Possible hung parliament as Labour and National slump in latest poll

Both major parties are below the 30 percent mark with less than two months until the election, according to a new poll.The latest The Post/Freshwater Strategy poll, funded by Infrastructure New Zealand, shows neither the current coalition bloc nor the opposition bloc would have the numbers to form a government, with both blocs on 60 seats.Since the last of this poll in June, Labour has slumped by 7 points. It remains in the lead, but only just.National has also fallen, by 2 points, while the Greens, New Zealand First, and ACT have all gone up.For the first time in this poll, the Opportunity Party is above the 5 percent threshold, but its numbers are still not enough to help the left bloc into government.Labour: 28 percent (down 7)National: 27 percent (down 2)Greens: 14 percent (up 4)NZ First: 13 percent (up 1)ACT: 9 percent (up 1)Opportunity: 6 percent (previously included with 'other')Te Pāti Māori: 2 percent (no change)Other: 2 percent (down 1)According to The Post's calculations, which assume that parties win electorate seats broadly in line with their share of the party vote, and retain at least one electorate seat each, the coalition bloc would have 60 seats, while the parliamentary opposition would have 53. Add in Opportunity's 7 and that leads to a hung Parliament.Those numbers could change if there is an overhang, as Te Pāti Māori has been campaigning on.In the preferred prime minister stakes, Chris Hipkins is on 45 percent, up 1 point from June's poll. Christopher Luxon is down 2 points to 35 percent. A further 16 percent of people chose neither, while 4 percent were unsure.A majority of voters also still believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, with 56 percent saying so. Those feeling the country is heading in the right direction numbered 27 percent.Freshwater Strategy interviewed n=1011 eligible voters in New Zealand, aged 18+ online, between 4-11 September. The margin of error was +/- 3 percent. The data is weighted to be representative of New Zealand voters.