Photo: RNZ
More people blame the coalition for New Zealand's struggling economy than the previous Labour government, according to the RNZ-Reid Research poll.
And voters are becoming more pessimistic about the direction of the country.
The economic blame game has ramped up in recent months, with the government acknowledging times are tough but saying the previous government left it a mess it has had to clean up.
The now-opposition, meanwhile, rejects that, saying the coalition has had more than enough time to take some responsibility, and has made the wrong choices.
In the latest poll, 1000 voters were asked "who do you hold most responsible for NZ's struggling economy right now?".
Thirty-seven-point-six percent of respondents said the current coalition government was responsible (that is, National, ACT, and New Zealand First), while 30.8 percent blamed the previous government (Labour, with support from the Greens).
Twenty-three-point-nine percent said both were equally responsible.
Four-point-eight percent said neither, while 2.9 percent said they did not know.
The split results by party preference largely followed party lines, with respondents who said they would vote for left-leaning parties more likely to hold the current government responsible.
Similarly, supporters of the coalition parties largely blamed the previous government.
Thirty-five-point-one percent of New Zealand First voters, however, said both governments were to blame - not far behind its share of supporters who blamed the previous government, which was 39.9 percent.
More people felt the country was heading in the wrong direction than previously.
Each RNZ-Reid Research Poll has asked voters how they feel about New Zealand's current direction.
Voters were asked, "In your opinion, under the current government, do you think New Zealand is heading in the right or wrong direction?"
Forty-eight-point-nine percent believed the country was heading in the wrong direction.
Thirty-four percent said it was going in the right direction.
Fifteen percent said neither the right nor wrong direction, while 2.1 percent said they did not know.
That put the right-track-wrong-track on a net score of -14.9, sliding from the previous poll taken in May, which was -8.8. March's poll had a net score of +2.9.
Broken down by party lines, 72.2 percent of National supporters thought the country was going in the right direction, as did 59.3 percent of ACT supporters.
Their praise, however, was moderate: 63.5 percent of National supporters thought it was 'mostly' going in the right direction, compared to 9.3 percent who thought it was 'absolutely' heading there.
Fifty-four percent of ACT supporters thought things were 'mostly' going in the right direction. Just 5.3 percent backed it as 'absolutely' going in the right direction.
Interestingly, more New Zealand First supporters thought the country was going in the wrong direction versus right: 46.7 percent wrong, compared to 30 percent right.
Unsurprisingly, Labour, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori supporters believed the country was going in the wrong direction: 76.6 percent, 79.6 percent, and 77.2 percent respectively.
Green voters were more likely to say the country was 'absolutely' heading in the wrong direction (50.1 percent) than 'mostly' in the wrong direction (29.5 percent).
The same could be said for Te Pāti Māori supporters (55.2 percent said 'absolutely' the wrong direction, 22 percent said 'mostly' the wrong direction).
Labour supporters were more moderate, with 47 percent saying 'mostly' the wrong direction, versus 29.6 percent who felt the country was 'absolutely' heading in the wrong direction.
What the parties said
National is sticking to its guns, with leader Christopher Luxon continuing to talk about what the government "inherited", while also blaming outside factors like the US tariffs.
"We inherited the biggest recession in 35 years. We inherited a long Covid hangover, and we have inherited a situation around tariffs, which has caused a huge amount of uncertainty around the world and here in New Zealand as well," he said.
"But having said all of that, I think New Zealand's got a fantastic future ahead of us, and that's why we've been working very hard on making sure we do fix the economy."
Luxon said inflation was now within the target band, interest rates were falling, and unemployment would come down from its peak in the coming months.
"Our job is to do everything we can to make sure that we're accelerating economic growth. A growing economy is actually how Kiwis get ahead. That's how they get more money in their back pocket. That's how they're able to afford the things that they want to be able to spend money on. And that's what we've collectively got to do."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said New Zealand was going backwards, and the government was more in favour of blaming the previous government than doing anything about it.
"National has been in government for nearly two years now. All they seem to want to do is find blame and excuses, rather than solutions to the problem facing the country," he said.
While economic conditions could improve by the time of the next election, Hipkins did not think voters would see a difference.
"If you take house building, half the decline in house building over the last year has been caused by the government. This is a government that is making the economic going worse, not better, for New Zealanders. And I think Kiwis can see that."
ACT leader David Seymour said people were voting on the economy, and that would also be the case in a year's time.
He was optimistic the government's efforts to contain costs and cut red tape would pay off, but acknowledged people were not feeling that yet.
"Issues are issues if voters say they are issues. And right now, the number one issue is, you know, we've had about three years of high inflation. That inflation has largely stopped, but it hasn't reversed. So the prices remain high," he said.
Seymour said while the "academic, economist answer" was that the current state of the economy was caused by many factors, people were more interested in hearing what the government was doing about it.
"We're cutting the waste for spending. That means there's less pressure on inflation and interest rates, more money to spend at the end of the week. We're cutting red tape. It means that it's easier to get on and build stuff so that people actually have jobs. And we're also building our connections with the rest of the world, and our infrastructure here in New Zealand."
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters acknowledged the coalition's wider poll results were due to the cost of living and struggling economy.
"We've always believed that. That's why we campaigned at the last election to say how bad the inheritance we would receive was, that the cost of living was going through the roof. Inflation was going through the roof, at least we've tamed that."
The Green Party said crises like worsening homelessness and inequality were all down to the coalition.
Co-leader Marama Davidson said the government had left communities to "fight for crumbs" while changing the pay equity framework, restoring interest-deductibility for landlords, and cutting the excise tax on heated tobacco products.
"People can see that those are decisions that this government has made, and there is no doubt about them cheering for corporate greed ahead of community need."
She blamed "successive governments" for keeping wealth in the hands of the few, but this government had made it worse.
Te Pāti Māori declined to be interviewed.
This poll of 1000 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 4-12 September 2025 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The report is available here.
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