Bob McCoskrie is the National Director of the New Zealand

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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Family First New Zealand Family First New Zealand is a conservative Christian lobby group in New Zealand. It was founded in March 2006 by former Radio Rhema talkback radio host and South Auckland social-worker Bob McCoskrie, who continues to be its National Director. ...

Education

McCoskrie has a Masters of Commerce with Honours from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and a Diploma of Teaching from the

Auckland College of Education The Auckland College of Education, earlier known as the Auckland Training College and the Auckland Teachers' Training College, was a teachers' college in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. It was established in 1881 and was based in the Au ...

Professional career

McCoskrie initially worked as a tertiary lecturer in accounting, commercial law and tax law at Manukau Polytechnic for four years (1986–1990) and then as the Director of

Youth for Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenager ...

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...

(1990–1994) before he founded and co-ordinated the Papatoetoe Adolescent Christian Trust (1994–2002) working with at-risk youth and their families. In 1996 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace (JP). In 2002 he joined the Christian New Zealand radio station

Radio Rhema Rhema Media (previously known as Rhema Broadcasting Group or RBG) is a Christianity, Christian media organisation in New Zealand. It owns radio networks Rhema (New Zealand), Rhema, Life FM (New Zealand), Life FM and Star (New Zealand), Star, and ...

as a

talkback radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews w ...

host and current affairs presenter on Sky TV's

Shine TV Shine TV is a British media production company and part of Banijay Entertainment with offices in London and Manchester. Shine was founded in March 2001 by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch. The company was 80 ...

Family First New Zealand

In 2006, as a 42-year old church leader, McCoskrie founded Family First New Zealand to lobby for strong families and safe communities in New Zealand, and has been that organisation's National Director and main spokesperson since that time. In 2009

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

professor Paul Morris said Family First was "successfully broadening the Christian agenda in New Zealand politics in a way never seen before". In 2020 Family First was described as "New Zealand's most formidable conservative campaigners". In May 2024, ''

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 in New Zealand, ...

'' reported that McCoskrie was scheduled to speak at the upcoming "UNSILENCED: Middle New Zealand on ideology" at

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 ...

's Tākina Convention Centre on 18 May alongside Destiny Church leader

Brian Tamaki Brian Raymond Tamaki (born 2 February 1958) is a New Zealand Christian fundamentalist religious leader, and politician. He is the leader of Destiny Church, a Pentecostal Christian organisation which advocates strict adherence to fundamentalis ...

and former

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Simon O'Connor Simon David O'Connor (born 25 February 1976) is a New Zealand politician and a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand National Party, National Party. He represented the Tāmaki (New Zealand electorate), T� ...

. The Convention Centre is owned and operated by

Te Papa Museum The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand an ...

and the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

. Protest groups Queer Endurance In Defiance and the Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition denounced the conference for allegedly promoting

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

and said it was contacting the Council in order to cancel the event on safety grounds. While Wellington City Council Māori Ward Councillor Nīkau Wi Neera called for the event's cancellation,

New Zealand Free Speech Union The New Zealand Free Speech Union (FSU) is an organisation that advocates for freedom of speech. It was formed as the Free Speech Coalition in 2018, and relaunched as the Free Speech Union in May 2021. Organisation and goals The Free Speech U ...

chief executive Jonathan Ayling defended the conference on free speech grounds. Following a safety review, Te Papa allowed the event to proceed. Speakers at the Unsilenced conference included Tamaki, O'Connor and British activist

Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull Kellie-Jay Nyishie Keen-Minshull ( Keen; born June 1974), also known as Posie Parker, is a British anti-transgender and gender-critical activist. She is the leader of the political party Party of Women. She describes herself as a woman's ...

(who participated via video-link). 360 people attended the Unsilenced conference while a protest organised by Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition and Queer Endurance in Defiance attracted 500 people.

Personal life

McCoskrie and his wife Tina, who he married in a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church in about 1989, have three children and live in South Auckland.

Views

McCoskrie has publicly spoken out against the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. He has said that New Zealand's decision to legalise same-sex marriage is, "an arrogant act of cultural vandalism" and "Makes a mockery of marriage". After New Zealand legalised same-sex marriage in 2013 McCoskrie resigned as a marriage celebrant in opposition to gay marriage. His anti-same-sex marriage views are consistent with Family First New Zealand. When voters rejected the legalisation of recreational cannabis in 2020, McCoskrie said that he was "pretty stoked" with the cannabis referendum results and that New Zealanders "understood the perceived benefits of legalisation were not greater than the harms that were going to come on society." McCoskrie publicly stated that

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

– which gave the legal right to an abortion in the United States – being

repealed A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...

in 2022 was a "great day". In April 2024, McCoskrie appeared in a podcast with right-wing alternative

Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

Reality Check Radio host Maree Buscke discussing the British

Cass Review The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (commonly, the Cass Review) was commissioned in 2020 by NHS England and NHS Improvement and led by Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and the former p ...

on gender identity services.

References

External links

McBlog: Bob McCoskrie's BlogFamily First New Zealand Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoskrie, Bob Conservatism in New Zealand New Zealand anti-abortion activists New Zealand Christians People from Auckland Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Anti-same-sex-marriage activists