The Government is talking down the poll from Monday night which showed the coalition would not have enough seats to govern.
The 1News Verian poll put National on 36 percent, down two points and ACT down one point to seven percent. New Zealand First dropped two points to four percent - below the margin needed to remain in Parliament.
Labour was up two points to 30 percent, the Greens were up two to 14 percent, and Te Pāti Māori is steady on 4 percent.
PM Christopher Luxon says he understands it is a tough time for people with high inflation and interest rates.
Despite poll results showing the coalition parties would not have enough support to govern, the Prime Minister told Morning Report he was not going to shy away from the tough decisions needed to turn the economy around.
“It’s a really difficult time for Kiwis ... they’re frustrated, I get it.
“What we’re here to do is not always easy and nice, but we’re here to make the tough and necessary decisions.”
Luxon said his Government was only 150 days in and was having to “turn New Zealand around”.
Under last night's poll with New Zealand First out, National's 48 seats and ACT's 9 would not be enough to cross the line.
Labour would have 40 seats, the Greens 18, and Te Pāti Māori 6.
The result would see the Luxon-led Government be the first single-term National-led Government, TVNZ reports.
In the preferred Prime Minister stakes, Luxon is down two points to 23 percent, while Chris Hipkins is up a point to 16 percent.
New Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick is on 6 percent, up two points. David Seymour is down one point to 5 percent, and Winston Peters is down two points to 4 percent.
Hipkins told TVNZ the poll "should be a real wake up call" for the coalition Government, while Luxon said they were "cleaning up a hell of a mess" from the previous government.
Pessimism in the economy was up seven points to 26 percent, and optimism down 3 points to 36 percent.
The poll was taken between 20-24 April with a sample of 1000 people surveyed by mobile phone and online, with a ±3.1 percent-point margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.
