Poll Signals Labour's Demise

Monday 22 Mar 2004 Richard Prebble

ACT New Zealand Leader Richard Prebble today said the latest poll, which has the National Party with a 10 percent lead, shows one of the biggest leads for an Opposition since polling began.

"Governments normally lose support as time goes on, and it seems virtually impossible for Labour to now win," Mr Prebble said.

"When we couple this with the fact that Prime Minister Helen Clark is a poor campaigner - last election Labour lost 10 percent in just one month - it certainly looks like a change of government is imminent.

"Further, New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters' decision to back Labour on the Treaty commission seems to have cost him his support.

"ACT is pleased with its rise. Unlike Labour, ACT is a good campaigning party. I remain confident that ACT will, not only break the threshold but, also increase its majority.

"While National's decision to rule out cutting the top rate of tax may be paying off electorally, it does allow ACT to claim that we are the low tax party and the party of sound economics," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>