|
The New Zealand Party was, as its name suggests, a political party operating in New Zealand. It was established by millionaire property tycoon Bob Jones, 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 (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's National Party government in the 1984 election by splitting the vote. Image File history File links NewZealandPartyLogo. ...
Image File history File links NewZealandPartyLogo. ...
The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by...
Sir Robert Edward Jones (born 1939) is a property tycoon and former politician in New Zealand. ...
This article is about libertarianism, a liberal individualist philosophy favoring private property (the most common meaning of the term today in the US, Canada, the UK and most other English-speaking countries). ...
The New Zealand Parliament is the legislative body of the New Zealand government. ...
The Right Honourable Sir Robert David (Rob) Muldoon KCMG CH (25 September 1921–5 August 1992) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. ...
Current National Party logo The New Zealand National Party currently forms the second-largest (in terms of seats) political party in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus functions as the core of the Opposition. ...
The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. ...
Foundation At the time of the New Zealand Party's foundation in 1983, the Prime Minister of the day 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" 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. 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealands head of government and is the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand. ...
Alternative meanings at Think Big (disambiguation) Think Big was a interventionist state economic strategy sponsored by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon and his New Zealand National Party in the early 1980s. ...
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 opinion pieces, Jones spoke out against the government, claiming that the National Party had betrayed its principles of individual liberty and free enterprise. 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. During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. ...
Free Enterprise is am economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control; and determined in a free market. ...
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 August 22. The launch, which coincided with the release of the party's manifesto, 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. August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ...
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. ...
Early days The policies established by the New Zealand Party differed substantially from those of most other New Zealand parties. Perhaps its most well known views related to economic matters, particularly the liberalization of the economy and the adoption of laissez-faire 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 and the United States (particularly the ANZUS 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. In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. ...
Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ...
Wikisource has original text related to this article: Transwiki:ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is the military alliance which binds Australia and the United States, and separately Australia and New Zealand to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though...
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 New Zealand 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 Pierce (the deputy leader), Josephine Grierson (an economic policy specialist), and Gordon Dryden. Dryden, whose his views often clashed with those of other important New Zealand Party members, was highly charismatic, and gained a substantial following within the party - in May 1984, he launched an abortive leadership challenge against Bob Jones, but was eventually forced to leave the party. Dryden's acrimonious departure was probably the most serious internal dispute within the New Zealand Party.
1984 Election When Robert Muldoon unexpectedly called an early election, 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 certain seats, instead spreading its efforts equally across the country. The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. ...
On election day, the New Zealand Party failed to win any seats. 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, although winning only 7.6% of the vote, managed to win two seats, probably as the result of specifically focusing its attention on them. One of the several logos used during the history of the Social Credit Party The New Zealand Social Credit Party (sometimes called Socred) was a political party which served as the countrys third party from the 1950s through into the 1980s. ...
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 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 Roger Douglas) actually adopted many of the New Zealand Party's economic policies, much to the resentment of its traditional supporters. Shortly after the election, the National Party dropped Robert Muldoon as leader, and eventually came to embrace free market economics as well. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ...
The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. ...
Sir Roger Douglas is a former New Zealand politician and senior Cabinet minister, best known for his leading role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the New Zealand Labour Party government in the 1980s. ...
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, left the leadership in 1985. He later said that with the "Rogernomics" reforms undertaken by the new administration, he considered his party to be redundant. Many other prominent figures also left the party at this stage. In 1986, some elements of the New Zealand Party (now led by people such as John Galvin and Dave Phillips, candidates in the 1984 election) opted to "merge" into the National Party. The name "New Zealand Party" was used by others beyond that point, however, and some members of the party eventually ended up as part of a supposedly centrist coalition led by Bruce Beetham. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of Roger and economics, was created by analogy with Reaganomics to describe the economic policies followed by New Zealand Finance Minister Roger Douglas from his appointment in 1984. ...
1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Bruce Craig Beetham (1936-1997), a trained political scientist, was the most successful leader of New Zealands (late 20th century) Social Credit Party. ...
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. Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ...
|
Feeds |
Contact