VicLabour ( mi, Te Rangatahi Reipa o Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui), formerly The Victoria University Labour Club, is a branch of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

. The branch is primarily made up of students from Victoria University and Massey University in Wellington, and focuses on issues relevant to young New Zealanders. Members of Vic Labour also play a large role in Young Labour, the youth wing of the party. The branch is part of the Wellington Central Labour Electorate Committee. It is a "special branch" under the Labour Party constitution which means that members may live outside the boundaries of the Wellington Central electorate and do not have to be students. However, members of VicLabour are in general under the age of 26. VicLabour's members participate in a wide range of activities including protests, being active in policy development, campaigning and community work.

History

Victoria Labour Club was established in 1934 by Alfred Katz. The branch was invigorated by Labour activists in the 1960s and helped to organise large opposition protests to the Vietnam War. Membership has fluctuated often over the years but has always stayed prominent.

Student politics

Members of the branch have been heavily involved in student politics at Victoria University and Massey University. Andrew Little, former leader of the

and current Minister of Justice, was President of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association 1988-89. In 2011 VicLabour members put forward a variety of submissions to try to prevent the VSM bill coming into force and attended a number of protests and readings of the bill at Parliament.

Notable members

Notable past members include: *

David Butcher David John Butcher (born 19 September 1948) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a Cabinet minister in the Fourth Labour Government. Early life and family Butcher was born in Brighton, England, on 19 September 194 ...

Chris Hipkins Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a member of the Sixth Labour Government's Cabinet as Minister of Education, Minister of Police, Minister for the Public Service and Leader of the ...

Darren Hughes Darren Colyn Hughes (born 3 April 1978) is a New Zealand former Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2011, first elected at the age of 24. He represented the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party and was a Minister outside Cabinet in the Fift ...

* Andrew Little

See more

New Zealand Young Labour Young Labour ( mi, Te Rangatahi Reipa) is the combined youth wing and student wing of the New Zealand Labour Party. It hosts an annual conference and holds a range of additional national events, including fringe sessions at the Labour Party's ann ...

References

{{Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand Labour Party Victoria University of Wellington