Ipsos NZ Issues Monitor May 2024

Wellington / Pōneke, 6 June 2024 – The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that crime / law & order has become top of mind again for New Zealanders, with the issue rising significantly in prominence following a temporary dip in February.

In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave of the Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor, we asked 1,000 New Zealanders to select from a list of 20, the three most important issues facing the country and to rate the ability of the country’s political parties to best manage these issues.

New Zealanders’ number one issue remains unchanged, with 60% identifying inflation / cost of living as the key concern facing the country today. After a significant decrease in the level of concern in February 2024, crime / law & order regained its spot as the second most important issue at 35%. Healthcare / hospitals remains in third position while housing / price of housing and the economy round out New Zealanders’ top 5 concerns.
Other key findings include:

• Climate change continues to decline following its peak in February 2023 (16% c.f. 19% in February 2024 and 27% in February 2023).
• Education has significantly increased in prominence to 12% (c.f. 9% in February 2024).
• Issues facing Māori has significantly decreased since the previous measure held in February 2024, to 6% from 8%.
• Perceptions of whether some issues are important differ significantly between generations. The biggest differences are in inflation / cost of living and housing / price of housing which are significantly more likely to be seen as key issues by 18–34-year-olds. Conversely, New Zealanders aged 65+ are significantly more likely to think of healthcare / hospitals and crime / law & order as important issues.
• New Zealanders’ overall mean rating of the new Coalition Government’s performance remains stable at 4.6 – on par with their rating in the previous Ipsos Issues Monitor wave in February 2024, four months after the general election in October 2023.
• When asked which political party New Zealanders believe is most capable of managing these issues, National’s grip on being the party seen most capable of managing all five of the top-5 issues has loosened. Labour is now perceived to be the most capable of managing healthcare / hospitals and is equal with National for managing housing / price of housing. Confidence in the National party’s ability to manage inflation, crime and the economy has also dropped since February.
• National is now perceived to be best placed to address 12 of the top 20 issues (instead of 15 of the top 20 in February 2024) with Labour also regaining leading capability perception for education and unemployment in addition to healthcare / hospitals.

Carin Hercock, Managing Director, Ipsos New Zealand, said: “Inflation has been the number one global issue tracked by Ipsos since March 2022. However, while concerns around inflation peaked in both New Zealand and the rest of the world in January 2023, globally the issue has been steadily trending down, while in New Zealand inflation has remained stubbornly concerning for just under two thirds of New Zealanders. This lack of movement may be a key factor impacting New Zealanders assessment of the current government performance, which remains comparatively low at 4.6/10.”

Amanda Dudding, Research Director, Public Affairs, Ipsos New Zealand, added: “The cost of living continues to be the number one issue facing our country. It’s particularly difficult for our younger generation, with two thirds of those under 35 say that the cost of living is one of the most important issues facing our country. This is the same generation that is hit hardest by the price of housing. There’s no doubt that life is financially tough for a good number of New Zealanders right now.”