Advance New Zealand

This article is about the party founded in 2020. For the party of the same name which existed from 1995 to 1997, see Advance New Zealand (1995).

Advance New Zealand
LeaderJami-Lee Ross
FounderJami-Lee Ross
Founded2020
Dissolved19 August 2021 (deregistered)
Split fromNew Zealand National Party
Headquarters309 Botany Road, Botany,
Auckland
IdeologyConspiracy theorism[1]
Right-wing populism[2]
COVID-19 conspiracism
Political positionBig tent
Far-right (alleged)[3]
Colours  Blue and   Red
MPs in the House of Representatives
0 / 120
[4]
Website
advancenz.org.nz
offline as of September 2021

The Advance New Zealand Party[5] (abbreviated as Advance NZ or Advance) was a short-lived political party in New Zealand from 2020 to 2021. The idea was first unveiled in a newsletter from founder Jami-Lee Ross in April 2020. Ross has claimed that the party was a centrist and anti-corruption movement designed to appeal to voters "in the middle"; however, their main policies represent the political fringe rather than centre.[6]

Ross had been a member of the centre-right New Zealand National Party until a public spat with leader Simon Bridges during which he accused Bridges of corruption. Ross was since accused of sexual harassment and bullying, and has been investigated for corruption himself.[7]

In July 2020, Advance entered into an agreement with Billy Te Kahika's New Zealand Public Party, a conspiracy theory party that spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic on its Facebook page.[8] It also reached agreements with several other small parties.

Advance did not win any seats in the 2020 New Zealand general election, receiving 1.0% of the party vote and not winning any electorate seats. Te Kahika and the Public Party split from Advance shortly afterwards. On 19 August 2021, Advance was deregistered from the list of registered political parties.

  1. ^ "Jami-Lee Ross hitches wagon to conspiracy theorists". Newsroom. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Negative campaigning, fake news, and half-truths among the minor parties. And the question: is Advance New Zealand really 'populist'?". Victoria University of Wellington. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. ^ Graham-McLay, Charlotte (19 October 2021). "Why New Zealand rejected populist ideas other nations have embraced". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Members of Parliament". Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Register of political parties". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  6. ^ "New Zealand election TV debate: fears inclusion of fringe party may 'legitimise conspiracy theories'". the Guardian. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference nzh2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Adams, Josie (8 October 2020). "How QAnon took over Facebook, and why Zuckerberg just dealt it a massive blow". The Spinoff.