The spiking cost of living is the biggest issue for New Zealanders this election, and Vote Compass data reveals how they want it dealt with.
Around 100,000 people have been surveyed for their views on cost of living policies and whether they support the parties' political promises to tackle them.
Last week, data from Vote Compass suggested the top three issues for Kiwis were the cost of living, economy, and healthcare.
Tax cuts
National and ACT have both promised tax cuts for New Zealanders if they are elected.
In the Vote Compass data, more Kiwis support tax cuts than those who oppose them, with 42% either strongly or somewhat agreeing with the statement: "The best way to tackle the cost of living crisis is by cutting taxes."
Thirty-seven per cent either strongly or somewhat disagreed with the statement, whilst 20% were either neutral or didn't know.
Notably, those in the median salary bracket, who stand to gain most from National's tax plan, tended to be more in favour of tax cuts than other income groups.
GST-free fruit and vege
Meanwhile, Chris Hipkins has promised to remove GST from fruit and vegetables if the Labour Government is re-elected.
That promise appears to be relatively popular with 57% of Vote Compass respondents suggesting they supported it.
Twenty-seven per cent disagreed and 16% were neutral or didn't know.
Tax cuts? Rent controls? GST-free food? Voters give their take on the policies they want. (Source: 1News)
Taxing the wealthy
The Green Party and Te Pāti Māori have called for a wealth tax this election, but their proposals have been roundly rejected by Labour and National.
In Vote Compass, users were asked: "How much should wealthier people pay in taxes?"
A majority of respondents wanted to tax the wealthy more — broken down to 32% who wanted the wealthy to pay much more and 35% who wanted somewhat more.
A quarter, 26%, suggested they should pay about the same as they do now.
Only 5% suggested the wealthy should pay less, whilst 1% didn't know.
Notably, 70% of respondents aged over 65 believe wealthy people should pay somewhat or much more in taxes — higher than the national average and all other age groups.
The first results from the tool are in, with more than 180,000 people taking part so far to find out where they stand on political parties’ policies. (Source: 1News)
Rent controls
Rent is another big pressure for many Kiwis, and 71% back limits on how much landlords can raise rent, with fewer than one in five against it. Ten per cent were neutral.
Among renters, support for limits on rent rises climbs to 86%.
Support for rent controls was not confined to the left-leaning parties. Supporters of New Zealand First, National and ACT were also more likely to back rent limits than oppose them.
What is Vote Compass?
By using Vote Compass, New Zealanders can find out which political parties they are with on the key issues facing the country
You can choose to agree or disagree with 30 statements about issues like health, education, the environment, and tax. Vote Compass will then analyse your answers with the policies of different parties and show you how similar they are to your own views.
Where do you sit? Find out here at: 1News.co.nz/VoteCompass
University of Auckland associate professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment said the results from the tool also serve as a way to gauge the public's insights on hot topics, as they are tabulated by researchers every few days.
Lees-Marshment said the results on key issues reported from Vote Compass would help "elevate" the voice of the public for how politicians and the media discussed the election.
The online tool launched today helps put the focus on policies, not just personalities. (Source: 1News)
Developed by a team of social and statistical scientists from Vox Pop Labs, Vote Compass is a civic engagement application offered in New Zealand exclusively by 1News/TVNZ. The findings are based on 99,743 respondents who participated in Vote Compass from September 10, 2023 to September 19, 2023.
Unlike online opinion polls, respondents to Vote Compass are not pre-selected. Similar to opinion polls, however, the data are a non-random sample from the population and have been weighted in order to approximate a representative sample. The Vote Compass sample data have been weighted by gender, age, education, income, region, Māori ancestry, and partisanship to ensure the overall composition reflects that of the actual population of New Zealand according to census data and other population estimates.
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