Mike Bain/cvnznews.com
The Opportunity Party (TOP) is laying out its non-negotiable demands for coalition negotiations just as a new 1News Verian poll suggests the minor party could once again find itself holding the balance of power after the election.
TOP leader Qiulae Wong unveiled five policy “bottom lines” she says would form the basis of any post-election negotiations, signalling the party is increasingly positioning itself as more than simply a protest vote.
The announcement comes days after the latest 1News Verian poll put TOP on 6%, comfortably above the 5% threshold and projected to return seven MPs to Parliament. The poll suggested neither the traditional left nor right blocs could easily form a government without TOP’s support, potentially placing Wong in a kingmaker role.
Among TOP’s coalition bottom lines are stronger powers and greater independence for the Commerce Commission to tackle excessive market power, particularly in the supermarket sector, regulation of lobbying and caps on political donations, a 10-year health plan developed alongside medical professionals, the beginning of a phase-out of bottom trawling, and a renewed commitment to New Zealand’s Paris climate obligations while protecting the independence of the Climate Change Commission.
Wong has also previously indicated she would oppose any coalition arrangement that would see
Winston Peters serving as Foreign Minister, adding another layer to potentially complex coalition talks.
While TOP’s support slipped two points from the previous Verian poll, its 6% result still leaves it in a potentially influential position in what is shaping up as one of New Zealand’s most fragmented elections in decades.
The latest polling showed both National and Labour locked at 28%, while the Greens surged to a record 16%. Under the seat projections, TOP’s seven MPs could prove decisive in determining who occupies the Treasury benches after November’s election.
For a party long viewed as an outsider in New Zealand politics, TOP is increasingly speaking not as a hopeful entrant to Parliament but as a party preparing for the possibility of real negotiating power.
Whether voters ultimately give Wong that leverage remains to be seen, but with coalition mathematics tightening and the major parties struggling to break clear of one another, TOP’s bottom lines may soon become more than campaign talking points.
