The New Zealand Pacific Party was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

that existed in New Zealand from 2008 to 2010. The party was founded as a vehicle for former

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Taito Phillip Field Taito Phillip Hans Field (26 September 1952 – 23 September 2021) was a Samoan-born New Zealand trade unionist and politician. A Member of Parliament (MP) for South Auckland electorates from 1993 to 2008, Field was the first New Zealand MP of ...

, who was subsequently convicted for bribery and corruption. It aimed to represent Pacific Island communities within New Zealand, and support Christian and "

family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. In the social sciences and U.S. political discourse, the conventi ...

" and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

Formation

Field became an MP in 1993 for the Labour party, originally for the Otara electorate then, when that seat was abolished in 1996, for

Māngere Māngere () or Mangere is one of the largest suburbs in Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and 15 kilometres south of ...

. In February 2007 he was expelled from Labour, staying in parliament as an independent. In April 2007 Field told ''

The Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand. ...

'' he would form a new political party based on family values. Mr Field cited opposition to

Sue Bradford Sue Bradford (born 1 July 1952 in Auckland) is a New Zealand activist, academic, and former New Zealand politician who served as a list Member of Parliament representing the Green Party from 1999 to 2009. Bradford is an eco-socialist. In 2019, s ...

's Bill to remove the defence for child discipline as an example of a "groundswell of Christian people" and stated "There is a vacuum, there is room for a political party... people are looking for a new vehicle." Mr Field also had meetings with

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer * Rich ...

, leader of Destiny Church political party

Destiny New Zealand Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that th ...

, over a possible alliance. The party was registered on 24 April 2008, and officially launched on 16 August 2008. It claimed to have over 3000 members in August 2008.

2008 election and deregistration

The Pacific Party lost its single constituency seat in New Zealand's Parliament in the 2008 general election. Taito Philip Field lost his

electorate seat to Labour's

William Sio Aupito Tofae Su'a William Sio (born 1960) is a politician who became a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on 1 April 2008 for the Labour Party as a list MP. Since the November , he has represented the Māngere electorate. Perso ...

; Field got 5,525 votes compared to Sio's 12,651. In the party vote, the Pacific Party attracted 8,640 votes, or 0.37% of the total electorate vote in New Zealand. With under 5% of the party vote and no electorate seats, the Pacific Party did not meet the threshold to enter Parliament. After the election, nothing further was heard from the Pacific Party for almost two years. On 2 September 2010 the party was deregistered.

References

{{Historic New Zealand political parties 2008 establishments in New Zealand 2010 disestablishments in New Zealand Defunct political parties in New Zealand Christian political parties in New Zealand Defunct Christian political parties Political parties established in 2008 Political parties disestablished in 2010