Act's long, hard road from populism back to principle

For the several hundreds of thousands of voters of conservative mind, Rodney Hide has a message. If they think they can afford to watch Act New Zealand go down the gurgler, they should think again.

Mr Hide argues the interests of the centre-right are best served by ensuring Act remains a parliamentary force - and not just to get National across the line in November's election.

Act's leader is urging centre-right voters to lift their sights beyond election day and ask themselves what kind of re-elected National-led Government they want.

Mr Hide's assumption is most of them do not want one dependent solely on the Maori Party for survival.

Ideally, Mr Hide argues, those voters should ensure there are sufficient Act MPs to vote down combined National Party-Maori Party measures, such as the current Bill on ownership rights to the foreshore and seabed.

He clearly sees the "compelling logic" of what he is saying as resuscitating Act's brand, which was the prime victim of the dreadful carnage the party inflicted on itself last year.

The trick is to get the message reduced to sound-bite proportions.

Voters have switched off Act. The party's poll ratings remain moribund.

Its performance in the Botany by-election was disappointing.

Act's annual conference this weekend provides a further opportunity to penetrate the cone of silence that voters have donned to shut out what Act might be saying.

As it is, Mr Hide has not come up with good examples to back his argument. National would likely have redrafted the foreshore and ETS measures to secure Labour's backing, thereby passing law that was even less to Act's taste.

The other problem with Mr Hide's logic is that many voters will smell a rat - that giving Act more leverage will only see that party try to foist its more extreme policy prescription on to National.

Mr Hide and Sir Roger Douglas are quite open about that, however. They believe there is a significant and growing chunk of voters concerned about New Zealand falling ever further behind comparable economies.

They believe this niche is receptive to Act's policy of lower taxes allied with a severe paring back of government spending.

The trouble is, such an agenda is anathema to many of those receptive to Act's campaign on the foreshore and seabed.

This highlights Act's fundamental problem.

Unlike the Greens, who sit happily to Labour's left, Act has been far less confident that there are votes to National's right to sustain itself long-term.

The party has consequently made panic-filled excursions in search of populist bandwagons.

Having ridden them at times to excess - but with little evident pay-off - the party has then been racked with guilt and, increasingly, recrimination over its failure to stick to its principles.