Dear Friend,

It’s always hard to know how much cut through our campaigns are having – but with Grant Robertson's attack on our 'Robbo’s Removals' campaign, we are left in no doubt.

Yesterday, Robertson attacked the campaign as ‘personal’, ‘nasty’, and even claimed that the National Party is behind it!

I'm sorry, Mr Robertson, but holding you to account for sending 218,000 Kiwis overseas, a cost-of-living crisis (thanks to your inflationary spending), running the second largest fiscal deficit in the world (relative to the size of our economy), and a 60% explosion of the size of the public sector, isn't personal. It’s actually called democracy.

As much as the Government hate us talking about it, Robbo’s Removals highlights how many Kiwis are voting with their feet!

And (I’m sorry to the Nats who get our emails) as if the National Party had the sense of humour to come up with something this creative. Compared to the nasty CTU campaign that Labour are involved in, which is trying to smear Christopher Luxon, ‘Robbo’s Removals’ is fun and tongue-in-cheek while also being factual.

Grant Robertson complaining to the media about our campaign shows that we are right on target!  We are highlighting the issues Labour’s campaign strategists don’t want Kiwis talking about.

That’s why we need to double down, not pull back. I'm asking for your support to get Robbo’s Removals onto the airwaves with a radio and social media advertising campaign.

Look past the media spin: this election is on a knife edge

Friend, last night’s 1News poll should be a wakeup call. It confirms how close this election is.

Based on the 1News poll (and others) Winston Peters will hold the role of kingmaker just as he did back in 2017 and unexpectedly went with Labour. We need to ensure that when people cast their ballots in the weeks to come, tax relief, opposing reckless government spending, and ensuring democratic accountability are front and centre in their minds.

With more and more New Zealanders getting their news from social media, it is creative campaigning supported by targeted and grassroots social media that gets the message across.

That’s why we’ve put so much into getting the Debt Clock around the country, and launched Robbo’s Removals in addition to our usual work of highlighting government waste, and economic fact checking of the politicians’ claims.

With the election now closer than many of us expected, I’m urgently asking for your support right now to top up the campaign fund so we can go ahead and book the advertising for the coming weeks.

Most voters don’t make up their mind until the last week

Only with your support can we go-hard over the next few weeks.

Friend, for most voters, the final decision on whom to vote for doesn’t come until the very end of the campaign. Remember Peter Dunne? He was a one-man band, until the infamous 'worm debate' in 2002 – just three days out from the election. That one debate and round of media saw him rocket from almost nothing, to more than 5 percent – bringing in eight MPs! 

That's why the coming days are just so important. It’s those undecided voters – as many as 3 in 10 in some of our recent electorate polls – that are still making up their minds.

With the polls so close, I’m asking one last time for your support so we can target those hard to reach voters with our campaigns to hold Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins to account.

The Taxpayers' Union is a non-partisan organisation. It's not for us to tell you – or anyone else – how you should vote. That's up to you. But our vital task in election campaigns is to highlight bad policies and hold politicians' feet to the fire. And that's where we need your help. 

>> Yes, this election is too important to leave to chance. Count me in.

Friend, your support to the Taxpayers’ Union is totally confidential. Unlike the political parties, we can (and do) respect your privacy and confidentiality. But we can’t buy space on billboards, radio, or online and get out there if we don’t have the backing to do so. Click here to make a confidential and secure donation (or here for our account details).

Thank you for your support.

Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

P.S. We need to ensure that unworkable and damaging policies (and politicians!) that make New Zealand poorer are exposed and given proper scrutiny. Chip in to ensure that we can keep this vital work going right up until election day.