National’s policy to randomly drug test people on Jobseeker Support has gained widespread support among respondents to TVNZ's Vote Compass.
Overall, 60% of people were in favour of the policy and 28% against.
Try out Vote Compass to see where your views match the parties' policies
Results from the online tool showed support for the pledge extended beyond National’s own voters, including a majority of undecided, centrist and left-leaning respondents.
Among those who said they intended to vote Labour, 52% agreed jobseekers should face random drug tests to keep their full benefits, while 38% disagreed.
National announced last Thursday it would run 10,000 random tests in the first year if re-elected, with a second failed test triggering a clinical alcohol and drug assessment.
Vote Compass asked people on that day and the next if they agreed with the statement: “Jobseeker Support recipients should be randomly selected for drug testing in order to retain their full benefits.”
Across all 5437 respondents, 60% agreed, and 28% disagreed, with more respondents strongly agreeing (35%) than disagreeing to any degree. Ten per cent said they were neutral, and the rest said they didn't know.
Undecided voters backed the policy 61% to 20%.
Greens voters only to say no
People intending to vote Green were the only party group to oppose the policy outright.
Young and old are worried about the cost of living but their opinions part ways after that. (Source: 1News)
For those who said they support the Green Party, 61% disagreed with the drug testing policy, including 42% who strongly disagreed, while 25% agreed.
On the other side of politics, support peaked for the policy among ACT-leaning respondents at 90%, two-thirds of whom strongly agreed. Those surveyed who were National-leaning followed on at 86%, then NZ First ones at 68%.
Opportunity supporters split almost evenly, with 44% in favour and 42% against.
Too few people intending to vote Te Pāti Māori took part in Vote Compass over that period for their results to be reported.
Left-right backing
The pattern of support for National's policy held when people placed themselves on a left-right scale. Those who rated themselves at the centre backed drug testing 69% to 18%, while a third of those who placed themselves on the left agreed, and 53% disagreed.
Male (63%) and female (59%) voters gave similar levels of support.
Aziz Al Sa'afin explains how the election tool works. (Source: 1News)
But support did rise slightly with age, and among voters aged 65 and over, 64% agreed, and 9% strongly disagreed.
People surveyed who indicated they were Māori backed the policy 49% to 38%, compared with 64% to 27% among NZ European respondents.
National's social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston said when announcing the policy: "For many New Zealanders drug testing is already a normal part of their employment so it's entirely reasonable for work-ready Jobseekers to meet the same basic expectations."
But Labour’s social development and employment spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said: “Rather than creating jobs and growing the economy, National is changing the rules and making it harder for people to get the support they need."
Results are based on 5437 respondents to Vote Compass between October 8 and 9, 2026 who answered the question about random drug testing of Jobseeker Support recipients. Data were weighted to align the sample characteristics with those of the New Zealand adult population on the following characteristics: sex, age, ethnicity, education, region, and past voting record. A margin of error does not apply to non-probability samples. The modelled error estimate for the overall sample is ±2.3%, 19 times out of 20. Results based on subsamples of the data should be expected to contain greater error. The modelled estimate is based on the Kish effective sample size and does not account for potential non-probability selection bias.
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