KEY POINTS:
Act cannot take for granted that it will reclaim right-wing voters from National after the replacement of Don Brash as leader by the more centrist John Key, Act leader Rodney Hide says.
In the 2005 election Act's share of the party vote was slashed from 7.1 per cent to 1.5 per cent and the party remained in Parliament only because of Mr Hide's triumph in the Epsom electorate.
Many of Act's right-wing views were also espoused by Dr Brash on the campaign trail, a factor widely credited for the slump in Act support. Nicky Hager's book The Hollow Men reveals the then National leader had close links with leading Act figures such as party founder Sir Roger Douglas.
Mr Hide said he expected that Mr Key would move National towards the political middle ground, which could see one-time Act voters return to the fold.
"There's no doubt that Don Brash represented Act's policies and represented them well, and they never sat comfortably with the rest of his party," Mr Hide said. "Certainly the ideas live in Act and I'll be doing my best to present an alternative vision of New Zealand.
"There's no doubt what we've got now is a National and a Labour party that in policy terms appear identical. I'll certainly be making that point, that while the personnel are different the policies now are very much the same. That's not a criticism, I think it's just a fact.
"Certainly for a party like Act that has a strong philosophy it does create an opportunity, but it's not an automatic one and we have to work hard at it and state the case."
The personal profile of the Act leader has never been higher after his headline-grabbing performance on the Dancing with the Stars television programme and his staunch opposition to a waterfront stadium.
However, getting people to vote for the dancing skills of one of Parliament's smallest parties is one thing and convincing them to vote for his policies is quite another.
"I think the hardest thing we confront with getting our political message across is getting through the media," Mr Hide said. "That's why things like getting out around the country, like dancing, are important, because you can talk to people directly."
Act is still struggling to rate in opinion polls, with a Herald-DigiPoll survey of 750 Aucklanders last month showing just 0.6 per cent would give their party vote to Act.
The poll was taken before the Brash resignation, but Mr Hide felt that changed nothing for Act. He had set a target of boosting Act's party vote to over 5 per cent in the 2008 election; Act now had to earn that support.
"There is no doubt that we are the party that stands up for individual freedom and personal responsibility and less government, and the National Party, in my view, never has."
