Like it or not, we foot the bill

Candidates say billboards keep them in touch with the community. Photo / Doug Sherring

They are, perhaps, the most loathed part of electioneering - and you're paying for most of them.

More than four months from the election, political billboards are popping up in Auckland and throughout the country.

Residents say the hoardings boosting MPs' profiles increase visual clutter. Many in Auckland advertise public meetings hosted by the MPs and carry a Parliamentary Service insignia to indicate they are paid for by the taxpayer.

Once the official election campaign period starts, parties must pay for election advertising themselves.

Labour general secretary Chris Flatt said four months out from the election there would always be an increase in messages. Most of Labour's billboards at present were in relation to public meetings with MPs, he said.

If people deemed democracy important, it wasn't a big ask to have more billboards around every three years.

Parliamentary Service policy manager Wayne Murphy declined to provide information on the amount of requests for billboard funding.

Some of the more prominent billboards are in West Auckland and feature Labour's Phil Twyford and Carmel Sepuloni and National's Tau Henare and Paula Bennett.

Sepuloni said she had noticed other parties had increased signage. She had about 20 signs in Waitakere. "Leading up to the election the billboard pressure will change no doubt." Twyford said he put up about a dozen signs when he set up a campaign office in Te Atatu about six months ago.

Henare said the billboards were about making sure he was in touch with his community.

"I don't think the signs are particularly about the general election. They're more about making sure that the public has an opportunity to come to the public meetings."

National party whip Chris Tremain did not have information on whether there had been an increase in election advertising.

Strict rules forbid electioneering with Parliamentary Service money, but he said National's MPs were not breaking any rules.

"You can't use it to ask for votes."