Newcomers peg hopes on Asian vote to make threshold

Colin Craig. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The new right-leaning Conservative Party is hoping the Asian vote will take it over the 5 per cent mark for seats in Parliament.

Yesterday, the party held an "Asian launch" and introduced its three Asian candidates, who party leader Colin Craig said would play a "key role" in campaigning for the Asian vote.

They are Paul Young, who stood in the Botany byelection in March on the New Citizen Party ticket, Simon Kan, a Kiwi Party candidate in the 2008 election, and Mr Kan's partner, Cynthia Liu, a first-time candidate standing for Te Atatu.

"In these sorts of communities," said Mr Craig, "it's all about networking and it's about talking and discussions going in existing groups, existing families, where people are meeting together."

In a Herald street survey, Mr Craig's party polled just 1.5 per cent, but he pointed out it had constantly been polling higher than Act, and other polls had put it above 4 per cent.

Mr Craig, a self-made businessman, said he was confident his success in business would win him Asian support, adding that he had had good support from them during the Auckland mayoral campaign.

"I think this will carry through to the support they will give to the Conservatives."

The party will be fielding candidates in the 63 general electorates. It registered 1.1 per cent in the last Herald-DigiPoll survey.

Mr Craig said the party had concentrated "mainly in the rural areas" but would focus on Auckland in the next two weeks.

"Decisions about who people vote for get made quite late in the piece," he said. "A day is a long time in politics, and we've still got two and a half weeks."

Epsom candidate Mr Kan, who had a triple heart bypass two weeks ago, said he would be using "mathematical logic" to win votes.

"Vote for John Banks and you get at most two Act MPs into Parliament at Act's current polling, but the chances of National getting a stronger support party is higher with a double tick for the Conservatives," Mr Kan said.

Mr Young said Asian voter apathy was the biggest worry. "If we lose, it's not because we don't have Asian support, but because they didn't come out to vote."