Party's aim is to target non-voters

WANGANUI BOUND: Internet Party leader Laila Harre (left) and its founder Kim Dotcom will be in Wanganui this weekend with the Internet Mana roadshow campaign. Photo/File

The Internet Party is promising a new kind of politics when the Internet Mana roadshow hits Wanganui this Saturday.

Politicians from the two parties along with Internet Party backer Kim Dotcom will be at the War Memorial Hall at 2pm.

"Our aim is to really connect with the people who have given up voting," Internet Party leader Laila Harre told the Chronicle. The politicians will also be visiting Ratana Pa for a church service the following day. Ms Harre said the relationship between the Internet Party and Mana needed to be explained to Maori and Mana supporters.

"It's all very new, it's certainly not conventional.

"There are lots and lots of questions that people have and the best place to ask those questions is on marae and public meetings," she said.

"For the Mana leadership it's an opportunity to explain to their people why they went into discussion with the Internet Party and Kim Dotcom and to give confidence that this is a real relationship, it's not just a tactical move. We are serious."

One of the Internet Party's flagship policies is getting high-speed broadband access for everyone.

Ms Harre said that was essential for business development and education and was just as relevant for provincial New Zealand, including Wanganui, as it was major cities.

"We have lots of exciting and very successful start-up businesses coming from wherever people have a quality internet connection."

She said a lot of people with IT skills would like to live in less populated provincial New Zealand but a lack of quality internet connection kept people away. "Our core issues are very relative to Wanganui."

Ms Harre has announced this week she would stand in the Helensville electorate against Prime Minister John Key.

"I want to engage with leaders and the most important leader is the Prime Minister. This will give me an opportunity to engage with him and eyeball him."