The Front Page: National vs Labour - Will Luxon’s campaign millions be enough to beat Hipkins?

Six months out from the election, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of how well-funded the country’s major political parties are for their upcoming campaigns.

NZ Herald political editor Claire Trevett tells The Front Page podcast that the National Party has seen a massive inflow of donations.

“The National and Act parties have been creaming it over the last two years,” says Trevett.

“This mainly comes from the rich-lister families of New Zealand. National has declared $2.3 million in donations from them last year, which is pretty much unprecedented.”

Trevett explains that wealthy New Zealanders will often open their wallets in this way when a Labour government has been in charge.

“This is their natural habitat,” says Trevett.

“[Wealthy New Zealanders] have long supported National and Act, so when there’s a Labour government, they tend to give more. [Former National MP] Paula Bennett has done a lot of fundraising for National, while David Seymour has declared $1m for Act.”

It’s important to note that donations only need to be declared if they exceed $20,000, so there may well be many other wealthy New Zealanders who have handed over smaller sums.

Trevett says that Labour, on the other hand, only declared around $150,000 in large donations last year.

Labour attracts support from some wealthy New Zealanders, but they also get support from the unions.

“Labour’s wider raft of donations comes from less well-heeled people in smaller numbers, which aren’t immediately disclosable.”

While National’s coffers might contain far more cash than Labour’s, Trevett says history has shown that this doesn’t necessarily guarantee election success.

She says that almost every time Labour has won, the party has done so with less money.

“Even when Jacinda Ardern was leader and they were very popular, they weren’t getting massive donations in the door. So, money is not key to winning an election.”

That said, the deficit in funding does make things slightly more difficult for Labour.

“The donations don’t only pay for the hoardings and the billboards and all that, they pay for the behind-the-scenes stuff, like polling and the travel of candidates. In the campaign, they have to use a lot of their own money for a lot of things… But while money does help, it’s not critical. A party with less money can win an election if they have the right policies and the right leader. Money isn’t the be-all and end-all.”

So, what will the money be used for? How effective are advertisements at changing minds? And what issues will politicians be focusing on to win the hearts of Kiwi voters?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page to hear more from Trevett on these issues.