Helen Clark was met by a noisy crowd at Canterbury University. Picture / Simon Baker

Helen Clark was met by a noisy crowd at Canterbury University. Picture / Simon Baker

A day on the hustings went awry for the leaders of both major parties - a reminder to the prime ministerial applicants that even the best-laid political plans can be disrupted.

Helen Clark was forced to cut short a speech and leave the podium when faced with an unexpectedly hostile student crowd in Christchurch.

And in the Waikato, Don Brash was given a warm welcome at Te Wananga o Aotearoa despite planning to shun the campus and opt for a sidewalk soapbox instead.

Helen Clark had expected a receptive crowd of liberal-minded students at Canterbury University.

Instead, she found angry supporters of her political opponents.

She made a rapid exit after people in the 1500-strong crowd became increasingly hostile and drowned her out with boos and chants of "Don, Don, Don".

Dozens of young National Party and Act supporters had positioned themselves at the front to disrupt her speech. One student stood directly in front of the Prime Minister and yelled in her face throughout.

Placards with derogatory comments about Helen Clark such as "Nice teeth" and "Speed kills and so do your looks Helen" were waved.

One student dressed as a pilot chanted through a loud speaker, "Paging passenger Helen Clark" in an attempt to mock her for the incident on an Air New Zealand flight two weeks ago.

She spoke for only five minutes, whereas during her visits to Otago and Waikato Universities, where she received warm receptions, she spoke for 30 to 40 minutes.

Canterbury University had been chosen as the venue for the Prime Minister to outline Labour's foreign policy because it was thought the students would be receptive to the nuclear-free message.

Helen Clark looked shaken but said later that she was not bothered by the hostile audience.

Dr Brash, meanwhile, went to the headquarters of Te Wananga o Aotearoa in Te Awamutu to give a speech about National's tertiary education plans which, in fact, became more about race relations and the embattled Maori institution.

The wananga has been under investigation since last September over concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

That inquiry was extended in February when further allegations of misuse of funds, and claims that executives' relatives had benefited from wananga practices, surfaced.