Deleted videos show marae offering voters free hāngī and doughnuts
New footage shows free food offered at Te Pāti Māorilinked marae accused of ‘treating’. By
Deleted social media videos raise fresh questions about allegations of “treating” voters to free food at a marae polling booth linked to a Te Pāti Māori MP. Late last year, it emerged concerns were raised about the use of Manurewa Marae as a polling booth during October's general election.
New Tāmaki Makaurau MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp, who beat incumbent Labour MP Peeni Henare by just 42 votes, was the marae's chief executive.
It was the tightest race in the country and the surprise upset led to a recount.
Shortly after election day, complaints about “treating” – where food, goods or other services are offered to influence voters – emerged. Treating is an offence under electoral law.
The Electoral Commission chose not to refer the matter to police. The agency says the threshold for prosecution is high, and would require proving an intention to influence voting.
Now, the Sunday Star-Times can reveal that during the period where advance votes could be cast, the marae’s social media accounts promoted a ticketing system where voters could collect free hāngī, doughnuts, hot chocolate and coffee on providing proof of voting. The first 300 voters on a given day would get freebies.
The account also posted a live video which included footage of Kemp’s campaign vehicle, branded with Te Pāti Māori livery, and invited people to vote at the marae where an event that day would include free food.
Documents, released after an Official Information Act request, reveal the commission was first made aware of the videos in the fortnight before election day on October 14, but they remained up for the duration of voting. The videos were taken down when media first began reporting on the allegations in early November.
In total, seven complaints were made, including from Labour and Vision NZ, raising concerns about breaches of treating rules and advertising published without a promoter statement.
The idea to use the South Auckland urban marae as a voting place first surfaced at an online hui in January last year. The community hub is a food bank, had vaccinated thousands of locals against pandemic, and promoted last year's census, organising pop-up community events and offering kai.
In February, Kemp confirmed long-circulating rumours that she would contest the electorate held by then defence minister Henare since 2014, for Te Pāti Māori. This was raised as a potential conflict of interest at a March 14 meeting with officials at the marae.
The documents also reveal that early in discussions, the marae told the commission it may provide kai and activities during the voting period. “We were clear that the opportunity to receive kai or participate in the activities ... cannot be dependent on people voting,” background notes from the commission state.
By August, the marae was confirmed as a voting station. The commission explained neutrality requirements around the voting place to staff, instructing that partisan materials (such as logos, flags, party or candidate-branded clothing or other promotional material) should not be displayed near the voting place. Meeting notes state there was a "confirmed understanding and agreement to this requirement".
Polling booths opened for advance voting on October 2. At 10.35am, the Manurewa Marae Facebook account went live with a video in which it showed footage of Kemp's branded campaign vehicle.
The video, hosted by a marae staff member, promotes an event later that day offering free hāngī and other sweet treats, and invites people to vote at the marae's polling booth.
At 12.04pm a second video advertises the free food and drink people can collect when they come and vote. Six minutes into the video, Kemp is interviewed.
The following day, in another live promoting the polling location, the host appears to encourage voters to choose Te Pāti Māori. Asked 'we should vote for who?' by the videographer, he says: "Whānau, it's all up to you. It's not our job to tell you who to vote for. But... There's only one party that will look after us Māori people."
He then points up as a loudspeaker plays the song You're Magic, now publicly associated with Te Pāti Māori after co-leader Rawiri Waititi sang it during his maiden speech to Parliament. He goes on to say: “Just don't vote for National and ACT."
A few seconds later, another marae staff member explains to the host how the ticketing system works. "We have a voting station down at the pond," he says. "After that, they'll be given a ticket to collect their hāngī right here. And there's an activation going on down here. You've got the doughnut waka. You've got the hot chocolate, hot coffee... Ice cream. We've even got karaoke and performances, kapa haka apparently. And smoothies. Smoothies! Hidden treasures."
The commission received its first complaint, pointing to the provision of hāngī after people have voted, on October 3. The agency says its electoral manager contacted the marae to make clear the rules and ask for the posts to be amended.
Staff told the commission kai was not conditional and available to all visitors. The commission’s acting chair and deputy chief executive operations then visited the marae on October 5. “This is what they also observed,” the commission said, adding that the purpose of the free food was manaakitanga [hospitality] and encouraging participation.
However, on the same day as the commission’s visit, a TikTok video, entitled ‘Voting never looked so easy’ was posted by a Te Pāti Māori supporter. It appears to show the ticketing system, where a voter gets a ticket for free hāngī. It also shows a Te Pāti Māori party-branded van parked at the entrance.
A number of comments posted on the video questioned if this was “bribery.”
When asked ‘Can we just come for the free
kai?’ the poster, a digital marketer, responded: “Unfortunately, no, you get in if you’ve just finished voting.
On the evening of October 9, Hannah Tamaki’s Vision New Zealand party complained to the commission, claiming Te Pāti Māori was “offering treats to those voters who go to Manurewa Marae”. The agency wrote back three days later to say: “based on the information we have gathered and the assurances from the Manurewa Marae, we will not be taking the matter further.”
Following the election, further complaints were laid, including one that was copied to police, and one from Labour, which noted the likelihood of a recount in the electorate.
When the story made headlines, another complainant emailed the commission to say they’d voted on October 7, and “saw nothing but Māori Party insignia around the marae.
“[We] were welcomed with music, free food, free Te Pāti Māori beanies and a number of Te Pāti Māori flags and banners. We were then told once we voted, we would be given a ticket to then present and receive one free, hot hāngī... I did not feel it was pono [true] to the neutral and unbiased environment which should exist at an authorised polling booth.”
But the commission wrote back to complainants to explain why it believed electoral laws weren’t broken.
Electoral law requires advertising and branding must not be within 10 metres of the entrance of the polling booth, the commission said.
“The entrance to the marae and area where kai and activities were being offered was separated from and much more than 10 metres from the area designated as the voting place...
“It appears that the marae was publicly offering kai and entertainment alongside a whole range of organised marae activities... It appears that food was being made generally available without reference to voting or voting for Te Pāti Māori or its candidate,” the commission wrote.
“Small-scale giveaways such as a beanie are not sufficient to meet the test for treating. There did not appear to be any overt campaigning associated with the manaakitanga.”
This response suggests the commission has operated under the premise that using freebies to encourage people to vote is permitted, but encouraging them to vote for someone in particular is not. However, there is a separate offence within the legislation for incentivising someone to turn up and vote.
Kristina Temel, the commission’s manager of legal and policy, said that all aspects of legislation were considered, and said the incentivising offence “still requires a corrupt intention”.
“Having considered the matter, the commission did not refer it to the police because we did not consider the activity amounted to treating,” she said.
The documents also reveal the commission relied on case law from 1858, 1897 and 1912 in determining whether to report the matter to police.
“The treating offence has been in the legislation a long time. It would be timely for Parliament to consider the current offence with a view to providing more guidance and clarity about what does and does not constitute treating,” Temel said.
Te Pāti Māori declined to comment. Kemp has previously called the complaints “false and baseless”. Party president John Tamihere called the story “fake news” and attacked the media for reporting the initial accusations in November.
In a statement provided to the StarTimes, marae spokesperson Hilda Kemp said the marae “has received no complaints from the Electoral Commission regarding the 2023 election”.
“The marae is one of the largest food banks in Tāmaki and we provide kai and support to whānau every day that we are open. If whānau in Manurewa need kai, we encourage them to contact us.”
The commission faced scrutiny following the election after recounts were held in several electorates where votes intended for parties were allocated to others. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called for a comprehensive investigation, and the justice select committee is inquiring into the election’s integrity.