Giles
Dexter
Political reporter
Labour Party
candidates and members are rallying in Wellington, with
leader Chris Hipkins saying it is a chance for the party to
get “fired up” ahead of the election.
The party’s
annual conference – which Labour calls a congress in
election years – comes after a recent poll showing a drop
for Labour, but the party is still ahead of
National.
Earlier this week, Hipkins said the congress
would be about organising for the election
campaign.
“We’ll get our members all fired up, we’ll
be talking about the campaign ahead, and it’ll be an
opportunity for us to talk about some of the new talent that
we’ve got standing for us, showcase some of our new
candidates who are going to make a huge contribution here in
Parliament, and basically get onto the election year footing
that we’re all heading towards.”
On Saturday,
attendees will hear from party president Jill Day and deputy
leader Carmel Sepuloni, as well as an address from finance
spokesperson Barbara Edmonds.
On Sunday, Hipkins will
address the party faithful, and is expected to announce a
policy.
Much of the two-day congress is closed to
media, and the party is keeping quiet on what area the
policy announcement may be in.
Hipkins only teased
there would be “some” policy.
“You’ll just have to
wait and see,” he said.
After a period of silence from
the party on the policy front, policy announcements have
started to come thick and fast.
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Labour has now made a
series of announcements in health, including free doctor’s
visits, free
prescriptions, free
cervical screening and free
maternity scans. These would be funded through the
party’s capital
gains tax.
It has also announced a $20 public
transport cap and a Future
Fund, although details on the latter are being kept
quiet until after the election.
Most recently,
Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty announced a Crown
guarantee for Community Housing Funding Agency social
bonds.
With just over four months to go until the
election, Labour’s polling is staying relatively stable in
the early- to mid-30s.
The party did suffer a five-point
slump in this week’s 1 News Verian poll, dropping to 32
percent. However, in that poll Labour was still ahead of
National, and the left bloc would have the numbers to form a
government.
On Wednesday, Sepuloni told Morning
Report the poll was “inconsistent”
with other polls Labour had seen in recent weeks which
showed the party in a more favourable light.
Labour
has also joined the Greens in being early out the gate with
its party
list. National, ACT and New Zealand First are yet to
release their rankings.
The ACT Party is also holding
its rally on Sunday in Auckland, with the party expected to
unveil its new deputy leader. Current deputy leader Brooke
van Velden is stepping
down at the election.
National held its annual
general meeting (AGM) last week, with the party announcing
its KiwiSaver
policy while also taking a dig
at its coalition partners.
New Zealand First and
the Green Party are expected to hold their AGMs next
month.
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