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Racism mars New Zealand election campaign

By Nick Perry
Published August 14, 2014 6:41am ET
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Racism mars New Zealand election campaign
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters points his finger as he speaks during the New Zealand First Party campaign launch held at the Kelston Community Hall in west Auckland, New Zealand Aug. 10, 2014. During the launch, Peters lit into the government for allowing farms to be sold to foreign buyers, including those from China. He made a racially charged joke: “As they say in Beijing, two Wongs don’t make a white.” (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald/Dean Purcell)**New Zealand Out Australia Out** | Dean Purcell

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A surprising theme has emerged in New Zealand’s election campaign: racism.

Racially charged comments made by the leaders of two political parties and a candidate for a third have struck a jarring tone in this South Pacific nation of 4.5 million people, which generally prides itself on its tolerance. Political billboards have even been defaced with anti-Semitic slurs.

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