Wellington, Sept 6 NZPA - The latest opinion poll shows the Government is still more popular than it was on election night.

The New Zealand Morgan poll released on Friday night puts National on 56.5 percent, up three points, and Labour down three points to 29.5 percent.

On election night National won 44.9 percent of the party vote and Labour 33.9 percent.

The poll of 860 voters was taken between August 17 and 30, which covered the period in which Prime Minister John Key announced he was not going to change the law that bans smacking in response to the referendum result.

Pollster Gary Morgan said an important issue was the five days Mr Key spent in Australia, when he met Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and attended a joint trans-Tasman cabinet meeting.

Mr Key announced new measures to speed up travel between the two countries and there was progress in other areas of the Closer Economic Relationship.

"The improved result for the Government in the latest NZ Morgan poll appears to show that closer economic relations between Australia and New Zealand have broad support within the New Zealand electorate," Morgan said.

The poll was in line with the trend shown in other recent surveys.

On August 2 a TV One Colmar Brunton poll put National on 56 percent and Labour on 31.

On August 16 a TV3 Reid Research poll showed National with 58 percent and Labour on 29 percent.

The latest poll showed little change in the support levels of the minor parties.

It did not give a margin of error, which would have been around plus or minus 3 percent.