The National Party claims "malevolent actors" are attempting to disrupt its election campaign, revealing on Monday a number of incidents its candidates have been involved in.
The party's campaign chair Chris Bishop said National was taking the "unprecedented step" of publicly sharing the information to make Kiwis aware "of the stand-over tactics some are resorting to".
But it also comes after Te Pāti Māori said its candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke had her house invaded and vandalised in a "politically-motivated attack". Labour MP Angela Roberts also said last week that a man "slapped" her at a public meeting.
Bishop said New Zealanders deserved a "free and fair election campaign", but "malevolent actors" were attempting to disrupt it. He said, "all violence and intimidation is unacceptable".
"We are taking the unprecedented step of releasing more information about these incidents so New Zealanders are aware of the stand-over tactics some are resorting to stop National's plans to crack down on crime and scare New Zealanders away from voting."
Examples of the incidents mentioned in the press statement included:
- A National candidate being forced to move house after a gang threat
- A senior Head Hunters member filmed a National candidate and their spouse in a restaurant and shared it with followers, with an abusive and intimidating message
- Death threats made to a volunteer in Auckland
- An allegedly intentional dog attack on a door-knocking volunteer, resulting in injuries worthy of medical attention
- Several volunteers abused and followed by gang members in Hawke's Bay
- A candidate had a bottle of beer thrown over them, their volunteers frequently intimidated, and their house broken into.
Bishop also repeated a National attack line on Labour that Chris Hipkins' party had been endorsed by the Mongrel Mob and that endorsement "has put National's candidates and supporters at heightened risk".
"As we have been saying for a long time, the gangs want to see Labour re-elected and this is having serious consequences for many of our candidates and campaign teams. While we'll keep prioritising the safety of our people, we will not let this disgraceful intimidation campaign stop us from sharing our plans to deliver a safer New Zealand."
Hipkins has previously criticised National's suggestion that Labour has the support of the gangs as "absolutely ridiculous" and pointed to actions the Labour Government has taken to push back against gang activity. Labour is also campaigning on new legislation to seize gang cars involved in convoys.
"We will also continue to crack down on gangs," Hipkins said last month. "Recently, we've seen communities disrupted and intimidated by dangerous gang convoys. This is intolerable."
Te Pāti Māori last week said Maipi-Clarke's home was invaded and vandalised as part of a "politically motivated attack."
"This escalation of danger is what happens when right-wing politicians race-bait and fearmonger for votes. They have emboldened this type of behaviour. Now it is time we embolden ourselves," a spokesperson said.
Police said over the weekend that they were investigating "a report of a burglary of a residential address in Huntly, reported on 25 September". There was no update on Monday.
ACT's David Seymour on Monday accused Te Pāti Māori of politicising the incident.
"I think the way they're trying to politicise these incidents by trying to blame them on other political leaders is in itself dangerous because when they say these bad things are happening and it's those guys' fault, they're potentially inciting further political violence," Seymour said.
He said ACT condemned "anybody who is slapping candidates, doing home invasions that have no place in our democracy but neither does trying to politicise this case, which nobody believes."
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his house had previously been "trashed".
Also last week, Labour's Roberts said she was "slapped" by a man at a local election debate amid a conversation.
"I thought that was the end of it but realised that it can't be. It's important to take a stand and call out this aggression. Manhandling candidates on the campaign trail is completely unacceptable," she said.
"I don't know why he felt that it was OK to grab me or to slap me; that is a question for him. Would he have done it to a man? Who knows. What I do know is that it cannot happen again."
