The Kiwi Party was a

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 ideological or p ...

operating 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 ...

between 2007 and 2011. Briefly known as Future New Zealand, it was a breakaway from the

United Future New Zealand United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017). U ...

party and sought to carry on the tradition of

Future New Zealand The Christian Democrat Party of New Zealand was a Christian socially conservative political party established in 1995. It contested the 1996 general election as part of the Christian Coalition with the Christian Heritage Party. It changed it ...

. The party was formed when MP Gordon Copeland left United Future after a dispute over support for the

Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 (formerly the Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill) is an amendment to New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 which removed the legal defence of "reasona ...

. At the 2008 general election, the Kiwi Party was unsuccessful, and was not re-elected to Parliament. It did not contest the 2011 general election under its own banner, but the leaders and other members stood for the Conservative Party. The party advocated more direct democracy through

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s and a return to the "Judeo-Christian ethic in democracy". On 8 February 2012, it requested that the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

cancel its registration, which rendered it wholly subsumed into the Conservative Party. On its website, it announced that after holding an executive committee meeting in December 2011, the party had agreed to be 'wound up' and 'bring its existence to an end.'

Future New Zealand Party reformed

On 16 May 2007, list MP Gordon Copeland resigned from the United Future party, citing differences with party leader

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...

over the latter's support of the child-discipline bill. Copeland announced his intention to re-form an independent Future New Zealand party with former United Future list MP Larry Baldock as co-leader. Copeland and Baldock acknowledged that the new party would face difficulties over issues like legal ownership of the party name, but were hopeful that they would be able to attract United Future's former conservative Christian voters. An inaugural meeting was held in Baldock's city of residence,

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

, and former United Future list MP

Bernie Ogilvy Bernard James Ogilvy is a New Zealand educator and politician. He was a list member of Parliament (MP) for the United Future New Zealand party from 2002 to 2005. He left United Future with the breakaway Kiwi Party in 2007. Early years Before e ...

became party secretary. Meanwhile,

Brian Tamaki Brian Raymond Tamaki (born 2 February 1958), is a New Zealand fundamentalist Christian religious leader and far-right political activist. A Tainui man from the Ngati Ngawaero and Ngati Maniapoto tribes, he is the leader of Destiny Church, a ...

and his

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 the ...

party announced that it would contest the New Zealand conservative Christian vote at the next New Zealand general election in 2008. Christian Politics NZ

On 14 June 2007 Copeland announced that Future New Zealand would "not work with, or be part of, a Labour-led government following the 2008 elections". Copeland also gave his proxy vote in Parliament to the National Party (except on matters of confidence and supply). In June 2007, Copeland announced in his monthly "Copeland's Chronicle" newsletter that Future New Zealand had attracted the necessary five hundred members required for registration under the Electoral Act 1993. Baldock and Copeland were working on establishing a Board of Management and Board of Reference for their new party, still tentatively named "Future New Zealand." He also asserted his right to continue sitting in New Zealand's Parliament as a list MP.

Name change to the Kiwi Party

On 25 January 2008, it was announced that Future New Zealand was to be known as the Kiwi Party. Copeland stepped down as co-leader to focus on his Parliamentary responsibilities, leaving Baldock as the sole leader. The party applied to the Electoral Commission to register its new name, and was registered on 15 February 2008.

Policies

At the party's South Island conference in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

the party outlined a number of policy ideas: * people should be able to direct $100 of their

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to a charity of their choice each year * lift the adult minimum wage from the expected $12 an hour to $15 an hour * provide employers with a 100% tax rebate to cover the minimum wage increase * establish a Royal Commission to investigate the causes of family breakdown, family violence and child abuse.

2008 election

Going into the 2008 elections, the party had only one list MP, and no electorate MPs, in Parliament, and did not register significant support in national polls. Acting secretary Bernie Ogilvy apologised for not applying for free election broadcasting in time; Larry Baldock said "This does make our task just that much harder." The party fielded 25 electorate candidates out of a possible 70. The party won just 12,755 party votes, or 0.54% of the votes cast, well short of the 5% required to gain list-only representation without winning an electorate. Baldock stood in

, winning 1893 votes, well behind National's Simon Bridges and his New Zealand First and Labour challengers. Copeland was similarly unsuccessful in

Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...

, winning just 515 votes. Despite this result, the party stated that they would contest the next general election, in 2011.

2008–2012

Gordon Copeland was elected as Party President in March 2009. The party contested the 2009 Mount Albert by-election, selecting Simmone Dyer as their candidate. Dyer came seventh with 91 votes. The party did not contest the subsequent

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

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by-elections. Larry Baldock was one of the chief protagonists behind the 2009 referendum which attempted to repeal the

. The referendum passed with the support of 87.4% of voters, but was non-binding, and the government responded by promising a review of the law. In response, Baldock circulated a second citizens initiated referendum, calling for binding citizens initiated referendums in future debates. The proposed referendum petition fell well short of the required number of signatures to trigger such a referendum and lapsed on 10 December 2010. The demise of the Family Party and New Zealand Pacific Party in 2010 left the Kiwi Party as the only conservative Christian-based political party within New Zealand politics. This was changed by the arrival of

Colin Craig Colin Craig (born 8 January 1968) is a New Zealand businessman and perennial candidate who was the founding leader of the Conservative Party of New Zealand. Craig is a millionaire who owns companies that manage high-rise buildings. His current ...

Conservative Party of New Zealand New Conservative is a List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. Observers have described the party's policies as far-right, though the party now states it has moved to a more centrist position under new leadersh ...

in August 2011. On 14 October 2011 the Kiwi Party announced that it would not be standing any candidates in the election, and that several members had joined the Conservative Party and would be standing for it. Party leader Baldock was number three on the Conservative Party list and stood again in

. Deputy leader Dyer was number 7 on the list and stood in East Coast Bays. Party president Copeland stood in

Hutt South Hutt South is a parliamentary electorate in the lower Hutt Valley of New Zealand. It is held by Ginny Andersen of the Labour Party following the 2020 election. It was previously held by Chris Bishop of the National Party Bishop's victory was t ...

. No candidate was successful. Other members also stood for the Conservatives on their party list. The party was deregistered at its own request on 8 February 2012, which marks the cessation of its independent political existence. Its former website URL is now also inoperative.

Electoral results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiwi Party Defunct political parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 2007 Political parties disestablished in 2011 Christian political parties in New Zealand Defunct Christian political parties 2007 establishments in New Zealand 2011 disestablishments in New Zealand