By Lauren Crimp of RNZ
The Sensible Sentencing Trust is “formally challenging” Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick to meet with it – and victims of gang violence – before the election.
The lobby group launched election attack ads featuring Green co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson and Labour leader Chris Hipkins alongside the text “BACKING THE GANGS” above the Greens’ campaign slogan “for all of us”.
Swarbrick called the ads an “entirely new low” and called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to condemn the “despicable downgrading of democracy”.
The party complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
JC Decaux, the media company that owns the billboards, told RNZ it had paused the ads while it reviewed the concerns raised.
Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST) spokeswoman Louise Parsons said the Greens’ outrage over the ads was deeply hypocritical – citing its candidates campaigning with gang members.
“They defend meeting with the Mongrel Mob, smile for photos at gang pads, and have even floated funding the Mob to run drug programmes,” she said.
“They have never sat down with the country’s largest victims’ support and advocacy organisation.”
Parsons said the SST was “challenging” Swarbrick to a meeting.
“We are happy to arrange that meeting at any time. The victims are waiting. The question is whether she has the courage to face them.”
The billboard ads were created by the Campaign Company, owned by Taxpayers’ Union boss Jordan Williams.
The Greens said the SST was a Taxpayers’ Union (TPU) “astroturf group” – that is, a fake grassroots organisation supporting the same cause.
The SST’s Parsons denied that – “We certainly aren’t TPU at all” – but confirmed the involvement of Williams’ company.
“We just want to try and get our message across, and that’s what we’ve done,” she said. “We’re not going to make any apologies for that at all.”
Parsons said the ads were meant to warn voters against a Labour-led coalition, referring to a “spike” in crime under the previous Labour Government.
“We are intent on not allowing them back in to do it again,” she said. “We’re trying to avoid further victims.”
The SST was also behind last year’s “Defund the police” billboards, resembling Green Party campaign hoardings.
The Green Party complained to the ASA about those too.
In that case, the ASA upheld the complaints in part, saying the advertiser’s identity must be clearer to avoid confusion. It did not uphold complaints that the ads caused harm or offence.
The Taxpayers’ Union said it did not create the latest ads.
“For a party demanding a clean campaign, even getting their facts right would be a good start,” it said.
The SST and the Taxpayers’ Union run a shared website called “We can’t afford Labour”.
Asked for his response to Swarbrick’s comments, Luxon’s office referred RNZ to the organisation responsible for the ads.
The Labour Party said: “While this ad is nasty and untrue, we’re unlikely to make a complaint against it.”
The ads follow the saga involving Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori candidates campaigning with gang members.
Labour candidate Kerrin Leoni resigned after Hipkins took a hard line on the matter, but the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have been unapologetic, saying they would not turn their backs on gang whānau.