Election 2026: National attack ads against Labour use crime footage from Government’s own term

National's campaign chair Simeon Brown has rejected the suggestion that the footage is misleading. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii

The National Party is defending the use of footage showing violent crime under its own Government in attack ads against the Labour Party.

But Labour says it is dishonest and desperate from National.

It comes after National posted a campaign video on social media showing clips of violent crime. It stated Labour was soft on crime and Kiwis will be safer under National.

But some of the footage is from crime committed during the early part of the coalition Government, with the footage matching news stories from that period of time.

National’s campaign chair Simeon Brown defended the move and rejected the suggestion it was misleading.

Brown said the coalition got rid of gang patches, put in tougher consequences for crime and had given judges less discretion.