Politics and Sport in New Zealand

As unofficial campaigning for the 2008 national elections in New Zealand gathers momentum, the big issues emerge: economics, health and education, climate change, law and order.

But sometimes, even with a proportional representation voting system such as that in New Zealand, less obvious concerns can have a major outcome on decision-making. In Aotearoa, one of those things may be the health of the national sport, rugby, and the fortunes of the national team, the All Blacks.

How the All Blacks May Influence the Vote

Given its importance to the national psyche (described in a related article on Suite 101, Rugby and the New Zealand Identity), the national sport has the potential to affect the timing of the 2008 election, voter turnout, and possibly the choices that voters make.

Timing and Turnout

The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, decides the date of the election, which must however be a Saturday no later than 15 November. 25 October is the Saturday of a holiday weekend (Labour Day) in New Zealand and not a good election time from the perspective of voters and campaign workers being at home.

However, the All Blacks are touring at the end of the year, and that presents a similar issue for the Prime Minister. On November 1, New Zealand plays the Australian Wallabies in the much-anticipated Bledisloe Cup test, this year for the first time to be played in Hong Kong. If the election were held on this day the impact on turnout (as New Zealanders will be assembling to watch the test on television) could potentially also be significant, and the clash would be bad news for television networks committed to election-day coverage.

In a sample of non-voter feedback by the Chief Electoral Office during the 2005 elections, 53 percent of people who did not vote made the decision not to do so on election day. (In S. Levine and N. Roberts, editors, The Baubles of Office. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2005).

Voters and Aspirational Needs

What if the end-of-year All Blacks tour, which includes European games as well as the Hong Kong test, is not going well at the time of the election?

Camilla Obel and Terry Austrin in Tackling Rugby Myths (G. Ryan, editor. Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 2005) describe the faith of Aotearoa people in the excellence of their rugby, in “the exceptional and superior nature of the game in New Zealand”. If the All Blacks are not meeting these high expectations, it is possible that voters could go to the polls with a sense that all is not well in the country.

In the Levine/Roberts-edited book, Claire Robinson observes that voters will choose “the party or the candidate that will deliver the most value and best satisfy their needs”. These needs are not only economic/rational, but also more “emotional” and “aspirational”.

The good health of rugby could be counted as one of the aspirations of many New Zealanders. There is a government Minister appointed to ensure the smooth functioning of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and there has been much concern over professionalisation of the game and its impact on grassroots rugby.

What New Zealand’s passion for rugby may mean is that a string of poor All Black performances would not bode well for the current government. Miss Clark and the Labour Party may have a special reason for wanting some stirring victories as Aotearoa’s national icon team heads overseas.

New Zealand rugby in Hong Kong

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