New Zealand Public Party
FounderBilly Te Kahika
Founded11 June 2020 (2020-06-11)
Dissolved19 February 2021 (2021-02-19)
IdeologyRight-wing populism, Isolationism[1]
International affiliationNone
MPs in the House of Representatives
0 / 120
Website
nzpublicparty.org.nz

The New Zealand Public Party was a short-lived political party in New Zealand led by Billy Te Kahika. It was founded in June 2020, and two months later became a component party of registered party Advance New Zealand in order to contest the 2020 election.[2] Advance received only 1.0% of the party vote and neither Advance nor Public won any electorate seats, so the Public Party did not win any representation in Parliament.[3] The Public Party split from Advance shortly after the election acrimoniously,[4][5][6] and Public's party secretary and director both resigned in January 2021.[7]

The party was "conspiracy theory driven",[8] opposing the United Nations, 5G technology, 1080 poison, fluoridation, and electromagnets.[9] It spreads misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to repeal the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020, the primary legal mechanism for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.[10][11][12]

In mid–February 2021, after briefly renaming it the New Zealand Freedom Party, Te Kahika announced that he was shutting down the party to focus on activism.[13][14]

History

Foundation

Billy Te Kahika, son of guitarist and musician Billy TK, founded the party in June 2020.[15] At the party's launch, Te Kahika said that the COVID-19 pandemic would enable globalist leaders to implement UN agendas that would totally control people's lives, and that billionaires had developed weaponised viruses and patented treatments for the viruses they had made, in order to enslave humanity.[16] Despite an initial lack of coverage in mainstream media, the party collected a following on social media.[17]

Alliance with Advance New Zealand

After it missed the deadline for registration to contest the party vote in the 2020 general election, the Public Party attempted to form an electoral alliance with Vision NZ. Vision refused to provide Te Kahika the leadership position of a merged party and the plan fell apart. Talks with the New Zealand Outdoors Party were also unsuccessful.[18] The party did not apply for a broadcasting allocation for the 2020 election.[19]

On 26 July 2020 the party announced an electoral alliance with Advance New Zealand.[8][9][20] Billy Te Kahika became co-leader of Advance and had the number one ranking on Advance's party's list.[20] Advance New Zealand was registered on 6 August 2020, and so was eligible to contest the party vote.[21]

The Public Party announced that it would run candidates for electorates under the Public Party name. Billy Te Kahika contested Te Tai Tokerau,[22] and Jenny Brown was announced as a candidate for the East Coast electorate.[23] Self-proclaimed psychic Jeanette Wilson announced her candidacy, but withdrew it the next day.[24] As the Public Party was a component party of Advance New Zealand, then if the Public Party were to have won an electorate seat, this would have ensured Advance's entry to parliament.[citation needed]

In early August 2020, the New Zealand Outdoors Party's co-leader Sue Grey alleged that her party had been the target of a harassment campaign by supporters of the NZ Public Party after they had a rejected a takeover offer in April and refused to join an alliance with Advance New Zealand. Public Party leader Billy Te Kahika said that he found the behaviour "absolutely reprehensible" and asked his supporters not to abuse Grey, but also alleged that supporters of the Outdoors Party had been abusive towards his party.[25]

On 16 August the Public Party was recognised as a component party of Advance New Zealand by the Electoral Commission.[26]

2020 election campaign

On 27 August the Public Party drew controversy after it posted a video on its Facebook page claiming that the New Zealand Government had passed a law allowing it to force citizens to get a COVID-19 vaccine. According to Agence France-Presse's Fact Check, key parts of MPs' speeches had been cut out and edited to distort what they were saying. The Advance Party's co-leader Jami-Lee Ross defended the video, claiming that the Labour-led coalition government had passed a law to forcibly vaccinate citizens.[27] After refusing to remove the video, Ross was referred to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee by Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard,[28][29] which concluded that the video was "deliberately misleading".[30][31]

The anti-domestic violence charity White Ribbons ended Te Kahika's ambassadorship in August 2020, on the grounds that his recent remarks about COVID-19 and other issues undermined the trust's evidence-based approach. Te Kahika also alleged that he was the target of an international assassin.[32][29]

On 8 September 2020 lawyers acting for the party threatened a former member with legal action for defamation over claims party director Michael Stace was a "CIA agent".[33] On 9 September 2020 the Electoral Commission announced that it was investigating the Public Party's collection and use of party donations, following a complaint passed on by the Serious Fraud Office.[34][35] On 10 September, the Electoral Commission suspended its investigation into the Public Party's collection and use of donations since it is not subject to the rules of the Electoral Act as an unregistered party.[36][37] The party reportedly received $255,000 in undeclared donations.[38]

A poll of Te Tai Tokerau, released on 8 October, reported Te Kahika had less than 1% of people in the electorate intended to vote for him.[39]

At the election, the Advance Party received only 1.0% of the party vote, below the 5% threshold required to enter Parliament.[40] Advance also failed to win any electorate seats. Te Kahika himself won only 1,349 electorate votes, coming fourth,[41] and Jennie Brown received 832 votes and came fifth.[42] As such, no members of the Public Party were elected.

Post-election

After the election, Billy Te Kahika claimed the election had been rigged, and said he feared votes for Advance were not counted because voters added comments or smiley faces to their ballots. He also said he was "very worried" that 200,000 votes had been not been properly counted. He refused to accept the election result and said he planned a tally of Advance voters to prove the official process was corrupt. The Electoral Commission said that adding comments to a ballot would not invalidate it, and did not understand his reasoning for claim about the 200,000 lost votes.[43] In a later post, he said that his figure of 200,000 was a mistake, but insisted that Advance NZ supporters' had written comments and drawn smiley faces on their voting forms, causing them to be disqualified.[44]

On 26 October, Te Kahika severed ties with Advance NZ after its election failure, stating that he had decided not to continue with the party.[45][46] Later that day, Te Kahika issued a statement clarifying that he was not severing relations with Advance NZ but was instead restoring its "autonomy." Te Kahika also vowed not to step down as party leader and reiterated his support for Advance NZ.[47] By December 2020, the Public Party was no longer recorded as a component party of Advance, according to the Electoral Commission,[48] and Te Kahika was no longer mentioned as a co-leader of Advance on that party's website.[49]

According to a Stuff report by Matt Shand, Ross had brushed aside concerns by senior party officials about irregularities with Te Kahika's donations (or koha) on the grounds that he had little prospect of being re-elected without Te Kahika's party. Ross also reportedly threaten to resign if Te Kahika was removed over financial irregularities.[50]

In November 2020, the Public Party received a letter from Advance New Zealand saying that policies on the Public Party website were copyrighted by Advance NZ and that the Public Party must stop using them, and that the Public Party must not use certain colours associated with Advance. Public Party director Michael Stace also said they had been locked out of a joint bank account and has asked police to investigate to recover funds (worth NZ$60,000), but Advance NZ's lawyer Graeme Edgeler stated that the bank account in question was always in Advance's name only and that it did not owe the Public Party any money. Stace alleged that Advance NZ had a mole within the Public Party who was leaking information about the Public Party's movements and activities to the other party's leadership. Edgeler proposed a settlement in which Advance NZ would pay the costs of an advertisement in the Christchurch-based The Press newspaper and an invoice from the East City Community Trust for election night party costs. However, he also warned that Advance NZ would file legal action against Te Kahika and the Public Party if the latter did not drop their allegations that Ross and Advance NZ had committed theft and misconduct.[5][6]

On 2 January 2021, the party secretary Michelle Hood, and the director Michael Stace, resigned from the party, with Stace posting details of financial irregularities on the party website. Stace labelled the party "a cult", while Hood stated Te Kahika was "more interested in a rock and roll lifestyle than politics".[7]

On 19 February, Te Kahika announced the dissolution of the NZ Public Party, which he had briefly renamed the Freedom Party. However, he vowed to continue his activist work via social media.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ "New Zealand Public Party kicks off". Māori Television. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020. This pandemic has been the very cause that globalist global leaders needed to usher in the United Nations UN agendas 21 and 30, which are the greatest challenges to the personal liberties and freedoms of all human beings on Earth. These programs will force all humans into a funnel of control centralizing every aspect of human life of the requirements necessary for us to live, breathe, eat, and function... This was further validated entrenched by a list of billionaires who have developed the technology to develop weaponised viruses, to patent the those viruses and the contents that make up those viruses, and have also patented and designed and developed the very solution to the cures of vaccination to defeat the said viruses that they have created under their funding and under their desire to enslave humanity and a health system that means health only exists at the end of a needle... And while Jacinda Ardern is handing out the lollies, and keeping us all happy with promises of a better future, she knowingly is inching millimetre by millimetre, inch by inch, to being able to introduce these agendas that are so foreign to our hearts and minds.
  2. ^ "Register of political parties | Elections". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  3. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Billy Te Kahika's NZPP and Jami-Lee Ross's Advance NZ go their separate ways". 1 News. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b Jennings, Mark (17 November 2020). "Jami-Lee and Billy's divorce: Who gets the money?". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Burrows, Matt (18 November 2020). "Jami-Lee Ross, Billy Te Kahika locked in ugly money dispute after Advance NZ's split from Public Party". Newshub. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b Cann, Ged (6 January 2021). "Billy Te Kahika Jr's New Zealand Public Party labelled a 'cult' by ex-party director". Stuff. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  8. ^ a b Marc Daalder (26 July 2020). "Jami-Lee Ross hitches wagon to conspiracy theorists". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Ex-National MP Jami-Lee Ross joins forces with controversial party in hope of forming a new Alliance party". New Zealand Herald. 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Jami-Lee Ross' newly formed alliance with NZ Public Party aims to repeal Govt's Covid-19 Response Bill". 1 News. 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
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  12. ^ Mark Peters (10 July 2020). "Global 'plandemic'". Gisborne Herald. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Billy Te Kahika quits politics, shuts down New Zealand Public Party". Radio New Zealand. 19 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Freedom Party leader Billy Te Kahika says he is quitting politics". The New Zealand Herald. 19 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  15. ^ "New Zealand Public Party kicks off". Māori Television. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020. Billy Te Kahika launched The New Zealand Public Party today [...].
  16. ^ "New Zealand Public Party kicks off". Māori Television. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020. This pandemic has been the very cause that globalist global leaders needed to usher in the United Nations UN agendas 21 and 30, which are the greatest challenges to the personal liberties and freedoms of all human beings on Earth. These programs will force all humans into a funnel of control centralizing every aspect of human life of the requirements necessary for us to live, breathe, eat, and function... This was further validated entrenched by a list of billionaires who have developed the technology to develop weaponised viruses, to patent the those viruses and the contents that make up those viruses, and have also patented and designed and developed the very solution to the cures of vaccination to defeat the said viruses that they have created under their funding and under their desire to enslave humanity and a health system that means health only exists at the end of a needle... And while Jacinda Ardern is handing out the lollies, and keeping us all happy with promises of a better future, she knowingly is inching millimetre by millimetre, inch by inch, to being able to introduce these agendas that are so foreign to our hearts and minds.
  17. ^ Rachel Sadler (26 July 2020). "NZ Election 2020: New Zealand Public Party's policies". Newshub. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020. The Public Party is a new entity and has racked up a large social media following despite a lack of mainstream media coverage.
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  27. ^ Molyneux, Vita (27 August 2020). "New Zealand Public Party vaccination video condemned as 'dangerous and misleading'". Newshub. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  28. ^ Patterson, Jane (28 August 2020). "MP Jami-Lee Ross referred to committee over anti-vaccination video". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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  32. ^ Weekes, John (28 August 2020). "Billy TK Junior terminated as White Ribbon ambassador after complaints". Stuff. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Election 2020: Billy TK sets lawyers on ex-member claiming party boss is a 'CIA Agent'". New Zealand Herald. 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  34. ^ Edward Gay (9 September 2020). "Billy TK Jr's New Zealand Public Party investigated over use of party donations". Stuff. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  35. ^ Sam Sachdeva (9 September 2020). "NZ Public Party faces donations complaint". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  36. ^ Wade, Amelia (10 September 2020). "Election 2020: Electoral Commission drops investigation into NZ Public Party". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  37. ^ Matt Shand (10 September 2020). "Billy Te Kahika kept Public Party cash under bed but denies wrongdoing". Stuff. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  38. ^ Matt Shand (15 September 2020). "$255,000 in political donations to NZPP: a party that never registered". Stuff. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  39. ^ "Poll shows scarce support for Billy Te Kahika". RNZ. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  40. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.[permanent dead link]
  41. ^ "Te Tai Tokerau - Official Count". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  42. ^ "East Coast - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  43. ^ Burrows, Matt (19 October 2020). "Electoral Commission rubbishes Billy Te Kahika's claims Advance NZ a victim of 'rigged election', 'disqualified votes'". Newshub. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  44. ^ Burrows, Matt (20 October 2020). "NZ Election 2020: Billy Te Kahika Jr admits '200,000 disqualified vote' figure was nonsense, doubles down on debunked 'smiley face' theory". Newshub. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  45. ^ Orsman, Bernard (26 October 2020). "Billy Te Kahika quits Advance NZ party". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  46. ^ "Billy Te Kahika quits Advance NZ party". Newshub. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  47. ^ Orsman, Bernard (26 October 2020). "Billy Te Kahika quits Advance NZ party". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  48. ^ "Register of political parties". elections.nz. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  49. ^ "Our Transitionary Board". Advance NZ. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  50. ^ Shand, Matt (26 October 2020). "'Used goods' Jami-Lee Ross saw Billy Te Kahika Jnr as only path to election". Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
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