NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Electoral Commission investigates Maori Party candidate's campaign

Lincoln Tan
By Lincoln Tan
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
6 Sep, 2017 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wetex Kang announced as the first ever Asian candidate for the Maori Party. Photo / Supplied

Wetex Kang announced as the first ever Asian candidate for the Maori Party. Photo / Supplied

A Maori Party candidate's campaign is under investigation for allegedly offering online cash credits.

The party's first Asian candidate, Wetex Kang, is at the centre of the controversy, which alleges his campaign sent messages on Chinese social media message app WeChat offering virtual credits to potential supporters.

Kang was announced by the party last month as its candidate for Botany.

He is now being investigated by the Electoral Commission after it was alleged his campaign offered 'hong bao dollars', or online money envelopes on WeChat. The messages sent to individual app users offered the red envelopes using a Chinese phrase which translates to "for support of the car parade" - or victory parade.

Hong bao is a Chinese tradiiton of gifting money in a red envelope, usually on special occasions. It was adopted for the digital age when WeChat introduced the ability to distribute virtual red envelopes of money to contacts and groups via its mobile payment platform for 2014 Chinese New Year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The feature has become massively popular among users, and it is estimated 100 billion digital red envelopes were sent over Chinese New Year 2017.

Screenshots show Wetex's campaign manager messaging people on WeChat using the red envelope symbol.

The Electoral Commission confirmed to the Herald it is investigating a complaint in relation to messages posted on WeChat.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The Electoral Commission has received complaints about the use of 'hong bao dollars' on WeChat as part of Maori Party candidate Wetex Kang's campaign," a commission spokeswoman said.

"The Commission is looking further into the complaints, and has sought further information from Mr Kang."

Screenshots of messages sent by Kang's campaign manager have also been given to the commission.

Wetex, a Malaysian-Chinese beekeeper and former pharmacist, has since been barred by his party from using the app.

Discover more

Sport

Political parties split on free-to-air sport

01 Sep 09:24 AM
New Zealand|politics

Election policies: Swords flash in tax battle

05 Sep 05:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

Allegations against Maori Party candidate a 'smear campaign'

07 Sep 01:19 AM
New Zealand|politics

Electoral Commission clears Wetex Kang

12 Sep 05:31 AM

Kang told the Herald he was not able to comment as the matter was before the party's lawyers.

But he maintained he had done nothing wrong and the complaints were "a set up".

Party president Tukoroirangi Morgan said the party was taking the allegations very seriously.

"Our party is working with the Electoral Commission and we have asked Mr Kang to stop using WeChat until we've finished looking into the matter," Morgan said.

Kang was last month announced as the first Asian candidate for the Maori Party, saying he put his hand up to stand in the election so he could be a voice of migrants.

He's Malaysian-Chinese and speaks three different Chinese dialects and understands Malay.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He considered running for the National Party but then decided on the Maori Party, Kang said at the time.

"I have always felt within my blood that I have a good link to tangata whenua," he said last month. "I want to show New Zealand that we can all live here peacefully together, and we're all just New Zealanders."

It was a sentiment echoed by Morgan, who last month said Maori and Asians shared the same whakapapa and genealogies.

"We are aligned in our cultural values, our vowel pronunciation is very similar," he said.

The Electoral Act 1993 forbids bribes or treats in exchange for votes - that includes money and positions, as well as food, drink, entertainment or any kind of provision.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence appoints new boss

19 May 06:00 PM
Premium
New Zealand

On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

19 May 05:03 PM
New Zealand

Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

19 May 05:01 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence appoints new boss

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence appoints new boss

19 May 06:00 PM

The ex-Taranaki Civil Defence group manager says there are a lot of changes to be made.

Premium
On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

On The Up: The 'iconic' Mount Maunganui building getting 'a makeover'

19 May 05:03 PM
Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

Rotorua locals have their say on city's future

19 May 05:01 PM
Premium
Te Pāti Māori voices in Parliament on Budget Day in doubt after compromise talks fail

Te Pāti Māori voices in Parliament on Budget Day in doubt after compromise talks fail

19 May 05:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP