The WIN Party was a small political party in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was founded by a group of

publican The (Latin ; Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw pub ...

s and bar-owners who objected to the government's ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, introduced in December 2004. WIN's slogan was "Freedom of Choice", and the party said that it was fighting a growing trend in which "the average Kiwi ... is being told more and more what they can and can't do". According to the party's leaders, opposition to the smoking ban was the party's primary campaign plank, but other related issues were also given attention. WIN's leader was

John van Buren John Van Buren (February 18, 1810 – October 13, 1866) was an American lawyer, official and politician. In addition to serving as a key advisor to his father, President Martin Van Buren, he was also Attorney General of New York from 1845 to 1 ...

, a publican from the

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula () is a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand that was formed by two now-extinct volcanoes. It has an area of approximately . It includes two large deep-water harbours — Lyttelton Harbour a ...

area. Geoff Mulvihill, a publican from

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

, was the deputy leader. Both van Buren and Mulvihill have been accused by the Ministry of Health of not enforcing the smoking ban, as required by law. Mulvihill is known for supporting freedom of choice for his patrons, having once lost his liquor licence for operating around the clock prior to the legislation of 24-hour trading. The party had been given official registration, but chose not to field candidates in the 2005 elections. Instead, it endorsed the larger

United Future United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside New Zealand Labou ...

party, and van Buren stood as a candidate on United Future's party list, where he was ranked 55th out of 57. As United Future received only three seats in Parliament at that election, van Buren was not elected. The party published the results of a survey showing that while city bars had suffered little damage from the ban on patrons choosing to smoke, suburban and rural establishments had been hard hit. WIN was deregistered in August 2006.Cancellation of party registration , Elections New Zealand
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References

External links

New Zealand Herald- Small parties battle election arithmetic
Defunct political parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 2004 Political parties disestablished in 2006 Smoking in New Zealand {{NewZealand-org-stub

See also

References

External links