The Residents Action Movement (or RAM) was a political party in New Zealand. RAM described itself as "a mass membership, broad left, grassroots movement of social change". Its national chair was Grant Morgan and its co-leaders were Oliver Woods and Grant Brookes.

History

Foundation

RAM was formed in 2003 out of dissatisfaction by Auckland community activists with the control of local body politics by centre-left

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 ...

-supported City Vision and centre-right

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

-supported

Citizens and Ratepayers Communities and Residents (C&R) is a right-leaning local body ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland City Council and preventing left-leaning Labour Party contro ...

. RAM ran eight candidates for

Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The AR ...

in the 2004 local body elections and polled over 87,000 votes. One candidate, Robyn Hughes, was elected to the regional council.

2007 Auckland local elections

RAM expanded its activities in the 2007 Auckland local body elections, running seven candidates for the Auckland Regional Council and six for Auckland City Council, as well as candidates for Auckland's three District Health Boards and Auckland City community boards. Despite receiving more than 117,016 votes Auckland wide, no RAM candidates were elected. In the Auckland Regional Council elections, its vote decreased, from 87,000 to 76,000. Across the board, the right made gains in Greater Auckland's 2007 council elections at the expense of both the centre-left (Labour-aligned tickets) and the left (RAM).

2008 parliamentary election

In early 2008, RAM began to actively recruit to meet the 500 party member threshold required by the Electoral Commission for party registration. Later in the year, it achieved more than 2,000 registered members, to contest the 2008 general election. It applied for a broadcasting allocation. The party was registered by the Electoral Commission on 29 July 2008. RAM received 465 party votes in the 2008 Parliamentary elections, coming second-to-last.

Policies

RAM advocated a policy of free and frequent public transport, with the aims of alleviating

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

, allowing improved transport means for Auckland residents and fighting against climate change. The other core messages of RAM were reducing rates on homeowners, shifting local taxation onto big business, and removing goods and services tax from food. The organisation had a very strong policy of anti-racism and particularly of supporting Muslim migrants to integrate into New Zealand society. It also called for an "Auckland Parliament" to co-ordinate local democracy in Auckland's five local cities, as an alternative to what it sees as an undemocratic "Super-City" body. RAM also organised against supposed racism and " Islamophobia" in the city. It has sponsored peace marches in Auckland with

Global Peace and Justice Auckland Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA) describes itself as "a network of people who provide a platform for individuals and groups to discuss and organise co-operatively on peace and justice issues." They are well known for organising the Auckland ...

Demise

In May 2010, the party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission at its own request. According to RAM member Curwen Rolinson, members went to different parties such as

or the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

. Rolinson himself became a key figure in the early years of

Young New Zealand First Young New Zealand First (shortened to Young NZ First) is the youth wing and student wing of the New Zealand First party. It was formally incorporated into the party in 2015. History Foundation and early years According to '' The Spinoff ...

References

External links

RAM's Official website

{{Historic New Zealand political parties Political parties established in 2003 Political parties disestablished in 2010 Defunct political parties in New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region