University of Otago Politics Professor Janine Hayward, September 14, 2017
Politicians are this year mainly talking about the issues that matter to voters – economics (27%), housing/homelessness (23%), social issues (18%), human rights (13%) and the environment (10%) and are discussing more policy than they did in 2014, Janine says.
And elections are more important in New Zealand than many other democracies because MPs are so powerful, because the lack of an entrenched constitution means they can change most policy settings with just a simple majority of 61 votes.