The NZ Herald today drills down into the factors most likely to influence voters in 2008 by running a Digi-poll.
Tax come out as the biggest issue, particularly for Aucklanders.
In a Herald Digi-Poll, just over one quarter (25.5 per cent) of respondents picked tax cuts as an issue likely to influence their vote in the election - more than for hospital waiting lists (17 per cent), the economy (15.1 per cent) or law and order (14.2 per cent.)
The prospect of lower taxes was especially high on the minds of Aucklanders, where one-third of respondents picked tax cuts, compared with 22 per cent of the rest of New Zealanders.
Nor was it just an issue for respondents who said they would vote National - it was top of the list for both National and Labour supporters - with 29 per cent and 23 per cent respectively saying tax cuts were likely to influence their vote.
Attitudes to climate change and energy efficiency were also interesting:
Despite the publicity about the carbon emissions trading scheme and energy efficiency programmes, global warming was chosen by 9 per cent. Just 2.1 per cent of National supporters picked global warming in their choices, compared with 11 per cent of Labour's and, not surprisingly, 43 per cent of those who said they would vote for the Green Party.
This would tend to confirm that Labour's re-born belief in these issues is as much about who gets the "Green" vote as it is about the environment.
