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Speaker 1: We have a new issues poll out this morning tells

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Speaker 1: you what the issues are people actually care about. It's

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Speaker 1: from IPSOS thousand people taken after White Thing and weekends.

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Speaker 1: It's for February. The numbers are bad for National because

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Speaker 1: they should be winning on more of the issues, but

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Speaker 1: Luxon won't hate them because they're going in the right

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Speaker 1: direction on a few of the key ones. Significant increase

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Speaker 1: that their words not mine. Significant increase on the cost

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Speaker 1: of living for National after a period of trending in

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Speaker 1: the wrong direction. Another significant increase on healthcare and hospitals

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Speaker 1: for National, closing the gap from nineteen to twelve points

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Speaker 1: since October, with Labour so still behind but catching up,

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Speaker 1: and after being overtaken on the economy, they've come back

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Speaker 1: to basically draw with the reds. Interestingly, concern from voters

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Speaker 1: about poverty and inequality is trending down despite the big

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Speaker 1: push in the media last week. What's that about the

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Speaker 1: reality is that Labour is still ahead though on three

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Speaker 1: of the five issues. Nationally head on one and they

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Speaker 1: are dead even on another. But no election, as you know,

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Speaker 1: is one or lost on a single issue. Is that

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Speaker 1: although COVID and twenty twenty and cost of Living in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three were dominant. What the election will come

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Speaker 1: down to, As I've always said, and everyone is always

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Speaker 1: known as Winston Peters, now he has told me, he

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Speaker 1: has told us that he will not form a government

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Speaker 1: with Labour if one Hapkins is in charge and two

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Speaker 1: it needs propping up by the greensl to Party Mardi,

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Speaker 1: he says they're nuts. So as long as the polls

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Speaker 1: stay roughly where they are, the National Party strategists will

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Speaker 1: be sticking largely to the same script and the same

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Speaker 1: game plan as we just heard from Nichola Willis a

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Speaker 1: few moments ago, and wait at the altar for Winston, barring,

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Speaker 1: of course, any campaigns snaffoos that might get any of

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Speaker 1: the above into trumble and offside with us the voters.

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Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talks it be from five am weekdays, or

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Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.