The New Zealand National Front was a small white nationalist organisation in New Zealand.

History

First formation in 1967

Mirroring developments in the UK, a group called the National Front evolved from the New Zealand branch of the

League of Empire Loyalists The League of Empire Loyalists (LEL) was a British pressure group (also called a " ginger group" in Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations), established in 1954. Its ostensible purpose was to stop the dissolution of the British Empire. The Leag ...

in 1967. It was led by Brian Thompson; another notable member was Roger Clare who would later become an activist with the League of St George. It published a magazine called ''Counter-attack''. This group dissolved by the beginning of the 1970s. Thompson remained an overseas supporter of the UK National Front.

Recreation of the late 1970s

The National Front of New Zealand, commonly known as the "New Zealand National Front" (NZNF), was an initiative of

John Tyndall John Tyndall FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the ...

of the

British National Front The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gai ...

formed in 1977. Sister organisations were also formed in Australia and South Africa at the same time. The party's first chairman was David Crawford, aided by Brian Thompson.

Kerry Bolton Kerry Raymond Bolton (born 1956) is a white supremacist and holocaust denier, and a published author and political activist on those subjects. He is involved in several nationalist and fascist political groups in New Zealand. Political activism ...

joined in 1978. It distributed "large numbers of

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

pamphlets and books". Thompson represented the party at the march in Lewisham in 1977. The party encouraged its activists to infiltrate mainstream parties such as the National Party. From June 1978 the party jointly published a magazine called ''Frontline'' with the National Front of Australia. After the end of the Australian group in 1984, the magazine continued until March 1987 in support of a more general non-party "nationalist cause". The organisation became close to ending during the early 1980s; many of its members left to form the 'New Force' which Bolton formed in 1981.

Later activity

In 1989 Anton Foljambe sought to revive the ''Frontline'' title for his "Conservative Front" grouping. This led to the reformation of the NZNF with Foljambe as leader. It published a magazine, edited by Foljambe, called ''Viewpoint''. Foljambe resigned as leader in 1997 and established the rival

National Democrats Party The National Democrats Party (NDP) was a small right-wing political party in New Zealand, formed in 1999 by Anton Foljambe. The party described itself as "New Zealand's only conservative political party". It was generally regarded as crypto-fas ...

in 1999. Kyle Chapman, who has said he was interested in right-wing politics since the age of 12, then led the party until resigning as leader in 2005. Bolton rejoined the party in 2004. From 2008, Colin Ansell led the group. Ansell stated that the group was to be a "broad spectrum nationalist movement" with a "strong view on immigration". On 23 October 2004, the National Front held a protest in Wellington to support retaining the current New Zealand flag, which was attended by an estimated 45 people. An 800-strong counter-demonstration was organised by the MultiCultural Aotearoa coalition and anarchists to expose the sympathies of the National Front. According to ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspape ...

'', Chapman complained the following day of "insufficient police protection". This "Flag Day Rally" has now become an annual event, with NF members and protesters squaring off outside parliament. In October 2017, a handful of National Front members protested outside Parliament. They were met by "a sea" of counter-protesters. Fights came close to breaking out and police attended the event. After the

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

of 2019, the National Front like other far-right groups "publicly shut up shop" and largely went underground. An RNZ documentary of April 2019 described them as "the old guard of the far-right" in comparison to new movements with more sophisticated networks and use of technology.

As a political party

The National Front has described itself to be a political party, such as in 2010. Leader Kyle Chapman contested the 2004 Christchurch mayoral election, receiving 1,665 votes (1.9%) and coming fifth out of ten candidates. In a blog post, then-former-leader Kyle Chapman declared the National Front would be joining with the National Democrats and another international organisation, the 'New Right' to contest the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are ...

under the name "Nationalist Alliance". This did not occur; no candidates contested the 2008 election under that name.

Policies

According to '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', the discernible policies of the National Front are "homophobia, racism and patriotic nationalism."

Leaders

References

External links

Archive of the National Front official website
{{Neo-Nazism National Front Political parties established in 1968 1968 establishments in New Zealand 2019 disestablishments in New Zealand Nationalist parties in Oceania White nationalist parties Neo-Nazism in New Zealand Racism in New Zealand