Rampant crime and the cost-of-living crisis has been the battle cry of the National Party throughout the election campaign.
This in part explains why National has found significant traction within the Indian and Chinese communities, which have disproportionately faced the brunt of ram raids and aggravated robberies nationwide.
Nancy Lu, a National Party list candidate of Chinese descent, has listened to countless tales of despair as the crimes continue to hurt their businesses.
"In Christchurch, a business owner told me her restaurant has been burgled eight times in the past one year," Lu says. "Every time her phone rings she is traumatised thinking it is the ninth time. Every time the alarm rings and her husband goes to find out what is happening, she fears for his life.
"She doesn't lock her restaurant anymore. She just wants the burglers to come and take whatever they want without causing any damage to the property. She is scared and frightened."
Ranked 20 on National's list, Lu is one of two Chinese-origin candidates standing for the national Party in this election. With Carlos Cheung facing Labour's Michael Wood in Mt Roskill, Lu arguably has the most realistic chance of becoming a member of Parliament on election day.
Nancy Lu is standing for the National Party as a list-only candidate. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Lu hopes the results of the upcoming election fall in her favour this time around. In 2020, Lu at number 26 was the highest-ranked Chinese-origin candidate on the National Party list but couldn't make it into Parliament due to Labour's massive gains.
"I have been associated with my party for many years before that," she says. "In 2017, I was one of the volunteers helping the campaign."
This time Lu seems well-prepared.
"In 2020 … I decided to dedicate myself to public service and joined the Auckland Council as the lead financial strategist," she says. "Then last year, I got offered a master's (degree) in public administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. So, both in theory and practice, I have been training myself to being an efficient lawmaker."
Lu had primarily worked in the private sector prior to 2020.
According to her party profile, she is a chartered accountant and has worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong and China in firms that include PricewaterhouseCoopers, EY New Zealand, Fonterra, Dashang and Cosco.
Given her background, an obvious question is what to make of the fiscal hole that economists from both sides of the political spectrum have highlighted in National's tax plan.
Lu rubbishes such claims and repeats the party line of the tax plan being fully costed.
Her political savviness is apparent in the location at which she chooses to do this interview.
"This area is very significant to the Chinese community," she says, pointing towards the restaurants in Auckland North Shore's Corinthian Drive.
It was at this location in June that a man stormed into several restaurants in Albany and attacked diners with an axe. The man later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Nancy Lu with National Party volunteers in Albany. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
"People were understandably scared to come to this place after the incident. To encourage them and to support our local businesses, I along with my party colleague Erica Stanford, National candidate and sitting MP from East Coast Bays, came here with our families and had dinner," Lu says.
On the issue of migrant worker exploitation, she places the blame on the much-maligned Accredited Employer Work Visa programme that has been introduced by the government.
"The policy and its execution are problematic," she says. "Labour is responsible for the consequences."
The government has launched a review into the programme's processes.
Nancy Lu speaks at the 2023 National Party Chinese annual conference. Photo: Supplied
Meanwhile, Frank Li, a volunteer who has been involved in both of Lu's campaigns, notes how well the candidate has aided the mobilisation of the Chinese community behind National this time.
"It is no secret the Chinese community in New Zealand has always backed the National Party," he says. "Nancy, being the hard-working person she is, has travelled across the country during the campaign to explain our party's policies to the community."
Qiao Liu, another volunteer and a close friend of Lu, agrees.
"Being a list-only candidate means we are able to focus everywhere, and are not confined to one electorate," Liu says. "We need a change in government to build a strong economy again and only National can deliver that."
Should Lu win a seat in Parliament, she promises to open a physical office in either Auckland's North Shore or Pakuranga - two suburbs that house the majority Chinese population.
Returning to National's promise of restoring law and order, Lu shares a personal concern.
"I am scared to go out with my two young children after dark," she says. "This is not the New Zealand I grew up in. I want to give people hope that we can bring those days back."
Stay up to date with Checkpoint's live election night special with Lisa Owen, Corin Dann, Jane Patterson and reporters around the country from 7pm to midnight on Saturday, running alongside live data and blogging with electorate and party vote results on RNZ's website. RNZ Asia will also be running its own live blog in Chinese.
实时更新报道， 尽在RNZ中文！ 本周六（10月14日大选日当天)下午5点起，以中文实时追踪2023年新西兰大选，各党票数、全国选情 、计票进展与最终结果，第一手资讯尽在 www.rnz.co.nz/chinese。 本周六，我们与您一同关注大选。
Then on Sunday, stay tuned for the Morning Report special from 8am to 10am, examining the results, the drama, and the changes from the night before: with polls this close, exactly who's in government will likely come down to negotiations.
