Donna Marie Pokere-Phillips is a New Zealand politician known for her conspiracy-driven views. She was co-leader of the

NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party The New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party, formerly the New Zealand Outdoors Party, is a registered political party in New Zealand The party is co-led by Sue Grey and Donna Pokere-Phillips. The party's policies combine environmentalism with a ...

from 2022 to 2025. Pokere-Phillips has been an unsuccessful candidate in general elections for the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

(

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

The Opportunities Party The Opportunities Party, often referred to as TOP, is a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. It was founded in 2016 by economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan (economist), Gareth Morgan. ...

(

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

), the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

), and "umbrella" party Freedoms NZ (

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

). In local politics she has made four unsuccessful bids for seats on the

Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a may ...

, including the 2022 Hamilton mayoral election.

Early life and education

Pokere-Phillips (

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

) was born in

. She has a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

postgraduate degree from the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

, awarded in 2004.

Career

Alliance (1999)

In the 1999 election, Pokere-Phillips stood for the

in the seat of

Port Waikato Port Waikato is a New Zealand town that sits on the south bank of the Waikato River, at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in the northern Waikato. Port Waikato is a well-known surfing and whitebaiting destination and a popular holiday spot. ...

and as number 40 on the party list. As the party only won 10 seats, and she failed to win her electorate, Pokere-Phillips was not elected.

The Opportunities Party (2017–2019)

In the 2017 election, she stood for

as their candidate in the seat of Hamilton West and as number 6 on the party list. The party won no seats. In 2018 she ran for leader of The Opportunities Party, gaining 11 of over 1000 votes cast. In a separate vote she became the membership representative on the TOP party board. In May 2019 she accused party leader

Geoff Simmons Geoffrey Leonard Simmons (born 27 December 1974) is an economist and former leader of The Opportunities Party (TOP), a political party in New Zealand. He stood for TOP in the 2017 Mount Albert by-election, February 2017 Mount Albert by-election ...

of misleading the party about payments he was receiving, claiming in a leaked 1700-word email that the party was financially unstable. Simmons' response was that "Our Party Secretary is an accountant and he assured her that wasn’t the case. But apparently she didn’t listen." Pokere-Phillips left the party board on 12 August.

Te Pāti Māori (2020–2021)

Pokere-Phillips next joined the Māori Party (now known as

Te Pāti Māori (), also known as the Māori Party, is a left-wing political party in New Zealand advocating Māori people, Māori rights. With the exception of a handful of New Zealand electorates#Electorates in the 53rd Parliament, general electorates, co ...

) and was selected as the party's candidate in

Hauraki-Waikato Hauraki-Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate first established for the . It largely replaced the electorate. Nanaia Mahuta of the Labour Party, formerly the MP for Tainui, became MP for Hauraki-Waikato in the 2008 general ...

for the 2020 election. When addressing the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zeala ...

, she accused the government of "ethnic cleansing", saying that there should have been more engagement with Māori leadership during the pandemic, that rights protected under

Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

had been denied, and that rushed legislation had eroded civil liberties. During the campaign she was arrested for trespassing, having taken part in a protest against a new roading development. In 2021 she was quoted in the media as a legal advisor to Brian Te Huia. Te Huia, who had 396 criminal convictions at the age of 54, alleged years of abuse while he'd been a child under state care. Pokere-Phillips' motivations at the time including giving a voice to a boy who has suffered under state care, and a "sense of justice" to the man he had grown into. She stood unsuccessfully in a by-election for the

east ward in 2021, gaining 247 of the 12,178 votes cast.

NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party and Freedoms NZ (2022–2025)

In 2022, Pokere-Phillips became co-leader of the

, alongside Sue Grey. Later that year she placed fourth in the 2022 Hamilton mayoral election and also failed to become one of the first two councillors for the city's new Maaori Ward. That December she ran for Parliament again, coming sixth in the

2022 Hamilton West by-election The 2022 Hamilton West by-election was a by-election in New Zealand's electorate. The seat became vacant due to the resignation of former Labour Party MP Gaurav Sharma on 18 October 2022 after expulsion from the party caucus. The by-election ...

. Before the 2023 general election the Outdoors & Freedom Party joined the Freedoms New Zealand umbrella party. Pokere-Phillips ran in

for a second time, against incumbent

Nanaia Mahuta Nanaia Cybele Mahuta (born 21 August 1970) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Ma ...

(Labour) and the successful Te Pāti Māori candidate, 21-year-old

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke (born 2002) is a New Zealand politician, representing Te Pāti Māori as a Member of Parliament since the 2023 New Zealand general election. She is the youngest MP since James Stuart-Wortley. Early life a ...

. Freedoms NZ's constituent parties ran a single candidate in each Māori seat. Pokere-Phillips was placed fourth on Freedoms NZ's joint list. During the 2023 election, Pokere-Phillips failed to capture Hauraki-Waikato, coming third place with 1,120 votes. Overall, Freedoms NZ won 0.33 percent of the popular vote, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. In 2024 a by-election was held for the Kirikiriroa Maaori Ward seat vacated by Melaina Huaki. Pokere-Phillips finished 5th of 8 candidates, with 194 votes. Maria Te Aukaha Huata was elected. the Outdoors and Freedom Party website lists Sue Grey as leader, not co-leader, and has no mention of Pokere-Phillips as a part of the party's leadership or governance teams. The party's most recent press release names Sue Grey as "Leader".

Covid-19 conspiracy theories

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Pokere-Phillips regularly shared misinformation about

vaccinations Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

on social media, for example falsely claiming on Facebook that up to 3,000 deaths should have been attributed to the vaccination but weren't. She has also appeared on Counterspin Media, described by

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

as a "far-right conspiracy theorist website that promotes anti-vax messages". On Counterspin she said believes that COVID-19 vaccines are "a bio-weapon that kills people" and that hospitals are "death camps". She said that she was running for mayor of Hamilton in 2022 as an act of "political

utu Shamash ( Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu ( Sumerian: dutu " Sun") was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in the world every day, and was therefore responsible for justice and protection ...

and I want this government gone". '' The Waikato Times'' noted that she didn't share this motivation in other public forums like election debates. In the lead-up to the

2022 New Zealand local elections The 2022 New Zealand local elections () were Local elections in New Zealand, triennial elections held in New Zealand from 16 September until noon 8 October via postal vote. Election schedule Key dates relating to the local elections were as ...

Voices for Freedom TJB 2021 Limited, trading as Voices for Freedom (VFF), is an anti-vaccine advocacy group in New Zealand that formed in December 2020 to oppose the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 mitigation policies and vaccination rollout. The organisation ...

(VFF) urged members and followers to run for council positions in order to make New Zealand "ungovernable". The group advised that candidates should not declare any affiliation with VFF. When asked, Pokere-Phillips denied any affiliation with VFF.

Personal life

Pokere-Phillips has lived in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

with her partner and five children for over 20 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokere-Phillips, Donna Living people New Zealand Māori women Ngāti Tūwharetoa people People from Taranaki Tainui people Taranaki (iwi) University of Waikato alumni Te Pāti Māori politicians Alliance (New Zealand political party) politicians The Opportunities Party politicians Leaders of political parties in New Zealand New Zealand Māori lawyers New Zealand Māori women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election 21st-century New Zealand women lawyers 21st-century New Zealand lawyers