Donna Marie Pokere-Phillips is a New Zealand politician known for her conspiracy-driven views. She is the co-leader of the NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party, and was their candidate in the

2022 Hamilton West by-election The 2022 Hamilton West by-election was a List of New Zealand by-elections, by-election in New Zealand's electorate. The seat became vacant due to the resignation of former New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party MP Gaurav Sharma (politician), Ga ...

. She has also been an unsuccessful candidate in parliamentary elections for the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

(

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

The Opportunities Party The Opportunities Party (usually referred to as TOP) is a centrist political party based in New Zealand. It was founded in 2016 by economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan and is today led by Raf Manji. The party is based upon an idea of "evid ...

(

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

), and the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(Te Pāti Māori,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

). In local politics she has made unsuccessful bids for Hamilton's mayoralty in 2022, and City Council seats in 2022 and 2021.

Early life and education

Pokere-Phillips (

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Isla ...

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

) was born in

. She has a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

postgraduate degree from the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

, awarded in 2004.

Career

Alliance

In the 1999 election, Pokere-Phillips stood for the

in the seat of

Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Port Waikato is a well-known surfing and whitebaiting destination and a popular holiday spot. Fish can be caught off the rocks ...

and as number 40 on the party list. As the party only won 10 seats, and she failed to win her electorate, Pokere-Phillips was not elected.

The Opportunities Party

In the 2017 election, she stood for

as their candidate in the seat of Hamilton West and as number 6 on the party list. As the party failed to win any seats, she was not elected. In 2018, she ran for both leader of The Opportunities Party and as the membership representative on the TOP party board. She was not elected as party leader (she gained 11 of the 1000+ votes cast), but successfully became the membership representative. In May 2019 she accused party leader

Geoff Simmons Geoffrey Leonard Simmons (born 27 December 1974) is an economist and former leader of The Opportunities Party (TOP), a political party in New Zealand. He stood for TOP in the February 2017 Mount Albert by-election, in the Wellington Central el ...

of misleading the party about payments he was receiving, claiming in a leaked 1700-word email that the party was financially unstable. Simmons' response was that "Our Party Secretary is an accountant and he assured her that wasn’t the case. But apparently she didn’t listen." On 12 August 2019, she departed from the party board.

Te Pāti Māori

Pokere-Phillips next joined the

(Te Pāti Māori) and was selected as the party's candidate in

Hauraki-Waikato Hauraki-Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate first established for the . It largely replaced the electorate. Nanaia Mahuta of the Labour Party, formerly the MP for Tainui, became MP for Hauraki-Waikato in the 2008 general e ...

for the 2020 election. When addressing the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2 ...

, she accused the government of "ethnic cleansing", saying that there should have been more engagement with Māori leadership during the pandemic, that rights protected under

Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

had been denied, and that rushed legislation had eroded civil liberties. During the campaign she was arrested for trespassing, having taken part in a protest against a new roading development. In 2021 she was quoted in the media as a legal advisor to Brian Te Huia. Te Huia, who had 396 criminal convictions at the age of 54, alleged years of abuse while he'd been a child under state care. Pokere-Phillips' motivations at the time including giving a voice to a boy who has suffered under state care, and a "sense of justice" to the man he had grown into. She stood unsuccessfully in a by-election for the

Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor i ...

east ward in 2021, gaining 247 of the 12,178 votes cast.

NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party

In 2022, Pokere-Phillips became co-leader of the NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party, alongside Sue Grey. Later that year she placed fourth in the

2022 Hamilton mayoral election The 2022 Hamilton mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 to determine the Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand. For the first time, the election was held under the single transferable vote system. Incumbent mayor Paula Southgate was re-elected. ...

and also failed to become one of the first two councillors for the city's new Maaori Ward. She was the sixth-placed candidate in the

, which was decided in December.

Covid-19 conspiracy theories

On social media Pokere-Phillips regularly shares misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, for example falsely claiming on Facebook that up to 3,000 deaths should have been attributed to the vaccination but weren't. She has also appeared on

Counterspin Media ''Counterspin Media'' is a far-right, anti-vaccine, and conspiracy theorist New Zealand online media platform that was founded in May 2021. ''Counterspin Media'' has opposed the New Zealand Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic includi ...

, described by

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

as a "far-right conspiracy theorist website that promotes anti-vax messages". On Counterspin she said believes that COVID-19 vaccines are "a bio-weapon that kills people" and that hospitals are "death camps". She said that she was running for mayor as an act of "political

utu Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

and I want this government gone." ''

The Waikato Times The ''Waikato Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Hamilton, New Zealand and owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It has a circulation to the greater Waikato region and became a tabloid paper in 2018. The newspaper has won the title of Ne ...

'' noted that she didn't share this motivation in other public forums like election debates. In the lead-up to New Zealand's 2022 civic elections,

Voices for Freedom Voices for Freedom (VFF) is an anti-vaccine advocacy group in New Zealand that formed in December 2020 to oppose the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 mitigation policies and vaccination rollout. The organisation is founded and led by food blog ...

(VFF) urged members and followers to run for council positions in order to make New Zealand "ungovernable". The group advised that candidates should not declare any affiliation with VFF. When asked, Pokere-Phillips denied any affiliation with VFF.

Personal life

Pokere-Phillips has lived in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

with her partner and five children for over 20 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokere-Phillips, Donna Living people New Zealand Māori women People from Taranaki University of Waikato alumni Māori Party politicians Alliance (New Zealand political party) politicians The Opportunities Party politicians Leaders of political parties in New Zealand New Zealand Māori lawyers New Zealand Māori women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)