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John Key consistently dismissed allegations of deception over state surveillance. Photo: AFP

New Zealanders go to polls after a strange and dirty election campaign

New Zealanders go to the polls after a build-up dominated by a scandal over an attack-blogger and claims of deception over state surveillance

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An election campaign labelled New Zealand's strangest, dirtiest and most dramatic reaches a climax today as voters go to the polls, though it may take days or weeks before a government is agreed.

In the last month, conventional policy arguments have been squeezed to the margins, with the ruling National party forced to face down revelations of links to a notorious attack-blogger that hogged headlines for a fortnight.

That was followed by allegations of deception over state surveillance from US spying whistle-blower Edward Snowden and the journalist Glenn Greenwald.

In response, the National party leader and prime minister, John Key, consistently dismissed the allegations and attacked the messenger's motives.

Key has characterised both Nicky Hager, author of the book , which draws on emails hacked from the venomous rightwing blogger Cameron Slater, and Greenwald, who arrived in New Zealand last week to expose contradictions in official positions on surveillance, as "conspiracy theorists".

In the short term at least it has worked. National party support has dropped a point or two in most polls, but so has that of the main opposition Labour party. A Colmar Brunton poll on Thursday put National on 45 per cent, Labour on 25 per cent and their likely coalition partner, the Green party, on 12 per cent.

The political scientist Nigel Roberts, of Victoria University of Wellington, said the 2014 campaign was the strangest he had seen. The allegations had the impact of an "ambush" on both major parties. "For the first couple of weeks in the campaign, National was seriously off-track and that was also denying Labour breathing space. People weren't going to Labour to comment on policy, they were going to talk about ... so from that point of view the election was hijacked."

The parties that prospered from the scandal were the smaller, non-establishment groups, such as New Zealand First and the Conservatives, one of which National may depend upon to rule. The Conservative party has been polling just below the 5 per cent threshold required to enter parliament without winning an electorate seat, while NZ First looks certain to return, with 8 per cent.

Peters is familiar as a potential kingmaker in New Zealand elections since the switch from first-past-the-post to mixed-member proportional representation in 1996. A paragon of common sense to supporters and a xenophobic sophist to critics, Peters, who is part Maori, is a "preternaturally charming old-stager", according to Jane Clifton, a political columnist for magazine.

One party that has failed to enjoy a poll spike from the scandals is Internet Mana. A strategic alliance between the Internet party founded by Kim Dotcom, the New Zealand based internet mogul the US wants to extradite on criminal copyright charges, and the leftwing indigenous-rights-focused Mana Movement, it is polling at 2 per cent or less.

Internet-Mana may still make it to parliament, however, if Mana's leader, Hone Harawira, wins his seat. Kim Dotcom is unable to stand for parliament as a non-citizen, so instead is "party visionary".

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Climax to a strange and dirty campaign
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