'Out to cause trouble': Hipkins says unruly groups won't derail campaign

Author: Hannah Filmer,
Publish Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026, 2:47pm

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says campaign train won't be derailed by "small group of people out to cause trouble". Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins is standing firm against “small groups of people out to cause trouble” as his election campaign gets underway.

Hipkins had his first official day on this year’s campaign today, visiting small businesses in Mt Roskill and surrounding suburbs.

Speaking to media, he said he wouldn’t let “small groups of people” derail Labour’s effort.

It comes after police intervened at a candidates’ meeting in Wellington on Tuesday, when anti-vaccination activists disrupted a speech by former Labour Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. She and other candidates were shepherded out of the Wadestown church hall.

When asked about police presence at campaign meetings, Hipkins said it had been the case previously to have officers present, usually for the safety of main party leaders.

He then singled out smaller party leaders for using “inflammatory language” and said it had made the job for police “tougher” this election.

“My message to them is if you’re making racist comments, don’t.

“There’s a simple way of avoiding that conflict, don’t be racist.”

Despite receiving a death threat himself a couple of weeks ago, Hipkins told media he and the party were going to be “out and about” walking with the public and having open meetings.

“We’re not going to let what is a small group of people disrupt the democratic process.

“It’s important that people have access to their politicians. It’s one of the great things about New Zealand that you’ll see politicians out and about walking around on the street without huge amounts of security.

“We are very open, very accessible and I hope we stay that way.”

The threat was made as the Opposition leader walked to Wellington’s Newstalk ZB studio for an interview on the station’s Wellington Mornings show with Nick Mills.

“We had a gentleman, if you can call him that, pull over as I was walking down the street yelling out of his car window,” Hipkins recounted to Mills.

“Then when we went on to the waterfront he clearly got out of his car and came and told me he was going to throw me into the harbour and as I walked away from him said he was going to kill me.”