The Labour Party has overtaken National in a new poll released by the Taxpayers’ Union this afternoon. But, with the support of Act, National would still be able to form a government.

Labour’s up to 35.5%, a bump of 1.1% from last month and the first time in about a year that Labour has been ahead of National. The oppositions now sitting on 34.8%, up just 0.4%.

Both Act and the Greens have taken a tumble – the former down just over two points to 9.3% and the latter sitting on 5.7% and only just above the threshold needed to return to parliament (unless Chlöe Swarbrick retains Auckland Central). Te Pāti Māori lost 0.7% and now sit on 1.4%.

The support lost across the spectrum has largely been snapped up by parties outside of parliament. New Zealand First rises to 4.2% and the New Conservative Party rose almost two points to 2.5%.

On these numbers, the centre-right bloc led by National would have a combined 61 seats and enter government, with the Labour-led left bloc just shy on 57.

Te Whatu Ora has apologised for a “publication error” in data on their own website related to shorter stays in emergency departments.

The health minister earlier this week relied on the incorrect data to claim that there had been an improvement in the number of Northland ED patients being seen within six hours – allegedly 99.7% in December.

But, as it turns out, that number was inflated. Nationwide, the six-hour response performance trended downwards across 2022 to about 71% from August onwards.

“We want to assure the public the underlying data collection, collation and assessment was and remains robust; the error we made related to the publication process,” a statement from Te Whatu Ora’s chief executive Margie Apa said.

“We have identified what went wrong in our pre-publication assurance process, and have implemented a change. This is important to maintain public confidence in our health system.”

The incorrect data was removed this morning and new data for the 10 impacted regions will be released tomorrow.”We sincerely regret this error, and fully recognise how critical integrity is for our published data,” said Apa.

The consumer watchdog has joined calls for a Commerce Commission inquiry into profits made by banks.

The four big banks of BNZ, ASB, ANZ and Westpac (all Australian owned despite their market share in NZ) made a combined after-tax profit of $6 billion in the last financial year.

Consumer NZ’s chief executive Jon Duffy told 1News that a full inquiry would be a good idea. “This is a big issue, these are the four most profitable companies in New Zealand, they’re an essential part of our financial system. To do something that wasn’t robust and a deep analysis of their profitability and why they’re able to extract such high profits from New Zealanders, I think would be a missed opportunity,” he said.

According to Duffy, New Zealanders were growing more concerned about the money raked in by banks. “I think the real question here is, at what point do you say well businesses need to be profitable, they need to turn a profit, what is a reasonable profit for a business that size and when does that profit become excessive which would indicate there’s something funky going on in the market that needs to be rectified?”

The Commerce Commission has received a complaint about Potter Brothers chocolate, the independent confectionery company accused of repurposing mass-produced lollies.

As reported by The Spinoff yesterday, customers have claimed that the Levin-based company has taken widely available items, like pineapple lumps, dipped them in their own chocolate, and sold them as a “handcrafted” product.

Potter Brothers has not replied to several requests for comment made by The Spinoff.

In a statement, the Commerce Commission’s general manager of fair trading, Vanessa Horne, confirmed a complaint was laid yesterday. “[It] alleges the company has made misleading claims about its products. We will assess this and consider the information provided,” Horne said.

The commission added that while they cannot comment on the situation specifically, New Zealand’s fair trading laws prohibit “false, misleading and unsubstantiated representations”.

Horne added: “Any claim a business makes about a good or service must be able to be proven – whether the claim is explicit or implied. If a business makes a claim that could mislead consumers or cannot be substantiated at the time of making the claims, they could be in breach of the Fair Trading Act.”

Know more? Contact stewart@thespinoff.co.nz

Petrol seems to be expensive anywhere you go – but the Commerce Commission has today revealed where you’ll be filling up with the priciest fuel.

The commission’s latest quarterly report on the fuel industry has found that for the three months ending lasting September, Wellington, Porirua and Lower Hutt were charging the most across regular 91, premium and diesel.

By contrast, Christchurch and Tauranga were the cheapest (with Christchurch in particular singled out for affordable petrol, Tauranga for diesel).

“What we are seeing is that there continue to be significant variations in prices between the main cities in New Zealand, and within the cities themselves,” said the commission’s chair John Small. “This is likely due to several factors, including levels of competition, the capital or operating costs of sites, and consumer behaviour.”

While Auckland was spared the overall title of most expensive, Small noted that there was significant variation across the super city. Prices varied by 22 cents per litre for regular 91, 29 cents for premium, and 31 cents for diesel. You could save up to $264 per year on regular 91 by changing the station you fill up at.

So maybe, said Small, shopping around is the best move: “there may be a 20-30 cent difference in what you pay at one station compared with another down the road, and that’s a discount worth having.”

A group of strip club dancers will meet with MPs today to lobby over what they see as unfair employment conditions.

It was reported last month that 19 strippers from Calender Girls in Wellington were sacked after co-signing a group email questioning their employment conditions. At the time, a spokesperson for the group, a 35-strong collective called Fired Up Stilettos, told Stuff that the dancers fired were seen as troublemakers by management.

Now, members of the group will speak directly to MPs. They are asking for a nationwide, mandatory maximum on what venues are able to take from the money client’s pay to dancers.

“It’s a vicious cycle of silencing people who have just got to the point in the industry where they feel empowered to stand up for themselves,” Laura, one of the group, told Stuff of the decision to speak out.

“There’s no one holding them [clubs] accountable. There’s no system holding them accountable. It’s ridiculous.”

As Stuff’s Bridie Witton reports, as many as eight children died last year at the hands of those supposed to take care of them, but Judge Frances Eivers wasn’t asked about them when she made her last appearance in front of MPs as the children’s commissioner. The government has dismantled the position and will replace it with a new board.

It splits oversight of Oranga Tamariki between a new Independent Monitor and the Ombudsman. Eivers has been highly critical of the move and it was opposed by the ACT, Green, National and Māori parties. She will however sit on the new board. Eivers called for care and protection units to be closed. Her predecessor, Andrew Becroft, has previously described them as “prison-like”.

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