This is the sixth in our series comparing two parties’ voters head to head, and the first to put Labour across the aisle from a coalition party rather than next to one. The numbers below come from 152 Labour supporters and 43 New Zealand First supporters who answered the KiwiValues survey. Labour’s sample is big enough that its averages are fairly steady; New Zealand First’s is small, so what follows on that side is about direction, not exact distance. A handful of different respondents could shift that average more than you’d like.

Labour NZ First Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Housing crisis is a top issue Housing crisis is a top issue: Labour +0.5, NZ First +0.5 (gap +0.0) Confident in New Zealand's future Confident in New Zealand's future: Labour -0.4, NZ First -0.3 (gap -0.0) Regulate AI more strictly Regulate AI more strictly: Labour +0.4, NZ First +0.3 (gap +0.1) More civic education in schools More civic education in schools: Labour +0.4, NZ First +0.6 (gap -0.1) Government itself threatens civil liberties Government itself threatens civil liberties: Labour -0.7, NZ First -0.5 (gap -0.1) Government should protect your rights Government should protect your rights: Labour +0.5, NZ First +0.6 (gap -0.1) Break up power companies if needed Break up power companies if needed: Labour +0.5, NZ First +0.7 (gap -0.2) Fund prevention over cure Fund prevention over cure: Labour +0.6, NZ First +0.4 (gap +0.2) Western culture is superior Western culture is superior: Labour -0.5, NZ First +0.4 (gap -0.9) Justice system discriminates against minorities Justice system discriminates against minorities: Labour +0.3, NZ First -0.7 (gap +1.0) NZ handled the COVID pandemic well NZ handled the COVID pandemic well: Labour +0.7, NZ First -0.2 (gap +1.0) History is colonial oppression History is colonial oppression: Labour +0.4, NZ First -0.6 (gap +1.0) Lower the voting age to 16 Lower the voting age to 16: Labour -0.0, NZ First -1.0 (gap +1.0) Strengthen hate speech laws Strengthen hate speech laws: Labour +0.3, NZ First -0.7 (gap +1.0) Protect gender identity in law Protect gender identity in law: Labour +0.3, NZ First -0.7 (gap +1.0) Not doing enough on climate Not doing enough on climate: Labour +0.7, NZ First -0.4 (gap +1.0) n = 152 Labour, 43 NZ First Self-selected sample, skews younger and left. kiwivalues.nz
Every question from the biggest-gap and closest-agreement tables, closest agreement at the top and widest gap at the bottom. n = 152 Labour, 43 NZ First.
New Zealand First’s side of this comparison is small, 43 respondents. You can see exactly who has answered so far. Treat every finding on that side as directional, and lean on the shape of the gap rather than its exact size.

Where the gap is widest

On the compass, Labour sits well to the left and New Zealand First sits to the right, so some distance was expected. What's notable is which questions carry it. It isn't trade or tariffs, and it isn't even immigration, though that one comes close. The single widest gap we measured is about climate change.

Climate change: the widest gap in this pairing

Asked whether the country isn't doing enough about climate change, Labour voters agree firmly, averaging +0.67. New Zealand First voters lean the other way, averaging -0.38. It's the widest gap we measured between these two groups.

We aren't doing enough about climate change.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.7 average, middle half +0.5 to +0.9 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: -0.4 average, middle half -0.8 to +0.1 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

Gender identity protections: a near-identical split

Asked whether government should add gender identity and expression as protected classes against discrimination, Labour voters lean toward agreeing at +0.28, while New Zealand First voters disagree firmly at -0.71.

The government should add gender identity and expression as protected classes against discrimination.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.3 average, middle half -0.0 to +0.7 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: -0.7 average, middle half -0.9 to -0.5 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

Hate speech laws: the same split again

Asked about strengthening hate speech laws to protect marginalised groups, the pattern repeats almost exactly: Labour +0.28, New Zealand First -0.70. It's the same shape as gender identity, on a different question.

We should strengthen our hate speech laws to protect marginalised groups.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.3 average, middle half -0.1 to +0.7 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: -0.7 average, middle half -0.9 to -0.4 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

Colonial history and the justice system follow the same pattern too: Labour voters agree, New Zealand First voters disagree, by roughly a point on the two-point scale each time. Immigration is close behind as well, Labour sitting near neutral at -0.16 while New Zealand First agrees strongly that numbers are too high at +0.77, though we're keeping that one short here since NZ First's line on immigration is covered elsewhere in this series.

New Zealand's COVID response: a wide, uncertain split

Asked whether the country responded to the COVID pandemic well, Labour voters agree firmly at +0.73. New Zealand First voters lean slightly the other way at -0.24, but their answers are spread wide across the whole scale, so that average sits on top of real disagreement within the group too.

Generally, New Zealand responded to the COVID pandemic well.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.7 average, middle half +0.5 to +0.9 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: -0.2 average, middle half -0.9 to +0.5 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

Lowering the voting age: a small sample, a total split

One more split is worth flagging even though it rests on a smaller slice of both samples: lowering the voting age to 16. Labour voters sit almost exactly at neutral, averaging -0.03, while every single New Zealand First respondent who answered disagreed, averaging a full -1.00. That question was added to the survey after the others, so only 28 Labour and 15 New Zealand First responses cover it, smaller than the rest of this post. Treat the direction as real and the size as a placeholder.

The voting age should be lowered to 16.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 28 Labour: -0.0 average, middle half -0.7 to +0.7 (n = 28) NZ First n = 15 NZ First: -1.0 average, middle half -0.9 to -0.8 (n = 15)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 43 respondents across both groups.

Where they agree

Strip out identity, rights and history questions and the two groups turn out to share more than the compass would suggest.

Housing crisis: the closest agreement we measured

Both agree the housing crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the country, Labour averaging +0.53 and New Zealand First +0.49, about as close as two averages get.

The housing crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing New Zealand today.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.5 average, middle half +0.3 to +0.8 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: +0.5 average, middle half +0.3 to +0.9 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

Not confident in the country's future, either

Asked, considering policies and leadership, whether they're confident in New Zealand's future prospects, both groups lean the same way, and it isn't the confident way: Labour averages -0.36, New Zealand First -0.31. Voters who disagree about almost everything else in this post share a similar unease about where the country is headed.

Considering policies and leadership, I'm confident in New Zealand's future prospects.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: -0.4 average, middle half -0.6 to -0.1 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: -0.3 average, middle half -0.7 to +0.1 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

AI regulation: neither side is reflexively pro-innovation

Asked whether AI should face stricter government regulation even if it slows innovation, both groups agree: Labour averages +0.37, New Zealand First +0.26. It's a rare question where the usual left-right split just doesn't show up.

AI should be subject to stricter government regulation, even if it slows innovation.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 152 Labour: +0.4 average, middle half +0.0 to +0.8 (n = 152) NZ First n = 43 NZ First: +0.3 average, middle half -0.3 to +0.7 (n = 43)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 195 respondents across both groups.

More civic education in schools

Asked whether schools should put more focus on civic education, Labour averages +0.43 and New Zealand First +0.55, both clearly agreeing. Like the voting age question, this one was added to the survey after the others, so only 124 Labour and 28 New Zealand First responses cover it.

There should be greater focus on civic education in schools.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Labour n = 124 Labour: +0.4 average, middle half +0.1 to +0.7 (n = 124) NZ First n = 28 NZ First: +0.6 average, middle half +0.3 to +0.8 (n = 28)
The dot is the group's mean answer; the line spans the middle half of the group's answers, lightly smoothed. n = 152 respondents across both groups.

Both groups also lean toward feeling the government itself threatens their civil liberties, Labour a bit more strongly than New Zealand First, one more place where their politics land closer together than the compass alone would suggest.

Has NZ First moved right?

The survey lets us check that against an earlier, much larger round of responses, never pooled with the current sample, only compared alongside it. On most shared questions the two parties' relative positions haven't moved. One is a partial exception. Asked whether New Zealand should have a codified constitution letting courts strike down laws made by Parliament, New Zealand First voters used to lean slightly toward agreeing; now they lean slightly toward disagreeing, while Labour's own answer barely moved. Both groups' confidence intervals overlap on this one, so it's a hint rather than a finding, but it points the direction the "NZ First has moved right" question would predict.

How sure are we

Labour's sample is 152 respondents, big enough that the averages above are fairly settled. New Zealand First's is 43, small enough that a handful of different answers could shift its side of any gap. We only call a gap robust when the two groups' confidence intervals don't overlap, and every gap in the widest-gap section above clears that bar except the voting age question, which is real in direction but drawn from a much smaller slice of both samples. The agreement findings are a softer read: landing on the same side of neutral isn't the same statistical test, so treat those as a shared lean rather than proof the two groups are identical.

As with every post in this series, this is a self-selected sample that skews younger and further left than the country as a whole, which matters more here than usual given how small New Zealand First's slice of it is. You can see exactly who has answered so far.

For how the compass and this kind of comparison are built, see the methodology page.

Want to see where your own answers land? Take the survey at kiwivalues.nz.