Gladys Hartson takes a deep dive into the Pacific Media Network Horizon Research survey of Pacific people for the coming election.
I vaguely remember the first time I voted in the general elections in Invercargill, 35 years ago.
I didn’t really appreciate the importance of it. Mum and Dad talked about why it was important to vote and who they would be voting for.
I already knew who I was voting for… suffice to say who Mum and Dad told me who to vote for :-).
I thought about this as I was reading a new poll by Horizon Research, commissioned by Pacific Media Network (PMN). It was good to see a survey focused on Pacific peoples’ thoughts on the upcoming November election.
The online survey was conducted from 23rd June to 7 July 2026 and included 293 Pacific respondents aged 18+. While it is a relatively small number surveyed with a reported margin of error of ±5.7%, according to this survey Labour continues to enjoy the strongest support among Pacific.
Is Labour still the preferred path for Pacific peoples in this country? If I was in the Labour camp, I’d be feeling quietly confident based on this poll that Pacific peoples still see them as the go-to party.
I did a quick google search to see what other surveys have been done specifically for the Pacific trying to gain some comparisons.
In 2013 as part of his Masters thesis, Leon Carlton Iusitini conducted a comprehensive study with AUT, to examine The Political Engagement of Pacific Peoples in New Zealand. His data was drawn from 1996-2011.
Interpreting data from polls is not my strong suit, however reading through some of Iustini’s thesis summary and the PMN Horizon poll, there appears to be some commonalities.
Pacific voters continue to remain engaged with politics and focused on practical issues. We place high value on Pacific representation and meaningful engagement.
It does matter that we can see Pacific MPs not only excel, but also make a difference at government level for the country. A recent example would be passing into law the Citizenship (Western Samoa) (Restoration) Amendment Bill, spearheaded by Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono whose bill passed through the house to repeal the act for those born in Western Samoa between 1924 and 1949 whose NZ citizenship was removed under the 1982 Act.
This brings about another suggestion from the poll, that Pacific voters are increasingly evaluating parties on whether they can deliver on what they have campaigned on.
Cost of living, employment and income, health, housing and crime were among the key issues concerning Pacific people.
To the question of the preferred political party and who serves the Pacific well, according to this poll, Labour still comes out on top, despite some support moving to the minor parties.
These results do not really surprise me given the history of the Labour Party with Pacific peoples over decades. Labour has always enjoyed a strong loyal base from the Pacific community and is seen to champion Pacific migration, and of course, strong support of trade unions.
It was Labour that made the first Pacific woman MP, Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, the late Taito Phillip Field became the first Pacific MP to win the Mangere electorate in Auckland, Vui Mark Gosche became the first Pacific Minister of Housing, and more recently, Carmel Sepuloni became the first Pacific woman to be Deputy Prime Minister. So yes, Labour has created historic firsts for the Pacific.
This election though, while Labour continues to have the highest number of Pacific MPs, there is even more Pacific representation and choices for voters with political parties such as ACT, Green Party and NZ First fielding candidates of Pacific heritage.
Other polls have The Opportunities Party for the first time reaching the 5 percent threshold to enter Parliament. Could this party have their first Pacific MP, Romeo Tevaga who is standing in Upper Harbour in Auckland and sitting at number 16 for the party? There are also more Pacific who whakapapa to their Maori heritage, making Te Pati Maori another viable option.
Despite this, the PMN poll indicates Labour still seems to hold its own when it comes to Pacific support. Another interesting result is that, based on this poll, Pacific people would prefer opposition leader, Labour’s Chris Hipkins, to be their Prime Minister. I am somewhat surprised the results didn’t rank the Pacific candidates on that list higher though.
The poll does show growing support for minor parties compared with the last election. NZ First led by veteran politician Winston Peters (aka “Uncle Winnie”) has enjoyed support from Pacific communities and even had its first Pacific List MP, Le’aufa’amulia Asenati Lole Taylor enter Parliament in 2011. Former National MP and Minister for Pacific Peoples Alfred Ngaro will be hoping he can change his fortunes switching to NZ First.
National also has its history with Pacific MPs, Anae Arthur Anae, Minister for Corrections and MPP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and List MP Agnes Loheni.
Pacific peoples have also fared well with the Greens Party with list MP Teanau Tuiono. And one can only think of Fa’anana Efeso Collins as a rising star for the party and what his impact on the party and Parliament would have been if not for his untimely death in 2024.
Getting youth involved in elections has always been tricky with the survey identifying that engaging younger voters (18–24 years) is still a challenge. Only 58% were enrolled to vote and only about one third said they were certain to vote.
Iusitini recommended more work needed to be done to engage with youth about the electoral process and perhaps capture the interest while they are at high school.
It goes without saying we need to get youth engaged, make sure people are enrolled for the November election and that people are aware of the electoral law changes that were passed in parliament in December 2025.
If you didn’t already know, the last day to enrol to vote will be 13 days before the day of the election.
So, armed with all this information and results and indications from this poll, is Labour still the preferred path for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand? I guess we will find out come November 7 2026.
