Labour’s campaign manager Megan Woods told Newstalk ZB that while debates aren’t always important - noting that National’s former leader Judith Collins won the first leaders’ debate of 2020, before Labour went on to a landslide victory - she believes the debates this time around will be more important due to the number of undecided voters.
Asked by media today, Luxon said he was excited but played down his chances - while placing a lot of expectation on his opponent to deliver.
“Chris Hipkins is a 20-year career politician, he’s a champion debater, he’s the best debater in Parliament, probably in New Zealand. I haven’t even done a debate before.”
Hipkins took a more measured approach, noting that Luxon has been leader longer than he has, so is expecting it to be “roughly even terms”.
Elsewhere today, Labour announced a new policy targeting improving our health workforce, while Act announced a detailed law and order policy.
Listen to the full episode of On The Campaign for the full rundown of today’s big election stories.
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