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New Zealand Loyal
The New Zealand Loyal Party, also known as NZ Loyal, was a far-right, conspiracist political party in New Zealand.[1] It was founded in June 2023 by anti-vaccination activist, and ex-TVNZ news presenter, Liz Gunn.[2] It contested one general election, in 2023, winning no seats and 1.2% of the party vote. Policy positionsThe party described itself as opposed to "globalist interests" and in favour of "very little state interference in your life".[3][4] ConstitutionNZ Loyal pledged to pull New Zealand out of international bodies including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, and World Health Organization. They promised to "establish" a New Zealand constitution (disregarding the extant, uncodified Constitution of New Zealand). The party opposed "race-based policies" and claimed to support limited, de-centralised government.[4][5] They also campaigned for a moratorium on immigration.[6] Enquires and investigationsThree separate policies promised investigations. Their targets were the Reserve Bank, the "Green Agenda", and the media (both state-funded and sponsorship-funded).[5] HealthAs a prominent anti-vaccination activist, Liz Gunn gave a health policy statement that opposed "covid kill shots" and repeated false claims about vaccines and autism. She called the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic a "mini-holocaust". She promoted conspiracy theories about "big pharma" and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Gunn spoke in favour of pseudoscientific and alternative medicines and treatments including acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, quantum healing, water therapy, and "sound and light frequency therapy".[7] NZ Loyal's other health-related policy positions included opposition to water fluoridation, GMOs, and abortion.[8] EducationLeader Liz Gunn's policy statement on education promised to end New Zealand's "morally bankrupt education system" and reduce the number of people attending university.[9] In schools, the party pledged to end "corrupt sex and gender 'education'," and to teach children "objective morality".[5] EconomyLiz Gunn's economic policy statement cast NZ Loyal's ideas as a way to fight the "Agenda 2030 plan to completely control every aspect of your lives", which is a conspiratorial view of the UN's sustainable development goals.[10] Gunn promoted self-sufficiency over international trade, and "full spectrum economic dominance" through the nationalisation of assets including "communication" (one specific promise was to provide a landline telephone to every home), transport infrastructure, the energy grid and power stations. Viewing electric cars and batteries as environmentally damaging, she pledged to produce and refine more oil and gas. She also promised to nationalise water.[10] She also promised to end reserve bank independence, which she described as private ownership. Viewing government debt as a mechanism that enslaves the country to privately-owned interests, Gunn also promised to battle and defeat unnamed global bankers.[10] In a single line, the party laid out a policy that proposed both a "free and open market" and preferential use of local suppliers in housing and infrastructure. They also pledged to prevent hyperinflation (which New Zealand has never experienced) by ending "excessive money printing".[5] NZ Loyal proposed a 1% transaction tax as part of a simplified tax code.[5] 2023 general electionNew Zealand Loyal received 1.2% of the party vote in the 2023 general election,[11] failing to reach the 5% required to gain seats in parliament. None of the party's 33 electorate candidates were successful. Party list issuesNZ Loyal intended to enter a 15-person party list, but failed to register most of those individuals in time. Consequently NZ Loyal's official party list contained Gunn, Peter Drew and Phillip George Engel, who left the party before voting opened.[12][13] Had NZ Loyal passed the 5% vote threshold the remaining two candidates would have become MPs with the rest of the party's seats left vacant. Gunn initially took responsibility for the administrative debacle, putting it down to "human error" within the party. Some days later she instead blamed "contradictory advice" from the Electoral Commission, which the party suspected may have been deliberate sabotage. Chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne said that the Commission worked closely with all parties before and during the nomination period, that NZ Loyal submitted a list with three candidates within time, and that they had asked to add more people after the 14 September deadline.[2] This was down to the party misunderstanding the difference between its "bulk information schedule" (which applies to constituency candidates and could be amended until noon on 15 September) and its actual party list (which could not).[14] The issue of the NZ Loyal list went to the High Court in Wellington on 6 October. The Electoral Commission argued that deadlines and time frames should be strictly observed. NZ Loyal argued that the court could simply declare that the list had been submitted before the deadline. The judge called this a "novel and creative" idea and said that, "If you leave it to the last minute and something goes wrong, the responsibility falls squarely on the party."[14] No changes were allowed to the party list.[15] Deregistration and rebuild (2024)On 29 July 2024 the party's registration was cancelled at its own request.[16][4] A few days later, on 1 August, Liz Gunn applied to personally trademark NZ Loyal's name, logo, and slogans for a range of uses including printed material, advertising, political fundraising, and political lobbying.[17] As of 19 August 2024[update] her application is pending with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.[18] In a series of back-and-forth videos over the following weeks Kelvyn Alp and Hannah Spierer of Counterspin Media, a far-right platform that had been involved and supportive in NZ Loyal's run for Parliament, accused Liz Gunn of "arbitrarily shut[ting] down the New Zealand Loyal Party in violation of the party's constitution" and taking money from the party's accounts.[19][better source needed] In November 2024 a new party board declared its intention to rebuild the party and fight the next election. They accused Liz Gunn of unilaterally deregistering the party, going against its own constitution. That month they held the first NZ Loyal AGM.[20][21] Shortly afterwards the party's website reported results from this meeting, naming Kelvyn Alp as leader and Brenton Faithfull as party president. (Faithfull, a Justice of the Peace and funeral director, has a record of spreading vaccine conspiracy theories and making false claims about how his clients died.)[22][23] Also on the new "interim board" are Peter Verhoven and Marilyn Park.[24] References
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