National and Labour sit dead level on 28 percent as the parties voters trust most to tackle the cost of living, according to a 1News Verian poll released as the first overseas ballots open for the 2026 general election.
The Cost-of-Living Deadlock and Overseas Voting
With 126,000 enrolled voters abroad casting the very first ballots of the campaign, the economic baseline remains the central battleground. Behind the two major parties, the Greens captured 10 percent on the cost-of-living measure, followed by ACT on 7 percent, New Zealand First on 6 percent, The Opportunity Party on 3 percent, and Te Pāti Māori on 1 percent. Nearly one in five respondents—17 percent—either said none, did not know, or declined to answer 1News.
The numbers follow a separate 1News poll putting National’s general party support at 32 percent, five points clear of Labour on 27 percent, with 17 days remaining until the November 7 general election. Labour leader Chris Hipkins pushed back on that gap while campaigning in Hamilton, pointing instead to a competing Post-Freshwater Strategy poll taken between October 9 and 19 that placed Labour at 28.7 percent and National at 27.6 percent.
“I know you guys don’t like to admit that your competitors might have a point, but if you look at the Freshwater poll that was carried by The Post yesterday, it said exactly the opposite,” Hipkins said.
Public Support for the Daily Classroom Mandate
Support for the requirement runs strongest among ACT voters at 91 percent, National voters at 87 percent, and men aged 50 and over at 79 percent.
Labour, however, argues that individual students require flexible schedules tailored to their specific developmental needs. “Every kid’s different – they learn differently,” Hipkins said last week, noting that schools maintained high standards of foundational instruction long before the mandate took effect.
National Leader Rejects Working with Opportunity Party
Campaign dynamics also shifted toward the viability of smaller parties as National leader Christopher Luxon faced questions on the campaign trail in Pongakawa regarding his absolute refusal to work with The Opportunity Party. “As I said, I’ve ruled out Opportunity. I don’t know how to be any clearer about it,” Luxon told 1News.
Meanwhile, Labour campaign chairperson Kieran McAnulty dismissed the notion of directing preference votes toward The Opportunity Party if it hovers below the 5 percent threshold, maintaining that his team is campaigning strictly for two ticks Labour. Yet, looking at polling averages where Opportunity sits at 7 percent in the 1News figures, McAnulty suggested the current government formation cannot secure re-election without them.
