Green’s defund da
police campaign

In April 2025, the Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST) launched a billboard campaign targeting Green Party MPs Tamatha Paul and Chlöe Swarbrick. The billboards, displayed in Auckland Central and Wellington Central electorates, featured slogans such as “Defund the Police” and “Vote Green,” designed to resemble Green Party campaign materials.

The campaign aimed to highlight the Green Party's radical views on policing and to inform voters about these positions.

The billboards sparked controversy due to their resemblance to official Green Party campaign signage and the Green Party laid complaints despite championing a Bill that would protect specifically this kind of political satire.

Initially, we used photographs of Paul from the 2023 election, which were later replaced after concerns about copyright infringement were raised by the photographer and the Green Party.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints regarding the campaign with the main issue being cited that we used the Green’s style to highlight their own policy. The advert was not misleading as it drew attention to policies and opinions that are directly attributable to Green MPs and the party. But there was considerable angst that it wasn’t obvious that we were behind it. Of course, that was the whole point.

The Greens were annoyed that we were highlighting their own unpopular policy. It is favoured among their most extreme supporters, but it is not a vote winner within the wider electorate. That is precisely why we wanted them to own the policy.

The campaign was inspired by public comments by Green MP Tamatha Paul, who had attended an event about alternatives to policing and has repeatedly discussed and supported measures to shrink police powers, abolish prisons, and generally “defund da police”.

Tamatha Paul faced criticism for parties across Parliament with the exception of her own and Te Pāti Māori. In response to media attention, she chose to play anti-police songs as she DJed at Cuba Dupa in Wellington. The Greens then released video of her playing the KRS-One song “Sound of da police”.

The billboard campaign was a cost effective way to bring attention to dangerous policy that could become law under a Government including the Green Party. We received a great deal of media attention and our campaign was mentioned in Parliament in Question Time and in speeches.