Magnificent seven
Radio New Zealand has been broadcasting election results longer than most other local media but this year it is going out on more platforms than ever before and John Campbell is the man in the hot seat.
“I absolutely love election time. There’s a real level of engagement this time round and people are really interested,” says Campbell, whose enthusiasm remains undiminished despite it being the seventh election night he has hosted. “My first election ever was as a very, very junior reporter in 1990 when I was sent out to a seat in Wellington where a cabinet minister was actually dumped as part of that really, really big rejection of the Labour government and it was just fascinating to be there and see lives upended. It’s quite Shakespearean, the whole drama, so I love it.”
Broadcasting simultaneously on radio, television and social media, the
Election 17 team includes one-time TVNZ political editor Guyon Espiner, RNZ’s political editor Jane Patterson, M ori Affairs reporter Mihingarangi Forbes, and six commentators from across the political spectrum.
Despite his experience, Campbell says he has no idea which party will come out the victors on the night. “I am notoriously poor at calling it and I really don’t have an instinct for it this time round, but it’s obvious that it’s going to be really close,” he says, adding last-minute leadership changes in several parties – and the so-called Jacinda Effect – have made the outcome totally unpredictable.
“Here is a young woman who listens to a different generation of music, who has an entirely different generation of attitudes and, of course, she is going to increase engagement. People will vote
and people will participate if they see someone who looks and sounds like them,” he says.
“However, if that somebody stands for something you don’t agree with in any way, shape and form, the fact they are the same age and gender as you is not going to make much difference.”
However, Campbell believes, thanks to MMP, that New Zealanders will get a government that reflects what voters want.
“I’m a democrat. I know some people don’t like MMP but MMP makes a much more representative Parliament, a much fairer reflection of where we stand,” he says.
“If you don’t like what people decide, too bad. I mean, ‘I’ve got a vote, I can use it’. The voters are right.”
Where: RNZ’s website, Freeview TV Channel 50, Sky Channel 83, Morning Report and Checkpoint Facebook pages and YouTube.