The major political parties are trying to attract donations by talking up their rivals' advertising "war chests". Photo / Mark Mitchell
The major political parties are trying to attract donations by talking up their rivals' advertising "war chests". Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour and National are trying to drum up donations by accusing each other of splurging on advertising from campaign “war chests” ahead of the campaign cap kicking in.
National started it with an email to its base on Wednesday, claiming Labour was using a “huge taxpayer-funded war chest” to goon “an advertising spree”.
Labour today responded in kind, asking supporters if they had noticed an increase in National Party ads and billboards, alleging National was “using their millions to bombard Kiwis with ads” and that its “war chest is in no danger of drying up”.
It comes as all parties approach the official election period, when a cap applies to election spending and there are much tighter restrictions on what they can use parliamentary funding for.
Grant Robertson speaks to party faithful at Labour's Congress at Te Papa in Wellington last month. Photo / Getty Images
National’s email, from party campaign director Jo De Joux, cited an analysis of Labour’s spending on Facebook ads this year funded through the parliamentary budget all parties receive based on the number of MPs they had.
National’s analysis found Labour had spent $260,000 on Facebook advertising this year, paid through its parliamentary budget - $160,000 of that was spent on ads that appeared in May and June.
The email also mentioned the roughly $9500 Labour spent on ads used by the New Zealand Labour Party in Australia Facebook page, which promoted a new pathway to Australian citizenship for eligible Kiwis.
“With Labour having so many MPs, we’re up against one of the biggest taxpayer-funded war chests in history and Labour will be doing all it can to shovel that money out the door while it can,” De Joux wrote, before asking for a $50 donation.
From July 14 when the official election period begins, the use of Parliamentary funding would be much more restricted and could not be used for anything that might amount to election advertising - parties must use their own money from then.
Labour raised less than one-tenth of this, declaring $419,364.66.
Just this week, National declared almost $300,000 worth of large donations - making up 40 per cent of the roughly $700,000 the party had received this year from wealthy donors.
Former National deputy leader Paula Bennett was crucial in the party's fundraising efforts in recent years.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Labour’s Parliamentary Services funding was larger than National’s because “National did so badly in the 2020 election”.
“National is estimated to have splurged at least $108,000 in political advertising on its main [Facebook] and Instagram pages since March, 2023,” they said.
“It’s a joke to pretend they don’t benefit from the [funding] too.”
It’s understood National used party funds rather than its Parliamentary Service budget for Facebook advertising this year.
Labour’s campaign manager Hayden Munro today attempted to jog the memories of the party’s supporters, asking them whether they’d noticed “National Party ads popping up on your social media” or “billboards in your city centre”.
Munro then claimed it appeared National was “trying to spend big” before the cap on campaign advertising came into place on July 14.
From then until October 14, parties could spend up to $1.388m, plus $32,600 for each electorate a party contested. That meant a party standing candidates in all 72 electorates could spend a total of $3,735,200.
Candidates themselves could also spend a maximum of $32,600 on their own electorate campaigns.
“The opposition are using their millions to bombard Kiwis with ads and their ‘war chest’ is in no danger of drying up,” Munro claimed in his email.
“With National declaring $300,000 from wealthy donors in the last few days alone, we need to take action now or we’re in real danger of being drowned out.”
He ended with a request for supporters to respond if they’d noticed an increase in ads and encouraged people to “consider chipping in to our campaign fund so that we can get to work countering these attacks”.
A National spokesperson said the party intended to spend up to the advertising expense limit between July 14 and October 14.
“Campaigns aren’t cheap and we need as much support as possible to run a strong party vote campaign to change the government.
“National will advertise on a range of platforms throughout the campaign and advertising that publicises our policies and candidates can already be found in national, regional and rural media, on social media, and on digital billboards around the country.”
