Proposed New Zealand Representative Party logo

The New Zealand Representative Party was a political party in New Zealand. The party's leader was Reg Turner, a former candidate for the ACT Party as well as a former independent candidate.[1][2]

The party claimed to have no policies and to oppose traditional left-right politics.[3] Despite these claims, it also promoted populist referendums, deregulation, compulsory military service, "stopping the culture for young unmarried women to have babies", and restricting the welfare state.[3]

The NZRP believed that list MPs in New Zealand's mixed member proportional electoral system are not properly accountable to voters. As a result, it would run only electorate candidates, and promised to support the party chosen by the majority of the electorate.[3]

The party applied to register its logo with the Electoral Commission,[1] but the application was refused as the logo could confuse voters.[2]

The party ran only a single candidate, Turner in the 2008 election. Turner ran in the West Coast-Tasman electorate and received 62 votes (0.18%).

By 2010, the party's website was defunct. It did not run any candidates in the 2011 election. Turner continued to be involved in politics; in 2015 he was removed from Tasman District Council chambers by police and served a trespass notice after refusing to limit a submission to three minutes and refusing to leave,[4] and he stood for Tasman District Council in 2016 without success.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Application to register political party logo". New Zealand Electoral Commission. 16 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Logo no go, Nelson no go, and same goes for 1080". Stuff.co.nz. Nelson Mail. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "NZRP Website". Retrieved 17 September 2008. [dead link]
  4. ^ Murdoch, Helen (23 October 2015). "Man removed from Tasman chambers by police after clashing with councillors". Stuff. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Your vote: Candidates for the Tasman District Council". Stuff. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

External links


Defunct political parties of New Zealand
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