KEY POINTS:
Labour has added to its spending promises at more than double the rate of National in the final week and a half of the election campaign, but John Key's party is wooing voters with more expensive pledges overall.
The final pre-election Herald Porkometer - which measures the spending
promises of both major parties competing to lead the next Government - sees Labour's total rise by $156.4 million and National's by $58.4 million.
Labour's pledges are pushed up mostly by a $91.37 million funding package over five years for disability support, and by a $50 million offer to help people who are made redundant in the looming economic turmoil.
Additional to these two pledges are a $12 million promise to fund additional medical training places and $3 million for Plunket.
Labour has also made some uncosted promises in the latter stages of the election campaign - including a Pacific Island television channel and a tourism fund.
National's late promises include $42 million for transitional support for people who lose their jobs as the economy goes through tough times, and $10.4 million for initiatives to put prisoners through drug and alcohol programmes and into learning employment skills.
National's final pitches have focused predominantly on infrastructure - completing a Tauranga roading project and improving school buildings - but the funding for these works have already been factored into the Porkometer.
The Porkometer (which takes its name from the "pork barrel" label given to policies seen as bribes to attract votes) does not take into account the spending cuts National has said it will make in order to fund its more costly promises.
Labour is going into the election planning a December economic statement but has given little detail of what it will do then other than bring some infrastructure work forward.
There has not been an indication of how much that might cost or how much higher debt might need to rise to fund it.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen last night defended the situation and said spending would be fitted within the $1.75 billion new allowance. However, he conceded debt would "almost certainly" have to rise above what was seen in the pre-election update in the short-term.
National's finance spokesman, Bill English, did not respond to an interview request by deadline, and appears to have gone to ground in the final days of the campaign following a secret tape-recording hitting the media.