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This article is about the party formed out of the Christian Democrats. For the short-lived party founded by Peter Dunne, see Future New Zealand (Dunne).
Future New Zealand was a New Zealand political party. Future New Zealand was the secularised remnant of the old Christian Democrat Party, with the party's explicit religious base having been replaced by a more general family values platform. Future New Zealand eventually merged with the United New Zealand party, forming the modern United Future New Zealand.
Future New Zealand was essentially a modified continuation of the Christian Democrat Party. The Christian Democrats were founded by Graeme Lee in 1995, but despite allying with the Christian Heritage Party to form the Christian Coalition, failed to win a place in Parliament. After this failure, Lee retired from politics, leaving the Christian Democrats leaderless. Eventually, the party re-emerged under Anthony Walton with a new name: Future New Zealand.
Future New Zealand, unlike the Christian Democrat Party, did not describe itself as a Christian party. It did, however, retain the same basic social policies - a focus on the family was the most noticeable example. This "secularisation" had been foreshadowed for some time by the debates on confessionalism which had preceded the Christian Coalition's formation. Christian Heritage, a confessionalist party, had argued that an explicit Christian base for the Coalition was essential, and that only Christians should be permitted to join. The Christian Democrats, by contrast, argued that in political terms, the exact religious beliefs of a person were of secondary interest to their general moral outlook, and that non-Christians should be able to participate provided they agreed with the Coalition's basic values. After the collapse of the Christian Coalition, the Christian Democrats pursued the non-confessionalist path to an even greater degree, and Future New Zealand — a values-based rather than religion-based party — was the culmination of this shift.
In the 1999 election, Future New Zealand won 1.12% of the vote, putting it in eighth place. It did not win any seats in Parliament. The party subsequently entered merger talks with the small United New Zealand party, which had one seat. It was eventually agreed that the two would combine to form a party called United Future New Zealand. Some former members of United New Zealand have claimed that the merger effectively represented a takeover by Future New Zealand - many of United Future's policies closely follow those of Future New Zealand (particularly with regards the focus on the family). The party has rejected this assertion.
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