Labour could form a government were the numbers in a new poll by Kantar for 1News to translate at the ballot box. To do so they’d need the support not just of the Greens, however, but also Te Pāti Māori (assuming TPM were to retain at least one electorate seat). The headline numbers from the new poll, conducted from March 4-8, are these:

Labour: 36% (down 2%)
National: 34% (down 3%)
Act: 11% (up 1%)
Greens: 11% (up 4%)
Te Pāti Māori: 3% (up 1.2%)
NZ First: 3% (up 0.8%)

In the preferred prime minister stakes, meanwhile, Chris Hipkins’ dream run since becoming prime minister continues, adding four points in support since the last 1News/Kantar poll while Christopher Luxon falls by five.

Hipkins told 1News: “I put my hand up for this job because I thought that we could not only refocus the government on the issues that matter but go on to win the election.”

On working with Te Pāti Māori, Hipkins said: “I’ve only had a limited amount to do with them in the brief period of time that I’ve been prime minister, but I have worked with them previously in other portfolio areas. We’ve had a relatively constructive working relationship with the Māori Party this term.” He said it was too early to lay out potential governing arrangements.

The result will be a relief to no one more than the Greens. Just a few days ago, a Curia poll for the Taxpayers’ Union put the party on 5.7%. Here they’re just about double that, up four points to 11%.

The 95th Academy Awards were held today, with Everything Everywhere All At Once scooping up the most wins – seven – including best picture, best director, and a history-making win for best actress for Michelle Yeoh.

The indie film, released early last year, surfed rave reviews and word-of-mouth to success throughout the campaign trail, but many thought it would still face adversity at the fairly conservative Academy Awards. Fans needn’t have worried, it’s only real opponent was Netflix juggernaut All Quiet on the Western Front, which scooped up five awards, including best cinematography and best sound.

In the end, Everything Everywhere All At Once has made history not just with the most wins at this ceremony, but with the most wins above the line for a film in the Academy’s 95 year history, including its wins for best original screenplay, editing, supporting actor (for Ke Huy Quan), and supporting actress (for Jamie Lee Curtis). It is only the third film to win three Oscars for acting, after A Streetcar Named Desire and Network.

Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian actress to win Best Actress, and only the second woman-of-colour to do so, after Halle Berry in 2001 for Monster’s Ball.

Other winners included Brendan Fraser picking up best actor for The Whale (which also won for hairstyling and makeup), Women Talking for best adapted screenplay, and Avatar: The Way of Water for best visual effects.

You can see a full list of winners here.

If you’re wanting some guidance about how to manage your home loan, there’s lots of online resources that could help, even before you chat directly to a home loan coach. On the ANZ website there are articles, tips and tools explaining why rates are rising, how to go about financial planning and how ANZ can help you on your financial well-being journey.

Find out how ANZ can help with managing your home loan.

Another round of so-called “bread and butter” support will kick in for a number of groups from next month.

The prime minister has unveiled a package of assistance for pensioners, students, children, parents, and those on main benefits.

“In our first term of government we indexed main benefits to the increases in the average wage as this has traditionally risen faster than inflation. It was a practical solution to ensure those being supported by the government didn’t fall behind,” Chris Hipkins said.

“However with global cost of living pressures, cabinet has this year agreed to provide additional support to this group by increasing main benefits by 7.22% in line with inflation.”

Superannuation will rise by the same percentage, meaning a couple who are both aged over 65 will receive $102.84 more in total each.

Working for Families will also increase, including an extra $4 for Best Start Payments and an increase of $9 for the eldest child rate of Family Tax Credit, lifting it to $136 per week.

“Tertiary students receiving student allowance or student loan living cost payments will also see around $20 extra each payment from April 1,” Hipkins said.

Approximately 1.4 million New Zealanders will benefit from the support announced today, Hipkins said.

Chris Hipkins has unveiled the second tranche of his policy reprioritisation, ditching a number of policies first introduced under his predecessor.

For now – at least – three waters and Auckland light rail appear to be safe, but the prime minister said about $1 billion will be saved across the first two rounds of policy cuts.

Speaking at a post-cabinet press conference, Hipkins confirmed the clean car upgrade scheme would be scrapped at a saving of $586 million. The plan to cut road speeds across the country will also be significantly narrowed to just the most dangerous 1% of state highways.

And advice on the second part of legislation looking at alcohol reform that relates to pricing, sponsorship and advertising will now be pushed back to April 2024.

The introduction of legislation to allow for the voting age to be lowered to 16 for general elections would also be deferred until at least after the next election. Hipkins said the focus will now be on reducing the voting age for local elections which had wider support.

“I want New Zealanders to know the government is doing its bit and is cutting its cloth to suit the times we are in,” Hipkins said.

“Some of these things we’re delaying or stopping mean a lot to us. But we’re taking the hard decisions because we know Kiwis are also making some tough calls.”

Hipkins said key transport projects would now be rolled out in stages, potentially signalling a slowing down of Auckland light rail (though it has not been scrapped as part of the policy cull).

“We need to focus our efforts on the areas where we can achieve the greatest reductions, such as our biggest cities,” said Hipkins. “With around a third of New Zealand’s population estimated to live in our biggest city, it’s where we can make the largest single gains in future-proofing transport systems to tackle congestion and reduce emissions.

He added: “Work on Auckland Light Rail will continue alongside other city-shaping investments like a second Waitematā Harbour Crossing, more rapid busways, and better connections to growth areas like the North-West. But just like the London Underground didn’t suddenly appear fully formed, and in fact took many years to develop, Auckland Light Rail will happen in stages – with the first stage expected to be confirmed by the middle of this year.”

The pre-Oscars red carpet is usually an opportunity for actors to showcase their beautiful, ridiculously expensive outfits and promote their latest project.

But in the case of Hugh Grant, it was an opportunity to go viral for… being really weird.

Watch, cringe and enjoy:

The ongoing state of emergency in the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end tomorrow, the emergency management minister Kieran McAnulty has announced.

A national transitional period, like that which has been in place for other cyclone and flood-affected regions, will then come into place.

Tomorrow will mark 28 days since the state of emergency was first announced across the country – only the third time in history a nationwide state of emergency has been implemented.

“The Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups have confirmed that they are now ready to move out of the immediate response phase and into recovery,” McAnulty said.

“We are committed to a locally-led recovery, supported by central government. The national transition period will ensure that national-level support and resources are coordinated.”

A national transition period now covers the Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay Regions and the Tararua, Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa Districts.

“While significant progress has been made in restoring power and telecommunications, and ensuring everyone reported as uncontactable is accounted for, there are still major and ongoing impacts in these regions.”

It’s poll day, with 1News set to release its second survey of prospective voters since Chris Hipkins became prime minister.

It comes after a busy few weeks for the new PM, with a policy refocus, his first overseas trip, a policy bonfire, a cabinet reshuffle, Waitangi Day and a series of devastating weather events.

Recent online polls, such as the Taxpayers’ Union poll released before the weekend, have showed support for Labour on the up since Hipkins took over the top job.

We’ll have all the numbers for you tonight after 6pm.

Food prices have continued to surge, with Stats NZ reporting the were up by 12% this February when compared with the same month in 2022.

There was a broad rise across all categories, though grocery foods were the largest contributor to the overall increase – they were up 12%, with fruit and vegetables alone up 23%.

Meat, poultry and fish prices increased by 9.8%, non-alcoholic beverages were up 9.1% and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 8.4%.

Overall, this was the highest annual increase in food prices since September 1989.

Jerry Prendergast, president of United Fresh, said the jump in prices for fruit and vegetables in particular showed the “unprecedented disruption” for growers caused by recent bad weather.

“Torrential rain and high winds have not just destroyed crops but have hampered the whole planting and harvesting cycle. The best thing we can all do to help is to be flexible, try an alternative to your favourite vegetable or fruit while our growers get back in business,” he said.

The prime minister says the government has made good progress in addressing the surge in ram raids, but admits there is more to do on aggravated robberies at retail, Newshub reports. Hipkins was responding to figures released on Sunday by National’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell showing retail crime had increased by 39% year-on-year in 2022.

National has proposed a slate of policies to address youth offending, including military-style camps. Hipkins said police “have been really proactively targeting this area of crime, because no one wants to see businesses experience the level of victimisation that they have in recent times because of the increase in retail crime”.

Auckland restaurant owner Leo Molloy, a former mayoral candidate, is said to be seeking out reporters more sympathetic to Wayne Brown.

The current Auckland mayor has had a tense relationship with the media, largely avoiding live interviews and hosting only a handful of press conferences.

Stuff’s Todd Niall has reported that Molloy is on the look out for journalists who might be less combative with the current mayor.

“[Brown] is a mate of mine and I’ve been giving him some advice in an informal way,” said Molloy. “I’m just pottering around trying to do my best.”

But a spokesperson for Brown said “there have been no formal meetings between the Mayor and Leo Molloy, and no arrangements have been made about relationships with media”.

Molloy also suggested that “the media will need a spatula to get the egg off your faces” when the report into the handling of the emergency response after the January 27 floods was released.

Before the weekend, Brown gave a rare live interview with The Platform’s Sean Plunket that lasted about 30 minutes.