Jacinda Ardern recommits Labour to no more conservation land mining, blames Winston Peters for broken promise

Jacinda Ardern is once again blaming Winston Peters for one of the Government's major broken promises: that there would be no more mining on conservation land.

She's recommitting to getting it done if Labour can govern alone, but National's hoping a mining stoush on the West Coast could see the seat return to National's and its now infamous MP Maureen Pugh.

The stunning West Coast has got a lot going for it - so attractive, in fact, that it lured both our prime ministerial hopefuls for an almighty campaign clash.

When it came to coast delicacies, National leader Judith Collins took the bait over and over again - smashing back whitebait fritter after whitebait fritter after whitebait fritter.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern spent her campaign day doing Prime Ministerial duties - opening a hospital and turning the sod on a new health centre.

West Coast Tasman tends to party vote National, but Labour's Damian O'Connor's been its MP since 1993 - except for a blip in 2008, when coasters sent a message not to take them for granted. That makes for National's strongest attack line.

Maureen Pugh lost by a sizeable 5593 votes last election, but her name recognition's shot up this term thanks to her former leader Simon Bridges calling her "f**king useless" in a leaked audio recording.

National is also hoping to capitalise on Labour's 'no mining on conservation land' policy in West Coast mining country.

"This is the sort of attitude they've seen from the Government, that it's simply out of touch with reality," Collins said on Friday.

It was such a firm commitment from the Government in 2017 that the Governor-General set it in stone - but then there was mining.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw says this is further proof of tensions in the coalition Government "that meant we weren't able to make as much progress on that as we would like".

Ardern's recommitting to keep the broken promise this time around - as long as it can govern without New Zealand First and Winston Peters.

There is a lot going for National on the West Coast, and it's not just Judith Collins' love of whitebait.

But with Jacinda Ardern polling so high, Newshub understands Labour's working on the assumption it will win at least all the seats it currently holds.