Political Roundup: Rich vs poor in NZ: Which side are you on?

Will public concerns about inequality and poverty have an impact on this year's election campaign?

Going on last night's TVNZ-Colmar Brunton poll, the answer seems to be "yes". Labour has dropped in support, but the Greens have surged from 11 to 15 per cent, no doubt reflecting Metiria Turei's bold benefit fraud confession - see Corin Dann's Labour slumps to its lowest level in more than 20 years in latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll.

Turei's highly polarising "fraud bomb" has been the main political story of the last two weeks. More than any other statement by opposition politicians, it has powerfully put her on the side of the poor and those who seek to reduce the gap between the rich and poor. So, in an election where poverty and inequality are the main concerns of voters, Turei's gambit is paying off.

Tracy Watkins nicely sums this up: "the poll is a huge boost to the minor party after its calculated risk over co-leader Metiria Turei's admission that she ripped off the DPB when raising her daughter on her own. The admission has polarised public opinion but appears to have energised left wing voters, with the poll suggesting it has caused a defection of Labour voters to its minor party ally" - see: Labour bleeds while Greens profit from Metiria Turei's 'fraud bomb'.

Concerns about inequality driving voters

Opinion polling firm Roy Morgan has been publishing reports on how inequality and poverty are driving political concerns at the moment. Early last month, they published their polling which showed Poverty and the gap between rich and poor is the single biggest issue facing New Zealand.

And last week, they published further details, which showed that Green voters were most concerned about poverty and inequality (24 per cent of them), followed by Labour voters (20 per cent), then National voters (14 per cent), with only a tiny number of NZ First voters (3 per cent) nominating this as their biggest concern - see: Poverty, gap between rich and poor and housing affordability dominate discussion in lead-up to election.

Income issues are also highlighted in the latest Herald-ZB-Kantar TNS online survey. Claire Trevett reports that "The results indicate the election will be a battle to win voter