Three-quarters of Kiwis concerned about GCSB bill - poll

A GCSB protest meeting was held at the Auckland Town Hall earlier in the week. Photo / Kim Dotcom / Twitter

More than three-quarters of New Zealanders hold some concerns about reforms to spying laws, a Fairfax poll has found.

The survey of 1000 people by Fairfax Media-Ipsos found that a total of 75.3 per cent were "very concerned'', "somewhat concerned'' or "a little concerned'' about plans to allow the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) to monitor New Zealanders as well as foreigners.

The poll result was contrary to Prime Minister John Key's assertion that New Zealanders cared little about the GCSB bill. He has previously pointed out the small number of submissions on the GCSB law change compared to the public response on proposed changes to snapper quotas.

Just over half of the survey respondents said they trusted Government to protect their right to privacy, while 40 per cent did not.

The bill which would allow the new spying powers to be introduced was expected to pass into law this afternoon.

The Labour Party's support remains mired in the low 30 per cent range despite its bold policy promises.

The poll showed that if an election were held today 31.6 per cent would vote for Labour, a drop of five points since the beginning of the year.

Despite National facing intense public pressure over spying law changes and proposed changes to snapper quotas, its support dropped just 1 point since May to 48.3 per cent.

In the last two months, Labour made a popular promise to ban foreign speculators from the housing market in attempt to help struggling first-home buyers.

But it also received negative attention for its proposed "man-ban", a proposal to increase the proportion of female MPs in caucus by blocking male candidates in some electorate seats.

There were only minor changes in support for other parties. Greens polled 12.3 per cent, New Zealand First 2.8 per cent, Maori Party 1 per cent, and Conservatives 1.4 per cent.
The poll had a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.