What this means is that again campaigns matter both locally and nationally and we saw some major campaign activity this week.
Winston Peters surprised his recent recruit, Shane Jones, by announcing that New Zealand First would, as a condition of any post-election coalition agreement, require a binding referendum on the retention of the Maori electorates.
Shane Jones is enrolled in a Maori electorate and very nearly wrested the Maori electorate of Tamaki Makaurau from Sir Pita Sharples in 2011 when he was a Labour Party candidate.
Winston will be chasing the "Don Brash" vote which sees the existence of the Maori electorates as an affront and an example of special treatment for Maori.
As a strategy, this policy will almost certainly boost support for New Zealand First by taking votes from National.
If Winston is again the "kingmaker", this policy makes a post-election coalition between New Zealand First and the National Party much more likely than one that involves the Labour Party.
This is a very bad idea with the potential to bitterly divide the country around hair-trigger race issues.
What research there is into public opinion around the existence of the Maori electorates suggests that voters are evenly split with 45 per cent in support of the retention of seats and 44 per cent opposed (in 2005).
New Zealand has a shaky but generally honourable track record in race relations, especially when contrasted with Australia.
The Treaty of Waitangi, Treaty settlements, the Maori electorates and cultural gems like Maori Television all contribute to this racial peace.
The Maori electorates are an important political safety valve as demonstrated by the furore in Maoridom following the Foreshore and Seabed Act of 2004 which funnelled in to campaigns to win these seats.
The Maori seats are a New Zealand oddity and were instituted in 1867 on a suggestion by one of Stuart Nash's predecessors as Napier MP, Donald McLean. As voting at that time was attached to land ownership and as Maori land was held communally, McLean's plan was that the seats were a temporary measure to be in place only until "normal" or individual land titles were also held by Maori.
Throughout the 150-year history of the Maori seats, there have been repeated discussions about their abolition, but this proposal by Winston Peters is the most serious and coincides with National also favouring abolition.
John Key put this policy on the backburner to placate his Maori Party coalition partners, however Bill English, when National Party leader in 2002 favoured abolition.
Bill English will be back from his pre-election holiday next week and it will be interesting to see his reaction to Winston's announcement.
Labour's policy is that the seats will be around until Maori themselves decide they are no longer needed and as young Maori have by a significant majority been opting for the Maori roll, a vote for Labour will be a vote for retention.
Also launched last week, the Labour Party's "Fiscal Plan" will mean that the September election will mark a clear choice in direction between the two major parties and serious voters should make a point of reading this document which is readily available online.
In summary, if elected to lead the new government, Labour will abandon National's proposed tax cuts and put the money into affordable houses, doctors, nurses and the mental health system, education, infrastructure and families.
For once National Party campaign manager Steven Joyce had little to say. The money that Labour proposes spending was surplus and available for tax cuts, so the normal cry of "where's the money coming from" wasn't available.
Labour's figures have stood up well to close scrutiny.
You'll get a lot of roads, nurses, teachers and other goodies if you're prepared to forgo a $20 a week tax cut.
Mike Williams grew up in Hawke's Bay. He is CEO of the NZ Howard League and a former Labour Party president. All opinions are his and not those of Hawke's Bay Today.