Election 2020: ‘This is nonsense’ – Judith Collins on the attack on the early leaders debate while her campaign is under pressure

National leader Judith Collins went on the offensive in the first debate of the election, calling Labor leader Jacinda Ardern’s responses “nonsense” and arguing with host John Campbell about the need for her tax cut plan.

But his party is on the defensive in the campaign, trailing 17 points behind Labor in the TVNZ / Colmar Brunton poll published just before the debate.

He is also fighting to save his economic credibility after a second multi-billion dollar breach was revealed in the party’s fiscal plan.

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After accepting a first miscalculation of $ 4.2 billion, finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith rejected a new breach that was discovered by Stuff, saying that the reallocation of the country’s transportation budget would cover the apparent deficit of $ 3.9 billion.

The bug came after National appeared to twice count with $ 3.9 billion remaining from New Zealand’s upgrade package.

Tuesday’s TVNZ debate, held without people under Covid-19 restrictions in Auckland, focused almost entirely on economic issues.

None of the leaders revealed new political positions, and there were no major mistakes.

It was preceded by the first television poll since the Auckland Covid-19 group, which still had Labor in a position to rule alone, although 5 points less than in the previous poll.

Labor support was 48%, National’s 31%, ACT’s 7% and the Green Party’s 6%. No other party exceeded the 5 percent threshold.

Collins told Campbell that his party could make up the difference before Election Day, saying the campaign had been hampered by the Auckland shutdown and noting that 14 percent of voters in the poll were undecided.

“We have a fight,” Collins said.

Collins was pressured by Campbell about her tax cut plan, who argued that stimulation spending should go to those who earn the least, not the rich who get more from the tax cuts.

Collins said that people with an average salary deserved more cash in their pockets, particularly teachers, and he believed that people with higher incomes would spend the cash, not save it.

Ardern mostly stayed away from attacking National directly throughout the night, but criticized the party over the hospital’s infrastructure.

He said his government had to spend more than expected on repairing hospitals that National set aside and that the government had spent more on health infrastructure in its latest budget, $ 900 million, than National had allocated in the next budget.

Collins said the attack on the previous government “was not fair” and pointed to the hospital wings built under National.

Both party leaders were asked about the capital gains tax, which neither currently supports. Both discussed the need for people to work, with Ardern focusing more on higher wages and Collins on the need to train kids for tech jobs.

In agriculture, Ardern defended himself when a farmer asked leaders about changes in regulations that affect the mental health of people in the rural sector. Ardern said that consensus between the government and the sector would be key. Collins said National would “look out” for farmers and “not pocket them,” and said Labor’s water quality reforms went too far.

Collins gained energy as the debate progressed, eventually interrupting Ardern to say “this is nonsense” as the Labor leader spoke of her policies aimed at fighting child poverty.

He also said Ardern should stop talking about his “nonsense” about housing, saying the government had gone too far with its rental policies and was discouraging landlords.

Despite all this, Ardern told reporters after the debate that politics “was not a blood sport” and that the debate was about a competitive vision for the country.

Collins laughed at this review and said that he enjoyed the discussion and wanted to do it again.