An Oamaru Mail poll found 40% of people would vote for National, 25% for Labour and 22.5% are undecided.
Jan Howell 50 said she hoped that recent polls inidcating a rise by Labour would not be a continuing trend.
“I think the Labour Party is running the country into the ground. I think they have their priorities wrong. There are people really struggling in this country but a lot of their money seems to be going overseas.”
Adele Foley, 55, said…the country needed a change of leaderhsip and she would be voting for National and John Key.
Waimate accountant Tim Jones said he was confident his preferred party, National, would win the election.
“I prefer National’s economic policies. People want less control of the economy and Government spending to be reduced.”
Unemployed man Greg Petry, 34, also thought it was about the economy.
“Seeing the eocnomy is going down National will probably get in.”
However, he was undecided about who he would vote for, preferring to wait to hear which party “made more sense” closer to the election.
Health, education and the economy were the biggest concerns of most people spoken to. However not everyone thought National ahd the best answers.
One woman, 48, who did not want to be identified said she thought the economy was the big issue and that Labour were doing a good job of managing things. “I think they are doing as much as they can in a global environment.”
Pip Harrington, 74, said she would be voting for Labour because she didn’t trust National with her pension.
“I’m hoping Labour will catch up but it might be a bit late. It’s important for people on a pension.”
She said she was happy Labour had bought back the railways and was worried that National would sell them off again if they got back in to power.
But more common was a desire for change among people spoken to. One semi-retired man, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he wanted “Aunty Helen” out of Government.
“People must be sick of the granny state by now. People in government have ideas above their station. They are supposed to be looking after our interests not their own.
That level of support of support could be seen as good for National because Oamaru always votes red. But the poll is not scientific and only 40 people were questioned.
That is comforting because it means I don’t have to be scared that 7.5% of people indicated they’d vote for New Zealand First. 
July 24, 2008 at 9:51 pm
hp: It’s sad to see people like Jan Howell imagining that National will stop money flowing overseas. Labour and National both agree that Kiwis being renters in their own country is the way to go. Notional more so than about as they would not have stopped the sale of the Auckland Airport monopoly to a overseas government pension fund looking to make big profits for Canadian pensions. It never occurred to either party that such a good investment prospect might be good for New Zealand pensions. It’s increasingly obvious that many people think voting for National will achieve the opposite of what National’s policy approach will seek to bring about.