Former Advance NZ co-leader Billy Te Kahika sentenced after election fraud trial

For the second time this year, well-known Covid-19 conspiracy theorist William Te Kahika Jnr stood in the dock at Auckland District Court for sentencing.

Today, he was also asking again for a non-custodial sentence after being found guilty of breaking the law in the course of his controversial political advocacy.

This time he got his wish.

The already-popular blues musician and lay preacher, otherwise known as Billy TK Jnr, rode an undercurrent of discontent on social media over Covid-19 safety measures at the outset of the pandemic. It led to him establishing his own political party based on fringe theories such as the danger of 5G, then months later partnering with ousted National MP Jami-Lee Ross as co-leader of the similarly controversial Advance NZ Party ahead of the October 2020 national election.

The attempt at political influence failed when Advance NZ garnered about 1 per cent of the nationwide party vote, failing to earn any seats in Parliament. Te Kahika also failed in his bid for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate.

But his behaviour during the campaign caught the attention of the Electoral Commission, and in September this year he finally went on trial for multiple counts of election fraud. Jurors found him guilty of two counts of failing to declare candidate donations, one count of failing to keep records of a donation and one count of failing to keep records of expenses.

He was acquitted, however, of the most serious charges he faced: two counts of obtaining by deception, which carries a maximum possible sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. Charges were also dropped mid-trial for two additional charges of failing to declare candidate donations.

During today’s hearing, Judge Kate Davenport noted that jurors also found with their verdicts that Te Kahika had engaged in a corrupt practice.

“The courts have taken a dim view of those who have sought to undermine our democratic process...” she said. “You may well have struggled with the completion of the returns. But ... of most concern to me ... is the fact you did not declare in them the financial donations.”

Crown prosecutor Joanne Lee said during the trial that Te Kahika obtained $15,000 from a donor, Michael Kelly, under the false pretence it would be used for campaign billboards but then used the money for himself and his family. Te Kahika also knowingly filed false electoral returns, Lee said. And when the time came for him to verify the returns to the Electoral Commission, he was unable to because he had not kept records.

Political candidates are required to declare donations larger than $1500. When Kelly didn’t see his name as a donor on any of the Electoral Commission documents, he raised the issue with the entity. The commission referred the matter to police and Te Kahika was charged in September 2021.

Te Kahika’s defence at trial was that the money was never intended as a donation but as a personal gift. Defence lawyer Paul Borich KC characterised the donor as someone bitter and looking for revenge after the 2020 election loss and subsequent implosion of the party.

Borich described his client at today’s hearing as someone who was naive about politics and did not commit a serious breach of the Electoral Act such as taking a bribe or influence pedalling. The Crown agreed that an end sentence of community detention may be appropriate, but Lee also sought fines of between $30,000 and $40,000.

“Mr Te Kahika made a conscious decision to run as a Parliamentary candidate,” the prosecutor said. “It was incumbent on him to know what his obligations were. The court ought to hold him to that high standard, given the way he’s conducted himself and the decisions he’s made that have led us to where we are today.”

Judge Davenport determined the charges were serious enough have a three-month custodial sentence starting point, but her end sentence after considering Te Kahika’s background was 200 hours of community work. That shouldn’t be a problem for him, she said, noting his nearly two decades of prior community service ranging from stints as a volunteer police officer and firefighter to a youth anti-smoking campaign.

She also ordered fines totalling $14,000, describing the higher amount suggested by the Crown as “unsustainable” given the defendant’s limited means.

Today’s hearing came nine months after Te Kahika was sentenced by another Auckland District Court judge to four months’ imprisonment for organising an illegal protest outside TVNZ’s headquarters on the first day of the nationwide Covid-19 Delta variant lockdown. He remains on bail, yet to serve that sentence, while awaiting an Auckland High Court judgment on his appeal.

Because the appeal is pending, Judge Davenport said she wouldn’t take that conviction into consideration while determining today’s sentence.

Both trials this year were faithfully attended by a large entourage of supporters, but that wasn’t the case today. A security presence in the courtroom was higher than usual. The reason for the increase in security, however, was suppressed.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.