NZ South Island Party facts for kids

The NZ South Island Party was a political party in New Zealand. It wanted the South Island to have more say in how things were run. The party is no longer active today. Its main goal was to create a special group, called a regional assembly. This group would make decisions just for the South Island.

What the Party Wanted

The NZ South Island Party was based in the Otago region. It was led by Pat McCarrigan from Dunedin and Alan McDonald. The party wanted the South Island to have more control over its own issues. This idea is called regionalism. They believed a special assembly could help with this.

However, the party did not become very popular. This was likely because it wasn't well-organized. It also didn't have much money to help it grow.

Trying for Votes

In the 1999 elections, the party tried to win seats in Parliament. They had five candidates who ran in specific areas, called electorates. They also had seven candidates on a party list. People could vote for these candidates or for the party itself.

The party did not win any seats in 1999. They received only a small number of votes, about 0.14% of all party votes. This was 2,622 votes in total. In some areas, they did a little better. Their highest vote in any electorate was 2.6%, which was over 800 votes.

Why the Party Stopped

The NZ South Island Party decided to stop being a registered political party. They asked for their registration to be cancelled on 14 June 2002. Because of this, they did not take part in the 2002 elections.

South Island Independence

There is also a group called the South Island Independence movement. This group is not a political party. It is not directly connected to the NZ South Island Party. However, the goals of the independence movement are quite similar. Both groups want the South Island to have more control over its future.