Roadshow minus Dotcom

The man they came to see didn't front, but the concert chamber at the Wanganui War Memorial Centre was almost full when the Internet Mana roadshow came to Wanganui on Saturday.

Many were there to see internet tycoon Kim Dotcom, while others were supporters or purely curious.

The two parties announced an election-year alliance a few months ago and have been touring the country on the campaign trail.

Internet Party leader Laila Harre said Mr Dotcom was sick in a New Plymouth Hotel so was unable to make the trip south.

The candidates and Mr Dotcom were also due to visit Ratana yesterday but that meeting was cancelled, too.

Along with Internet Party Leader Laila Harre, speakers included Mana's Hauraki-Waikato candidate Angeline Greensill, Mana Party vice-president John Minto and Internet Party Te Atatu candidate Chris Yong, while an audio recording of Mr Dotcom speaking at an earlier public meeting was played.

The youth-focused presentation had singing politicians, DJs and live tweeting, despite few young faces in the audience. But behind the marketing and the hype, the Internet Mana speakers delivered a united front.

The thrust of the Internet Party's policy is creating a digital economy to create the social opportunities pushed by Mana and itself.

"We're not going to double our country's economy with milk but we will double it with the digital economy," Mr Yong said.

Ms Harre said New Zealand could no longer rely on traditional industries to create enough jobs for everyone, but an advanced digital industry could. She said the recent growth in the tech industry in South Korea could be replicated in New Zealand.

Mr Minto spoke of addressing "poverty in the land of plenty" by tackling inequality through a range of changes to the tax system, including, introducing a financial transactions tax and scrapping GST.

"That tax is a vicious tax on families on low incomes," Mr Minto said.