Bernard Darnton (born 18 December 1972 in

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) is a former leader of

Libertarianz Libertarianz was a political party in New Zealand (hence the suffix -nz) that advocated libertarianism, favouring self-government and limiting the power of the government over the individual. Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism was a ...

, a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

political party in New Zealand.

Involvement in the Libertarianz party

In the party's list for the 1999 election, Darnton had been ranked fourth. In the party list announced for the 2002 election, however, Darnton was ranked twentieth, although the list itself was not submitted by the appropriate deadline. Darnton became leader in mid-2004, replacing

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, and remained in the position until the 2008 election. In 2004, Darnton unsuccessfully stood for election in the Wellington Regional Council's

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

constituency. For the

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and 2008 General Elections, Darnton headed the Libertarianz party list and was the electorate candidate for .

Darnton v Clark

On 29 June 2006, Bernard Darnton filed proceedings in the High Court, suing

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

for allegedly misappropriating public funds to pay for the Labour Party's pledge cards during the

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. Some commentators labelled the lawsuit a stunt, although it received some media coverage as concern about the "pledge card" funding grew. On Sunday 10 September 2006, the lawsuit was the subject of a front-page story in ''

The Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand ...

'' newspaper. The Labour party promptly accused the Libertarianz party of being part of a conspiracy with the National party, alleging that the small party could not afford to bring such a case to court.
/ref> In October 2006, after the Auditor-General released a report declaring that the misappropriation of funds was illegal, Labour and other political parties immediately announced that they would pay back the money. On 17 and 18 October, a majority, including the Labour Party, passed a law through Parliament to 'retrospectively validate' the spending, making it legal, which is required under the Public Finance Act 1989. In the circumstances, however, it also effectively makes the misspending immune from court proceedings. In response, the Libertarianz party declared 18 October 2006 to be " Banana Republic Day", and issued press releases.

References

External links

Libertarianz candidate profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnton, Bernard Leaders of political parties in New Zealand 1972 births Living people Libertarianz politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election

Involvement in the Libertarianz party

Darnton v Clark

See also

References

External links