The Socialist Party of Aotearoa was a minor political party in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It was formed in 1990
[Andersen, G. H. (1990). ''The 1990 general elections and beyond.'' Auckland: Socialist Party of Aotearoa.] through a split in the
Socialist Unity Party, led by
G. H. (Bill) Andersen.
The last known leader of the party was Brendan Tuohy.
The party published a monthly newspaper called ''Red Flag.''
[Red Flag. (October 2002). Subscribe to Red Flag. ''Red Flag''., p. 12.] Its former members continue to operate the ''Workers' Institute of Scientific Socialist Education'' (WISSE).
[WISSE. ''WISSE website''. Retrieved 12 July 2013, from .]
The party is best known through the influence of its late founder
Bill Andersen
Gordon Harold "Bill" Andersen (21 January 1924 – 19 January 2005) was a New Zealand communist, social activist and trade union leader.
Biography
Andersen was born in Auckland on 21 January 1924, the youngest child of Hans (Skip) Andersen and ...
, a well-known trade unionist who served as president of the
Auckland Trades Council, national secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, and president of the
National Distribution Union
The National Distribution Union (NDU) was a national trade union in New Zealand. It was formed in 1986 as the ''Northern Distribution Union'' by the merger of The Northern Drivers Union, The Northern Stores and Warehouse Union, The Auckland an ...
.
[Verran, D. (2005). ''Gordon Harold (Bill) Andersen.'' Retrieved from](_blank)
/ref>
It did not stand any candidates at the 2014 election.
See also
*Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
*List of Communist Parties
There are a number of communist parties active in various countries across the world and a number that used to be active. They differ not only in method, but also in strict ideology and interpretation, although they are generally within the tradi ...
* Politics of New Zealand
*Socialist Unity Party of New Zealand
The Socialist Unity Party was one of the better-known communist parties in New Zealand. It had a certain amount of influence in the trade union movement, but never won seats in Parliament.
The Socialist Unity Party was founded in 1966 as a spli ...
*Communist Party of New Zealand
The Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) was a communist party in New Zealand which existed from 1921 to 1994. Although spurred to life by events in Soviet Russia in the aftermath of World War I, the party had roots in pre-existing revolutiona ...
* Workers Party of New Zealand
References
External links
Socialist Party of Aotearoa
Workers' Institute of Scientific Socialist Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Party of Aotearoa
Political parties established in 1990
Communist parties in New Zealand
1990 establishments in New Zealand