Heartland New Zealand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Mark Ball (as of 2020) |
| Founded | June 2020 (2020-06) |
| Headquarters | Pukekohe |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| House of Representatives | 0 / 120 |
Heartland New Zealand is aNew Zealand political party founded in 2020.[1] The party is rural-based, and opposed theNew Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, theParis Agreement, and attempts to limit theenvironmental impacts of agriculture.[2]
The party was founded in 2020, prior to the2020 election. For that election, the party was led by formerFranklin District mayorMark Ball.[1][2] At the time of its founding, it was backed byHamilton entrepreneur Harry Mowbray,[3] father ofNick Mowbray, a billionaire who, with his siblings, was on the 2019NBR Rich List.[4]
Heartland did not apply for a broadcasting allocation, which was allocated in May 2020.[5] The party applied for registration with theElectoral Commission in July,[6][7] and was registered on 6 August 2020.[8] It had a party list of five people for the2020 election — tied for the shortest party list withVision NZ[9] — and Mark Ball was itsonly electorate candidate, standing in thePort Waikato electorate.
The party won 914 party votes (0.003% of the total) in the 2020 election, the fewest party votes of the registered parties.[10] Ball came third in Port Waikato, with 8,462 electorate votes (21%).[11]
In June 2023 the party's registration was cancelled at its own request.[12] It initially said that it intended to run for electorate seats in the2023 election, in the hopes of creating anoverhang.[13] However, it did not field any candidates.[14] The party announced that it had decided not to contest the 2023 election at all, saying it intended to build towards the 2026 election.[15]
Heartland NZ seeks to form a coalition with other right-wing parties.[16] The party has been critical of climate change policies and water restrictions and has opposed New Zealand's ban on oil and gas exploration.[2] In 2023 it campaigned against the Labour government'sClean Car Standard,[17] and against "wokeism" andpolitical correctness.[18]
| Election | Candidates nominated | Seats won | Votes | Vote share % | Position | MPs in parliament | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electorate | List | ||||||
| 2020 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 987[19] | 0.1 | 17th | 0 / 120 |
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