Explainer
– More than a dozen parties are asking for your vote
this year, including several smaller ones striving to make
it into Parliament, most for the first time.
If a
party wants to contest the party vote, they must register
with the Electoral Commission, and require 500 paid members,
rules about membership and going through an application
process.
Seventeen parties are
registered for this year’s election. Most voters already
know National, Labour, ACT, New Zealand First, the Greens,
Te Pati Maori and Opportunity, but what about the
rest?
The smaller parties registered for this election
that also competed for the party vote in 2023 received a
combined total of about 2.5 percent of the vote or 70,000
votes.
Here are 10 of the smallest parties seeking a
party vote and what they’re all about, based on information
on the Electoral Commission website and the parties’ own
websites.
Policy descriptions are only a brief excerpt
of broader platforms – for further information visit the
party websites.
Alliance Party of Aotearoa New
Zealand
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What they say about themselves: “We are a
democratic socialist party building a fairer Aotearoa New
Zealand.”
What their policies include: “We believe in
secure, well-paid work. Free education and healthcare.
Affordable housing and power. A sustainable environment. And
a democracy where people – not corporations – come
first.”
What to know: The Alliance Party dates back to
1991, when it was formed as a coalition of smaller parties
in a left-leaning alternative to the Labour Party, under
leader Jim Anderton.
It formed a coalition with Helen
Clark’s Labour government and was deregistered in 2015, but
has now re-registered and announced
it is “back to fight for working people”.
For more
information: Alliance
Party
Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New
Zealand
What they say about themselves: “We believe
in a world where all animals are treated with respect and
compassion, where their well-being and autonomy are valued,
and where their exploitation and suffering are
eliminated.”
What their policies include: “The Animal
Justice Party Aotearoa NZ believes that moving toward a
future free from animal exploitation must be a transition,
not a disruption. That means a dedicated, farmer-led
national programme providing transition planning, financial
assistance, and debt restructuring for those ready to move
into plant-based agriculture or other sustainable land
uses.”
For more information: Animal Justice
Party
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis
Party
What they say about themselves: “ALCP exists to
legalise, regulate, and normalise cannabis for medicinal,
recreational, and industrial use, while reducing harm caused
by prohibition.”
What their policies include: “We are
committed to overhauling the Misuse of Drugs Act, and
creating sensible, compassionate cannabis laws that reflect
modern values and science.”
What to know: The party
was founded in 1996 at the first MMP election and has stood
in every general election since, although it has never won a
seat in Parliament.
For more information: Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis
Party
Conservative Party NZ
What they say
about themselves: “We are working to bring a conservative
voice to Parliament, to turn back the ‘woke’ agenda and
prevailing culture of death.”
What their policies
include: “We believe government should protect the rights
and safety of New Zealanders, provide essential public
services and manage taxpayers’ money responsibly. It should
not unnecessarily interfere in people’s lives, divide New
Zealanders by race or identity, or impose an ever-growing
burden of regulation and bureaucracy.”
What to know:
They called themselves the New Conservatives in the 2023
election, but the party is the same one originally founded
by businessman and activist Colin Craig in 2011.
For
more information: Conservative Party
NZ
Free Palestine
What they say about
themselves: Describing themselves in full as the “Palestine
Free From The River To The Sea Party”, they say they are “a
political party committed to justice, international law and
a democratic national state with equal rights for all
citizens”.
What their policies include: “We aim to
change public opinion and put sustained parliamentary
pressure on the New Zealand government to uphold its
obligations under international law with respect to
Palestine.”
What to know: In August, the Electoral
Commission reported it received 207 submissions opposing the
party’s registration, some of which called its name and logo
offensive. The commission ruled
it was acceptable to register the party, but did refuse
its submitted logo, which contained a Palestinian
flag.
For more information: Palestine Free From The River To
The Sea Party
New Zealand Loyal
What they
say about themselves: “We reject government overrreach. We
take our country back from foreign interests. We restore our
freedoms. No compromise. No apologies.”
What their
policies include: “End our participation in the UN, WEF,
WHO; End climate accords based on faulty science; Establish
energy independence, including oil and gas; Save our farmers
from restrictive regulations; Scrap the current tax system;
Scrap all race-based policies; Establish a NZ Constitution;
Expose and eradicate propaganda from our news media; Protect
our children from corrupt sex and gender ‘education’;
Decentralise government and return power to the
people.”
What to know: Party leader Kelvyn Alp, who
has taken the organisation over from party
founder Liz Gunn, was arrested
and charged with sharing the livestream of the
Christchurch mosque attacks by a white supremacist that
killed 51 people in 2019. He is also a founder
of the far-right Counterspin platform.
For more
information: New Zealand Loyal
NZ
Outdoors & Freedom Party
What they say about
themselves: “People hold the power. You choose the laws.
Join the global movement striving for Direct
Democracy.”
What their policies include: “Our core
platform will permanently enshrine the New Zealand Bill of
Rights as supreme law,” the website says. It states that “We
watched in real-time as our fundamental human rights were
trampled on, from freedom of speech, movement and the right
to peaceful assembly, to bodily autonomy and the right to
refuse medical treatment.”
What to know: The party,
which began life in 2017 as the NZ Outdoors Party, now calls
itself simply ‘freedom’ – yes, lower case – on its website,
although it’s officially registered as the NZ Outdoors &
Freedom Party. During the Covid-19 pandemic, leader Sue Grey
frequently spoke
out about vaccines and mandates.
For more
information: freedom
Te Tai
Tokerau Party
What they say about themselves: “Mō
ngā tamariki, mō ngā mokopuna te take. For our tamariki
and mokopuna – that is the cause.”
What their policies
include: “Policies that centre whānau, uplift rangatahi and
prioritise intergenerational wellbeing.”
What to know:
Te Tai Tokerau was formed after MP
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi split from Te Pāti Māori last
year. Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party, but the High
Court ruled the suspension and expulsion was
unlawful.
She has now decided to contest the 2026
election with a new independent party, named after the
Northland electorate she represents.
For more
information: Te Tai Tokerau
Party
Vision New Zealand
What they say
about themselves: “We believe that the family is the
ultimate cornerstone of society and the primary incubator
for our nation’s morals, which is why we will dismantle
state dependency, strip away government overreach and
restore parental authority to its rightful
place.”
What their policies include: “Establish a
dedicated Ministry for Families to act as a watchdog against
state overreach and to champion proactive solutions for
households.”
What to know: The party is led by Hannah
Tamaki of Destiny Church.
For more information: Vision New
Zealand
Women’s Rights Party
What they say
about themselves: “We are women and men who believe in
democracy, equality and biological reality.”
What
their polices include: “We support the ban on the use of
puberty blockers to treat children presenting with
‘sex-related distress’. We would extend this to a ban on
prescribing cross-sex hormones for adolescents under the age
of 18, and restricting masculinisation or feminisation
surgery to those aged over 25.”
For more information:
Women’s Rights
Party
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