of the things that we are hearing from people, in the campaign, is that they want to make sure that Labour has to talk to somebody and not just to be able to make those decisions by itself," he told RNZ.
The numbers have raised the possibility of National voters ticking Labour in an effort to keep the Greens out, but Collins told supporters to tick blue twice.
"That is the best strategic vote, except in Epsom," she told reporters in Auckland this morning.
She said National, which was up 2 per cent in the poll compared to last week, was on the rise. Act was also up 1 point to 8 per cent.
"The centre right is coming up and the centre left and the far left are going down," Collins said.
"People should always understand that most New Zealanders do not want a far left government dictated by people that think tax is love."
Ardern has countered Collins' claim that a government with the Greens was a scary prospect by saying a government with Act was scarier.
Collins dismissed this but said a National-led government wouldn't implement Act's flat tax or cut the minimum wage.
She wouldn't say whether she would put interest back on student loans, instead saying she was focused on how to grow the economy.
Nor had she looked at Act's party list to see who else might be part of a National-Act bloc.
"I'm focused on the National party, national votes. I'm not worrying too much about minor parties."
Green Party co-leader James Shaw says the best way for left-leaning voters to ensure Jacinda Ardern is PM after the election is to party vote Green. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It was a plea for strategic voting to ensure the centre-left bloc is bigger than the centre-right. If the Greens didn't return to Parliament, it would see hundreds of thousands of wasted left-leaning votes.
This morning Shaw wouldn't be drawn on what the Greens would want - including the Deputy PM role - in order to support a Labour-led Government.
"It depends on the numbers, it depends on the shape of the agreement we've got, it depends on the extent to which we think it can help us advance the programme of work that we have."
Ardern brushed off questions about whether Shaw or Marama Davidson could be Deputy PM in a Labour-Greens government.
She was not going to get into any potential coalition negotiations before the election.
Meanwhile, Collins said she had confidence in National's Auckland Central candidate Emma Mellow, who was trailing in a recent poll by more than 15 per cent.
"You gotta remember in politics, just like everything else, you never give up," Collins said.
Asked about her comments yesterday about Nicky Hager needing to meet his maker, Collins said she didn't mean she wished death on him.
