Act Party’s campaign launch in Auckland has been overshadowed by hecklers this afternoon.
About 800 people gathered inside the Civic Theatre to listen to David Seymour speak.
A couple of minutes into his speech, Karl Mokaraka, Freedom NZs candidate and serial heckler, stood up and started shouting.
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Mokaraka carried on shouting for up to 10 minutes until security forced him out of the theatre.
Once Mokaraka left the building a woman stood up at the rear of the theatre to also cause disruption.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins is dampening down expectations of increasing annual leave to five weeks, saying the Green Party policy isn’t appropriate in the current economic conditions.
Hipkins said the extension, proposed to be fully introduced by the end of 2025, would threaten the sustainability of small businesses which were currently experiencing cost pressures.
Hipkins is visiting a west Auckland rugby league club today before making an announcement in Mt Albert. Meanwhile, National leader Christopher Luxon is campaigning in Palmerston North. And David Seymour is kicking off the Act Party campaign launch in Auckland. We will have live coverage from the campaign trail today.
Many of his comments to journalists while at E tū union’s campaign launch in Auckland were instead focused on National’s proposed tax plan in an attempt to warn people against a change in government.
He also impressed upon union members and supporters that a National, Act, New Zealand First government would mean “thousands” of public servants would lose their jobs before Christmas through the parties’ proposed cuts to the public service.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson spoke at the campaign launch but oddly didn’t talk about her policy which was announced via press release on Saturday afternoon.
In that release, Davidson said current pressures on workers meant they were unable to spend quality time with their whānau and friends.
“Tens of thousands of people are working two, sometimes three, jobs just to make ends meet.
“This leaves hardly any time in the day for people to rest and enjoy time with the people they love.”
In a short speech at the launch, Davidson said her main message was her desire to keep “the other lot” out of government. She claimed other parties were spreading “lazy, dog-whistling” racism.
“Aotearoa is better than that.”
At a press conference afterwards, Hipkins said the Greens’ policy wasn’t prudent given the cost burden it would pose on businesses.
In his speech at the launch, Hipkins repeated a common line of his that the election was a “very stark choice” while continuing his attack on National’s proposed tax plan.
Speaking of his own policies, Hipkins said he could “explain every one of them” and how much they would cost - a reference to National’s reluctance to release its costings, particularly concerning how it would attract the more than $700 million per year it needed from its proposed foreign buyers’ tax to fund its tax cuts.
“The National Party can’t tell you how they’re going to pay for all the commitments they are making.”
National and Act have proposed cutting the public service in order to reduce government spending. National has repeatedly ruled out cuts to health and education.
Hipkins said a government led by National, Act and NZ First would lead to “thousands” of workers out of work before Christmas.
He also added to Labour’s policies on workers’ rights and wage growth by promising to repeal pay rates below the minimum wage and increasing access to health and safety training.
It built on earlier commitments including progressively extending the living wage (currently $26 per hour) to workers in the education sector and Te Whatu Ora staff and continuing to raise the minimum wage ($22.7) annually.
Labour’s policy statement said the party would “work to increase access to union health and safety training, access for union officials to workplaces for assessment purposes, and issuing of improvement notices”.
Meanwhile, NZ First released its list following Wednesday’s 1News Verian poll that showed the party would return to Parliament with seven MPs.
Party leader Winston Peters is first on the list. He is not running in an electorate and would only return to Parliament if his party received 5 per cent of the vote at the election.
Second was Shane Jones, who was contesting the Northland electorate. Casey Costello, previously of Hobson’s Pledge, was third after being announced as a candidate at the party’s convention this year.
Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Patterson (Taieri), Jenny Marcroft (Kaipara Ki Mahurangi), Jamie Arbuckle (Kaikōura), Andy Foster (Mana), Tanya Unkovich (Epsom), David Wilson (Upper Harbour) and Erika Harvey (Tauranga).
Notable exceptions were Fletcher Tabuteau, who was second on the list in 2020. Also missing from the list was Darroch Ball, who was currently acting as campaign manager. Ball told the Herald the party had asked if he would stand for Parliament again, but he said he preferred to continue working in an advisory role with Peters.
”It was a tough decision, absolutely,” he said.
Ball felt he had “found his strengths” in his current role and hoped to have a similar position in the next term.
Wednesday’s poll was the first one this year that had NZ First at or above the 5 per cent threshold required to enter Parliament.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
Huge crowds gathered at Christchurch's Bridge of Remembrance and crossed over Auckland's Harbour Bridge on Wednesday.