Poll: Half of New Zealanders think Covid-19 rules strike the right balance – Stuff.co.nz

Fully half of New Zealanders think the Governments red traffic light restrictions designed to slow the pace of infections and keep the health system functioning strike the right balance between restriction and freedom, according to a new poll.

The remainder were evenly split: a quarter of respondents said the Covid-19 red traffic light restrictions were too tight while one in four wanted stricter rules. The poll, by Ipsos, was conducted online between February 4 and 11 using a sample of 1004 people.

The key thing is that while the majority of people are happy with traffic light settings there is a split between the rest of the population and that highlights the balancing act to navigate through those groups for the Government, Ipsos NZ managing director Carin Hercock said.

The polls credibility interval is plus or minus 3.5 per cent.

The research found the number of people angry about restrictions has grown 12 per cent of poll participants said they were angry about the restrictions on their freedom a jump from 6 per cent of participants in February last year. The figure sat at 9 per cent during the first lockdown in 2020.

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MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

An anti-mandate protest has been occupying Parliament for 14 days.

It comes as anti-mandate protesters occupy Parliaments lawn for the 14th day, with more than 1000 people, 800 vehicles and 750 tents in the area on Monday.

This is statistically significant, she said. People are feeling more angry. Roughly half of the group that are looking for restrictions to loosen are really angry about it. This is the largest number of people who have felt angry about restrictions since the beginning.

Attitudes towards restrictions are divided over ethnic and regional lines, she said.

Asian people are much more likely to think there should be more restrictions ... people in Canterbury think there should be less. Aucklanders are far less likely to think New Zealander should loosen restrictions.

Ratings of the Governments performance in managing the virus has dropped to 63 per cent positive a figure which sat between 80 per cent to 90 per cent over the past two years.

People were also less likely to leave the house without a face mask. Only 44 per cent of respondents felt comfortable leaving home without a mask, compared to 83 per cent in February 2021.

Those polled who think restrictions are too tight, said they wanted borders to open, a full return to normal, and the removal of masks in schools, hospitality limits and vaccine mandates.

Another poll, conducted by Curia Market Research and commissioned by the Platform, has found that 55 per cent of protesters were women, based on a sample of 312 respondents at the protest surveyed on February 19 and 20. The polls maximum sampling error is plus or minus 4.6 per cent.

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

Police move protestors to make room for concrete blocks around Parliament on Monday.

While 64.4 per cent of protesters were European, very close to its share of the population, there were almost twice as many Mori respondents compared to their share of the adult population.

About 27.2 per cent of protesters were Mori, while 14.8 per cent of the adult population is Mori.

Asian and Pacific Island ethnicities were under-represented at 4.2 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

There were relatively few protesters from rural areas and Auckland, about 7.7 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. About 8.7 per cent of protesters were from Wellington and 6.7 per cent were from Christchurch, close to its share of the population.

And 41 per cent of protesters at Parliament are from provincial cities almost twice as high as their share of the population.

Labour and National voters were underrepresented at 29.8 per cent and 15.9 per cent. The most over-represented were the Mori Party at 3.6 per cent - three times greater supporter amongst protesters than in the 2020 election and the Greens who have twice as much at 15.9 per cent. ACT had 1.6 times as much support with 11.9 per cent.

Other significant parties voted for were New Conservative at 8.7 per cent, and Advance New Zealand at 6 per cent.

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Poll: Half of New Zealanders think Covid-19 rules strike the right balance - Stuff.co.nz