2020 Election Final Leaders Debate: Jacinda Ardern v Judith Collins

Jacinda Ardern from Labor and Judith Collins from National are in the final campaign leaders debate tonight, two days before Election Day.

Follow live updates here or scroll below to read more.

The TVNZ debate is moderated by Jessica Mutch McKay and lasts one hour, in front of a live studio audience.

In the survey

To start the debate, Ardern is asked about tonight’s poll: Will Labor be transformative if he returns to government?

“I think we have been,” Ardern responds, saying that lasting changes on issues like climate change require consensus and pointing to child poverty as an area that she says real progress is being made.

“I have not finished.”

Collins is asked about the National poll numbers: 31 percent. She says that about 15 percent of people are undecided, and a good number will make a decision on Election Day.

The national leader says the economy will be on the minds of voters.

“There will be a lot of people who will want to say: yes, we want to come and vote for National.”

When asked if National should have stuck with Simon Bridges as the leader, Collins said internal polls were in the mid-20s at the time.

Collins says National’s path to power centers on swing voters and bringing people back from minor parties.

She said that people who vote for the New Conservative or NZ First could lose their vote, and if those people don’t want a Labor government they should vote at the national level.

There was still confusion about MMP, Collins said.

Ardern said the Labor message was clear and polls showed “people are looking for stability … unity.”

On the large number of early voters, Collins said that many national voters would vote on Election Day. She hoped that early voters would not feel “sorry for the buyer.”

Ardern said that many people had made it through the election campaign and were thinking ahead.

He said the “undecided” voters in the poll could be people who have already voted and do not want to say who they have supported.

On child poverty

Mutch McKay asked Ardern about poverty and his promise to halve child poverty by 2030. The Child Poverty Action Group had said this could be fixed right now, using money from the Covid recovery fund.

Ardern said a large investment had been made in the past three years, including raising the minimum wage and providing educational and social support.

“There is urgency … we canceled the tax cuts of the last National Government to support those with lower incomes.”

Leaders clashed over Collins’ claim that child poverty had worsened.

“She promised to end child poverty,” Collins said. “We have 150,000 children living in poverty … it has actually gotten worse.”

What was Collins’s goal? He said National would also like to cut child poverty in half by 2030, but by getting people to work, and National had a strong record in government.

“What really matters is whether a child eats or not … if he has shoes on his feet.”

About housing

Mutch McKay went into the house. Will any of the leaders make changes to lower house prices?

Collins did not promise to lower the prices of existing homes, but said the supply must increase.

“I’m not asking people to lose their life savings.”

Ardern said not enough affordable homes had been built in New Zealand, and the data showed that first-time home buyers now account for 25 percent of the market, the highest share on record.

Mutch McKay asked: What would you say to people who cannot own a home?

Collins said supply was key. Ardern said the deposit for first-time home buyers was a barrier, and Labor had policies to help reduce it.

On Maori issues

Next topic: How to improve the results of Maori?

Ardern cited state childcare and the controversy over raising children, and said Labor had made changes to lower those statistics.

Collins said intergenerational poverty and welfare dependency must be addressed. National has made a large number of treaty agreements, he said.

Both leaders were a bit vague when asked if separate new systems were needed for Maori, but said innovations like the Rangatahi courts should be supported if they get results.

In the pacific

Should a border exception be made for Pacific workers, to support the agricultural sector?

Ardern said he was looking at himself: “Nobody wants fruit to rot on the ground.”

Collins said more urgency was needed, even in areas like vineyards and growers.

“The Pacific has lost its tourism … it is part of what we must do.”

In faith

Collins was asked if his Christian faith would play a role in how he would rule.

She said she was a “liberal Anglican,” and she always had been.

Ardern said she was agnostic, but grew up in a religious home.

“That has shaped the way I treat people of faith, I respect that.”

In St John’s ambulances

Will St John’s ambulance service be fully funded?

Ardern would not go that far, but said paramedic services would not be allowed to stop or suffer.

Collins said that as a charity, St John didn’t want to become a government department, but would also make sure its services didn’t suffer.

In visas

People in New Zealand on work visas cannot bring their partners, will this change?

Collins said it had to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and not “blindly.”

Ardern said border restrictions were necessary to stay safe and were gradually being eased.

About leadership

Next, a question arises from a student at the school: What do you have to give New Zealand that no one else gives?

Ardern said she had a keen awareness that she was at work as a privilege rather than a right.

“I give it my all … even if it means a great sacrifice.”

Collins said being in Parliament was an absolute privilege and that she brought 20 years of experience as an attorney and in small businesses.

“At a time of dire economic situation that we are moving into now, that’s something I bring. But also the ability to make decisions,” Collins said, before Mutch McKay stopped her, saying she was becoming a list. long.

Results of tonight’s poll

In the latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll tonight, it was the minor parties that benefited, taking points from both major parties.

Labor is at 46 percent, 1 percentage point down, while national is at 31 percent, also down 1. Labor would need the support of the Greens to govern, based on those figures.

The law is stable at 8 percent, the Greens rose two points to 8 percent and NZ First rose two points to 3 percent.

The New Conservative Party is at 2% and TOP, Advance NZ and the Maori Party are all at 1%.

The poll showed that 15 percent were still undecided with two days to go.

The survey was conducted between October 10 and 14 and had 1,005 responses, with a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

Tonight’s debate is particularly important to Collins, who is desperate to increase her party’s vote before Election Day on Saturday.

Both leaders have been on the road for the better part of a month and are now on the home stretch.

Many viewers of tonight’s debate will have already cast an early vote. As of 2:00 p.m. today, more than 1.56 million people had voted.

Rate the debate

Viewers can share how they feel about the leaders’ arguments in tonight’s debate with the Herald’s interactive “Rate the Debate”.

Use the interactive sliders in this article to change the rating of any of the leaders at any time. We will save all the ratings and calculate, in real time, the average ratings based on the total submissions from the Herald audience.

You can also share your grades with your friends – click the share button and we will generate a picture of your grades, which can then be posted on social media.

When you first see the Rating Leaders interactive, the rating for each leader was randomly assigned.