Act believes it can get 15 per cent of the party vote come the next election, the same target its leader held but was unable to meet in the 2023 election.

Act Party leader David Seymour set the target while speaking at the party’s annual rally in Auckland today to a crowd of 525 people who had paid to attend.

He quoted polling conducted by the party every fortnight, enabled by Act’s sizeable donor base.

The polling process asked people to indicate whether they were “interested” in voting for Act on a scale of one to 10. The party considered a response of eight or higher to indicate there was a “very good chance” the person would vote for Act.

“It goes up and down each fortnight, but on average we find 22 per cent of New Zealanders rate their chances of voting Act an eight or higher.

“That’s a much higher figure than New Zealand First, and even higher than the Greens.”

Act deputy leader and Cabinet minister Brooke van Velden addresses the crowd at the rally. Photo / Adam Pearse

Seymour said getting two-thirds of the 22 per cent polling support - or 15 per cent - was a “noble goal”.

“It would complete Act’s transformation from an insurgent small party to the small large party you are helping us build.”

Before last year’s election, Seymour said his party could reach 15 per cent based on polling at the time. However, Act ended up with 8.6 per cent of the party vote.

Seymour spent much of his speech explaining the issues facing New Zealand and the impact his party’s ministers and MPs had had while in Government.

Act leader David Seymour fronts media at the 2024 annual rally. Photo / Alex Burton

He also had some advice for members of the Opposition, encouraging Labour leader Chris Hipkins to “start with a blank piece of paper and stand for something”.

“If he doesn’t, someone else will fill in the blanks for him, and chances are it won’t be good for New Zealand.”

Seymour complimented Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick as having “mastered the politicians’ soundbite” but said her fellow co-leader Marama Davidson had “checked out”.

He also claimed Te Pāti Māori brought shame to Māori.

“The idea of a race-based party has always been wrong, but it’s hard to believe the mighty tōtaras who built their party can approve of the outright hatred they are now spewing.

“My challenge to them is simple. If their ideas are so good, they should be able to persuade people to support them. If they’re not, then stop lowering the standards of political debate in our country.”

Act’s five ministers all made speeches about their respective portfolios and the achievements they’d made in Government so far.

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee hit a bit of a snag when the screens displaying her speech malfunctioned. An audience member recommended she “go rogue”. She responded, to laughs: “You don’t want me to go rogue.”

Act leader David Seymour fronts media while flanked by Cabinet minister Brooke van Velden, and Nicole McKee, at the 2024 annual rally. Photo / Alex Burton

Children’s Minister Karen Chhour received a standing ovation from much of the crowd. She largely spoke about her changes to Oranga Tamariki and the attacks she’d faced from the Opposition.

A brief video at the start of the rally featured news clips of the 2020 election result alongside clips of former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern saying she would govern for all Kiwis. That prompted loud groans and jeers from the crowd.

Attendees the Herald spoke to before the rally began largely agreed Act had been doing as well as could be expected as part of the coalition Government.

They acknowledged the changes Act had campaigned on would take time, noting it had been about six months since the coalition was formed.

The rally featuring former broadcaster Paul Henry as its guest speaker was why one man attended.

Former television broadcaster Paul Henry was the guest speaker at the Act Party rally. Photo / Adam Pearse

Henry gave an entertaining and frank address, stating early on that he thought New Zealand was “deeply in the s**t”.

He claimed it was possible the country was “beyond repair”. He then went on to explain his decision to vote for Act in the last election.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.