GEOFF NEAL: Top 10 Voter Issues and Performance by Government
For the first time this election, a comprehensive list of the top 10 voter issues and official government performance data has been compiled into one place - www.KPI.nz (Kiwi Performance Indicators).
Voters can now see:
1/ The top 10 issues ranked and aggregated across the two research companies (Ipsos, Curia) that regularly poll and publish the issues that matter most to New Zealanders.
2/ Dynamic KPIs using official Government data and other leading industry sources to show how our country is going in each key area.
3/ An objective comparison of how well Labour-led vs National-led governments have performed over time.
Better Data. Better Debate.
Performance data is meticulously sourced and checked with trusted organisations including Stats NZ, the Reserve Bank, Treasury, Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Social Development, NZ Police, REINZ and the Ministry for the Environment.
For full transparency, each KPI includes interactive historical graphs, data sources, methodology, explanatory notes and government timelines. Issue rankings and graphs are updated as new information becomes available.
The top 10 voter issues:
Cost of Living – the #1 issue for 4.5 years (Ipsos, page 7).
Health – all 5 Health Targets improving after rapid decline (4 Wait Time KPIs).
Economy – out of recession, but slow-growing. GDP per capita is what counts most.
Unemployment – 1 in 8 now on a main benefit. Flaws in the official unemployment rate.
Housing – affordability back under 6x household income for the first time in 13 years.
Environment – GDP up, emissions down (2nd table).
Poverty – very slow data releases, but 8 out of 9 poverty measures improved last release (table 2).
Taxes – a more complex picture. Contact us for our additional tax research.
Crime – victimisations per capita down 22.5% from 2022 and 2023 peaks.
Immigration – into the top 10 for the first time. A top 3 issue in the UK (#1), US (#3), AU (#3).
The top three issue rankings are identical between Ipsos and Curia, and account for 52% of the combined weighted issue scores.
Issues 4-12 are much closer, and often move about month to month. Treaty/race relations (#11) and Education (#12) drop out of the top 10 this month. Overall mood of the nation Country Direction is above the September-October 2023 lows of -28%, but still at -13%, despite most KPIs improving.
This election has seen robust coverage of party polling, policies, promises and gang-pads. But we believe there's a far more important P-word not getting enough attention — Performance.
KPIs are a standard part of most people's jobs and critical to the success of both public organisations and private businesses, so we've always found it strange that the biggest business of all — New Zealand — doesn’t have its own high-performance dashboard.
We've brought together the data on the issues that matter most to New Zealanders, so media and voters alike can objectively compare government performance and judge for themselves.
About KPI.nz
KPI.nz is an independent, citizen-funded and volunteer initiative. It receives no taxpayer funding and operates independently of political parties, media and corporate organisations. Our aim is to encourage informed discussion and debate to achieve better decision-making and outcomes for New Zealand.
Next data update: Crime data, Friday 30 October. Issues ranking and Country Direction, early November.
Geoff Neal is one of the creators of Kiwi Performance Indicators.
Treaty / race relations (and all the other related maorification BS & con-jobs) at number 11?? You just HAVE to be kidding me….!
Polls are of some interest I suppose, but much depends on who was asked, what and how were they asked, how many were involved, demographic spread and so on.
We’ve lived at the same address for nearly 50 years and have only been contacted once (and the caller was in Aus).
Without knowing how responses were obtained, what questions, what prompts, the neutrality of such polls cannot be ascertained, and indeed the neutrality of the pollsters, which if they are anything like MSM would be a big fat no.
The #1 issue for me is the progress of Apartheid in this country. It is the one issue that will have the most long lasting damaging impact and be the hardest to reverse. Sadly most people are not seeing it because they believe apartheid is where the disadvantaged group have dark skins. The reverse is true in New Zealand. Preferntial rights and entitlements are now well established here on clear racial lines. Wake up N Z before it is too late. Support David Seymour and Winston Peters, they are our best and perhaps only hope.
Top 10 voter issues? Why isn't co-goverance / the maorification of everything mentioned? Not in the top 10 - pull the other one?