Labour has moved to match National's planned job-loss package, with Prime Minister Helen Clark today saying it will announce a transitional assistance package in the next few days.
National leader John Key said Miss Clark was playing catch-up and trying to distract voters from the latest embarrassing revelations around New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' conduct in the Owen Glenn donation scandal.
Speaking to a Grey Power audience in Kapiti today, Miss Clark moved to match recent promises by Mr Key to help those who could be affected by the economic downturn.
Miss Clark gave no details in the speech but said there would be announcements in the next few days.
Later, she told journalists Labour had already announced training allowances for those who lost their jobs and statutory minimum redundancy payments.
"But I have something further to say about transitional allowances for people caught up in global events," Miss Clark said.
Miss Clark said she was referring to "individual support for a particular group" who were currently not getting assistance.
"We will have more to say about it."
But Mr Key said Miss Clark's move was designed to divert attention.
"I have no doubt that Helen Clark is playing catch-up and I have no doubt she is trying to move this latest embarrassing scandal on by creating some kind of package she can roll out to divert attention," he told reporters on the campaign trail in Queenstown.
"That's what she does all the time."
Papers released yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Official Information Act showed Mr Peters, as Foreign Affairs Minister, had pushed in 2007 for Mr Glenn to be given an honorary consul role in Monaco - two years after the expatriate billionaire donated $100,000 towards his legal fees.
Mr Key said Labour was "behind the eight ball and trying to play catch-up".
He was not afraid Labour would try to gazump National with its own package.
"New Zealanders will assess the merits of each package."
Mr Key has said National's package will involve temporary cash grants for people with significant financial commitments, such as mortgages, who lose their job as a result of the gloomy global economy.
Miss Clark said she believed Mr Key was making up his economic policy as he went along and it would be wrong to use in such a way money gained by the government from bank guarantee fees.
"We are not planning to raid that."
Miss Clark's speech today heavily emphasised the state of the economy and which party was best suited to deal with it.
She said she believed the public mood for political change had faded in recent weeks because of the international financial crisis.
Labour had the policies to get New Zealand through the troubled times while National offered only slash and burn solutions, she said.
