NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party

Not to be confused with Outdoor Recreation New Zealand.

The New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party,^[4] formerly the New Zealand Outdoors Party, is a registered political party in New Zealand. It is part of the Freedoms NZ umbrella movement. The party is co-led by Sue Grey (also a co-leader of Freedoms NZ) and Donna Pokere-Phillips.^[4]

New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party
Co-leaders	Sue Grey Donna Pokere-Phillips
Founded	September 2015
Ideology	Anti-1080 Environmentalism Anti-5G technology^[1] Anti-vaccination Anti-lockdown^[2]
National affiliation	Freedoms New Zealand
Colours	Green
MPs in the House of Representatives	0 / 120 ^[3]
Website
outdoorsparty.co.nz
Politics of New Zealand Political parties Elections

The party's policies combine environmentalism with anti-government conspiracy theories.^[5][6] A minor party, it has never had a Member of Parliament.

Principles and policies

The Outdoors & Freedom Party's policy platform includes opposition to fluoridation of water,^[7] 1080 poison, vaccines, COVID-19 restrictions, and 5G technology.^[1] They support medicinal cannabis.^[8]

These newer policy positions have been added to the party's original platform, which aims to protect the environment and New Zealand's "outdoors heritage".^[5] At its launch the party advocated for clean, full and unmodified rivers, greater protection from development for the conservation estate, large game animals to be managed by all hunters for recreation and conservation benefit, removal of ecologically destructive trawling practices within the inshore fishery and a Futures Commission to determine environmental limits to the growth of population, tourism, economy and infrastructure.^[9]

History

Creation and 2017 election

The New Zealand Outdoors Party was launched in September 2015 by co-leaders Alan Simmons, formerly of the United Future party, and David Haynes, president of the Association of Freshwater Anglers.^[10] The new party aimed to protect New Zealand's environment and outdoor heritage.^[5] After building up its membership over the next two years,^[11][12] the party was granted registration by the Electoral Commission on 11 August 2017.^[13][14]

In the 2017 general election the party stood candidates in Nelson, Taupō, Maungakiekie and Hutt South. The same four were also on the party list.^[9] With 0.1% of the party vote the Outdoors Party failed to win any seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives.^[15]

2020: Pandemic response, protests, and election

Relationships with other minor parties

Following the de-registration of the Ban 1080 Party in 2017, many Ban 1080 supporters moved to the Outdoors Party. In January 2020 the party elected anti-1080 activist Sue Grey as its co-leader.^[16] Co-founder David Haynes left the party around the same time.^[17]

In March 2020 the party formed an alliance with the Real NZ Party, resulting in the founder and leader of Real NZ, David Moffett, being appointed to the Outdoor Party's board as an Executive Director. Jennie Brown, an early childhood educator from Gisborne, was made a new board member at the same time.^[18][19] By the time of the election, Brown was standing as a candidate for the Billy Te Kahika's New Zealand Public Party (NZPP).^[20]

In April 2020 the NZPP, known for its belief in a "plandemic" conspiracy, had approached the Outdoors Party about working together but a personality clash between Te Kahika and Sue Grey prevented this.^[21] Within four months the relationship reached a point where Grey alleged that the Outdoors Party had been the target of a harassment campaign by NZPP supporters (which was now in allied with Advance New Zealand). Te Kahika called the behaviour "absolutely reprehensible" and asked his supporters not to abuse Grey, but also said that “the worst and the filthiest behaviour has actually come from Outdoors Party supporters towards the Public Party".^[22]

Protests, split, and election

In April 2020 the party criticised a nationwide lockdown (a response to the COVID-19 pandemic) as "cruel and unreasonable" as it banned hunting and other outdoor activities. They also compared the New Zealand Government to the Nazi Party.^[2]

In June 2020, at a rally in Auckland, Outdoors Party supporters claimed that the September 11 attacks were a false flag operation, promoted flat earth theories, and denounced "mind control" and 5G technology.^[23] They also harassed and threatened a young Asian woman who wiped out chalk slogans saying "it's okay to be white" and "all lives matter". One supporter screamed at the woman to “go back to her own country”, while another said "she wasn't born here, she came here to create shit". Party co-leader Alan Simmons reprimanded the woman, saying "you shouldn't be using language like that, a little girl like you". Party member Tracy Livingston tried to ease tension, saying that the young woman was "not the enemy" and that everybody was "naturally racist". Party co-leader Sue Grey later told media that the people in the video were not members of the party, that the party did not condone their actions, and that two of the people in the incident had since apologised to her. Simmons also spoke to media afterwards, saying he had "protected the girl" from harm.^[24]

Around September 2020, at least six nominated candidates pulled out of the party. Some switched allegiance to the New Zealand Public Party or the Social Credit Party while others founded a new party called the Attica Project.^[8]

The New Zealand Outdoors Party received a broadcasting allocation of $51,821 for the 2020 election.^[25] It received 3,256 party votes, or 0.1% of the total.^[26]

2022: NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party, Freedoms NZ, and by-elections

Main article: Freedoms NZ

In April 2022 the party officially changed its name to the NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party.^[27] The next month Donna Pokere-Phillips became co-leader in place of Simmons. Pokere-Phillips had previously stood in elections for the Māori Party (Te Pāti Māori, 2020), The Opportunities Party (TOP, 2017), and the Alliance (1999).^{[28][29][30][31]}

Sue Grey stood as the party's candidate in the 2022 Tauranga by-election, held on 18 June. She received 1,030 votes, the fourth-highest total out of 20,784 cast. (Winning candidate Sam Uffindell received 11,613.)^[32]

On 23 August 2022 The Freedoms & Rights Coalition, led by Brian Tamaki, held a protest outside Parliament. Tamaki announced that a new umbrella party, Freedoms NZ, would be formed through a union of the Outdoors & Freedom Party, Vision NZ (led by his wife Hannah), and the nascent New Nation Party. He also invited other minor parties to join.^[33] The Outdoors & Freedom Party responded that Tamaki's announcement was premature, and that they had not decided whether to join Freedoms NZ.^[34][35]

The first parliamentary election held after the formation of Freedoms NZ was the 2022 Hamilton West by-election. Vision NZ and Outdoors & Freedom entered separate candidates (Freedoms NZ was not a registered party at the time).^[36] Donna Pokere-Phillips, the Outdoors & Freedom co-leader, received 125 votes, less than 1% of the total.^[37]

2022 local elections

A number of candidates in the 2022 New Zealand local elections were affiliated with the Outdoors & Freedom Party:

• Co-leader Donna Pokere-Phillips placed fourth in Hamilton's mayoral election and third in the city council's new Maaori Ward, which elected only two members.^[38][39]
• Party board member Aly Cook also placed fourth in her bid to be mayor of the Tasman District Council.^[40] While campaigning she said she shared values with anti-vaccination group Voices for Freedom. She also falsely claimed that the Government report, He Puapua, has come from the United Nations and that covid-19 vaccines contained nanotechnology.^[41][42]
• Hine Afeaki finished fourth in Auckland's Manukau Ward, which elected two councillors.^[43] She was also an unsuccessful tenth in the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board election.^[44]

2023 election: Freedoms NZ

Changing its earlier position, the Outdoors & Freedom Party joined Freedoms NZ in May 2023. Sue Grey and Brian Tamaki were announced as co-leaders of the umbrella movement.^[45][46][47]

Parties that gained less than 1% of 2020's party vote are eligible for $66,332 in broadcast funding from the Electoral Commission. Before Outdoors & Freedom joined Freedoms NZ, the Commission had signalled that this amount would be allocated to the party. Once the party joined Freedoms NZ the Commission said it was likely that Freedoms NZ would be treated as a single "group of parties" eligible for only one allocation of $66,332. Constituent parties, including Outdoors & Freedom, would not receive individual allocations. Sue Grey and Brian Tamaki began challenging the Electoral Commission in the High Court on May 31, arguing that there was no formal relationship between Freedoms NZ and Outdoors & Freedom.^[48] The New Zealand High Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims.^[49]

A few days later Sue Grey said that her party would "review" claims made by Counterspin, a far-right media platform with strong links to the broader "freedom" movement and a history of airing conspiracy theories, in a video that attacked Brian and Hannah Tamaki for profiting as the landlords of a covid testing site. Amidst other simultaneous signals of disunity between anti-mandate groups, Grey also suggested that there would be room under the Freedoms NZ umbrella for more parties.^[50]

Electoral results

Election	Candidates nominated		Seats won	Votes	Vote share %	Government
	Electorate	List
2017	4	4	0 / 120	1,620	0.1%	Not In Parliament
2020	26	28	0 / 120	3,256	0.1%	Not In Parliament

See also

•  New Zealand portal

• Outdoor Recreation New Zealand

References

1. Cherie Sivignon (14 January 2020). "Lawyer Sue Grey aims to win Nelson electorate seat for NZ Outdoors Party". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2020. Among its policies, the NZ Outdoors Party calls for the immediate cessation and use of 1080 poison, supports the use of medicinal cannabis and seeks a moratorium on the allocation, auction and rollout of 5G spectrum licences until there has been a full public inquiry into the costs and benefits of 5G, effects on human health and the natural environment and how these can best be avoided or managed.
2. "Covid 19 coronavirus: NZ Outdoors Party criticises lockdown rules". New Zealand Herald. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
3. "Members of Parliament". Retrieved 6 May 2020.
4. "New Co-Leader For Outdoors & Freedom Party". Scoop. 9 May 2022.
5. "A new political party based on the Outdoors." Scoop. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
6. Manch, Thomas (24 August 2022). "'Shocked' Outdoors and Freedom Party has not agreed to political alliance with Brian Tamaki". Stuff. Retrieved 16 May 2023. The Outdoors and Freedom Party and its co-leader, Sue Grey, have been heavily involved in the anti-Covid-19 vaccine and mandate movement, have spread conspiracy theories about the efficacy of the vaccine, and participated in an occupation of Parliament grounds earlier in the year, which ended with a destructive riot.
7. Simmons, Alan (6 May 2023). "Flurode in Water". Outdoors & Freedom Party. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
8. Braae, Alex (18 September 2020). "Candidates defect in all directions in ugly minor party battle". The Spinoff. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
9. "The Outdoors Party wants to get into Parliament". NewsHub. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
10. Anderson, Charles (30 March 2017). "Outdoors Party New Zealand founder hopes general election a watershed moment". Stuff. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
11. "NZ Outdoors Party Newsletter December 2016". www.outdoorsparty.co.nz. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
12. "NZ Outdoors Party Newsletter". www.outdoorsparty.co.nz. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
13. "Application to register political party and logo". Electoral Commission. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
14. "Registration of NZ Outdoors Party and Logo". Electoral Commission. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
15. "2017 General Election - Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
16. "Outdoors Party reckons it can ride an anti-1080 wave to Parliament in 2020". NewsHub. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
17. Johnston, Kirsty (13 December 2022). "Just asking questions: How lawyer Sue Grey became the hero of New Zealand's conspiracy underbelly". Stuff. Retrieved 21 May 2023. After Grey joined - and Haynes departed - its policies expanded, calling for the immediate cessation of the use of 1080, a moratorium on the allocation of medicinal marijuana, and an inquiry into 5G.
18. "Former Rugby CEO David Moffett Joins The NZ Outdoors Party As Executive Director". Scoop. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
19. "March 2020 Newsletter". NZ Outdoors Party. April 2020.
20. . Gisborne Herald. 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
21. Daalder, Marc (26 July 2020). "Jami-Lee Ross hitches wagon to conspiracy theorists". Newsroom. Retrieved 15 May 2023. A prospective union with the Outdoors Party fell apart due to personality clashes between Te Kahika and anti-1080 lawyer and Outdoors candidate Sue Grey, according to posts from the NZPP Facebook page.
22. Andrea Vance (1 August 2020). "Fringe party leader alleges campaign of harassment by Billy TK supporters". Stuff. from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
23. Charlie Mitchell (1 August 2020). "The conspiracists' election: How the farthest fringes of politics are making a play for the centre". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
24. "Watch: Woman told 'go back to your own country' for wiping out 'it's okay to be white' chalk". The New Zealand Herald. 11 June 2020.
25. "2020 Broadcasting Allocation Decision Released". Electoral Commission. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
26. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission.
27. "Change to NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party name and logo". New Zealand Electoral Commission. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
28. "Percentage of Electorate Candidate Votes of successful registered parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
29. "TOP Announces Party List for 2017 General Election" (Press release). The Opportunities Party. Scoop. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
30. "Maori Party new opportunity for Pokere-Phillips". Waatea News. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
31. "New Co-Leader For Outdoors & Freedom Party". Scoop. NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
32. "Tauranga by-election official results". Electoral Commission. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
33. Witton, Bridie (23 August 2022). "Brian Tamaki brings fringe political parties into new group Freedoms NZ". Stuff. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
34. Sowman-Lund, Stewart (24 August 2022). "Tamaki's new Freedoms coalition hits a bump in the road (Live Update)". The Spinoff. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
35. "Parliament protest: Brian Tamaki announces new umbrella political party 'Freedoms NZ'". New Zealand Herald. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
36. "Vision NZ announces candidate for Hamilton West". Voxy. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
37. "Hamilton West - Preliminary Count". Election Results. Electoral Commission New Zealand. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
38. Franke-Bowell, Jonah (7 November 2022). "One candidate, two parties: Conservative coalition picks Hamilton West contender". Stuff. Retrieved 7 November 2022. Donna Pokere-Phillips will contest the by-election for the NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party.
39. "Result: LGE 2022 - Final" (PDF). Your City Elections. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
40. "Previous election results". Tasman District Council. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
41. Ridout, Amy; Chin, Frances; Sivignon, Cherie (31 August 2022). "Former principal and current councillor among seven Tasman candidates with links to conspiracies and disinformation". Stuff. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
42. Sivignon, Cherie (21 September 2022). "TDC mayoral race: Aly Cook keen for council to help repair social cohesion". Stuff. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
43. "Ward councillor official results (2022)". Vote Auckland. Auckland Council. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
44. "Local board member official results". Vote Auckland. Auckland Council. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
45. "Outdoors Party reveals it's joining forces with Brian Tamaki's Freedoms NZ". Newshub. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
46. "Brian Tamaki to run for Parliament as Freedom NZ leader". RNZ. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
47. "Brian Tamaki vs Newshub: TV show pulls Destiny Church leader interview off-air". New Zealand Herald. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
48. Griffiths, Ethan (31 May 2023). "Sue Grey and Brian Tamaki launch High Court action over election campaign funding". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
49. The High Court of New Zealand (17 July 2023). "New Zealand Outdoors and Freedom Party v the Electoral Commission [2023] NZHC 1823" (PDF).
50. Roberts, Nadine (7 June 2023). "Freedom movement splintering amid infighting and the formation of new political party". Stuff. Retrieved 7 June 2023.

External links

• Official website