94-584: New Zealand First ( Māori : Aotearoa Tuatahi ), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF , is a political party in New Zealand , founded and led by Winston Peters , who has served three times as deputy prime minister . The party has formed coalition governments with both major political parties in New Zealand: with the New Zealand National Party from 1996 to 1998 and 2023 to present, and with
188-458: A New Zealand First campaign manager) claims that Peters had secretly decided to go with National significantly before this time, and that he merely used negotiations with Labour to encourage more concessions from National. Whatever the case, New Zealand First exacted a high price from Bolger in return for allowing him to stay in power. Under the terms of a detailed coalition agreement, Peters would serve as Deputy Prime Minister , and would also hold
282-488: A Regional Development Fund, the re-establishment of the New Zealand Forest Service , increasing the minimum wage to $ 20 per hour by 2020, a comprehensive register of foreign-owned land and housing, free doctors' visits for all under-14-year-olds, free driver training for all secondary students, a new generation SuperGold smartcard containing entitlements and concessions, a royalty on the exports of bottled water,
376-443: A candidate. On 18 July 1993, shortly before the writs were issued for that year's general election , Peters formed New Zealand First as a political grouping. At the time of its formation, New Zealand First's policy platform was broadly conservative and reactionary in that it opposed both Labour and National, the major centre-left and centre-right parties respectively. Peters claimed to be reviving National policies from which
470-500: A change in his attitude since Peters' "Rotorua speech" on 7 September 2005 at a public address at the Rotorua Convention Centre had spoken of New Zealand First sitting on the cross-benches (and thus staying out of government ) and eschewing "the baubles of office". Peters' coalition partnership with the centre-left Labour Party was in spite of his increasingly right-wing populist rhetoric around emigration from Asia (which
564-493: A coalition in 1931. After Labour won office in 1935 , United and Reform formally amalgamated in 1936 to form the National Party . The first-past-the-post (FPP) plurality voting system (in use before the 1990s) entrenched a two-party system , since the two major parties usually won far more seats than their share of the overall vote. Over the years, a number of third parties or so-called minor parties developed, notably
658-450: A coalition with New Zealand First, while Labour leader Jacinda Ardern considered a three-way coalition with New Zealand First and the Greens. Peters stated that he would not make his final decision until the special votes results were released on 7 October 2017. During negotiations with Ardern, Peters indicated that he would be willing to consider dropping his call for a referendum on abolishing
752-581: A commitment to re-entry of the Pike River Mine , and Members of Parliament being allowed to vote in a potential referendum on euthanasia . In return, New Zealand First agreed to drop its demand for referendums on overturning New Zealand's anti-smacking ban and abolishing the Māori electorates . Political party in New Zealand New Zealand politics have featured a strong party system since
846-588: A consequence, Peters abandoned the National/New Zealand First coalition, splitting his party. National then governed for a further year, with the support of post-split ex-New Zealand First MPs, but the 1999 general election saw Helen Clark lead a centre-left coalition to victory. She would remain Prime Minister for most of the next decade, as National was paralysed by factional infighting over ideology and direction. When National won office again after
940-562: A diplomatic mission to Papua New Guinea and meeting with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice . In the months before the 2008 general election , New Zealand First became embroiled in a dispute over donations to the party from billionaire Owen Glenn , the Vela family and Bob Jones . This resulted in an investigation into party finances by the Serious Fraud Office on the 28th of August 2008 and an investigation into Peters by
1034-465: A divided Labour Party and splintered opposition, hampered by its own legacy of economic retrenchment. While several MPs seceded to form non-viable centre-right satellite parties before the 1996 general election National retained power by going into coalition with Winston Peters and New Zealand First. It eventually proved unpopular, and party rightists launched a coup against Jim Bolger in December 1997. As
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#17328440312171128-508: A legal challenge against Bob Clarkson , alleging that he had spent more than the legal limit allowed for campaign budgets during elections in New Zealand. This legal bid failed, with a majority of the judges in the case declaring that Bob Clarkson had not overspent during the campaign for the Tauranga electorate. In the 2005 election funding controversy , the Auditor-General found that all
1222-476: A more aggressive approach to promoting its policies (including those National would not implement). This new attitude probably fed off New Zealand First's poor performance in opinion polls , which (to Peters) indicated that the party's success rested on its confrontational style. Many commentators believe that Peters performs better in opposition than in government. On 14 August 1998, Shipley sacked Peters from Cabinet . This occurred after an ongoing dispute about
1316-671: A movement for electoral reform in New Zealand after Sir Geoffrey Palmer convened a Royal Commission on the Electoral System in 1985–1986. In two electoral reform referendums, the general public endorsed the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system as a response to what they perceived as an unaccountable New Right government. Jim Bolger believes that, had his government not instituted such unpopular policy prescriptions, MMP may not have passed. After Richardson's resignation, National retained power for six more years against
1410-614: A natural coalition partner for the New Zealand National Party , New Zealand First welcomed the potential for a coalition government with any parliamentary political party . For a period in early 2004 New Zealand First experienced a brief decline in the polls after Don Brash became leader of the National Party , a change which hugely revived National's fortunes after the controversial but highly popular Orewa Speech . The votes that had apparently switched to New Zealand First from National seemed to return to support Don Brash , and many commentators predicted that New Zealand First would lose
1504-543: A number of its seats in the next election. By 2005, however, the proportions had changed again, and as the campaign for the September 2005 election got under way, New Zealand First had again reached the 10% mark in opinion polling for the 2005 election . Pre-election polls put New Zealand First ahead of the other minor parties. Some thought it likely that in the event of a National minority or plurality , unless ACT 's fortunes dramatically improved, Don Brash would have to form
1598-896: A party name is not necessarily an indication that the party exists beyond that single candidate. In the 2023 general election , single candidates stood under the party names of Economic Euthenics, Future Youth, the Human Rights Party, the New World Order McCann Party , the New Zealand Sovereignty Party , the Northland Party, and the Republic of New Zealand Party . Two candidates stood under each of Not A Party (NAP), Protect & Prosper New Zealand Party, and Workers Now. Because New Zealand does not require political parties to be registered, any person can announce
1692-427: A political party, but these parties may or may not gain followers, receive any media coverage or go on to contest an election. It can also be difficult to determine when parties have ceased operating or moved away from politics. The list below lists active and notable parties. When a candidate stands for parliament in an electorate, they may describe themselves as 'independent' or give a party name. A candidate listing
1786-399: A political party, though may not receive media coverage or go on to contest an election. It can also be difficult to determine when such parties have ceased operating or moved away from politics. The list below is limited to notable parties understood to no longer be operating. Parties listed by date of founding: Ruthanasia Ruthanasia , a portmanteau of "Ruth" and " euthanasia ",
1880-479: A position which allowed the party to effectively choose the next Prime Minister of New Zealand . New Zealand First entered into negotiations with both major parties. Before the election, most people (including many New Zealand First voters) had expected Peters to enter into coalition with Labour . In fact, he harshly attacked his former National colleagues during the campaign, and appeared to promise that he would not even consider going into coalition with them. To
1974-471: A post-election meeting held to discuss the party's future in February 2009, long-serving Deputy Leader Peter Brown stepped down. At the beginning of the election campaign New Zealand First was polling at around 2% in most major polls and was effectively written off by most political commentators. Prime Minister John Key had once again ruled out working with Peters and New Zealand First, however then Leader of
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#17328440312172068-470: A result of the poor performance of a NZ$ 2.8bn loan portfolio in Australia. The bank held 40 per cent of the commercial paper (loans to businesses) in New Zealand. Secondly; the outgoing finance minister David Caygill 's projection of a modest fiscal surplus was inaccurate, and the country instead faced a fiscal deficit of NZ$ 3.7bn (4.8%) for 1991–92 if current fiscal policies continued. Current net public debt
2162-531: A second coalition or seek a support agreement with New Zealand First to be able to form a government . Peters promised to support the party that won the most seats, or at least abstain in no-confidence motions against it. However, he also said he would not support any government that included the Greens within Cabinet . In the 2005 election , however, the smaller political parties (including New Zealand First) suffered
2256-596: A severe mauling. Though it remained the third-largest party in the House, New Zealand First took only 5.72% of the vote, a considerable loss from 2002, and just enough to cross the MMP proportionality quota of 5%. In addition, Peters narrowly lost his previously safe constituency seat of Tauranga by 730 votes to National's Bob Clarkson , and became a list MP . New Zealand First lost six seats in Parliament , earning 7 MPs, all elected on
2350-405: A similar role to the one it had in 1996, where it found itself able to give power to either Labour or National depending on which offered the best deal. However, National 's support, under the leadership of future Prime Minister Bill English , had collapsed to its worst result in the party's history, to the extent that it could not form a government even with New Zealand First's support, depriving
2444-497: A three-year wage and price freeze imposed by Muldoon, who simultaneously held the posts of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, in an attempt to suppress rampant inflation. Ruthanasia was controversial as the National Party had fought the 1990 election on a manifesto promising "The Decent Society" and implicitly repudiating the radicalism of the Fourth Labour Government . The Prime Minister, Jim Bolger , defended
2538-601: Is now disallowed to maintain the integrity of the party-based proportional representation . Political parties in New Zealand can be either registered or unregistered. Registered parties must have five-hundred paying members, each eligible to vote in general elections, and party membership rules. If a party registers, it may submit a party list, enabling it to receive party votes in New Zealand's MMP electoral system. Unregistered parties can only nominate candidates for individual electorates. As of 2020 , registered political parties are also able to spend up to $ 1,169,000 during
2632-516: Is the pejorative name (typically used by opponents) given to the period of free-market policies conducted during the first term of the fourth National government in New Zealand , from 1990 to 1993. As the first period of reform from 1984 to 1990 was known as Rogernomics after the Labour Party Minister of Finance , Roger Douglas , so the second period became known as "Ruthanasia", after
2726-612: The 1984 election , the New Zealand Party received over 12% of the votes cast but also won no seats. Under such conditions, minor parties mostly performed poorly in terms of making an impact in Parliament. In 1993, the Electoral Act 1993 was passed, introducing the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system for the 1996 election . Now, voters cast both a party vote and an electorate vote. Any party that won at least 5% of
2820-533: The 1996 New Zealand general election , the first to use mixed-member proportional representation . That election the party swept the Māori seats , leading to the " Tight Five " of New Zealand First MPs from those electorates. The party had gained considerable support among socially conservative Māori voters , an association still visible today. By the end of their first term, however, the New Zealand First caucus had fallen to 9 MPs due to internal conflict over
2914-574: The 1996 election , smaller parties could gain a share of seats proportional to their share of the vote. Before the election, New Zealand First was polling unprecedentedly highly due to the popularity of its leader, Winston Peters. At its peak, New Zealand First was polling at 29% support on 16 May 1996. This enabled New Zealand First to win 13% of the vote and 17 seats, including all five Māori electorates . New Zealand First's five Māori MPs— Tau Henare (the party's deputy leader), Tuku Morgan , Rana Waitai , Tu Wyllie and Tuariki Delamere —became known as
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3008-520: The 2002 New Zealand general election , however, the party had rebuilt much of its support. This occurred largely because of Peters' three-point campaign for sensible immigration, scrutinising Treaty costs, and reducing crime. The party won 10.38% of the vote, which was a considerable improvement on its previous performance (although not as good as its performance in 1996), and New Zealand First won thirteen seats in parliament. Peters' campaign slogan "Can We Fix It? Yes We Can" attracted much media attention, as
3102-587: The 2007 budget , as well as in the 2008 budget additional benefits for SuperGold Card holders including funding for hearing aids , investments into the Pacific Cooperation Foundation and Asia-New Zealand Foundation, additional funding for prize money in the racing industry totalling $ 9m, and a large funding increase for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade once again. As Minister of Foreign Affairs , Winston Peters' most notable actions included
3196-438: The 2008 general election , National sought to shift towards the centre and projected an image that it had eschewed "radical" New Right industrial relations and welfare reform. Jettisoning Richardson's legacy. As for Richardson herself, she became a member of ACT New Zealand , her philosophical successors. A 2015 Treasury report said that inequality in New Zealand increased in the 1980s and 1990s but has been stable for
3290-534: The 2014 New Zealand general election . During the 2017 election , the party's number of MPs dropped to nine members. In the weeks following the 2017 election, New Zealand First formed a coalition government with the Labour Party . In the 2020 election New Zealand First's share of the party vote fell to 2.6%, with all incumbent MPs, including Peters, losing their seats in Parliament. The party returned to parliament in 2023. New Zealand First distinguishes itself from
3384-595: The Bolger government had departed. Variably dubbed a social conservative , economic nationalist , or right-wing populist , Peters' rise was fueled by the enormous financial changes New Zealand underwent during the 1980s and 90s, during which time the economy was thoroughly deregulated by both the Labour Party and the National Party. A fierce opponent of both neoliberalism and progressivism , Peters gained support from both National Party and Labour voters disenchanted with
3478-453: The Labour -led Coalition government on a wide range of issues. Speculation has occurred on efforts to create a more united front linking New Zealand First, the New Zealand National Party , and ACT New Zealand , but Peters has rejected this scenario, saying that the New Zealand voters will decide what alliances are necessary. Unlike the classical-liberal ACT New Zealand , which portrays itself as
3572-555: The New Zealand Labour Party from 2005 to 2008 and 2017 to 2020. New Zealand First currently serves in a coalition government with both National and ACT New Zealand as part of the Sixth National government , having won 6.08% of the total party vote in the 2023 New Zealand general election . New Zealand First was formed shortly before the 1993 New Zealand general election , following the resignation of Winston Peters as
3666-468: The Privileges Committee . On 29 August 2008 Peters stood down from his ministerial roles after significant pressure, while the investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and Privileges Committee proceeded. Although the Serious Fraud Office and the police found that Peters was not guilty of any wrongdoing, the Privileges Committee decided that Peters knowingly misled Parliament by not declaring
3760-769: The Social Credit Party , the New Zealand Party , the Values Party , and the Alliance . However, the FPP electoral system meant that regardless of how many votes a party gained nationwide, it could not win a seat without a plurality in a particular electorate . For example, the Social Credit Party won over 11% of the votes cast in the 1954 election but did not have a plurality in any electorate so won no seats. Similarly, in
3854-614: The mixed-member proportional system in 1996 led to a multi-party system , such that smaller parties have substantial representation in Parliament and can now reasonably expect to gain seats in government. As of 2024 , six parties have members in the 54th Parliament . New Zealand's party system did not arise until the late 19th century. Before this, members of Parliament (MPs) stood as independent candidates, and while some MPs joined factions , these typically were formed around prominent individuals such as Julius Vogel , and did so after an election, not before. The Liberal Party , which
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3948-607: The party list : Winston Peters, Peter Brown, Dail Jones , Ron Mark , Doug Woolerton , Barbara Stewart and Pita Paraone . Following the 2005 election , New Zealand First agreed to a supply-and-confidence agreement with the New Zealand Labour Party (along with United Future ) in return for policy concessions including the SuperGold Card and the portfolio of Foreign Affairs outside Cabinet for Winston Peters. Peters becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs detected
4042-576: The welfare state institutions established in the 1930s by the First Labour Government . The unemployment benefit was cut by $ 14.00 a week, sickness benefit by $ 27.04, families benefit by $ 25.00 to $ 27.00 and universal payments for family benefits were completely abolished. After the death of protectionist former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon – who resigned from his Tamaki constituency in protest – Peters became Ruthanasia's leading opponents, and National's most prominent dissenter. By late 1991,
4136-408: The " Tight Five ". The election result put New Zealand First in a powerful position just three years after its formation. Neither of the two traditional major parties ( National and Labour ) had enough seats to govern alone, and only New Zealand First had enough seats to become a realistic coalition partner for either. This placed the relatively new party in a position where it was the kingmaker ,
4230-506: The 1990 National manifesto. Ken Douglas , then president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions , recalled in the 1996 documentary Revolution : The Employment Contracts Act was deliberately intended to individualise the employment relationship. It was a natural outcome of the ideological propaganda of rugged individualism, of self-interest and greed and the appeal to individuals that you could find better for you by climbing over
4324-447: The ACT candidate for their electorate MP. He railed against National for alleged negative remarks made about the then ACT leader Don Brash and New Zealand First's elderly supporters. Peters appeared on a TVNZ minor parties leaders debate and won the debate convincingly in the subsequent text poll, with a plurality of 36% of the respondents saying Peters had won. New Zealand First won 6.6% of
4418-509: The Cabinet in 1991, after he publicly criticised National's economic policy, colloquially dubbed Ruthanasia . Spearheaded by Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson , National arguably had gone beyond the extensive deregulation started by the New Zealand Labour Party in the 1980s, enacting widespread austerity and slashing benefits in the Mother of All Budgets of 1991. The budget cut spending on many of
4512-659: The Finance Minister Bill English . New Zealand First increased its party vote to 8.66% at the election, which took the party's representation in Parliament to 11 seats. Peters was highly critical of the conduct of the Labour and Green parties, who he blamed for the Opposition's loss. In 2015 Peters contested the Northland by-election , which was held as a result of the resignation of the incumbent Mike Sabin on 30 January 2015 amid allegations of assault. Peters won
4606-436: The Greens would call for a snap election in response to a Labour–New Zealand First coalition government. In response, Peters and Deputy Leader Tracey Martin warned that Turei and Coates' comments could affect post-election negotiations between the two parties. Though Turei did not apologise for her remarks, Greens co-leader James Shaw later clarified that Coates' statement did not represent official Green Party policy. During
4700-524: The Labour party had let the fiscal situation slip from where it was in 1988 and Ruth put that back on the road. "Ruthanasia" came to an end after the 1993 election , when National's majority was reduced from 18 (out of 99 seats) to 1. Jim Bolger responded by replacing Richardson with Bill Birch . Bolger then acknowledged both the benefits and unpopularity of Ruthanasia in his televised announcement of Richardson's removal: I do not believe it would be too far from
4794-548: The Māori electorates in return for forming a coalition with Labour; a bone of contention in New Zealand race relations. On 19 October, Labour and New Zealand First decided to form a coalition government and a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party. On 26 October, Peters was appointed Deputy Prime Minister , Minister of Foreign Affairs , Minister for State-owned enterprises, and Minister for Racing . Deputy Leader Ron Mark
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#17328440312174888-532: The National Party MP for Tauranga after criticising the party's neoliberal economic policies . The party gained support from National Party and Labour voters alike disenchanted with the support of both parties for extensive deregulation . New Zealand First entered the New Zealand House of Representatives shortly after its formation. The party had 17 members of parliament (MPs) at its peak, following
4982-418: The National Party caucus and the formation of New Zealand First in 1993. Peters was viewed as an acolyte of Rob Muldoon 's protectionist economic policies and had a substantial support base amongst New Zealand's senior citizens and their related lobby organisations. Peters' erstwhile prominence was due to the other consequence of Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson's New Right economic policies, which fuelled
5076-546: The National Party had become the most unpopular governing party since the Great Depression , with one poll result putting them as low as 22% . After his sacking, Peters decided to capitalise on National's unpopularity. On 19 March 1993, Peters resigned from the National Party. He also resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election in his electorate on 17 April 1993 in which he stood as an independent , winning with 90.8% of votes due to neither Labour nor National running
5170-461: The National Party's Minister of Finance, Ruth Richardson . Ruthanasia and Rogernomics can be viewed as complementary reform packages implemented by successive governments which were aimed at liberalising the New Zealand economy. The packages came after a period of intense protectionism and fiscal control, particularly under the administration of Sir Robert Muldoon 's National government between 1975 and 1984. Muldoon's protectionism had culminated in
5264-440: The New Zealand government's official trading bank. During the 2017 general election , New Zealand First's share of the vote dropped to 7.2% with the party's representation in Parliament being reduced to 9 MPs. Under Peters' leadership, New Zealand First entered into talks to form coalitions with the National Party and the Labour Party. National Party leader and caretaker Prime Minister Bill English signalled an interest in forming
5358-562: The Opposition Phil Goff had stated he was open to working with New Zealand First post-election provided they made it back into Parliament. Peters received a significant amount of media attention towards the end of the campaign at the height of the Tea Tape scandal which arose during the campaign. Peters had criticised the arrangement in the seat of Epsom between National and ACT in which National encouraged its supporters to vote for
5452-476: The ability of Peters to work with Bolger, who had sacked him from cabinet during his time as Minister of Māori Affairs in 1991, the two did not have major problems. New Zealand First had graver concerns about the behaviour of some of its MPs. A particularly damaging scandal involved Tuku Morgan , which consisted of him allegedly spending $ 4000 in public funds on clothing, though the Serious Fraud Office later did not find him guilty of fraud . Gradually, however,
5546-464: The campaign for the party vote and $ 27,500 per electorate seat. Unregistered entities are able to spend up to $ 330,000 on general election advertising. There are six parliamentary parties in the 54th New Zealand Parliament . The default order of this list corresponds to the number of MPs they currently have. Parties listed in alphabetical order: An accurate list of active unregistered parties can be difficult to determine. Any person may announce
5640-444: The coalition government with the National Party. After agreeing a confidence and supply with Labour in 2005 , the party left parliament following the 2008 New Zealand general election in which it failed to gain enough party votes to retain seats. However, in the 2011 New Zealand general election , New Zealand First gained 6.59% of the total party vote, entitling it to eight MPs. The party increased its number of MPs to eleven at
5734-456: The coalition tensions became more significant than problems of party discipline. This became increasingly the case after Transport Minister Jenny Shipley gained enough support within the National party room to force Bolger's resignation and to subsequently become New Zealand's first woman Prime Minister on 8 December 1997. The tensions between the two parties also rose as New Zealand First adopted
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#17328440312175828-469: The concept of the individual employment contract. Whilst the ECA did not directly address unions, the practical effect of removing the requirement for employees to be members, and allowing those employees who did want union membership to choose which union they wished to join, dramatically reduced the bargaining position of the unions in the New Zealand economy. This reform of labour laws had already been outlined in
5922-448: The dissolution of Parliament in 1999, they provided Shipley with enough parliamentary support to stay in government without New Zealand First. In the 1999 election New Zealand First lost much of its support, receiving only 4% of the party vote. Some voters had not forgiven Peters for forming a coalition with National after being led to believe that a vote for him would help get rid of National, and others likely changed their vote due to
6016-570: The donation, and censured Peters, which he called a "useless facade." The whole scandal harmed New Zealand First's polling in the lead-up to the election, and is widely attributed to its defeat. During the scandal, then Leader of the Opposition John Key took the opportunity to rule out working with Peters and New Zealand First, which likely contributed further to the party's defeat. As expected, Prime Minister Helen Clark did not rule out working with New Zealand First. On election night it
6110-447: The early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party. The centre-left New Zealand Labour Party and the centre-right New Zealand National Party are New Zealand's two major parties , having jointly contested each election since 1938 ; they are the only two New Zealand political parties to have won the popular vote in four consecutive elections twice. Labour won
6204-495: The general election six months later, New Zealand First received 8.4% of the total vote. Peters easily retained Tauranga , and Tau Henare , another New Zealand First candidate, won the Northern Māori seat, giving the party a total of two MPs. This did much to counter the perception of New Zealand First as merely a personality-driven vehicle for Peters. With the switch to the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system for
6298-436: The instability within the party's ranks. Whatever the case, New Zealand First's support tailed off enough that it was nearly ejected from parliament. Under New Zealand's MMP system, a party must either win an electorate seat or 5% of the vote to qualify for list seats. Peters held his Tauranga electorate by a mere 63 votes after losing almost 20 percent of his vote from 1996, and New Zealand First received five seats in total. By
6392-531: The last 20 years although another 2015 article said that New Zealand's rate of rise of inequality had been the highest in the OECD, and that New Zealand's inequality had previously been low by OECD standards. The 1991 budget had profound social effects, child poverty rose from 15% in 1990 to 29% in 1994 while violent crime peaked between 1990 and 1997. Income inequality also accelerated, New Zealand's GINI index rose from 0.30 in 1990 to 0.33 in 1996 and thereafter 0.34 at
6486-456: The mainstream political establishment through its use of populist rhetoric , and supports binding referendums on major social and political issues. In June 1992, Winston Peters, a former Minister of Māori Affairs in the National Party government of Jim Bolger , was told that he would not be allowed to run for another term as National Party Member of Parliament for Tauranga in the 1993 election . Peters had previously been dismissed from
6580-489: The minimum wage to $ 17. They would later increase it to $ 20. On 28 June 2017, New Zealand First changed their logo that they have used since its formation in 1993, giving the new design the name "A Fresh Face". In early July 2017, the Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei criticised New Zealand First for its alleged racist attitude towards immigration. Her criticism was echoed by fellow Green MP Barry Coates , who claimed that
6674-589: The move on the grounds that he had been badly misled in the run-up to the 1990 election as to the actual state of the New Zealand economy. He was told by officials on Sunday afternoon, the day after the election, of two unrelated financial crises: the country's broke .... and the largest bank .... was bankrupt . Bolger said that his "electoral honeymoon lasted seventeen hours". So he immediately summoned Don McKinnon , Bill Birch and Ruth Richardson to Wellington. The partly state-owned Bank of New Zealand required an immediate injection of capital to avoid insolvency as
6768-713: The need for changes due to the impact they could have on their traditional working class constituency. Richardson and the then Minister of Social Welfare, Jenny Shipley , immediately reformed the Social Welfare programme in the " Mother of all Budgets " by reducing available unemployment, sickness and welfare benefits across the board. In 1991, the National government enacted the Employment Contracts Act (ECA), which effectively demolished New Zealand's post-war industrial relations framework, replacing collective bargaining and compulsory union membership in many sectors with
6862-823: The parties in parliament except the Progressive Party had misspent parliamentary funding. New Zealand First was the only party that did not repay the misspent funding. New Zealand First achieved many policy initiatives during this term, most notably the introduction of the SuperGold Card, a policy which was unpopular among many political leaders due to its high cost. The SuperGold Card was targeted towards seniors, and included free off-peak travel, and discounts from thousands of New Zealand businesses. As Minister of Foreign Affairs , Minister for Racing and Associate Minister for Senior Citizens, Peters secured additional funding for "New Zealand to expand its international presence" in
6956-459: The party of its hoped kingmaker position. In the end, however, this proved irrelevant, as Labour refused to consider an alliance with New Zealand First in any case. Instead, Labour relied on support from the newly significant United Future . After the 2002 election, in light of National 's decreased strength, New Zealand First attempted to gain more prominence in Opposition , frequently attacking
7050-434: The party vote entered Parliament, as could still enter through the previous electorate pathway. This made it much easier for smaller parties to enter Parliament, but more difficult to gain elected as a non-party independent. In the late 1990s a phenomenon originated in New Zealand's multi-party system in which MPs sitting in Parliament increasingly switched parties (or formed breakway parties), known as " waka-jumping ". This
7144-614: The party vote on election night. Many political experts credit the Tea Tape Scandal for the re-entry of New Zealand First into Parliament; however, Peters himself credits the return to Parliament to the hard work undertaken by the Party over the three years it was not represented in Parliament. In 2012 the party sacked MP Brendan Horan after allegations he stole money from his dying mother to gamble. In 2012, New Zealand First stated their intent to work in coalition with parties that would buy
7238-552: The party's convention in South Auckland on 16 July, Peters vowed that a New Zealand First government would hold two binding referendums on whether Maori electorates should be abolished and whether the number of MPs should be reduced to 100. Other New Zealand First policies included reducing immigration to 10,000 a year (from 72,300 in the June 2017 year), and bringing the country's banks back into Kiwi ownership, starting with making Kiwibank
7332-436: The popular vote from the 1938 election through to 1946 and again from 1978 through to 1987 – although during the latter period National twice disproportionately gained a majority of seats . Likewise, National won the popular vote from 1960 through to 1969 , and then again from 2008 through to 2017 , but in the final year could not form a coalition government under proportional representation . The introduction of
7426-530: The post since 2013. Peters has said that he will continue on as the Leader of New Zealand First. New Zealand First launched its campaign in Palmerston North on 25 June 2017. Policies include ring-fencing GST to the regions it is collected from and writing off student loans of people willing to work outside major centres, and recruiting 1,800 extra police officers. New Zealand First is also campaigning on increasing
7520-403: The privatised state assets back after the 2014 general election . New Zealand First entered the 2014 general election campaign without providing a clear indication as to their coalition preferences. However, Peters did raise late in the campaign the prospect of a Labour-New Zealand First coalition or confidence and supply arrangement, and express some respect for the National Party, in particular
7614-503: The sale of the government's stake in Wellington International Airport , directly in conflict with New Zealand First's general commitment to not sell off state assets. Peters immediately tore up the coalition agreement. However, several other MPs, unwilling to follow Peters into opposition and wanting to continue to support a National-led government, tried to replace Peters as Leader of New Zealand First with Tau Henare ,
7708-687: The same line appears in theme music for the children's television programme Bob the Builder . Party activists stated they were unaware the chant came from a children's cartoon. In the end, New Zealand First gained 8 seats in Parliament after the election, earning 13 MPs in total (including 1 electorate MP): Winston Peters, Peter Brown , Brian Donnelly , Ron Mark , Doug Woolerton , Barbara Stewart , Pita Paraone , Craig McNair , Jim Peters , Dail Jones , Edwin Perry , Bill Gudgeon , and Brent Catchpole . It appears that New Zealand First had hoped to play in 2002
7802-461: The specially created office of Treasurer (senior to the Minister of Finance ). National also made considerable concessions on policy. Unusually for a junior coalition partner in a Westminster system, Peters was free to select the ministers from his own party, without Bolger's oversight. New Zealand First had a relatively smooth coalition relationship with National at first. Despite early concerns about
7896-541: The support of both parties for economic liberalisation . As Peters was a Māori conservative , he gained strong support particularly from socially conservative Māori voters who had voted Labour consistently until they began enforcing neoliberal policies, colloquially called Rogernomics . The party was soon widely regarded as having a distinct Māori character or even being "pro-Māori". In the April 1993 special by-election , Tauranga voters re-elected Peters as an independent. At
7990-468: The surprise of the electorate, which had apparently voted for New Zealand First to get rid of National, New Zealand First decided to enter a coalition with National, enabling and becoming part of the third term of the fourth National government . The most common explanation for this decision involved National's willingness to accept New Zealand First's demands (and/or Labour's refusal to do so). However, Michael Laws (a former National Party MP who served as
8084-418: The then-Deputy Leader. This caucus-room coup failed, and Henare eventually led four other New Zealand First MPs in forming a new party, Mauri Pacific , which was a self-proclaimed multicultural party. Three others established themselves as independents . All eight departing MPs continued to support a National-led minority government . Many of these MPs had come under public scrutiny for their behaviour. Until
8178-416: The tops of your colleagues, your mates, and so on. Ruth Richardson was very clear, very blunt, very honest about its purpose. It was to achieve a dramatic lowering of wages, very, very quickly. Roger Douglas, minister of finance in the preceding fourth Labour government, said (after his retirement from politics): I think the labour market changes in 1990 were first class. I think, unfortunately, Caygill and
8272-475: The traditionally safe National seat with a majority of 4,441 over the National candidate Mark Osborne. It was the first time a New Zealand First MP held an electorate seat since Peters lost Tauranga in 2005. The win also resulted in New Zealand First acquiring a new List MP, Ria Bond , which increased the party's parliamentary representation to 12 seats. On 3 July 2015 Ron Mark was elected Deputy Leader of New Zealand First, replacing Tracey Martin who had held
8366-407: The truth if I put it something like this. We, the New Zealand people, accept that our nation had to change. The process was painful but the benefits are now apparent and must be retained. However, we believe the time has come to recognize the big moves are behind us and a different style of management is called for. Internal party ideological tensions also led to the secession of Winston Peters from
8460-402: Was 52% of GDP (43% after Telecom sale). Where Roger Douglas had deregulated the industrial, financial, fiscal and agricultural sectors of the New Zealand economy, Ruth Richardson, under the auspices of a National (predominantly conservative) administration, was able to focus on social services and labour relations. These were sensitive areas where the preceding Labour administration had rejected
8554-410: Was at odds with Labour's policies). Peters has previously warned of an "Asian invasion" of Asian migrants (against the evidence suggested by statistical trends). In 2005 he called New Zealand "the last Asian colony", and referred to Asian immigration as an “imported criminal activity” that would cause "chaos" to race relations. Soon after the 2005 New Zealand general election , Winston Peters launched
8648-432: Was clear that Peters had not regained Tauranga after his last loss of the electorate in the 2005 election , and that the party had not met the 5% threshold needed for parties to be elected without an electorate seat. In what some journalists described as a 'gracious' concession speech, Peters said that 'it's not over yet. We'll reorganise ourselves in the next few months. And we'll see what 2011 might hold for all us.'' At
8742-499: Was formed in 1891, was New Zealand's first 'modern' political party. It was the country's sole political party until the formation of the more conservative Reform Party in 1909. The Labour Party was founded in 1916, and by 1919 these three parties dominated New Zealand politics. The Liberal Party was succeeded by the United Party in 1928. The United and Reform parties found themselves working together more often, and they formed
8836-518: Was given the Minister of Defence and Veterans portfolios. Tracey Martin was given the Children, Internal Affairs , and Senior Citizens portfolios as well as being made Associate Minister of Education. Shane Jones was made Minister of Forestry, Infrastructure, Regional Economic Development, and Associate Minister of Finance and Transport. During the post-election negotiations, New Zealand First managed to secure several policies and concessions including
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