Green Party candidate Tania Waikato is taking an unconventional approach to encouraging Māori voters to switch to the Māori roll – posting pictures of women in bikinis and men with their shirts off.
Waikato said the campaign idea came to her as she was preparing to post an election graphic and wondered how she could cut through the “AI slop” and algorithm to grab people’s attention.
She said minor parties had zero budget to run the campaign, so she turned to her friends for help.
“I'm a cross-fitter, I'm an athlete, I've been an athlete my entire life, I have a lot of attractive friends who do get attention if you put a picture of them up online and they're all extremely worried about this particular election.
Watch: The unconventional pre-election campaign that's going viral - Watch on TVNZ+
"They're worried about how many of our people are not enrolled, and they're very worried about the voter suppression laws that this Government has passed which could potentially see 230,000 people miss out on voting this year.”
The campaign is counting down to the August 6 deadline for Māori voters to switch on to the Māori roll, as well as October 25 for non-registered voters to enrol.
As of Tuesday night, she said the posts have garnered 891,000 views, 23,000 interactions, and 3451 clicking through to vote.nz.
Her most recent campaign post is accompanied by a picture of Kiwi rapper-singer and music producer Kings with his shirt off and the headlines "8 days left to switch to the Māori roll" and "88 days left to enrol!"
She said the feedback has been at least 95% “overwhelmingly” positive.
“A lot of people who may have been reluctant to go on the Māori roll before because they didn't feel Māori enough to go on the Māori roll have seen the campaign and have been signing up, and for me that's an absolute win because this isn't just about getting people enrolled, it's also about people reclaiming their tino rangatiratanga and reclaiming their sense of identity as well.”
Political reactions
Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick said it was a “brave new world”.
“I think what Tania's done is obviously consensual and it is a way to get more peoples' attention on, and cut through, to get them enrolled to vote.”
When questioned on whether the tactic belongs in politics, she said we should be celebrating greater diversity in voices getting involved in politics, including seeing more young people getting engaged.
“I think that shows that things are, hopefully, changing for the better,” she said.
Green Party candidate Tania Waikato takes an unconventional approach before the August 6 deadline. (Source: 1News)
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty said it wasn’t a tactic he’d use as he wasn’t sure he’d “fit the bill”.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said: "Its not ours, and it never has been, our place to comment on other party's strategies."
ACT leader David Seymour said he wasn't aware of the campaign but, when reporters described it, he quipped: "I've heard the old saying 'sex sells', I didn't know it could vote as well."
NZ First MP Shane Jones said it was a double standard: “If that had of been a bloke promoting with semi-clad females and half-unclad firemen, a firestorm would have broken out!”
He also added: “These people are the sovereign owners of their own bodies; they can do what they like. It’s up to Chippy, and it's up the leadership of the Green Party as to how they want to campaign. It's kind of scuttlebutt really.”
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