The New Zealand Party was a political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 operating in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It was established by millionaire property tycoon Bob Jones

Bob Jones (New Zealand)

Sir Robert 'Bob' Jones is a property tycoon, author and former politician in New Zealand. Growing up in the City of Lower Hutt suburb of Naenae, he attended Naenae College and then Victoria University of Wellington...

, and promoted both social and economic liberalization. The New Zealand Party's motto was "Freedom and Prosperity", and it has sometimes been classified as libertarian

Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

 (although that term is not particularly common in New Zealand). It failed to win any seats in Parliament, but is sometimes credited with causing the defeat of Robert Muldoon

Robert Muldoon

Sir Robert David "Rob" Muldoon, GCMG, CH served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984, as leader of the governing National Party. Muldoon had been a prominent member of the National party and MP for the Tamaki electorate for some years prior to becoming leader of the party...

's National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 government in the 1984 election

New Zealand general election, 1984

The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 41st New Zealand Parliament. It marked the beginning of the Fourth Labour Government, with David Lange's Labour Party defeating long-serving Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of the National Party. It was also the...

 by splitting the vote (i.e. as a spoiler

Spoiler effect

The spoiler effect describes the effect a minor party candidate with little chance of winning has in a close election, when that candidate's presence in the election draws votes from a major candidate similar to them, thereby causing a candidate dissimilar to them to win the election...

).

Foundation

At the time of the New Zealand Party's foundation in 1983, the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 was Robert Muldoon. Muldoon was a strong believer in the need for state intervention in the economy, claiming that only with government involvement could New Zealand be prosperous. In accordance with his economic theories, Muldoon introduced the so-called "Think Big

Think Big

The New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon and his New Zealand National Party government in the early 1980s sponsored Think Big as an interventionist state economic strategy. The Think Big schemes saw the government borrow heavily overseas, running up a large external deficit, and using the...

" program, which saw massive overseas borrowing to finance large government construction projects. Later, as New Zealand's economy declined and its deficit increased, Muldoon introduced wage and price controls.

Bob Jones, a self-made millionaire and author, strongly opposed these policies, comparing them to what he had recently observed in the Soviet bloc. In a number of newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 opinion pieces, Jones spoke out against the government, claiming that the National Party had betrayed its principles of individual liberty and free enterprise

Free enterprise

-Transport:* Free Enterprise I, a ferry in service with European Ferries between 1962 and 1980.* Free Enterprise II, a ferry in service with European Ferries between 1965 and 1982....

. For example, Jones advocated a flat tax

Flat tax

A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...

, while the top rate at the time was 66%. Jones had previously been a strong supporter of the National Party, and a personal friend of Robert Muldoon — his attacks on the government marked an end to both these associations.

Jones attracted considerable attention with his comments, and although he had not originally considered it, a number of people encouraged him to start a new political party. Jones himself believed that a new party could conceivably split the National Party's vote, bringing the government down. Jones appears to have hoped that losing an election would help to purge the National Party of "Muldoonism". Along with some of the people who had contacted him about the matter, Jones began to lay the foundations for a new organization. The party's name and motto were chosen, and its primary policies were set out.

When Muldoon heard of Jones's plans, he initially dismissed them as a hoax, saying that the rumours were a publicity stunt by Jones. These comments galvanized Jones and his supporters into action, and it was decided to officially launch the new party on 22 August. The launch, which coincided with the release of the party's manifesto

Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

, was well covered by the media, and the New Zealand Party gained considerable public recognition. Not long after it was founded, some polls showed the party with nearly twenty percent of the vote.

Early days

The policies established by the New Zealand Party differed substantially from those of most of the country's other parties. Perhaps its most well-known views related to economic matters, particularly the liberalization

Liberalization

In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...

 of the economy and the adoption of laissez-faire

Laissez-faire

In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....

 principles. The party also, however, put forward a number of other significant proposals. One example was the party's unorthodox defence policy, which advocated a large reduction in military expenditure and the abandonment of New Zealand's defence links with Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (particularly the ANZUS

ANZUS

The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is the military alliance which binds Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks...

 alliance). Jones himself favoured the total abolition of New Zealand's armed forces, although this was considered too radical to be adopted as New Zealand Party policy.

While the New Zealand Party attracted considerable support, it also attracted a considerable amount of criticism. Robert Muldoon labeled the party "greedies", pointing to Jones' personal wealth and to the fact that much of the party's support came from the richer sections of society. The party was also attacked by left-wing groups, which objected to its support of free market economics. Both Muldoon and the left-wing groups claimed that the New Zealand Party was out of touch with ordinary New Zealanders. In addition, the party also struggled to shake off the perception that it was "the Bob Jones Party" and not a full-fledged political movement. Jones himself was sometimes criticised for his blunt and "politically incorrect" style, although others found it refreshing.

Other prominent figures within the New Zealand Party included Janie Pearce (the deputy leader), Josephine Grierson (an economic policy specialist), and Gordon Dryden. Dryden, whose views often clashed with those of other party members, was highly charismatic, and gained a substantial following within the party — in May 1984, he left the party after a major disagreement with Bob Jones.

1984 Election

When Robert Muldoon unexpectedly called an early election

New Zealand general election, 1984

The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 41st New Zealand Parliament. It marked the beginning of the Fourth Labour Government, with David Lange's Labour Party defeating long-serving Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of the National Party. It was also the...

, the New Zealand Party was caught by surprise, and had only a month to prepare its campaign. Opinion polls gave a mixed view of the party's strength — some gave it up to twenty percent of the vote, while others gave it only around two or three percent. Perhaps unwisely, the party did not decide to focus on specific seats, but instead spread its efforts equally across the country.

On election day, the New Zealand Party failed to win any seats. New Zealand at the time used the plurality voting system

Plurality voting system

The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...

, which made it hard for third parties to gain representation in Parliament. The party gained second place in several electorates, and gained third place in many more, but because its votes were dispersed, rather than concentrated in any one area, it was unable to enter Parliament. In total, the New Zealand Party gained 12.2% of the vote, putting it in third place. The Social Credit Party

Social Credit Party (New Zealand)

The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party which served as the country's "third party" from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand Parliament, although never more than two at a time...

, although winning only 7.6% of the vote, managed to win two seats, probably as the result of having specifically focused its attention on them since the 1950s.

While its failure to win seats was a major disappointment to the New Zealand Party, it took comfort in the fact that it quite possibly caused the defeat of the government. The opposition Labour Party

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

 soundly defeated Muldoon and the National Party, and many commentators believe that the New Zealand Party played a major role in drawing voters away from National. Once in power, the Labour Party (prompted by Finance Minister

Minister of Finance (New Zealand)

The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....

 Roger Douglas

Roger Douglas

Sir Roger Owen Douglas , is a New Zealand politician who formerly served as a senior New Zealand Labour Party Cabinet minister. He became arguably best-known for his prominent role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the Fourth Labour Government during the 1980s...

) actually adopted many of the New Zealand Party's economic policies, much to the resentment of traditional Labour supporters; indeed, Douglas even wanted a flat tax, but was stymied by the Labour Prime Minister David Lange

David Lange

David Russell Lange, ONZ, CH , served as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a...

. Shortly after the election, the National Party dropped Robert Muldoon as leader, and eventually came to embrace free market economics as well.

Decline

After the election, the New Zealand Party quickly deteriorated as a significant political force. Jones, his primary objective of ending the Muldoon government having been accomplished, and disappointed by the Party's electoral performance in the 1985 Timaru by-election, unilaterally made a decision to put the Party into recess. He later said that with the "Rogernomics

Rogernomics

The term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics", was coined by journalists at the New Zealand Listener by analogy with Reaganomics to describe the economic policies followed by Roger Douglas after his appointment in 1984 as Minister of Finance in the Fourth Labour Government...

" reforms being undertaken by the new administration, he considered his party to be redundant. A few other prominent figures, most notably Party President Malcolm McDonald, also left the party at this stage. Not surprisingly, many in the Party's ranks considered Jones' move to put the party into recess without reference to Party Members to be undemocratic and, despite Jones' opposition, proceeded to hold the scheduled annual conference in July 1985. At that conference, delegates elected John Galvin, a dairy farmer from Matamata, as Party Leader. In 1986, with its policy platform largely implemented by a reforming Labour Government, beset by funding problems and falling support, the New Zealand Party opted to "merge" into the National Party as an attempt to keep its strong free enterprise and libertarian philosophy alive. However, the name "New Zealand Party" continued to be used by some individuals beyond that point, and eventually some former members of the party ended up as part of a supposedly centrist coalition led by Bruce Beetham

Bruce Beetham

Bruce Craig Beetham was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s.A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teacher's Training College, he was elected leader of the Social Credit Party in 1972, at a time when the party was...

.

Some commentators see the modern ACT New Zealand party as being the successor of the New Zealand Party, and Bob Jones is counted among ACT's supporters. Not everyone would agree with the link, however, and there are a number of notable differences in policy between the two. For example, ACT's foreign and defence policies are directly contrary to New Zealand Party policy, with ACT advocating increased defence expenditure and the strengthening of traditional alliances. ACT has never won as many votes as the New Zealand Party gained in 1984.