Leaked group messages from ACT’s campaign reveal billboard breaches

Saturday, 8 June 2024

In late April Stuff received a tip-off about resignations and cultural concerns within ACT. Since then we have spoken to current and former ACT Party staff, volunteers and candidates. This is the second story from Stuff’s Chief Political Correspondent Tova O’Brien, read the first here.

Leaked WhatsApp messages from the ACT Party’s campaign group chats appear to show an ACT board member encouraging volunteers to put up election billboards before they were legally allowed to.

Other messages, obtained by Stuff, show the campaign leadership told volunteers outright to ignore council requests to remove hoardings that were already up in Auckland and in breach in August last year.

Further emails sent to Stuff show that the Napier District Council also put ACT on notice about election signage which had gone up more than a month early.

Council bylaws dictate when election advertising and hoardings can be erected during the election campaign period, and it differs region to region.

ACT did not respond when asked whether volunteers had been asked to put hoardings up early before they were legally allowed but said volunteers were entirely responsible for hoardings last election and the party was made aware of some infringements which were addressed.

A spokesperson told Stuff it was not always possible to take down the signs in breach due to volunteer welfare.

Ignore the request

In the WhatsApp group for the party’s Central Auckland campaign, messages show that the party was asked to take down hoardings by the Council but the campaign management, known as “Mission Control”, said no.

“Hey team, Council has asked us to remove some hoardings before Friday,” says a volunteer on August 8, “In our region, it means removing 3 hoardings.”

Logistics of how to take down the hoardings are discussed among the volunteers and another asks ACT board member for Upper North Island Region John Fernandes for his advice, “@John Fernandes how shall we proceed?”

“If only we had received the message last Friday, we could have done something. Really hard to do it during the working week though.”

Fernandes doesn’t reply but another volunteer then writes: “Hi Team, Mission Control has decided that we will be ignoring councils request (sic).”

“Please do not take down any hoardings, continue with the original plan to just replace skins.”

It’s unclear which council had asked ACT to take the billboards down.

Billboards up early?

A few days later, Fernandes messages the “Western Campaign” group, which covers Auckland’s Western suburbs, on August 11. “Hey guys, we have several frames up already, and I understand Labour is out putting frames up already. I would just go at a reasonable hour when you are able to.”

Labour disputes this claim. Party vote signs in the area were allowed to be up from 12.01am on August 12.

Fernandes explains the importance of getting the hoardings up as each one leads to more “social proof” in the community resulting in more votes.

The party’s operations manager Ann-Louise Hyde messages the group next, advising teams to follow the rules. “Hi everyone. We can be ready to go tonight but the first post can’t go in the ground until midnight. From the Party Secretary”.

A volunteer reiterates the point and explains the repercussions of breaking the Council bylaws for election advertising. “Can we make sure teams are ready but not putting anything in until 12am. The fines are huge and other parties send scouts to find breaches.”

Fernandes hits back, suggesting the messages telling people to follow the rules are confusing things. “Guys we already have stakes in the ground and hoardings up all over Auckland.”

“Please direct all comms about this via [volunteer] rather than conflicting messaging coming out in this group. It’s really unhelpful.

“I will speak with mission control and [volunteer] shortly and then we will put out a definitive update.”

In another ACT WhatsApp group - this time covering Central Auckland - another volunteer warns of the fines for putting up hoardings early:

“Another point to consider; Epsom aren’t starting until 12am on the dot (meeting and travelling prior) so Central teams might be prudent to follow suit? I know 10pm was discussed but these are huge fines…”

Another volunteer agrees they should observe the law: “No hoarding up before midnight as other parties will be looking out for breaches.”

Fernandes hits back again, “We already have hoardings up and so do other parties. Let’s leave the various teams to go whenever they are able to.”

He says he can be good to start from 9pm.

A volunteer contradicts him again and reposts the message from Hyde in the other group:

“Hi Team. Pasting this from Western chat: We can be ready to go tonight but the first post can’t go in the ground until midnight. From the Party Secretary.”

A second volunteer takes the message on board, “No corflutes till 12am, got it”.

But then Fernandes is back, sending a similar message to the one he posted in the Western chat: “We already have hoardings up all across Auckland guys.

“Please direct all comms about this via [volunteer] rather than conflicting messaging coming out in this group. It’s really confusing for everyone.”

Stuff has seen a screenshot of separate private messages with Fernandes that a volunteer shared among the group at the time.

Fernandes tells them, “Hey would leave with [volunteer] and [volunteer] to set times, etc we have been working extensively with mission control and the others on it.”

“So long as we do not breach the electoral rules,” the volunteer replies.

Fernandes does not commit to following the law, “Will take mission controls advice in that”.

Eventually “Mission Control” does send a decree to the campaign groups and it seems the volunteers were right to follow the law: “Instruction from Campaign Manager: no new hoardings to be built before midnight.”

Napier hoardings

In Napier it appears ACT went even earlier with some of its signage.

Stuff has seem emails from the Napier City Council which show it asked ACT to take down election hoardings more than a month before they were allowed to go up.

The Napier District Plan dictates that election hoardings can go up three months before polling day which was July 14 last year.

An email from the council on June 6 says it has contacted ACT regarding their signage and what they need to do to comply with the District Plan.

Stuff understands complaints were laid about ACT’s hoardings going up in Napier as early May 30. Six weeks before election billboards were allowed to be erected.

ACT says the party had put up some signs advertising upcoming events, which is allowed in the bylaws, but the council deemed they were electoral advertising so the party took them down.

ACT believes the same thing happened to other parties and a spokesperson sent through an email chain with the Hastings council to illustrate the confusion around bylaws.

Three seemingly similar billboards from Labour, ACT and National advertising events received different verdicts from the Electoral Commission. ACT’s and National’s were considered electoral advertising but Labour’s was not.

ACT responds

Fernandes, who is now on ACT’s Rules Committee, did not respond to Stuff’s questions but the party president Catherine Isaac replied on his behalf.

Issac told Stuff in a statement that everything to do with the hoardings was on the volunteers:

“For the first time ACT’s hoardings work was handled entirely by volunteers, who worked until 4am in the morning.”

“We were made aware of some infringements that occurred and some hoardings were adjusted or taken down to ensure compliance with bylaws, which differ widely across the country.”

A party spokesperson added, “On occasion we were unable to do this in the timeframe provided by councils due to volunteer welfare, and while volunteers were enthusiastic the party wanted to ensure they were not being overworked.”