OCTOBER 15 2008
Tamaki Makaurau Voters Back Sharples In Maori Television Poll
A political poll commissioned by Maori Television shows that Dr Pita Sharples is the leading candidate for winning – and
retaining – the Tamaki Makaurau seat with 80 per cent of voters supporting him for another three years as their local
Member of Parliament.
While the Maori Party co-leader clearly leads the electorate race over Labour’s Louisa Wall (11 per cent) and Mikaere
Curtis of the Greens (four per cent), Tamaki Makaurau voters are more likely to support Labour (42 per cent) than the
Maori Party (36 per cent) with their party list vote. National wins just 11 per cent of the Maori vote with the Greens
(five per cent) and NZ First (four per cent) gathering the remaining support.
The special analysis of Maori voters’ opinions of political parties, electoral candidates and issues in the Tamaki
Makaurau electorate was unveiled tonight (Wednesday October 15) on KOWHIRI ’08 – a series of political programmes
screening on Maori Television every Tuesday and Wednesday at 8.30 PM until November 5.
KOWHIRI ’08 is co-hosted by Native Affairs presenter Julian Wilcox and Te Kaea political reporter Tina Wickliffe and
includes expert commentary from panelists Ms Sandra Lee and Dr Ann Sullivan as well as additional observations by
political scientist Dr Maria Bargh and Dr Ranginui Walker.
The research – prepared by Baseline Consultancy and TNS Direct – polled 500 voter eligible Maori voters registered on
the Tamaki Makaurau Maori roll between October 2 to 10 2008. The maximum margin of error is 4.5 per cent.
Consistent with the Party vote support for Labour, Helen Clark is this poll’s most preferred politician to be Prime
Minister. Approximately a third (32 per cent) of all Tamaki Makaurau voters interviewed opted for Clark as PM. Only 10
per cent of this electorate’s voters would pick John Key as their next PM behind Pita Sharples (13 per cent) and Winston
Peters (11 per cent).
The top four most important issues for Maori in Tamaki Makaurau were: a positive future for their children; access to
quality education for their children; access to affordable quality health services; and a belief that people can feel
safe in their homes or out on the street. Between 80 to 91 per cent of those polled regarded these four issues as being
very important to them. The ‘second tier’ issues are: access to affordable quality housing in their area (64 per cent
very important); fair settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims (62 per cent); and good jobs in their area (61 per cent).
Of note was that the Labour Party was most commonly seen as the party that would do the best job of delivering on six of
these seven issues, particularly providing access to affordable quality housing (50 per cent) and health services (48
per cent) in the voters’ local area. The Maori Party, however, was most widely regarded as the party that would ensure
that there was a fair settlement of treaty claims (63 per cent) and a third of the electorate sample believed that the
Maori Party would do the best job of ensuring that the voters’ children would have a positive future.
MMP VOTING – PARTY VOTE: If a general election was held yesterday, which political party would you have voted for?
Political party
Party Vote %
Labour
42
Maori Party
36
National
11
Green Party
5
NZ First
4
Progressive
-
ACT
0.5
United
0.2
Alliance
-
All others
0.9
Base (those with an opinion )
425
Don’t know/undecided
14
Would not vote
1
Total Sample
500
PREFERRED ELECTORAL CANDIDATE – TAMAKI MAKAURAU:
Candidate
%
Pita Sharples (Maori Party)
80
Louisa Wall (Labour)
11
Mikaere Curtis (Green)
4
Other
6
Base (those with an opinion )
455
None (don’t read)
2
Don’t know (don’t read)
7
Total Sample
500
PREFERRED PRIME MINISTER:
Total
Main candidates
%
Helen Clark
32
Pita Sharples
13
Winston Peters
11
John Key
10
Tariana Turia
2
Phil Goff
0.6
Others (less than 0.5 %)
9
None
4
Don’t know
18
Base:
500
IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR MAORI VOTERS IN TAMAKI MAKAURAU:
Issue
Very important
%
Quite important
%
Not that important
%
Of no importance to me
%
Don’t know not applicable
%
Quality education for my children
91
7
0.8
0.6
0.8
Access to affordable quality health services
80
16
3.2
0.2
1
Fair settlement of treaty claims
62
25
11
1.8
1.2
Good jobs in my area
61
26
11
1.2
0.8
Access to affordable, quality housing in my area
64
26
8
1.6
1.2
People can feel safe in their homes or out on the street
88
10
1.6
0.2
0
My children will have a positive future
90
6
1
0.6
2.4
Base :500
WHICH POLITICAL PARTY MAORI VOTERS BELIEVE WOULD DO THE BEST JOB OF DELIVERING ON THESE ISSUES:
Issue
Labour
%
Maori Party
%
National
Party
%
NZ First
%
Greens
%
None
%
Don’t know
%
Your children receive quality education
42
27
14
1
0.8
4
11
You can access affordable quality health services
48
24
6
2
3
4
12
There is fair settlement of treaty claims
22
63
4
1
1
3
6
There are good jobs in my area
45
18
16
2
0.2
5
14
Access to affordable, quality housing in my area
50
20
9
2
2
5
13
People can feel safe in their homes or out on the street
31
22
20
3
3
8
13
Your children will have a positive future
34
32
12
2
6
4
11
Base : 500
WHICH TAMAKI MAKAURAU CANDIDATE WOULD YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THESE STATEMENTS:
Statements
Louisa Wall Labour
%
Pita Sharples Maori Party
%
Mikaere Curtis Greens
%
Other
Candidates
%
None
%
Don’t know
%
Can be trusted
14
64
4
11
10
14
Will deliver on promises
13
60
4
9
10
16
Knows the needs of the local people
16
72
5
14
3
12
Is experienced in politics
13
67
3
7
5
17
Is a capable leader
11
73
2
7
5
11
Would be good in a crisis
15
64
3
8
5
17
Has lots of personality
12
73
4
9
3
10
Base : 500
The next political poll will focus on the Maori electorate of Waiariki (Tuesday October 21) followed by Te Tai Hauauru
(Wednesday October 22); Te Tai Tokerau (Tuesday October 28); Te Tai Tonga (Wednesday October 29); Hauraki Waikato
(Tuesday November 4); and Ikaroa Rawhiti (Wednesday November 5).
Maori Television’s coverage of the 2008 General Election – KOWHIRI ’08 – screens every Tuesday and Wednesday at 8.30 PM
until November 5 with live-to-air election night coverage on Saturday November 8 at 6.00 PM. For more information, go to
the website www.maoritelevision.com.
ENDS
A political poll commissioned by Maori Television shows that Dr Pita Sharples is the leading candidate for winning – and
retaining – the Tamaki Makaurau seat with 80 per cent of voters supporting him for another three years as their local
Member of Parliament.