Election 2005 - campaign highlights

A week is a long time in politics: National gains a massive eight percentage point lead in last Sunday's One News-Colmar Brunton poll - only to fall nine behind Labour in Wednesday's 3 News-TNS poll. Yesterday's Herald-DigiPoll hauls the two parties back to level-pegging.

God moves in mysterious ways: After days of denials, Don Brash suddenly confesses he knew Exclusive Brethren members were planning an anti-Government mass leaflet drop. Brash's evasiveness becomes the issue, rather than the shadowy behaviour which prompted it. The Exclusive Brethren are left to ponder how they wasted half a million dollars damaging National.

The Clark-Cullen talkathon: Labour's scaremongering against National's tax cuts goes into overdrive with a slide-show offensive from Michael Cullen, while Helen Clark goes right over the top claiming the cuts would leave a National Government without the cash to cope with something like Hurricane Katrina.

Drinking to a United Future: Don Brash and Peter Dunne talk coalitions over coffee and tea in Epsom - which just happens to be where Act's Rodney Hide is standing. The media is told not to alert Hide to ensure all realise Act is being snubbed by National and United Future.

The great abstainer: A drum roll, please, as Winston Peters finally reveals his coalition preference. And the winner is ... no one. NZ First will instead prop up a minority government by abstaining on confidence motions. But will that wow them down at the local RSA?

From boy wonder to tea boy: Yet another leaked National Party email reveals Don Brash's "special" adviser Bryan Sinclair told his leader to "slosh those funds around and buy your way to the Treasury benches". Gerry Brownlee's damage control downgrades Sinclair to someone who puts out the chairs at meetings and hands Brash a cup of tea afterwards.

We say, you pay: Labour shamelessly uses taxpayers' money to get its pledge card and a large fold-out pamphlet into voters' letter boxes. The party reminds critics parliamentary funds can be used to promote policies as long as the material does not explicitly tell people how they should vote. Well, that's okay then.

One more time for the road: Halfway through the campaign, Act officially launches its campaign despite doing little else but campaign for months. Why? A "launch" is guaranteed to get publicity. Act may be going down the parliamentary gurgler, but it remains the master of self-promotion.