The Workers' Party of New Zealand 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 ...

Formation

Following the turn of the

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 ...

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

, the Workers' Party was the main organisation in New Zealand to uphold the anti-revisionist, Beijing line of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

in opposition to the market reforms of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

.Nunes, R. (1998, July). Why workers should reject the Socialist Worker, agent of Trotskyism. ''The Spark''. Retrieved fro

The party was one of the two founding parties in the

Anti-Capitalist Alliance The Workers Party of New Zealand (previously known as the Anti-Capitalist Alliance) was a socialist political party in New Zealand. It published a monthly magazine called "The Spark". In February 2013 the party was transformed from a "mass work ...

, which was the only

communist 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 s ...

organisation to field a national slate of candidates in the

New Zealand general election New Zealand is a representative democracy in which members of the unicameral New Zealand Parliament gain their seats through elections. General elections are usually held every three years; they may be held at an earlier date (a " snap" electi ...

s during the 2000s. Workers' Party of New Zealand (3 April 2002). Anti-Capitalist Alliance to stand in general election. ''The Spark''. Retrieved fro

Workers' Party of New Zealand (24 August 2005). Anti-Capitalists standing in 8 electorates. ''The Spark''. Retrieved fro

Duncan, P. (19 May 2005). Left unity in NZ. ''Weekly Worker''. Retrieved fro

Merger

In 2004, the party merged with a

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

-based Trotskyist group, ''Revolution'',Ferguson, P. (1997, April/May). Editorial: Welcome to the revolution. ''Revolution''. Retrieved fro

Radical Media Collective. Revo subs page. ''Revolution website''. Retrieved 12 July 2013, fro

to form the Revolutionary Workers League (New Zealand), Revolutionary Workers' League (RWL).Ferguson, P. (15 June 2004). Fusion forms new group – Revolutionary Workers League. ''The Spark''. Retrieved fro

The RWL became a body within the reformed Workers Party of New Zealand, Workers' Party of New Zealand (2006),Workers' Party of New Zealand. (1 February 2006). ''Anti-Capitalist Alliance becomes the Workers' Party''

edia release ''Edia'' is a genus of moths of the family Crambidae. Species *''Edia minutissima'' Smith, 1906 *''Edia semiluna'' Smith, 1905 References

Odontiini Crambidae genera Taxa named by Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. {{Odontiinae-stub ...

Auckland: Workers' Party of New Zealand. Retrieved fro

which was created when the

, a loose electoral alliance, became one of the first unified communist party, communist parties in the world formed through an alliance of Marxist-Leninists and

Trotskyists Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a re ...

.Ferguson, P. & D. Whitmore. (2011). The Truth About Labour. ''Redline''. Retrieved fro

Maoist Internationalist Movement. (2004). Knowing what's what: Workers Party of New Zealand degenerates in open. ''Maoist Internationalist Movement website''. Retrieved fro

Party publications

The party published a monthly newspaper called ''The Spark''.''The Spark.'' (1999, September). Retrieved fro

They also contributed to ''Liberation'', a magazine produced by the

.Liberation. (2002, Spring), p.28. Retrieved fro

''The Spark'' was adopted as the triweekly magazine of the Revolutionary Workers' League in 2004, before becoming the de facto, monthly organ of the unified Workers' Party in 2006.Workers' Party of New Zealand. About us. ''Workers' Party of New Zealand website.'' Retrieved 12 June 2007 fro

The work of Ray Nunes

The party was most notable for its chairman, Ray Nunes, a former representative of the

Central Committee. A party member for nearly 40 years, Nunes had represented the Communist Party in international meetings for over two decades, in addition to other senior responsibilities, such as serving as Wellington district secretary.Barrowman, R. (1991, p. 118). ''A Popular Vision: The Arts and the Left in New Zealand 1930–1950.'' Wellington: Victoria University Press. Nunes represented the CPNZ at the 1960 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, siding with China in attacking N. S. Khrushchev for his alleged revisionism, and meeting with

and

Kang Sheng Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolu ...

as part of a party delegations during 1966–1968.Nunes, R. (1997). ''Politics and Ideology: Meetings with Kang Sheng 1966-68.'' Auckland: Workers' Party of New Zealand. Retrieved fro

/ref> He would continue to represent the Workers' Party in its relations with communists abroad until his death.Nunes, R. & D. Whitmore. (1999). Armed Struggle and the Third World: The Growth of People's War. In ''Mao and People's War''. Kerala: Vanguard Multi-Media Foundation. Retrieved fro

Nunes wrote many articles about Marxism, many of which were regularly published in ''The Spark''.Workers' Party of New Zealand. Articles from The Spark by Ray Nunes. ''Workers' Party of New Zealand website.'' Retrieved 11 November 1999, fro

His major work, ''From Marx to Mao – and After'' (1995), is an introductory course in Marxism-Leninism, which also contains Nunes' analysis of the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the market reforms of

Deng Deng may refer to: * Deng (company), is a Danish engineering, electrical, solar power and sales company in Accra, Ghana * Deng (state), an ancient Chinese state * Deng (Chinese surname), originated from the state ** Deng Xiaoping, paramount leader ...

in China.Nunes, R. (1995). ''From Marx to Mao – and after.'' Auckland: Workers' Party of New Zealand. Retrieved fro

/ref> In the year of Nunes' death, the party published his essay ''The Maori in Prehistory and Today'' (1999), which is believed to be the first

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

analysis of the Maori

national question ''National question'' is a term used for a variety of issues related to nationalism. It is seen especially often in socialist thought and doctrine. In socialism * ''Social Democracy and the National Question'' by Vladimir Medem in 1904 * ''So ...

.Nunes, R. (1999). The Maori in Prehistory and Today. Auckland: Workers' Party of New Zealand. Retrieved fro

References

Official website