No estimate for when deal will be struck, Auckland ranks among top 3 most expensive cities for rent in the whole world, MetService issues rain warnings for top of the South and lower North Island and abuse for call centres have reached unprecedented levels.
Video / Envato / Gettyimages / NZHerald
National sent an email to its supporters on Friday saying: “After we successfully defeated Labour in the general election, our war chest is running low. Can we count on your support?”
The email included a link to directly donate $30 to the party, after adding, “National and [leader] Christopher Luxon need this seat”.
Electoral law expert and barrister Graeme Edgeler said there were few differences between bylections and the general election, apart from spending limits, usual voter turnout and a murkiness around advertising restrictions.
Edgeler went as far as to say “we should get rid of” the rules which had prompted this byelection - the death of a candidate “who realistically, was not going to win”, in this case, the Act Party’s Neil Christensen.
The Port Waikato byelection was called after the death of the Act Party's Neil Christensen.
Voting in the byelection opened on Monday, November 13, and will close at 7pm on election day, Saturday, November 25.
Candidates are allowed to spend up to $65,200 on advertising in the byelection, Edgeler said. In a general election, candidates are limited to spending $32,600.
He explained this was because parties had to split their spending limits between advertising for party votes and candidate votes in each electorate, while in a bylection, they could focus solely on selling their candidates.
“When you’ve got a byelection, every advertisement is just going to be ‘vote for me as a candidate’. So basically, the costs are slightly higher when you’re running a byelection,” Edgeler said.
Electoral law expert Graeme Edgeler.
“The spending limit also only applies for three months [before the election] and all the money you spent before that doesn’t count. There are also a lot of other things you spend money on that aren’t included either [such as] opinion polling.”
Edgeler said one of the other unusual aspects about this byelection was that it would give the winning party an extra MP in Parliament.
“That’s a noteworthy thing that hasn’t happened before. It’s never happened under MMP and it basically never happened under first past the post either. It’s the first time in at least a hundred years,” he said.
“So at this Port Waikato byelection, everyone should vote, but I can say that since Labour’s not even standing a candidate, Labour has said National is going to win this.
“If you’re in an absolutely 100 per cent safe seat and we know there’s going to be a byelection, [National candidate] Andrew Bayly winning by a thousand votes is no different from him winning 5000, 10,000, or 15,000,” he said.
Edgeler said the likelihood of a victory for National’s Bayly would push turnout down, as people would believe it was a done deal.
National Party candidate Andrew Bayly.
“Generally, voter turnout is down, even in the [byelections] that really matter,” he said.
Edgeler said fewer voting places than seen in the general election would also see lower turnout in Port Waikato.
“You have to have a reason to vote in a byelection,” he said. “It could be to send a message. And this election, there’s not much of a message to be sent.”
Edgeler raised concerns about advertising, saying rules stopping candidates from campaigning near polling places and when advertising blackouts applied were unclear.
“Do those bans [for a byelection in Port Waikato] apply in Central Christchurch? The answer might be yes, but the law is oddly written.
“I can’t remember the last time someone was prosecuted and actually defended something like that,” he said.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
