Judith Collins: It would 'completely outrageous' to keep election on current date

National leader Judith Collins wants the election delayed by several months, not weeks.
Last week, Collins went as far as saying it would be National's preference that the election should be held next year instead.
Tomorrow morning, Jacinda Ardern will confirm if the election will be delayed. Parliament was due to be dissolved last week but has been delayed to Monday, meaning a decision is needed around how much longer the term can go on for.
Collins told The Weekend Collective she would prefer to see it delayed by months. 
"The Electoral Commission has made it clear that the last viable day to have an election this year is the 21st of November," she says, with any delay beyond that date needing Parliament to be recalled. 
She says National would vote in favour of a longer delay. She does not think a delay by just a few weeks would work, as advertising campaigns would have to be cancelled. 
Collins says it would be "completely outrageous" if the election went ahead on September 19th.
Asked if she would feel differently if National was ahead in the polls, rather than roughly 20 points behind Labour, Collins says she wouldn't. 
"I was thinking today if I was around the Cabinet table and either John Key or Bill English was the leader and they were in the same place as Jacinda Ardern, I know the advice we would be getting, which would be don't look like you're trying to use the Covid-19 pandemic and what's going on and people's fear, make sure you actually give the Opposition party a fair go, and give the public a fair go."
Collins says she would have been fine if the date had stayed the same had the resurgence not appeared.
Act leader David Seymour has also said New Zealand couldn't have a "free and fair" election while part of it was locked down.
Asked if National is doing anything to stop conspiracy theories, after Gerry Brownlee's comments earlier this week, Collins says the party is getting sent a number of theories and are flagging them with the Government.

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