New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a
political party in New Zealand
New Zealand politics have featured a strong party system since the early 20th century. Usually, all members of Parliament's unicameral House of Representatives belong to a political party.
The centre-left New Zealand Labour Party and the cen ...
, founded and led by
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...
, who has served three times as
deputy prime minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
. The party has formed
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
s with both major political parties in New Zealand: with the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party (), often shortened to National () or the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand that is the current senior ruling party. It is one ...
from 1996 to 1998 and 2023 to present, and with the
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...
from 2005 to 2008 and 2017 to 2020. New Zealand First currently serves in a coalition government with both National and
ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand (; ), also known as the ACT Party or simply ACT, is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical liberal, Right-libertarianism, right-libertarian, and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties i ...
as part of the
Sixth National government, having won 6.08% of the total party vote in the
2023 New Zealand general election
The 2023 New Zealand general election was held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th New Zealand Parliament, 54th Parliament of New Zealand. Voters elected 122 members to the unicameral New Zealand House of Representatives ...
.
New Zealand First was formed shortly before the
1993 New Zealand general election, following the resignation of Winston Peters as the National Party MP for
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
after criticising the party's
neoliberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
economic policies
''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris School of Economics. The jo ...
. The party gained support from National Party and Labour voters alike disenchanted with the support of both parties for extensive
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
. New Zealand First entered the
New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...
shortly after its formation. The party had 17
members of parliament (MPs) at its peak, following the
1996 New Zealand general election
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was significant for being the first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electo ...
, the first to use
mixed-member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral system, mixed electoral systems which combine local Winner-take-all system, winner-take-all elections with a Compensation (el ...
. That election the party swept the
Māori seats, leading to the "
Tight Five" of New Zealand First MPs from those electorates. The party had gained considerable support among socially conservative
Māori voters,
[Jonathan Boston, Stephen Levine, Elizabeth McLeay, Nigel S. Roberts, ''The 1996 General Election in New Zealand: Proportional Representation and Political Change'', The Australian Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Autumn, 1997), pp.9–14] an association still visible today. By the end of their first term, however, the New Zealand First caucus had fallen to 9 MPs due to
internal conflict
In narrative, an internal conflict is the struggle occurring within a character's mind. Things such as what the character yearns for, but can't quite reach. As opposed to external conflict, in which a character is grappling some force outside of ...
over the coalition government with the National Party.
After agreeing a confidence and supply with Labour in
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, the party left parliament following the
2008 New Zealand general election
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand Parliament. The liberal-conservative New Zealand National Party, National Party, headed by its parliamentary leader John Key, ...
in which it failed to gain enough
party votes to retain seats. However, in the
2011 New Zealand general election, New Zealand First gained 6.59% of the total party vote, entitling it to eight MPs. The party increased its number of MPs to eleven at the
2014 New Zealand general election. During the
2017 election, the party's number of MPs dropped to nine members.
In the weeks following the 2017 election, New Zealand First formed a
coalition government with the Labour Party.
In the
2020 election New Zealand First's share of the party vote fell to 2.6%, with all incumbent MPs, including Peters, losing their seats in Parliament.
The party returned to parliament in 2023.
New Zealand First distinguishes itself from the mainstream
political establishment through its use of
populist rhetoric, and supports binding
referendums
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
on major social and political issues.
History
Foundation

In June 1992, Winston Peters, a former
Minister of Māori Affairs
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
in the
National Party government of
Jim Bolger
James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.
Bolger was born in Ōpunake, Taranaki, to Irish immigrants. Bef ...
, was told that he would not be allowed to run for another term as National Party Member of Parliament for
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
in the
1993 election.
Peters had previously been dismissed from the Cabinet in 1991, after he publicly criticised National's economic policy, colloquially dubbed
Ruthanasia.
Spearheaded by Minister of Finance
Ruth Richardson, National arguably had gone beyond the
extensive deregulation started by the
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...
in the 1980s, enacting widespread austerity and slashing benefits in the
Mother of All Budgets of 1991. The budget cut spending on many of the
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...
institutions established in the 1930s by the
First Labour Government. The unemployment benefit was cut by $14.00 a week, sickness benefit by $27.04, families benefit by $25.00 to $27.00 and universal payments for family benefits were completely abolished.
After the death of protectionist former Prime Minister
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...
– who resigned from his
Tamaki constituency in protest – Peters became Ruthanasia's leading opponents, and National's most prominent dissenter.
By late 1991, the National Party had become the most unpopular governing party since the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, with one poll result putting them
as low as 22%. After his sacking, Peters decided to capitalise on National's unpopularity. On 19 March 1993, Peters resigned from the National Party.
He also resigned from Parliament, triggering
a by-election in his electorate on 17 April 1993 in which he stood as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
, winning with 90.8% of votes due to neither
Labour nor National running a candidate. On 18 July 1993, shortly before
the writs were issued for
that year's general election, Peters formed New Zealand First as a political grouping.
At the time of its formation, New Zealand First's policy platform was broadly
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 ...
and
reactionary
In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...
in that it opposed both
Labour and National, the major
centre-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
and
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
parties respectively. Peters claimed to be reviving National policies from which the
Bolger government had departed.
Variably dubbed a
social conservative,
economic nationalist
Economic nationalism or nationalist economics is an ideology that prioritizes state intervention in the economy, including policies like domestic control and the use of tariffs and restrictions on labor, goods, and capital movement. The core bel ...
, or
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...
, Peters' rise was fueled by the enormous financial changes New Zealand underwent during the 1980s and 90s, during which time the economy was thoroughly
deregulated
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental Economic regulation, regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 19 ...
by both the Labour Party and the National Party. A fierce opponent of both
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
and
progressivism
Progressivism is a Left-right political spectrum, left-leaning political philosophy and Reformism, reform political movement, movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has unive ...
, Peters gained support from both National Party and Labour voters disenchanted with the support of both parties for
economic liberalisation.
[''Frontline'', TVNZ 1, 27 October 1993. Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9KqjmvaTu4&t=1091s] As Peters was a
Māori conservative,
he gained strong support particularly from socially conservative
Māori voters who had voted Labour consistently until they began enforcing neoliberal policies, colloquially called
Rogernomics. The party was soon widely regarded as having a distinct Māori character or even being "pro-Māori".
1993 general election

In the April 1993
special by-election,
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
voters re-elected Peters as an independent. At the general election six months later, New Zealand First received 8.4% of the total vote. Peters easily retained
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
, and
Tau Henare
Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori people, Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the New Zealand National Party, Na ...
, another New Zealand First candidate, won the
Northern Māori seat, giving the party a total of two MPs. This did much to counter the perception of New Zealand First as merely a personality-driven vehicle for Peters.
1996 general election
With the switch to the
mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system for the
1996 election, smaller parties could gain a share of seats proportional to their share of the vote. Before the election, New Zealand First was polling unprecedentedly highly due to the popularity of its leader, Winston Peters. At its peak, New Zealand First was polling at 29% support on 16 May 1996.
This enabled New Zealand First to win 13% of the vote and 17 seats, including all five
Māori electorates
In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
. New Zealand First's five Māori MPs—
Tau Henare
Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori people, Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the New Zealand National Party, Na ...
(the party's deputy leader),
Tuku Morgan,
Rana Waitai,
Tu Wyllie
Tutekawa "Tu" Wyllie (born 24 October 1954) is a former New Zealand politician and rugby union player. A first five-eighth, Wyllie represented Wellington at a provincial level, and played one match for the New Zealand national side, the All Bl ...
and
Tuariki Delamere—became known as the "
Tight Five".
The election result put New Zealand First in a powerful position just three years after its formation. Neither of the two traditional major parties (
National and
Labour) had enough seats to govern alone, and only New Zealand First had enough seats to become a realistic
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
partner for either. This placed the relatively new party in a position where it was the
kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a monarchy or royal in their political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military means to influence the ...
, a position which allowed the party to effectively choose the next
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023.
The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
.
New Zealand First entered into negotiations with both major parties. Before the election, most people (including many New Zealand First voters) had expected Peters to enter into coalition with
Labour. In fact, he harshly attacked his former
National colleagues during the campaign, and appeared to promise that he would not even consider going into coalition with them.
Coalition with National: 1996–1998
To the surprise of the electorate, which had apparently voted for New Zealand First to get rid of National, New Zealand First decided to enter a coalition ''with'' National, enabling and becoming part of the third term of the
fourth National government. The most common explanation for this decision involved National's willingness to accept New Zealand First's demands (and/or Labour's refusal to do so). However,
Michael Laws (a former National Party MP who served as a New Zealand First campaign manager) claims that Peters had secretly decided to go with National significantly before this time, and that he merely used negotiations with Labour to encourage more concessions from National.
Whatever the case, New Zealand First exacted a high price from Bolger in return for allowing him to stay in power. Under the terms of a detailed coalition agreement, Peters would serve as
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
, and would also hold the specially created office of
Treasurer
A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization.
Government
The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
(senior to the
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
). National also made considerable concessions on policy. Unusually for a junior coalition partner in a Westminster system (especially one as new as New Zealand First), Peters was free to select the ministers from his own party, without Bolger's oversight.
New Zealand First had a relatively smooth coalition relationship with National at first. Despite early concerns about the ability of Peters to work with Bolger, who had sacked him from cabinet during his time as
Minister of Māori Affairs
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
in 1991,
the two did not have major problems. New Zealand First had graver concerns about the behaviour of some of its MPs. A particularly damaging scandal involved
Tuku Morgan, which consisted of him allegedly spending $4000 in public funds on clothing, though the
Serious Fraud Office later did not find him guilty of
fraud
In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
.
Gradually, however, the coalition tensions became more significant than problems of party discipline. This became increasingly the case after
Transport Minister Jenny Shipley gained enough support within the National party room to force Bolger's resignation and to subsequently become New Zealand's first woman Prime Minister on 8 December 1997. The tensions between the two parties also rose as New Zealand First adopted a more aggressive approach to promoting its policies (including those National would not implement). This new attitude probably fed off New Zealand First's poor performance in
opinion polls, which (to Peters) indicated that the party's success rested on its confrontational style. Many commentators believe that Peters performs better in
opposition than in government.
Return to opposition
On 14 August 1998, Shipley sacked Peters from
Cabinet. This occurred after an ongoing dispute about the sale of the government's stake in
Wellington International Airport, directly in conflict with New Zealand First's general commitment to not sell off state assets.
Peters immediately tore up the coalition agreement. However, several other MPs, unwilling to follow Peters into opposition and wanting to continue to support a National-led government, tried to replace Peters as Leader of New Zealand First with
Tau Henare
Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori people, Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the New Zealand National Party, Na ...
, the then-Deputy Leader. This caucus-room coup failed, and Henare eventually led four other New Zealand First MPs in forming a new party,
Mauri Pacific
Mauri Pacific () was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 by five former members of the New Zealand First party. It has often been described as a Māori people, Māori party. Officially, Mauri Pacific was a multicu ...
, which was a self-proclaimed
multicultural
Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...
party. Three others established themselves as
independents. All eight departing MPs continued to support a National-led
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
. Many of these MPs had come under public scrutiny for their behaviour. Until the dissolution of
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 1999, they provided Shipley with enough parliamentary support to stay in government without New Zealand First.
1999 general election
In the
1999 election New Zealand First lost much of its support, receiving only 4% of the party vote. Some voters had not forgiven Peters for forming a coalition with National after being led to believe that a vote for him would help get rid of National, and others likely changed their vote due to the instability within the party's ranks. Whatever the case, New Zealand First's support tailed off enough that it was nearly ejected from parliament. Under New Zealand's MMP system, a party must either win an electorate seat or 5% of the vote to qualify for list seats. Peters held his Tauranga electorate by a mere 63 votes after losing almost 20 percent of his vote from 1996, and New Zealand First received five seats in total.
2002 general election
By the
2002 New Zealand general election
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the oppo ...
, however, the party had rebuilt much of its support. This occurred largely because of Peters' three-point campaign for sensible immigration, scrutinising Treaty costs, and reducing crime. The party won 10.38% of the vote, which was a considerable improvement on its previous performance (although not as good as its performance in 1996), and New Zealand First won thirteen seats in parliament.
Peters' campaign slogan "Can We Fix It? Yes We Can"
attracted much media attention, as the same line appears in theme music for the children's television programme ''
Bob the Builder
''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment which ran from to in the United Kingdom through the CBBC strand and later CBeebies. The series centres on the adventures ...
''. Party activists stated they were unaware the chant came from a children's cartoon. In the end, New Zealand First gained 8 seats in
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
after the election, earning 13 MPs in total (including 1 electorate MP): Winston Peters,
Peter Brown,
Brian Donnelly,
Ron Mark,
Doug Woolerton,
Barbara Stewart,
Pita Paraone,
Craig McNair,
Jim Peters,
Dail Jones,
Edwin Perry,
Bill Gudgeon, and
Brent Catchpole.
It appears that New Zealand First had hoped to play in 2002 a similar role to the one it had in 1996, where it found itself able to give power to either Labour or National depending on which offered the best deal. However,
National's support, under the leadership of future
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Bill English, had collapsed to its worst result in the party's history, to the extent that it could not form a government even with New Zealand First's support, depriving the party of its hoped
kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a monarchy or royal in their political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military means to influence the ...
position. In the end, however, this proved irrelevant, as Labour refused to consider an alliance with New Zealand First in any case. Instead, Labour relied on support from the newly significant
United Future.
After the 2002 election, in light of
National's decreased strength, New Zealand First attempted to gain more prominence in
Opposition, frequently attacking the
Labour-led
Coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
on a wide range of issues. Speculation has occurred on efforts to create a more united front linking New Zealand First, the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party (), often shortened to National () or the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand that is the current senior ruling party. It is one ...
, and
ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand (; ), also known as the ACT Party or simply ACT, is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical liberal, Right-libertarianism, right-libertarian, and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties i ...
, but Peters has rejected this scenario, saying that the New Zealand voters will decide what alliances are necessary. Unlike the classical-liberal
ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand (; ), also known as the ACT Party or simply ACT, is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical liberal, Right-libertarianism, right-libertarian, and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties i ...
, which portrays itself as a natural
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
partner for the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party (), often shortened to National () or the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand that is the current senior ruling party. It is one ...
, New Zealand First welcomed the potential for a
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
with any parliamentary
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
.
For a period in early 2004 New Zealand First experienced a brief decline in the polls after
Don Brash
Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party, leader of the New Zealand National Party from ...
became leader of the
National Party, a change which hugely revived National's fortunes after the controversial but highly popular
Orewa Speech. The votes that had apparently switched to New Zealand First from National seemed to return to support
Don Brash
Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party, leader of the New Zealand National Party from ...
, and many commentators predicted that New Zealand First would lose a number of its seats in the next election. By 2005, however, the proportions had changed again, and as the campaign for the September 2005 election got under way, New Zealand First had again reached the 10% mark in
opinion polling for the 2005 election.
Pre-election polls put New Zealand First ahead of the other minor parties. Some thought it likely that in the event of a
National minority or
plurality, unless
ACT's fortunes dramatically improved, Don Brash would have to form a second coalition or seek a support agreement with New Zealand First to be able to form a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. Peters promised to support the party that won the most seats, or at least abstain in
no-confidence motions against it. However, he also said he would not support any
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
that included the
Greens within
Cabinet.
Confidence and supply with Labour: 2005–2008
In the
2005 election, however, the smaller political parties (including New Zealand First) suffered a severe mauling. Though it remained the third-largest party in the House, New Zealand First took only 5.72% of the vote, a considerable loss from 2002, and just enough to cross the
MMP proportionality quota of 5%. In addition, Peters narrowly lost his previously
safe constituency seat of
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
by 730 votes to National's
Bob Clarkson, and became a
list MP
A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...
. New Zealand First lost six seats in
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, earning 7 MPs, all elected on the
party list: Winston Peters, Peter Brown,
Dail Jones,
Ron Mark,
Doug Woolerton,
Barbara Stewart and
Pita Paraone.
Following the
2005 election, New Zealand First agreed to a
supply-and-confidence agreement with the New Zealand Labour Party (along with
United Future) in return for policy concessions including the
SuperGold Card and the portfolio of
Foreign Affairs
''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
outside
Cabinet for Winston Peters. Peters becoming
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
detected a change in his attitude since Peters' "Rotorua speech" on 7 September 2005 at a public address at the Rotorua Convention Centre had spoken of New Zealand First sitting on the
cross-benches (and thus staying out of
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
) and eschewing "the baubles of office". Peters' coalition partnership with the centre-left Labour Party was in spite of his increasingly right-wing populist rhetoric around
emigration from Asia (which was at odds with Labour's policies).
Peters has previously warned of an "Asian invasion" of
Asian migrants (against the evidence suggested by statistical trends). In 2005 he called New Zealand "the last Asian colony",
and referred to Asian immigration as an “imported criminal activity” that would cause "chaos" to race relations.
Soon after the
2005 New Zealand general election
The 2005 New Zealand general election on Saturday 17 September 2005 determined the membership of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives: 69 from single-member e ...
, Winston Peters launched a legal challenge against
Bob Clarkson, alleging that he had spent more than the legal limit allowed for campaign budgets during elections in New Zealand. This legal bid failed, with a majority of the judges in the case declaring that
Bob Clarkson had not overspent during the campaign for the
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
electorate. In the
2005 election funding controversy, the
Auditor-General found that all the parties in parliament except the
Progressive Party had misspent parliamentary funding. New Zealand First was the only party that did not repay the misspent funding.
New Zealand First achieved many policy initiatives during this term, most notably the introduction of the SuperGold Card, a policy which was unpopular among many political leaders due to its high cost. The SuperGold Card was targeted towards seniors, and included free off-peak travel, and discounts from thousands of New Zealand businesses. As
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
,
Minister for Racing and Associate Minister for Senior Citizens, Peters secured additional funding for "New Zealand to expand its international presence" in the
2007 budget, as well as in the
2008 budget additional benefits for SuperGold Card holders including funding for
hearing aids
A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers ...
, investments into the Pacific Cooperation Foundation and Asia-New Zealand Foundation, additional funding for prize money in the racing industry totalling $9m, and a large funding increase for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade once again.
As
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
, Winston Peters' most notable actions included a diplomatic mission to
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
and meeting with
United States Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State.
The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...
.
2008 general election
In the months before the
2008 general election, New Zealand First became embroiled in a dispute over donations to the party from billionaire
Owen Glenn, the Vela family and
Bob Jones. This resulted in an investigation into party finances by the
Serious Fraud Office on the 28th of August 2008 and an investigation into Peters by the
Privileges Committee. On 29 August 2008 Peters stood down from his ministerial roles after significant pressure, while the investigations by the
Serious Fraud Office and
Privileges Committee proceeded. Although the
Serious Fraud Office and the police found that Peters was not guilty of any wrongdoing, the
Privileges Committee decided that Peters knowingly misled Parliament by not declaring the donation,
and censured Peters, which he called a "useless facade."
The whole scandal harmed New Zealand First's polling in the lead-up to the election, and is widely attributed to its defeat.
During the scandal, then
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016.
Following his father's death when ...
took the opportunity to rule out working with Peters and New Zealand First, which likely contributed further to the party's defeat. As expected,
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
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 ...
did not rule out working with New Zealand First.
On election night it was clear that Peters had not regained
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
after his last loss of the electorate in the
2005 election, and that the party had not met the 5% threshold needed for parties to be elected without an electorate seat. In what some journalists described as a
'gracious' concession speech, Peters said that 'it's not over yet. We'll reorganise ourselves in the next few months. And we'll see what 2011 might hold for all us.''
At a post-election meeting held to discuss the party's future in February 2009, long-serving Deputy Leader
Peter Brown stepped down.
2011 general election
At the beginning of the election campaign New Zealand First was polling at around 2% in most major polls and was effectively written off by most political commentators. Prime Minister
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016.
Following his father's death when ...
had once again ruled out working with Peters and New Zealand First, however then
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
Phil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand retired politician and former diplomat. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, le ...
had stated he was open to working with New Zealand First post-election provided they made it back into Parliament.
Peters received a significant amount of media attention towards the end of the campaign at the height of the
Tea Tape scandal which arose during the campaign. Peters had criticised the arrangement in the
seat of Epsom between National and
ACT in which National encouraged its supporters to vote for the ACT candidate for their electorate MP. He railed against National for alleged negative remarks made about the then ACT leader
Don Brash
Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party, leader of the New Zealand National Party from ...
and New Zealand First's elderly supporters.
Peters appeared on a TVNZ minor parties leaders debate and won the debate convincingly in the subsequent text poll, with a plurality of 36% of the respondents saying Peters had won.
New Zealand First won 6.6% of the party vote on election night. Many political experts credit the
Tea Tape Scandal for the re-entry of New Zealand First into Parliament; however, Peters himself credits the return to Parliament to the hard work undertaken by the Party over the three years it was not represented in Parliament.
In 2012 the party sacked MP
Brendan Horan after allegations he stole money from his dying mother to gamble.
2014 general election

In 2012, New Zealand First stated their intent to work in coalition with parties that would buy the privatised state assets back after the
2014 general election.
New Zealand First entered the 2014 general election campaign without providing a clear indication as to their coalition preferences. However, Peters did raise late in the campaign the prospect of a Labour-New Zealand First coalition or confidence and supply arrangement, and express some respect for the National Party, in particular the Finance Minister
Bill English.
New Zealand First increased its party vote to 8.66% at the election, which took the party's representation in Parliament to 11 seats. Peters was highly critical of the conduct of the
Labour and
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
parties, who he blamed for the Opposition's loss.
In 2015 Peters contested the
Northland by-election, which was held as a result of the resignation of the incumbent
Mike Sabin on 30 January 2015 amid allegations of assault. Peters won the traditionally safe National seat with a majority of 4,441 over the National candidate Mark Osborne. It was the first time a New Zealand First MP held an electorate seat since Peters lost
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
in 2005. The win also resulted in New Zealand First acquiring a new List MP,
Ria Bond, which increased the party's parliamentary representation to 12 seats.
On 3 July 2015
Ron Mark was elected Deputy Leader of New Zealand First, replacing
Tracey Martin who had held the post since 2013.
2017 general election

Peters has said that he will continue on as the Leader of New Zealand First. New Zealand First launched its campaign in
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...
on 25 June 2017. Policies include ring-fencing GST to the regions it is collected from and writing off student loans of people willing to work outside major centres, and recruiting 1,800 extra police officers. New Zealand First is also campaigning on increasing the minimum wage to $17. They would later increase it to $20. On 28 June 2017, New Zealand First changed their logo that they have used since its formation in 1993, giving the new design the name "A Fresh Face".
In early July 2017, the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
co-leader
Metiria Turei criticised New Zealand First for its alleged racist attitude towards immigration.
Her criticism was echoed by fellow Green MP
Barry Coates, who claimed that the Greens would call for a snap election in response to a Labour–New Zealand First coalition government. In response, Peters and Deputy Leader
Tracey Martin warned that Turei and Coates' comments could affect post-election negotiations between the two parties. Though Turei did not apologise for her remarks, Greens co-leader
James Shaw later clarified that Coates' statement did not represent official Green Party policy.
During the party's convention in South Auckland on 16 July, Peters vowed that a New Zealand First government would hold two binding referendums on whether Maori electorates should be abolished and whether the number of MPs should be reduced to 100. Other New Zealand First policies included reducing immigration to 10,000 a year (from 72,300 in the June 2017 year), and bringing the country's banks back into Kiwi ownership, starting with making
Kiwibank the New Zealand government's official trading bank.
During the
2017 general election, New Zealand First's share of the vote dropped to 7.2% with the party's representation in Parliament being reduced to 9 MPs.
Under Peters' leadership, New Zealand First entered into talks to form coalitions with the National Party and the Labour Party. National Party leader and caretaker Prime Minister
Bill English signalled an interest in forming a coalition with New Zealand First, while Labour leader
Jacinda Ardern
Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
considered a three-way coalition with New Zealand First and the Greens. Peters stated that he would not make his final decision until the special votes results were released on 7 October 2017. During negotiations with Ardern, Peters indicated that he would be willing to consider dropping his call for a referendum on abolishing the Māori electorates in return for forming a coalition with Labour; a bone of contention in New Zealand race relations.
Coalition with Labour: 2017–2020
On 19 October, Labour and New Zealand First decided to form a coalition government and a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party.
On 26 October, Peters was appointed
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
,
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
, Minister for State-owned enterprises, and
Minister for Racing. Deputy Leader
Ron Mark was given the
Minister of Defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
and Veterans portfolios.
Tracey Martin was given the Children,
Internal Affairs, and Senior Citizens portfolios as well as being made Associate Minister of Education.
Shane Jones was made Minister of Forestry, Infrastructure, Regional Economic Development, and Associate Minister of Finance and Transport.
During the post-election negotiations, New Zealand First managed to secure several policies and concessions including a Regional Development Fund, the re-establishment of the
New Zealand Forest Service, increasing the
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
to $20 per hour by 2020, a comprehensive register of foreign-owned land and housing, free doctors' visits for all under-14-year-olds, free driver training for all secondary students, a new generation SuperGold smartcard containing entitlements and concessions, a royalty on the exports of bottled water, a commitment to re-entry of the
Pike River Mine, and Members of Parliament being allowed to vote in a potential referendum on
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
. In return, New Zealand First agreed to drop its demand for referendums on
overturning New Zealand's anti-smacking ban and abolishing the
Māori electorates
In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
.
In 2019, New Zealand First's Internal Affairs minister, Tracey Martin participated in negotiations with the Labour Party to pass the
Abortion Legislation Bill to reform the country's
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
laws. While Martin had ruled out supporting a referendum, she was overruled by the party leader Peters who demanded a binding referendum on the proposed legislation. He also ruled out giving New Zealand First MPs a conscience vote on the issue. While the party would support the bill at first reading, Peters warned that they would withdraw support if the proposed law was not put to a public referendum.
In response,
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Andrew Little rebuffed Peters' demands for a referendum on the grounds that Parliament would decide the legislation.
In March 2020, seven of the 9 NZ First MPs voted against the Bill while the two female MPs voted in favour of the Bill at its final reading—Tracey Martin and
Jenny Marcroft.
In late 2019, New Zealand First won a parliamentary vote to hold a
euthanasia referendum, as the party threatened to vote down the legislation if it did not go to a referendum.
The decision to go to a referendum passed 63–57.
2020 general election
During the
2020 New Zealand general election
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, 72 fro ...
, New Zealand First's party vote dropped to 75,021 (2.6%), causing the party to lose all of its seats in Parliament since it fell below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament through the party list alone. All NZ First MPs also lost the seats they were contesting.
Two months after the election, both its president and secretary resigned. Former MP
Darroch Ball became interim president; he claimed that the resignations were "always a planned retirement after the election for both roles".
Out of Parliament: 2020–2023
On 20 June 2021, Winston Peters confirmed that he would continue leading the party for the
2023 general election. Peters also made a speech attacking the Labour, National and Green parties that touched upon various issues including transportation infrastructure in Auckland, the increasing use of the
Māori language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
in official reports and public life, the Government's
COVID-19 vaccination rollout, purchase of
Ihumātao land, elimination of referendums on
Māori wards and constituencies, and so-called
wokeness in New Zealand society. This speech marked his first major public appearance since the 2020 general election.
New Zealand First Foundation fraud case: 2020–2022
In mid-February 2020, the
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that it was investigating the NZ First Foundation in response to allegations that the party had created a slush fund. Between 2017 and 2019, New Zealand First officials had allegedly channelled half a million dollars of donations into the NZ First Foundation's bank account to cover various party-related expenses such as the party's headquarters, graphic design, an MP's legal advice, and even a $5000 day at the Wellington races. The amount of donations deposited into the foundation and used by the party was at odds with its official annual returns.
Peters has denied any wrongdoing, while fellow MP Shane Jones, the
Minister for Infrastructure, has denounced allegations that the party was offering policy for cash as "conspiracy theories."
In late September 2020, the Serious Fraud Office announced that they would be laying charges against two persons as a result of their investigation into the NZ First Foundation.
On 7 June 2022, the trial of two men charged with stealing NZ$746,881 worth of donations from New Zealand First between September 2015 and February 2020 began. At the time, the defendants had been granted name suppression. Prosecutor Paul Wicks QC argued that the defendants had deceived about 40 donors, the NZ First party secretary and the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
into believing that their donations were going to the party. In fact, the money had gone into one of the defendants' bank accounts and the NZ First Foundation's bank account. Under the Electoral Act, funds donated to the NZ First Foundation between 2017 and 2020 should have been treated as party donations. According to the prosecution, the NZ First Foundation's funds were being used as a "slush fund" to cover party expenses including leasing and furnishing office space for the party's Wellington headquarters, election campaigning, and fundraisers. Wicks claimed that the defendants rather than the party's leadership controlled these funds.
On 23 June, the Crown concluded its closing arguments against the defendants. The defence concluded its closing arguments on 27 June. On 20 July, High Court Justice Pheroze Jagose permanently suppressed the names of the two defendants in the NZ First Foundation fraud case. On 22 July, the two defendants were acquitted by Justice Jagose.
In response to the NZ First Foundation trial verdict,
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Kiri Allan announced that the Government would be introducing new electoral donation amendment bill to widen the definition of political donations to include those donated to third-party entities and making it an offence not to pass political donations to a party's secretary. Other proposed measures include lowering the donation disclosure threshold from NZ$15,000 to NZ$5,000.
2023 general election
Before the
2023 New Zealand general election
The 2023 New Zealand general election was held on 14 October 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th New Zealand Parliament, 54th Parliament of New Zealand. Voters elected 122 members to the unicameral New Zealand House of Representatives ...
, Winston Peters said that NZ First would not join a coalition Government with Labour. In late March 2023, Peters announced that if elected into government, NZ First would remove
Māori names from government departments and bring back
English names. The party opposed raising the superannuation eligibility age from 65 to 67 years.
It opposed vaccine mandates and proposed that gang affiliation should automatically serve as an aggravating factor in crime sentencing.
On 23 July, NZ First launched its election campaign with the slogan "Take our country back." Peters announced that the party would campaign on five key issues: combating "racist separatism," fighting Australian-owned banks and the "supermarket duopoly," investing in health, social services, and elderly care, and adopting "
tough on crime" policies including designating all gangs as terrorist organisations. On 30 July, NZ First campaigned on moving the
Ports of Auckland and the
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...
's
Devonport base to
Northport, extending the
North Island Main Trunk Line to
Marsden Point
Marsden Point is a broad, flat peninsula that is the southern head of the Whangārei Harbour entrance on the east coast of Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand, southeast of the city of Whangārei. It is the location of Marsden Point Oil R ...
, a new four-lane alternative highway through the
Brynderwyn Range, and establishing a full inquiry into the Government's handling of 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 ...
.
On 13 August,
Stuff
Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to:
*Physical matter
*General, unspecific things, or entities
Arts, media, and entertainment
Books
*''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly
*''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong
Fictional c ...
reported that several NZ First candidates including property and commercial lawyer Kirsten Murfitt, Auckland consultant Janina Massee,
Matamata
Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which take ...
-
Piako district councillor Caleb Ansell, and Kevin Stone had expoused various controversial views including COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy
Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal of vaccines despite availability and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using ce ...
and "
plandemic" conspiracy theories,
New World Order conspiracy theories,
climate skepticism,
Qanon
QAnon ( ) is a far-right conspiracy theories in United States politics, American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals kno ...
, and support for Uganda's
Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023. In response, Peters stated that NZ First's candidate list was provisional and defended the party's candidate selection process.
On 16 August, NZ First released its policies on
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
people on bathrooms and sports; which included introducing legislation requiring public bodies to have "clearly demarcated" unisex and single-sex toilets, restricting toilet access to individuals from the opposite sex, and requiring sporting bodies to have an "exclusive biological female category." On 20 August, NZ First released a policy of promoting
English to the status of an
official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...
of New Zealand and withdrawing from the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
During the 2023 election, New Zealand First was returned to Parliament with 6.08% of the total party vote and eight list seats.
Coalition with National: 2023–present
Following coalition talks, NZ First entered into a
coalition agreement
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...
with the National and
ACT parties.
As part of the NZ First-National coalition agreement, National would no longer proceed with its proposed foreign buyer tax but would instead fund tax cuts via reprioritisation and other forms of revenue gathering. The new Government would also scrap the previous Labour Government's fair pay agreements, proposed hate speech legislation,
co-governance policies,
Auckland light rail,
Three Waters reform programme, and
Māori Health Authority. In addition, fees-free tertiary education would be shifted from the first to last year of tertiary study.
The Government also agreed to adopt NZ First's policy of establishing a NZ$1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund, establishing
English as an official language, and requiring government departments to use English for their primary names and communications, except for those dealing with
Māori people
Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...
. The Government also adopted NZ First's policy of halting all work related to the
He Puapua report and confirming that the
has no legal basis in New Zealand law. The Government also agreed to restore the right to
local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards.
As part of the NZ First-National coalition agreement the Government also agreed to end all remaining COVID-19 vaccine mandates and to hold an independent inquiry into how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled in New Zealand. This proposed independent inquiry is expected to examine the use of multiple lockdowns, vaccine procurement and efficacy, social and economic impacts on both national and regional levels, and whether decisions and actions taken by the Government were justified.
While the outgoing Labour Government had commissioned a
Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned, Peters claimed the inquiry's terms of reference were "too limited" during election campaigning.
Within the National-led coalition government, Peters assumed the positions of
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
(until 31 May 2025), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Racing. Shane Jones became
Minister for Oceans and Fisheries
The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries is a Ministers in the New Zealand Government, minister in the New Zealand Government responsible for the management of New Zealand's fisheries, including aquaculture, and for oceans policy.
The present min ...
, Regional Development, and Resources.
Casey Costello became
Minister of Customs and Minister for Seniors. In addition,
Mark Patterson became Minister for Rural Communities and Associate
Minister of Agriculture while
Jenny Marcroft became Under-Secretary to the
Minister for Media and Communications.
On 10 May 2024, the party introduced its Fair Access to
Bathrooms Bill into Parliament, which would require all public buildings to provide clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. The proposed bill would also fine anyone using a single-sex toilet "who is not of the sex for which that toilet has been designated." In early July 2024, NZ First invoked its "agree to disagree" provision in its coalition agreement with National after the Government decided to allow the
Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned to complete its first phase and retain its chair
Tony Blakely.
In early February 2025, NZ First introduced a member's bill seeking to
bar banks from refusing to provide services
based on environmental or social concerns. On 7 March 2025, NZ First introduced a member's bill seeking to remove so-called "
woke DEI" regulations from the Public Service Act 2020. It was noted that NZ First helped pass these laws in 2020. On 22 April,
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 ...
reported that NZ First had withdrawn its proposed Bathrooms legislation. Peters also introduced a new member's bill pushing for the term women to be defined in New Zealand law as "an adult human biological female."
Ideology and policies
Historically in the 1990s and the 2000s the party was often labelled as simply
populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
.
From the 2010s onwards the party has been referred to as
right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...
.
Over the years the party has also variously been described as
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
centrist
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
,
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 ...
,
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
,
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
,
and
right-wing
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
.
Conversely, academic Professor Todd Donovan argued in 2020 that "radical right / right-wing populist" is a misclassification of New Zealand First because it is neither
radical nor right-wing.
New Zealand First takes a broadly centrist and
interventionist position on
economic issues and a
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
position on moral issues.
The party distinguishes itself from the mainstream
political establishment through its use of
populist rhetoric, and supports binding
referendums
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
for major social and political change. The party is also
anti-immigration
Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...
and
anti-globalisation
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...
,
while also supportive of
protectionism
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...
and
pensioners' interests.
The party's
support base is mostly composed of middle-aged to elderly, rural and Māori voters.
The party has long advocated
direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
in the form of "binding citizen initiated referenda", to create "a democracy that is of the people and for the people", while forcing government "to accept the will of the people".
Peters has also used
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
and anti-elite rhetoric,
such as criticising what he regards as the "intellectually arrogant elite in government and bureaucratic circles".
At the core of New Zealand First's policies are its "Fifteen Fundamental Principles"; the first being "To put New Zealand and New Zealanders First". They largely echo the policies that Winston Peters, the party's founder, has advocated during his career.
NZ First seeks to "promote and protect the customs, traditions and values of all New Zealanders". Commentators have described the party, and Peters himself, as
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
.
Former party official and parliamentary researcher Josh Van Veen has characterised the party as culturally conservative due to its emphasis on preserving heritage and respect for national symbols. Van Veen opines that New Zealand First's emphasis on an inclusive national identity has led to a marriage between
liberal values and progressive nationalism.
Social and economic policies
New Zealand First has been closely associated with its policies regarding the
welfare
Welfare may refer to:
Philosophy
*Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group
* Utility in utilitarianism
* Value in value theory
Economics
* Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...
of
senior citizens
Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...
and its
anti-immigration
Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...
stance.
The party has frequently criticised immigration on economic, social and cultural grounds. It proposes an annual immigration cap of between 7,000 and 15,000 "seriously qualified" migrants, who would be expected to
assimilate into New Zealand culture.
Peters has on several occasions characterised the rate of
Asian immigration into New Zealand as too high; in 2004, he stated: "We are being dragged into the status of an Asian colony and it is time that New Zealanders were placed first in their own country". On 26 April 2005, he said: "Māori will be disturbed to know that in 17 years' time they will be outnumbered by Asians in New Zealand", an estimate disputed by
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand (), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces New Zealand c ...
, the government's statistics bureau, which stated that with a 145% increase from 270,000 to 670,000, the Asian community would still be smaller in 2021 than the Māori, who would increase by 5% to 760,000 over the same timeframe. Peters quickly rebutted that Statistics New Zealand has underestimated the growth rate of the Asian community in the past, as the Bureau had corrected its estimation by a 66,000 increase between 2003 and 2005.
In April 2008, Deputy Leader
Peter Brown drew widespread attention after voicing similar views and expressing concern at the growth of New Zealand's ethnic Asian population: "If we continue this open door policy there is real danger we will be inundated with people who have no intention of integrating into our society … They will form their own mini-societies to the detriment of integration and that will lead to division, friction and resentment".
New Zealand First also espouses a mixture of economic policies. Peters has called for
economic nationalism
Economic nationalism or nationalist economics is an ideology that prioritizes state intervention in the economy, including policies like domestic control and the use of tariffs and restrictions on labor, goods, and capital movement. The core bel ...
. The party supports raising the minimum wage to a
living wage, opposes the
privatisation
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of state assets (particularly to overseas buyers) and advocates buying back former
state-owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
s.
These policies align it with views generally found on the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
of New Zealand politics.
On the other hand, it favours reducing taxation and reducing the size of government (policies typical of the New Zealand
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
) and espouses both
social conservatism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...
and
welfare chauvinism
Welfare chauvinism or welfare state nationalism is the political notion that welfare benefits should be restricted to certain groups, particularly to the natives of a country as opposed to immigrants, or should be for the majority, excluding ...
.
New Zealand First provided for its strong support among elderly voters
by its repeal of the surtax on
superannuation
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...
, institution of a superannuation level of 66% of the net average wage, and introduction of the SuperGold Card. The party opposes any raising of the
retirement age
This article lists the statutory retirement age in different countries. In some contexts, the retirement age is the age at which a person is expected or required to cease work. It is usually the age at which such a person may be entitled to recei ...
.
"
Law and order" issues feature heavily in the party's policy platform.
New Zealand First advocates a stricter criminal code, longer judicial
sentences
The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages.
Background
The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...
, and the lowering of the
age of criminal responsibility
The age of criminal responsibility is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence/defense of infancy, which is a form of defense known as an excuse so t ...
. In 2011, at its annual convention, New Zealand First vowed to repeal the controversial
Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 (which it characterised as the "anti-smacking law"), which a vast majority of voters rejected in a non-binding
2009 citizen-initiated referendum.
In the
2017 general election campaign, the party again vowed to repeal the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act; it also ruled out a
confidence and supply
In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
arrangement or
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
with any party which opposed the policy.
In 2013, all seven NZ First MPs voted against the third reading of the
Marriage Amendment Bill, which permitted same sex marriage in New Zealand.
[ ] Peters had called for a referendum on the issue.
SuperGold Card
The SuperGold Card, a discounts and concessions card for senior citizens and veterans, has been a major initiative of the party.
As a condition of the 2005 confidence and supply agreement between New Zealand First and the
Labour Government, Peters launched the SuperGold Card in August 2007. The card is available to all eligible New Zealanders over the age of 65. A Veterans' SuperGold Card also exists for those who have served in the
New Zealand Defence Force
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; , "Line of Defence of New Zealand") is the three-branched military of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and its realm, promoting its interests, ...
in a recognised war or emergency.
Relations with Māori
Winston Peters is
Māori. At its high-water mark after the 1996 election, the party won all
Māori electorates
In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...
(the five MPs were nicknamed the "
Tight Five"). It continued to receive significant support from voters registered in Māori electorates for some years afterward. New Zealand First no longer supports the retention of the Māori electorates and has declared that it will not stand candidates in the Māori electorates in the future. It did not stand candidates in the Māori electorates in the
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
,
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, or
2008 general elections.
New Zealand First is further characterised by its strong stance on the
Treaty of 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 ...
.
The party refers to the Treaty as a "source of national pride" but does not support it becoming a part of
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
. Peters has criticised what he refers to as a Treaty "Grievance Industry"—which profits from making frivolous claims of violations of the Treaty—and the cost of Treaty negotiations and
settlement payments. The party has called for an end to "special treatment" of Māori.
On 19 July 2017, Peters promised that a New Zealand First government would hold two binding referendums on whether Maori electorates should be abolished and whether the number of MPs should be reduced to 100.
Following the
2017 general election, Peters indicated that he would be willing to consider dropping his call for a referendum on abolishing the Māori electorates during coalition-forming negotiations with Labour leader
Jacinda Ardern
Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
.
In 2023, Peters expressed disapproval of the utilisation of
te reo Māori names for government departments, describing them as "incomprehensible" to the majority of New Zealanders and criticising "
tokenism
In sociology, tokenism is the social practice of making a perfunctory and symbolic effort towards the equitable inclusion of members of a minority group, especially by recruiting people from under-represented social-minority groups in order for th ...
". The
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
, which New Zealand First has joined, has agreed to rename departments to "have their primary name in English, except for those specifically related to Māori".
Election results
House of Representatives
Māori electorates
Office-holders
See also
*
Politics of New Zealand
The politics of New Zealand () function within a framework of an Independence of New Zealand, independent, unitary state, unitary, parliamentary democracy. The system of government is based on the Westminster system, and the legal system is ...
*
Young New Zealand First
References
External links
New Zealand First official website
{{Authority control
1993 establishments in New Zealand
Anti-immigration politics in New Zealand
Anti-immigration politics in Oceania
Centre-right parties
Centrist parties in New Zealand
Conservative parties in New Zealand
Māori politics
New Zealand nationalism
Opposition to same-sex marriage in Oceania
Pensioners' parties
Political parties established in 1993
New Zealand First
New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...
Right-wing parties
Right-wing populist parties
Social conservative parties
Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Oceania