In the 2005 UK general election, the Conservatives hired Australian dirty-tricks brigade Crosby-Textor to run their advertising. They ran a relentlessly negative campaign based on simple slogans exploiting (and whipping up) popular fears on immigration, healthcare and crime - while avoiding any mention of policy or any discussion of what they would do differently (sadly its difficult to find the originals online. But there are plenty of photos of what people did to them).
Judging from their latest billboard, it looks like National will be using the same playbook - right down to the scrawled handwriting style.
While so far they're banging away on the (nonexistent) "brain drain" to Australia (with its nasty subtext of "white flight" - sorry, "high quality" New Zealanders being replaced by "low quality" immigrants) and pedophobia, I expect the overt racism isn't too far behind. But then, that's what you get when you hire a dirty company: a dirty campaign.
