Polls and fiscal holes put major parties on notice

With recent polling giving both major parties cause for concern and the election less than three months away, the countdown is on - and the policies are starting to roll out. Labour has launched accusations of fiscal mismanagement over one of National's this week, but had to defend against the same after worsening economic forecasts. In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Editor Jane Patterson tallies the numbers on Labour and National's economic claims and electoral chances. "There is no clear winner coming out of any of the opinion polls at the moment and that means that it's game on," - Chris HipkinsWith recent polling giving both major parties cause for concern and the election less than three months away, the countdown is on - and the policies are starting to roll out.Labour has launched accusations of fiscal mismanagement over one of National's this week, but had to defend against the same after worsening economic forecasts. Listen to the full podcast National's leader Christopher Luxon started the week with a 10-year, nearly $25b plan promising a suite of new roads and rapid transit in Auckland. Labour's Transport Minister David Parker was soon crying foul on National's costings, saying they did not take inflation costs into account and were in some cases years out of date; he estimated just four of the 13 new roads were between $2.4b and $4.8b short based on the latest costings. National said it used officially provided costings, and lambasted Labour's own financial nous - but the question of how that shortfall would be filled remained unanswered. That was the first "fiscal hole" of the week, a callback to Steven Joyce's dubious 2017 accusation that Labour was $11.7b short in funding its promises, and Labour's 2020 better-received accusation in return. National says its 2023 transport policy would be funded from three sources: taxes, reallocations, and $9.5b in private equity. Hipkins targeted the latter on Tuesday to reveal the week's second "fiscal hole" - a rather ambitious use of the phrase."The National Party now appear to have a $10b hole in their transport plans, where they think the Infrastructure Commission can just magic up $10b out of nowhere," he said. "Even if it was coming through things like private equity, through public private partnerships, end of the day someone's still got to pay for that."…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details