They say that scandals and trivia that dominate public debate shouldn't be on the 2023 election agenda.

The bishops' Election Statement for the 2023 General Election says increasing numbers of people are becoming disillusioned and people are disenfranchised because serious issues are treated as political footballs.

Their statement says in part:

"We are concerned with the growing trivialisation of politics, with the focus of politicians and media being on mistakes, misdemeanours or scandals of individual parliamentarians instead of being on the scandals of poverty, mental health and the diminishment of the sanctity and dignity of life."

Their bishops' statement is being distributed to the country's 470,000 Catholics in six dioceses and 194 parishes.

"We are concerned that so many of the issues affecting all of us are treated as political footballs.

"Successive election-season promises and the changing of policies in line with the agenda of each new government are not working.

"More and more people in our land are becoming disillusioned and feel disenfranchised.

"Our hope is that the politicians who will form the Government ... will focus on the issues that beset us as a nation and work together across party lines to make real progress in finding genuine, lasting solutions."

The bishops ' statement also comments on rising levels of poverty and mental health, the lack of housing in various dioceses, and this year's big storms.

During the past three years, the bishops have called out and complimented the government on several issues.

"We lamented the growing indifference to the sanctity of life. We affirmed our commitment for Te Tiriti o Waitangi as offering us a pathway of unity for our nation.

"And we talked about the rapidly growing toxicity in our communities that is dividing us and that generates anger, hate and even violence. These are but some of the many issues we face."

Love your neighbour

Citing Jesus' command to love your neighbour as yourself, the bishops acknowledge finding a party or candidates that subscribe to Christian behaviour can be difficult.

Nonetheless, they urge all Catholics to be informed. All Catholics should look seriously at the policies of each party and the position of each individual candidate, the bishops say.

"At times we cannot find parties or candidates who subscribe to all we believe. When this happens, we make choices, informed by our conscience guided by the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching, for the party or candidate which will bring forth the most common good, especially for the poor and vulnerable, and at the same time whose policies will bring forth the least moral harm."

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference

Tamaki - Destiny Church founder and co-founder of the Freedoms New Zealand political party - says God gave him a vision of how he should run the campaign.

He's "had insight from the spirit world", he claimed.

Undemocratic

The disruption plan is raising fears that Freedoms New Zealand plans to subvert democratic norms in the run up to October's election.

Some disruptive action has already begun, in fact.

On Monday, a Freedoms NZ election candidate scaled a 2m-high fence to interrupt Opposition leader Chris Luxon's press conference.

Luxon asked the candidate to "be respectful" and talk afterwards. The disruption continued. Luxon moved the conference elsewhere so he could talk freely.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called the interruption an "anti-democratic" publicity stunt. It drowned out other people's voices and gave the public less chance to hear from politicians ahead of the election.

But Tamaki told church followers that Freedoms NZ was exercising its "right to protest and speak publicly".

He says his disruption plan will target Act Party leader David Seymour next.

'You're next David [Seymour], you're another one that hides the truth."

"This could spread right across, down the south and everywhere," Tamaki told his followers.

Security

This weeks interruption coincided with the Government's increased security budget for Members of Parliament, to protect them at their homes, offices and at Parliament.

Politicians have been reporting more confrontations with abusive, threatening protesters. In one case in May last year, Luxon was kept inside a venue in Palmerston North until police arrived.

He later said one of New Zealand's greatest strengths was that the public could easily talk to and approach politicians and that care was needed to preserve that.

But divisive and polarising politics could grow in New Zealand, politicians warn. These divisions are more commonly associated with the United States and are a danger to democracy, they say.

Tamaki's disruption plan

Tamaki told followers in his sermon that his comments about disruption followed politicians' accusations that his team wanted to be disruptive.

He discovered the word's Latin root means to "break apart".

"I love this word disruption, to break apart - break apart this hold they have on our Parliament where the people cannot get their voice in," he told church followers.

"Break apart that Parliament, break apart the lying politicians, break apart the dominant party spirit that does not allow the people to have a voice or access to their own Parliament."

A Destiny church Facebook post shows the Freedoms NZ candidate interrupting Luxon under the headline: "Be a weapon of mass disruption".

This is positive, Tamaki said.

Disruption can be "something that begins to create something better than what was there before".

But violence is not acceptable, Tamaki insists. "Break apart means to challenge by valid and lawful means."

Tamaki said Luxon's press conference interruption was not pre-planned - but "brilliant".

He now expected more of his party members would "pop up" unannounced.

Source

• NZ Herald