Campaign Diary: 23 days to go

Compiled by John Armstrong

Alliance candidate's painful withdrawal

Waiting for the Alliance to pull its candidate from Wellington Central was a bit like watching someone pulling teeth. The more it dithered, the more painful things got for Phillida Bunkle (below). But will her extraction now help Labour's Marian Hobbs close the gap on Richard Prebble? He can rely on most of the 20,000 votes won by centre-right parties in 1996. Labour has to build on the 11,500 it got then. It's a big ask, even if Hobbs picks up the 3300 Alliance votes. The Alliance kept high-profile Bunkle in the race as long as possible to enhance its visibility and prompt Wellingtonians to give it their party votes. But the perception the Alliance was not co-operating with Labour was starting to damage the Alliance's party vote nationwide. Bunkle had to withdraw, albeit reluctantly.

No 20 with a bullet

Join New Zealand First. Get on the list. Go straight into Parliament. Go straight into ministerial job. Take expensive trip to Paris. Get 15 minutes of fame. Stay loyal to Winston when coalition collapses. Lose portfolios. Stay loyal to party. Get rewarded with dead-meat slot of No 20 on party list. That's Robyn McDonald. That's NZ First. That's MMP.

Roll out (pork) barrel

In two days on the campaign trail, National has found $800,000 to upgrade the visitor centre in Tongariro National Park, $400,000 for Gisborne's millennium celebrations, $3 million to boost country GPs, $5 million to get out-of-work immigrant doctors into practice and $1.3 million for a special school in Tuakau.

What they said

$#149; "Somebody's a dickwit and you don't have to ask me who." - NZ First's Jenny Bloxham blames Winston Peters for her hopeless slot on the party list.

$#149; "I have taken the initiative to restore democratic choice. I have made sure the people of Wellington have the choice to vote against Mr Prebble." - Alliance MP Phillida Bunkle explains how withdrawing as a candidate increases voters' options.

Where they'll be

Richard Prebble highlights "bureaucratic red tape" on Great Barrier Island; Helen Clark campaigns in Wellington and Invercargill; Jim Anderton is in Rotorua and Hamilton; Winston Peters and Jenny Shipley are in Auckland.