The message said numbers were still being finalised and advised when and where people should convene for the walkabout, alongside recommending avoiding wearing National’s colour of blue.
“Please don’t wear blue. You are there to engage there organically.”
The volunteer, who the Herald has chosen not to name, confirmed the content of the message. They advised the Herald to approach the National Party for an official response.
In a statement to the Herald, the party said it was not the first time supporters had been told not to wear party attire.
“When campaign events are in public, we may ask supporters not to wear their National Party merchandise.
“This is to ensure that members of the public will not feel as though they are interrupting a private National Party event when we are out campaigning.”
National leader Christopher Luxon speaks at a campaign event, which Tāmaki candidate Mahesh Muralidhar attended. Photo / Jamie Ensor
In 2020, then National leader Judith Collins faced criticism after it was uncovered party supporters had appeared to be strategically placed during a campaign walkabout in Ponsonby. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters described it at the time as “rent-a-crowd”.
National is seeking to win back the Auckland seat of Tāmaki after Act’s Brooke van Velden won the electorate, which had been held by National since 1960, at the last election. Van Velden has retired from politics and candidate James Christmas, a former National candidate, is vying to continue Act’s hold of the seat. Labour candidate Max Harris is also contesting the seat.
Muralidhar recently received praise from Labour after he acknowledged the value of some of Labour’s small-business policies and noted how left-leaning parties showed more heart than right-leaning parties.
A video obtained by the Herald showed Muralidhar at a candidate event answering a question about what he thought was something good from the other side of the political aisle.
“I think some of the small, medium-sized business policies that Labour’s put forward is interesting; it’s good because it releases capital much faster to businesses.”
Asked to explain his comments, Muralidhar told the Herald: “The important word in my comments is ‘some’.”
“Unfortunately for Kiwi businesses”, he said, Labour’s full small-business policy amounts to a $6 billion tax grab through the removal of Investment Boost.
Mahesh Muralidhar is National’s Tāmaki candidate.
Labour finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds welcomed Muralidhar’s comments as “fantastic”.
“I believe it’s a fantastic policy. It does help small businesses access their own cashflow and their capital. So thank you to him for supporting our small business,” she said.
At the meeting, Muralidhar also said that those on the right of politics often sometimes “don’t show the heart”.
“The other thing that I think the left do better sometimes than the right does is show up and perhaps express the right economic thinking but in more compassionate ways.”
Regarding these comments, Muralidhar told the Herald “Labour often acts as though it has a monopoly on empathy. It doesn’t”.
“Empathy is no replacement for good ideas, which is something Labour is sorely lacking.”
National leader Christopher Luxon, asked about Muralidhar’s comments, said he wasn’t fully aware of the remarks but believed his Tāmaki candidate understood “very deeply” how “getting rid of Investment Boost is incredibly damaging for small businesses”.
Luxon also said he disagreed with Muralidhar’s assessment about the left showing more heart.
“We show very strongly our heart and you do that by really good management because actually when you don’t, you get into the mess that we saw under a Labour Government for six years with lots of lovely ‘be kind’ messaging but didn’t deliver anything and therefore outcomes for New Zealanders got worse.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.