Newshub-Reid Research poll reveals who Kiwis trust more to be Finance Minister

The first Kiwis have started casting their votes if they live overseas or need special assistance, and Labour has released a fiscal plan outlining how it's going to pay for all its election promises. 

National still hasn't released its workings - leading to accusations from Labour it can't be trusted on its numbers. 

But Newshub can reveal who Kiwis would trust more as Finance Minister. 

Labour's finance spokesperson Grant Robertson gave leader Chris Hipkins a little shoulder massage on Wednesday, getting friendly over the fiscals.  

"Funding cost pressures is not sexy stuff but it's the stuff that Governments have to do," said Robertson. 

It's all part of Labour's thrust for financial trust. 

"Thank you, Grant," said Hipkins.  

"I think you're the only person I have ever heard use the term 'cost pressures' and 'sexy stuff' in the same sentence." 

"It's what Finance Ministers do," Robertson said. 

What Finance Ministers also do is balance the books and, before anyone starts thinking about Robertson's fiscal holes, Labour's numbers have been checked and signed off by the economists at Infometrics. 

"They've gone through and they've tested the assumptions in some areas, said that they're credible and believe that, overall, the underlying assumptions are good," said Robertson. 

Robertson's right - there's nothing sexy about the numbers. There's only $660 million spare for when another natural disaster hits. 

"It will be tight, absolutely, but we've provisioned for the big cost pressures the Government will face," said Robertson. 

National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said Labour's plan "is a fantasy". 

"They have never delivered on commitments made in fiscal plans." 

So, to see who's winning the finance fight, in our latest Newshub Reid Research poll we asked, who do you trust more as a potential Finance Minister?  

The results show 34.8 percent said Robertson, but more people back blue, with 35.1 per cent trusting Willis. 

There are still a lot of Kiwis who say neither or don't know - about 30 percent combined. 

Hipkins said voters "have every reason to trust us."  

"We have managed New Zealand's economy through some of the most difficult and challenging circumstances the country has seen in any of our lifetimes." 

But Willis said there's no reason to trust Robertson, accusing him of having "broken every spending commitment he has ever made". 

"I will be a Finance Minister of my word," she said.  

But Hipkins said Willis has already broken her word.  

"The National Party promised that they were going to set out their fiscal plan before voting started. Voting starts today - they still haven't set out their fiscal plan.  

"There's one reason for that - they can't make their numbers to add up. Everybody knows they can't make their numbers add up." 

Willis said advance voting starts on Monday.  

"My intention was we would release our fiscal plan ahead of that, and we will."

Asked why overseas voting didn't count, she said: "I was meaning early voting which in New Zealand starts on Monday."  

There will be a lot of trust riding on National's financial plan.