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ACT New Zealand

ACT New Zealand
LeaderDavid Seymour
Deputy LeaderBrooke van Velden
PresidentHenry Lynch (acting)[1]
Founders
Founded1994 (1994)
Split fromNew Zealand Labour Party
Headquarters27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, Auckland
Student wingYoung ACT[2]
IdeologyClassical liberalism[3][4]
Right-libertarianism[5][6][7]
Conservatism[8][9][10]
Political positionRight-wing[7][3]
Colours
  •   Yellow
  •   Cyan
  •   Magenta
Slogan"ACT for real change"[11]
MPs in the
House of Representatives
11 / 123
Website
act.org.nz

ACT New Zealand, also known as the ACT Party or simply ACT (/ˈækt/), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. It is currently led by David Seymour, and is in coalition with the National and New Zealand First parties, as part of the Sixth National government.[12]

ACT is an acronym of the name of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, a pressure group that was founded in 1993 by former National Party MP Derek Quigley and former Labour Party MP Roger Douglas, a figure of the New Right who served as minister of finance under the Fourth Labour Government. Douglas' neoliberal economic policies, dubbed Rogernomics, transformed New Zealand's economy from a protectionist one into a free market through extensive deregulation.

After Labour lost the 1990 election in a wipeout and its neoliberal faction lost influence, ACT was built mostly by Douglas' former party supporters as a new political party for 1996. The introduction of proportional representation gave minor parties a greatly increased chance of getting into parliament. Former Labour MP Richard Prebble unexpectedly won the safe Labour seat of Wellington Central, and served as ACT party leader from after the election until 2004. Under Prebble's leadership the party held nine seats in Parliament. Rodney Hide served as leader from 2004 to 2011. ACT was briefly led by former National Party leader Don Brash for the 2011 election, after which the party caucus was reduced to one seat.

ACT gave support to the Fifth National Government from 2008 to 2017. It is currently led by David Seymour, who became the party's leader in October 2014 and has been an elected MP of the party since September 2014. During the 2017 election, ACT retained its sole seat in Epsom and received 0.5% of the party vote.[13] ACT rebounded in the 2020 election, winning 10 seats with 7.6% of the party vote.[14] In the 2023 election ACT increased its share of the party vote to 9% and picked up an additional seat–the party's best result since its founding.[15]

Young ACT is an associated student wing.[16][17]

  1. ^ Manch, Thomas (27 January 2023). "ACT Party president Tim Jago resigns, acting president appointed". Stuff.
  2. ^ "Young Act website". Young ACT. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b Boston, Jonathan (2003). New Zealand Votes: The General Election of 2002. Victoria University Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780864734686.
  4. ^ Seymour, David (23 February 2015). Our classical liberal tribe (Speech). act.org.nz. ACT New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Party profile: ACT Party — NZ Election 2020". Your complete guide to NZ Election 2020 – Policy. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020. The ACT Party (Rōpū ACT) is a right-wing libertarian party that advocates free market policies and reducing the role of government.
  6. ^ Graham-McClay, Charlotte (8 August 2020). "ACT's David Seymour: 'I don't really care what people think and I'm still quite successful'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b Norris, Pippa (2005). Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market. Cambridge University Press. p. 285. ISBN 9781139446426. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  8. ^ Perry, Nick (14 August 2014). "Racism mars New Zealand election campaign". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  9. ^ "NZ votes for stability after chaos". News.com.au. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Third term lucky". The Economist. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  11. ^ . ACT New Zealand https://www.act.org.nz/. Retrieved 2 March 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ "'Strong, productive, unified': Luxon sworn in as PM". The New Zealand Herald. 27 November 2023.
  13. ^ "2017 General Election – Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Explore 2020 New Zealand election results by overall party vote and at each local electorate level". Stuff. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Official count – Overall Results". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Young Act sexual abuse allegations". Newsroom. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  17. ^ Maynard, Roger (26 August 2023). "New Zealand is ready for real change, says kingmaker party leader". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 September 2023.