Fran O'Sullivan: Act leads in e-lection pitch

Just one week left to go in the phoney campaign and Act is making a better fist of it than big-sister National through an e-politics election pitch.

Yesterday Act leader Richard Prebble and his caucus lined up at Parliament to issue the party's manifesto.

But instead of showering the electorate with truckloads of printed party manifestos, Act is simply pointing voters to its website - www.act.org.nz - where they can download all 57 pages of detailed policies, if they choose.

Act's internet policy launch is at the forefront of the sophisticated, but risky, approach the right-of-centre party is using to try to get through in the election using a combination of billboards and direct marketing through its website.

A quick troll through the key political parties' websites yesterday provided proof of Act's superiority in this arena.

Labour's website still features Prime Minister Helen Clark in all her air-brushed glory from the 1999 campaign - with no mention on Labour's homepage that an election is in the offing.

This could be a sign, perhaps, of Labour's confidence that it will bolt home on July 27, or an indication that the party prefers good old-fashioned on-the-ground campaigning.

The Greens' website is full of information and democratically features several of its list candidate MPs.

NZ First's site is typically presidential but at least tells voters exactly what Winston Peters is campaigning for.

But National, with a spinmeistress at its helm, surprisingly sports a dowdy home-page quite out of keeping with its president's flamboyant style.

Voters confused by what National should stand for might take a look at fifth-ranked candidate Don Brash's site released yesterday at www.donbrash.com - note the international flavour of that .com domain.

Act's site highlights its mission statement - individual freedom and choice, personal responsibility and the protection of the life, liberty and property of each and every citizen - this is what the party stands for.

Key election policies are retailed under catchy slogans such as Zero Tolerance for Crime and A Tax Cut for every Worker, and its pitch for the overseas vote is shown prominently under a button: "Overseas? Want to Vote? Show Me".

National's policies, such as they are, have a "me, too" feel, with the opportunistic decision to impose an early deadline on Waitangi Treaty settlements despite having opposed an Act private member's bill on the issue.

Prebble has had plenty of air play through election stunts such as announcing Act's Zero Tolerance policy outside Auckland's Mt Eden prison.

But by suddenly taking Rodney Hide out of the fray in Epsom, if only figuratively, Act has diminished its chance of taking an electorate seat which could have provided it with electoral vital insurance against its low poll ratings.

Just one week ago, Act was still languishing at 4.3 per cent under the rolling average poll which the Herald has commissioned - well below the 5 per cent rating it will need on July 27 to get seats in Parliament.

Hide came within 2000 votes of taking Epsom off National's Richard Worth in 1999, but the party's management board has decided it needs him to sing Act's song nationwide - rather than concentrate on attaining an electorate seat.

Inevitably there has been debate over whether Hide's face fits with the "Liberal Vision" its president, Catherine Judd, is extolling, but the MP who at times in this parliamentary term has resembled a one-man opposition will have to wait until the party's list rankings are unveiled to find out whether the conspiracists are right.

Also at issue is whether Boag will toss Act a bone if its poll ratings continue to flag once the campaign proper gets under way next week.

Act insiders believe National could tell its voters to switch their electorate votes to Hide in the final week of the campaign if Act looks like facing a wipeout.

But with National's own situation still looking dire that is a risky punt.

Next Sunday, Act loses a preliminary electioneering advantage when the race takes on a presidential air as Helen Clark and National Leader Bill English square off in rival campaign openings in Auckland.

Act's early advantage has now gone, but its overseas voting campaign is gaining traction.

Act believes it can contact more than 100,000 overseas New Zealanders by email - nearly half the 250,000 Kiwis living overseas who are eligible to vote. It may seem a trite ploy but Act got 12.8 per cent of the overseas vote last election - and needs every vote it can muster.

English continues to be overshadowed by Michelle Boag who just cannot stay out of the limelight long enough to allow him to make headway.

National has yet to issue its election manifesto, or even hold its annual party conference - despite abundant signs dating back to last year that Clark might go early.

Party popularity has been decimated since Boag achieved the party's presidency last July.

Many long-time members are deeply concerned over the ruthless fashion in which former National Government players have been excised, the high list rankings for English loyalists, many of whom have been frank under-performers in the tough Parliamentary theatre, and the extraordinary public relations fiascos that bedevil the party.

Last week, former National Prime Minister Jenny Shipley made a point of jokingly letting journalists know just when and where the "Deadwood Club" (featuring herself and former National Cabinet ministers such as Max Bradford and John Luxton) were to have lunch - Pravda restaurant, with Shipley wearing a blood-red trouser suit instead of her trademark National Blue.

The symbolism was obvious.

But with National's average in the four polls published this month still just under 28 per cent, nearly 3 points below the 30.5 per cent vote it got in the 1999 election, who can blame Shipley for rubbing the salt in?

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