Poll: Greens behind, but Peters first

By VERNON SMALL DEPUTY political reporter

Green co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is struggling to hold second place in Coromandel, but New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is romping home in Tauranga, polls in the two crucial seats show.

A One News-Colmar Brunton poll shows National's Sandra Goudie with 39 per cent of the decided electorate vote in Coromandel, well ahead of her two rivals.

Ms Fitzsimons, on 28 per cent, was only one percentage point ahead of Labour's Max Purnell

The narrow margin could tempt Labour to push for the seat, which it had considered out of reach.

Prime Minister Helen Clark has effectively exempted Coromandel from her "two-ticks" campaign, saying she would neither discourage nor encourage Labour voters to back Ms Fitzsimons.

She has previously said the seat was likely to be a race between the Greens and National.

But relations between Labour and the Greens have turned frosty since the Greens said they would bring the Government down if the moratorium on commercial release of genetically modified organisms was lifted.

Ms Fitzsimons said she was not perturbed by the poll's outcome. It had not asked which candidate voters backed, but which party their preferred candidate was likely to come from.

"That is just another party-vote question."

Mr Purnell said the Greens' stance on genetic modification had boosted their support nationwide, but harmed them in Coromandel.

"The damage being done to the Greens at the moment is being done by their own hand."

He said he would stand aside for Ms Fitzsimons if she was ahead closer to the election to prevent National winning the seat, and suggested she should consider doing the same for him if he was ahead.

"It depends how much she wants National to win. I have told everybody around me, 'don't let my ego get in the way of stopping National winning'."

Ms Fitzsimons said Mr Purnell was "a good friend and he is always good for a joke".

"The fact is that there's no way he can win it as long as I am there. I can win it as long as people realise it is a two-way race."

But National's Sandra Goudie said voters would react against calls for tactical voting.

"People don't like being told how to vote. Any meddling and instruction, I think they take objection to."

On the party vote in Coromandel, Labour had 49 per cent backing, National had 30 per cent and the Greens 9 per cent.

In Tauranga, Mr Peters had 43 per cent support, giving him an 11 percentage point lead over Labour's Margaret Wilson.

Labour drew 50 per cent of the party vote in Tauranga, against 15 per cent for New Zealand First.

National was struggling in electorate and party votes, with 19 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

The polls of 500 people in each electorate were taken between June 10 and 13 - straddling the announcement of the election date. They had a margin of error of 4.4 per cent.

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