New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Sue Grey |
| Founded | September 2015 |
| Ideology | Anti-1080 Environmentalism Anti-5G technology[1] Anti-vaccination Anti-lockdown[2] |
| National affiliation | Freedoms New Zealand |
| Colours | Green |
| MPs in theHouse of Representatives | 0 / 120 [3] |
| Website | |
| nzofp.co.nz | |
TheNew Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party,[4] formerly the New Zealand Outdoors Party, is a registeredpolitical party inNew Zealand. The party is led bySue Grey.[4]
The party's policies combine environmentalism with anti-government conspiracy theories.[5][6] A minor party, it has never had a Member of Parliament.
The Outdoors & Freedom Party's policy platform includes opposition to fluoridation of water,[7]1080 poison, vaccines, COVID-19 restrictions, and5G technology.[1] They supportmedicinal cannabis.[8]
These newer policy positions have been added to the party's original platform, which aims to protect the environment and New Zealand's "outdoors heritage".[5] At its launch the party advocated for clean, full and unmodified rivers, greater protection from development for the conservation estate, large game animals to be managed by all hunters for recreation and conservation benefit, removal of ecologically destructive trawling practices within the inshore fishery and a Futures Commission to determine environmental limits to the growth of population, tourism, economy and infrastructure.[9]
The New Zealand Outdoors Party was launched in September 2015 by co-leaders Alan Simmons, formerly of theUnited Future party, and David Haynes, president of the Association of Freshwater Anglers.[10] The new party aimed to protect New Zealand's environment and outdoor heritage.[5] After building up its membership over the next two years,[11][12] the party was granted registration by the Electoral Commission on 11 August 2017.[13][14]
In the2017 general election the party stood candidates inNelson,Taupō,Maungakiekie andHutt South. The same four were also on the party list.[9] With 0.1% of the party vote the Outdoors Party failed to win any seats in theNew Zealand House of Representatives.[15]
Following the de-registration of theBan 1080 Party in 2017, many Ban 1080 supporters moved to the Outdoors Party. In January 2020 the party elected anti-1080 activist Sue Grey as its co-leader.[16] Co-founder David Haynes left the party around the same time.[17]
In March 2020 the party formed an alliance with the Real NZ Party, resulting in the founder and leader of Real NZ,David Moffett, being appointed to the Outdoor Party's board as an executive director. Jennie Brown, an early childhood educator fromGisborne, was made a new board member at the same time.[18][19] By the time of the election, Brown was standing as a candidate for theBilly Te Kahika'sNew Zealand Public Party (NZPP).[20]
In April 2020 the NZPP, known for its belief in a "plandemic" conspiracy, had approached the Outdoors Party about working together but a personality clash between Te Kahika and Sue Grey prevented this.[21] Within four months the relationship reached a point where Grey alleged that the Outdoors Party had been the target of a harassment campaign by NZPP supporters (which was now in allied withAdvance New Zealand). Te Kahika called the behaviour "absolutely reprehensible" and asked his supporters not to abuse Grey, but also said that “the worst and the filthiest behaviour has actually come from Outdoors Party supporters towards the Public Party".[22]
In April 2020 the party criticised a nationwide lockdown (a response to theCOVID-19 pandemic) as "cruel and unreasonable" as it banned hunting and other outdoor activities. They also compared the New Zealand Government to theNazi Party.[2]
In June 2020, at a rally inAuckland, Outdoors Party supporters claimed that theSeptember 11 attacks were afalse flag operation, promotedflat Earth theories, and denounced "mind control" and 5G technology.[23] They also harassed and threatened a young Asian woman who wiped out chalk slogans saying "it's okay to be white" and "all lives matter". One supporter screamed at the woman to “go back to her own country”, while another said "she wasn't born here, she came here to create shit". Party co-leader Alan Simmons reprimanded the woman, saying "you shouldn't be using language like that, a little girl like you". Party member Tracy Livingston tried to ease tension, saying that the young woman was "not the enemy" and that everybody was "naturally racist". Party co-leader Sue Grey later told media that the people in the video were not members of the party, that the party did not condone their actions, and that two of the people in the incident had since apologised to her. Simmons also spoke to media afterwards, saying he had "protected the girl" from harm.[24]
Around September 2020, at least six nominated candidates pulled out of the party. Some switched allegiance to theNew Zealand Public Party or theSocial Credit Party while others founded a new party called the Attica Project.[8]
The New Zealand Outdoors Party received a broadcasting allocation of $51,821 for the2020 election.[25] It received 3,256 party votes, or 0.1% of the total.[26]
In April 2022 the party officially changed its name to the NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party.[27] The next monthDonna Pokere-Phillips became co-leader in place of Simmons, a position she held until 2025. Pokere-Phillips had previously stood in elections for theMāori Party (Te Pāti Māori, 2020),The Opportunities Party (TOP, 2017), and theAlliance (1999).[28][29][30][31]
Sue Grey stood as the party's candidate in the2022 Tauranga by-election, held on 18 June. She received 1,030 votes, the fourth-highest total out of 20,784 cast. (Winning candidateSam Uffindell received 11,613.)[32]
On 23 August 2022The Freedoms & Rights Coalition, led byBrian Tamaki, held a protest outside Parliament. Tamaki announced that a new umbrella party,Freedoms NZ, would be formed through a union of the Outdoors & Freedom Party,Vision NZ (led by his wifeHannah), and the nascentNew Nation Party. He also invited other minor parties to join.[33] The Outdoors & Freedom Party responded that Tamaki's announcement was premature, and that they had not decided whether to join Freedoms NZ.[34][35]
The first parliamentary election held after the formation of Freedoms NZ was the2022 Hamilton West by-election. Vision NZ and Outdoors & Freedom entered separate candidates (Freedoms NZ was not a registered party at the time).[36] Donna Pokere-Phillips, the Outdoors & Freedom co-leader, received 125 votes, less than 1% of the total.[37]
A number of candidates in the2022 New Zealand local elections were affiliated with the Outdoors & Freedom Party:
Changing its earlier position, the Outdoors & Freedom Party joinedFreedoms NZ in May 2023. Sue Grey and Brian Tamaki were announced as co-leaders of the umbrella movement.[45][46][47]
Parties that gained less than 1% of 2020's party vote are eligible for $66,332 in broadcast funding from the Electoral Commission. Before Outdoors & Freedom joined Freedoms NZ, the commission had signalled that this amount would be allocated to the party. Once the party joined Freedoms NZ the Commission said it was likely that Freedoms NZ would be treated as a single "group of parties" eligible for only one allocation of $66,332. Constituent parties, including Outdoors & Freedom, would not receive individual allocations. Sue Grey and Brian Tamaki began challenging the Electoral Commission in the High Court on May 31, arguing that there was no formal relationship between Freedoms NZ and Outdoors & Freedom.[48] The New Zealand High Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims.[49]
A few days later Sue Grey said that her party would "review" claims made byCounterspin, a far-right media platform with strong links to the broader "freedom" movement and a history of airing conspiracy theories, in a video that attacked Brian and Hannah Tamaki for profiting as the landlords of a Covid testing site. Amidst other simultaneous signals of disunity between anti-mandate groups, Grey also suggested that there would be room under the Freedoms NZ umbrella for more parties.[50]
Final results from the2023 New Zealand general election indicate that Freedoms New Zealand received 0.33% (9,586 votes) of the party vote and did not win any electorate seats, meaning it did not enter parliament. Sue Grey came seventh of nine in theWest Coast-Tasman electorate.[51]
In May 2025, Freedoms NZ was deregistered as a party and disbanded as an umbrella movement. The Outdoors and Freedom Party continues as its own entity.[52] After its 2025 AGM, the party announced that "Sue Grey continues as Leader", with no mention of Pokere-Phillips.[53]
| Election | Candidates nominated | Seats won | Votes | Vote share % | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electorate | List | |||||
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | 0 / 120 | 1,620 | 0.1% | Not In Parliament |
| 2020 | 26 | 28 | 0 / 120 | 3,256 | 0.1% | Not In Parliament |
Among its policies, the NZ Outdoors Party calls for the immediate cessation and use of 1080 poison, supports the use of medicinal cannabis and seeks a moratorium on the allocation, auction and rollout of 5G spectrum licences until there has been a full public inquiry into the costs and benefits of 5G, effects on human health and the natural environment and how these can best be avoided or managed.
The Outdoors and Freedom Party and its co-leader, Sue Grey, have been heavily involved in the anti-Covid-19 vaccine and mandate movement, have spread conspiracy theories about the efficacy of the vaccine, and participated in an occupation of Parliament grounds earlier in the year, which ended with a destructive riot.
After Grey joined - and Haynes departed - its policies expanded, calling for the immediate cessation of the use of 1080, a moratorium on the allocation of medicinal marijuana, and an inquiry into 5G.
A prospective union with the Outdoors Party fell apart due to personality clashes between Te Kahika and anti-1080 lawyer and Outdoors candidate Sue Grey, according to posts from the NZPP Facebook page.
Donna Pokere-Phillips will contest the by-election for the NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party.
[Component] parties now have their own goals and direction...and we wish them every success."
