Antony Hubert Kunowski (born 1946) is a New Zealand politician. He was the leader of the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

in the 1970s and was later an elected local-body representative in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Biography

Kunowski was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the son of a free Polish forces pilot who fought in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, before migrating to New Zealand in 1962. Living initially in

Stokes Valley Stokes Valley, a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the edge of the city, seven kilometres northeast of the city centre. It occupies the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River, called Sto ...

he attended

Naenae College Naenae College, is a state-run coeducational secondary school located in north-central Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It is situated on a site in the suburb of Avalon. The school was founded in 1953 to serve the Naenae state housing development, alt ...

and went to Victoria University, where he studied towards a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, though finished the degree at

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

. He then worked in a marketing job with an oil company before deciding to return to university studying for two years to attain a Master of Commerce degree. He was subsequently employed at the Department of Industries and Commerce. He then became a tutor in economics and statistics at the Christchurch Technical Institute. He joined the Values Party in 1972 (the year the party was founded) and helped set up the party's Papanui branch. At the and elections he stood as the

candidate in the Christchurch electorate of

Papanui Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated five kilometers to the northwest of the city centre. Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pākehā (NZ Eur ...

where he placed third and fourth respectively. In 1976 he was elected leader of the party. At the 1978 election he was the leader of the party which saw the party lose 2.78% of the vote. In 1979 deputy leader Margaret Crozier challenged Kunowski for the leadership of the party. She was successful defeating Kunowski 151 votes to 140 in a members ballot at the annual party conference. Following his defeat, he responded by leaving the Values Party altogether. He later became a banker. He then joined the Labour Party and was elected to the

Canterbury Regional Council Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's st ...

in 1992 on the Labour ticket. He was narrowly defeated in 1995 following an electoral boundary redrawing. In 2013 he became the Manager at Canterbury Horticultural Society.

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Photo of Kunowski (right) as Values Party leader
Living people 1946 births English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Polish descent University of Canterbury alumni 20th-century New Zealand politicians Values Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election New Zealand Labour Party politicians Canterbury regional councillors {{NewZealand-politician-stub