The two Chrises from the Hutt are in a war of words over which party's campaign is the most negative and misleading
Labour leader Chris Hipkins denied his party was confusing voters about National’s policies.
National campaign chair Chris Bishop said many older voters falsely believed National planned to cut superannuation and the Winter Energy Payment. READ MORE: * Labour and National strip substance from campaign * Finance debate: Robertson finds ‘new hole’ in National’s foreign buyers tax
"Sadly, some voters have been hoodwinked and now believe some of the porkies Labour has been telling about what National will or won’t do," he said.
National’s policy is to lift the age of eligibility for superannuation to 67. However, it would not affect anyone born before 1979.
It plans to keep the Winter Energy Payment.
Hipkins, who is contesting the Remutaka electorate, has spent the day campaigning in the Wellington region.
He said saying National wanted to put up the age of eligibility, while omitting it would not happen for 20 years, was not misleading.
“Not at all. The National Party intends to raise the age of eligibility for superannuation and there is a significant proportion of the people who will vote in this election that will have to wait longer for their retirement.”
“We've been very clear on all of our messaging that that's what they're proposing.”
With regard to the Winter Energy Payment some Labour candidates have said National would scrap it.
Michael Wood removed a social media post earlier in the campaign claiming this to be the case, and Angie Warren-Clark has removed a portion of her post on her Facebook page which also said it.
Hipkins said the party was not running inaccurate attack advertisements.
“Where inaccurate information has been posted we have immediately sought for it to be corrected or taken down. The Prime Minister has been clear he wants a factual campaign,” his office told Newsroom.
Labour has also faced questions about its free dental care policy for under-30s and what is actually covered.
Some party advertisements don't specify the free care covers "basic" care, and not all dental work someone might require.
This was clear in the original policy announcement:
“Our policy includes essential dental procedures such as an annual check-up, a clean, X-rays, basic fillings and extractions – everything needed to set New Zealanders up for good oral health in their later years."
Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson, who was also out with Hipkins on the Kapiti Coast, said the party had been clear in its campaigning about the policy.
"In fact, I remember standing in a stand-up just like this, where Ayesha Verrall went through what was covered under free basic dental care. So that's been out there … we've been very clear."
Bishop, who is running in the Hutt South seat, accused Hipkins of running “the most negative and lie-driven campaign in recent history”.
Hipkins said that was nonsense.
“Actually if you look at the analysis, the impartial objective analysis of the National Party's campaign, which shows that 95 percent of the messaging has been negative, versus the analysis of Labour's campaign that shows that 60 percent of our messaging has been positive. I think it's very clear who's been running the most negative campaign.”
It comes as both parties took aim at the other's fiscal plans on Tuesday.
Labour issued a press release which said National’s policies would require more than $3 billion in cuts every year equating to 6000 job losses nationwide.
“The hole in National’s fiscal plan means they need to cut far more than they have admitted. This will result in deep cuts to jobs and the services New Zealanders rely on,” Grant Robertson said.
“At any point over the last 40 days National could have explained how their plan stacks up as economists and commentators have highlighted huge gaps in it. There’s only one explanation why they’ve chosen not to do so: it simply does not add up.”
National’s Nicola Willis then hit back with a similar press release claiming Labour’s dental and GST policies would cost an extra $736 million over four years, and debt would blow out by 2028 causing an “endless debt spiral”.
“The only way Labour and its likely coalition partners will pay for all of their spending promises is obvious: taxes. Labour loves tax like a shark loves blood and the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have said new forms of taxes are bottom lines for coalition negotiations,” Willis said.
Newsroom asked Hipkins if the campaign had been fair on voters and it had been easy for them to follow the policies and understand what each party was offering.
"I think all campaigns are a contest of ideas and this one certainly has been," he replied.
"I can put my hand on my heart and say that all of our policies are out there, they are properly costed, people can scrutinise the costings. And we certainly don't have economists from the left, right and centre, saying our numbers don't add up."
Port Waikato by-election
Hipkins confirmed a by-election for the Port Waikato seat would be held on November 25.
It was prompted by the death of Act candidate for the seat, Neil Christensen.
Hipkins said he had consulted with other parties who all agreed the sooner the better, however commiserated with Port Waikato constituents who had to hit the polling booth twice.
“I think no one relishes the idea of a by-election immediately after the election and events that will start before the election is even finished.”
He said the anomaly would be looked at after the election.
“It's something that I think as we review the electoral law after the election, which we always do, we can look at whether there's a fairer way of dealing with it.”
He said a decision on whether Labour would stand a candidate in the by-election had not yet been made.
Gwendoline Keel is currently running as Labour’s candidate for the seat, and is number 65 on the party list.
National’s Andrew Bayley is the current Port Waikato MP.
