KEY POINTS:
An under-pressure Prime Minister Helen Clark is vowing to stick to her existing election-year strategy as she battles sagging poll ratings and dismisses the first appearance of questions about her leadership.
The Prime Minister will today spend her 58th birthday working in Christchurch before she flies out to
meet new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tomorrow.
But yesterday she was keen to put an end to media questioning about three recent polls that have shown National about 20 points ahead of Labour. Helen Clark's own personal ratings as preferred prime minister tumbled in one of the polls and she suggested that was linked to the wide gap between the party ratings.
"I've said I think those results are a bit extreme, but clearly the Government has got work to do," she said. "I don't propose to change the basic strategy, which is to get on with governing - it's a long time 'til the election."
The weak polls were due to "a bit of a hangover" from where Labour ended last year, she said.
When media questions during the Prime Minister's regular Monday press conference focused on the polls, an unhappy Helen Clark abruptly said she had time for only a couple more questions on "other things" because she had kept the Governor of Bamyan Province in Afghanistan waiting for 45 minutes.
The three polls have attracted a lot of attention because they show a widening gap between Labour and National despite Helen Clark making special effort to start the year well.
Last week was one to forget for Labour, which had to deal with unhelpful publicity surrounding its wealthy donor Owen Glenn.
This week has begun with senior Cabinet minister Phil Goff facing media questions about his own leadership aspirations. But there is no mood within Labour to remove Helen Clark as leader. She is still seen internally as a strength for her party - something Mr Goff was keen to reinforce.
"I think the Prime Minister is the best Prime Minister I have seen in my political lifetime, the most competent, the best informed and the hardest working," he said. "I think she's an asset for the Government and the country." Asked if he had leadership aspirations, Mr Goff said he had "absolutely none".
Political commentator Colin James agreed Helen Clark's leadership was not threatened. However, he said, "her disapproval ratings have been rising. That is in large part due to a change in leadership in the National Party."
Helen Clark pointed her finger at the media yesterday in a series of interviews, something she has not usually done.
In one, she described political journalists as having a "herd mentality" and she appeared frustrated at a view they had that three terms was enough for a government.
In another she was asked if she regretted avoiding being photographed with Mr Glenn at the opening of the new Auckland University Business School building last week.
"Firstly, I'm not going to give media the satisfaction of running around, getting snaps like that," she said on Newstalk ZB. "I know what the whole agenda was."
She argued that photographs that did come out of the appearance showed her going about her duties in a dignified manner, which was not what the media wanted to see.
- additional reporting Claire Trevett