Two of the election’s biggest names are booked into the same Botany church, 10 days apart.
Two of the most recognisable faces of the 2026 election campaign are heading to east Auckland to make their pitch to voters.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters will hold a public meeting at St Columba Presbyterian Church, 480 Ti Rakau Drive, Botany Downs, at 2pm on Saturday, October 17.
ACT candidate and veteran broadcaster Paul Henry will speak at the same venue at 6.30pm on Tuesday, October 27.
Henry is standing as a list-only candidate and is ranked fourth on ACT’s party list, released on September 13.
Only party leader David Seymour, deputy leader Nicole McKee and Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard sit above him.
The ranking puts him ahead of six sitting ACT MPs, including minister Karen Chhour, and all but guarantees him a seat in Parliament.
Seymour has described him as “a beloved broadcaster and national treasure who wants a better future for his grandchildren.”
“I didn’t stand for ACT because I needed something to do,” Henry said.
“I stood because I think New Zealand has extraordinary potential, and I’m not prepared to sit back and watch us settle for mediocrity.”
“Our economy is too small. Our bureaucracy is too big. We cannot borrow our way to prosperity.”
He has also turned his fire on ACT’s senior coalition partner.
“I think there are a lot of National supporters who sit in the camp where they think more should have been achieved in this last term,” Henry said.
“A nudge in the right direction isn’t good enough.”
Henry has said he wants to be a minister, but would not quit if he was left on the backbench.
“When I do something, I’m committed to it, and I’m desperately committed to this,” he said.
His Botany meeting is part of his “Paul Henry Unlocked” tour and will run town hall style, with time for questions.
Peters, the foreign minister, is no stranger to the area.
He practised law in Howick before entering Parliament, and was MP for Hunua from 1979 to 1981, when the seat covered large parts of Howick and Cockle Bay.
“It’s great to come back,” he told the Howick & Eastern Post at a Grey Power meeting in Pakuranga in August.
“I’ve never had any regrets here. I had a very successful law practice.”
He told that meeting NZ First would not raise the superannuation age to 67 or means-test the pension.
He was blunt about why he is campaigning again.
“Well, if you’re motivated by two things, love or hate, I am going to do my utmost to stop these left-wing communists from winning.”
He likened National and Labour to Pepsi and Coke.
“You’ve had 40 years of failure. How about you get out of the way and give someone else a try?”
Peters also backed his party’s Botany candidate, Craig Stobo, who is standing against Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
“Craig Stobo will go seriously well, because he’s a top-class candidate,” he said.
This week Peters dismissed calls for a cross-party accord on superannuation as a sham.
“Most of these people couldn’t even run a school tuck shop; that’s half the problem,” he said.
He believes the result is far from settled.
“The election is going to be decided in the next three weeks,” Peters was reported as saying.
Both meetings are free, and both parties are asking those attending to register online first.
The general election is on Saturday, November 7.
