An afternoon on the campaign trail without Labour's leader

The security guards at The Palms mall in Christchurch were surprised to hear Senior Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni would not need the six car parks they had reserved for her visit.

They had previously hosted other politicians, including Sir John Key and Dame Jacinda Ardern, and were expecting her to arrive with a similarly sizeable entourage.

But there was little fanfare surrounding Sepuloni's visit to the mall: No diplomatic protection service officers, two journalists and a couple of staff members.

That was despite her fronting most of Labour's election campaign events, while party leader Chris Hipkins isolates at an Auckland hotel with Covid-19.

After greeting half a dozen Labour supporters at the entrance of The Palms, Sepuloni got to work, marching up to the first people she saw in the mall - two teenagers sitting at a cafe.

"Have you voted yet in this election?" Sepuloni asked.

"No" the two teens responded - they were not yet 18.

"Ok, maybe next time," Sepuloni said.

Sepuloni continued her quest to find eligible voters, leaving two confused teenagers behind. They admitted they did not know who had just approached them, when asked by RNZ.

After walking around the quiet mall for a few minutes, Sepuloni struck gold - she had stumbled upon an undecided voter.

"Can I say anything to convince you right now to give your party vote to Labour?" she asked.

"Oh yeah ... I'd normally take advice from my mum," the man replied.

"Give me your mum's phone number ... I'll give her a call," Sepuloni said.

The man laughed in response but did not give Sepuloni his mum's contact details. She quickly moved on.

The search for voters came to an abrupt end when a woman approached Sepuloni to ask about Labour's plans to tackle youth crime.

"I'm just hoping that you are gonna start putting your foot down with these kids instead of letting them get away with everything," the woman said.

Sepuloni told her there were often other issues at play, including family harm, and Labour was focused on preventing re-offending.

"If we just lock them up and throw away the key, then in the future it is going to cause more problems," Sepuloni said.

The woman moved on to another topic and asked Sepuloni about beneficiaries.

"What about these guys who are on the benefits ... and using all their dole to buy drugs and s*** ... what are you gonna do about these guys? Because they are just stitting there taking all the taxpayers' money and getting high."

There would always be a small number of beneficiaries who struggled with addiction, Sepuloni said.

"That's not necessarily for the welfare system to resolve ... those are health issues that need to be resolved."

The woman was unhappy with Sepuloni's answer.

"[The benefit] has made it easier for them to sit on their ass and collect money each week to go and feed their addictions."

The tense exchange was briefly interrupted when staff from the voting booths in the mall told Sepuloni she was standing too close and had to move (strict election rules prevent certain activites within 10 metres of the entrance to a polling location).

After awkwardly shuffling a metre or so back, the discussion continued.

"I know there is a small cohort you are talking about but there are complex challenges there," Sepuloni said.

Her comments clearly had not changed the woman's mind, so Sepuloni told her they would "agree to disagree".

An army veteran, James, was next to approach Sepuloni to have his say.

He was quick to express his disappointment only the Green Party had released a specific policy for veterans this election.

"Veterans affairs is in crisis at the moment," James told Sepuloni, "I've been spending nearly 10 years fighting for support from veterans affairs".

Sepuloni spoke up to respond to his complaints, but James stopped her, "I'm going to keep talking," he said.

Eventually, she asked to take the man's contact details but he refused, saying "I don't think you can give me a comprehensive answer".

Sepuloni later told RNZ she was not sure if Labour had a veterans policy this election and promised to get to the bottom of it.

As she left the mall, Sepuloni said she had some good conversations during her visit to The Palms.