Democracy NZ party leader Matt King at the Parliament Covid-19 protest in February. Photo / Michael Neilson
Democracy NZ party leader Matt King at the Parliament Covid-19 protest in February. Photo / Michael Neilson
Another new political party has officially entered the "freedom" space with estranged National MP Matt King's Democracy NZ now registered with the Electoral Commission.
It joins three other parties formed in the past few years campaigning on political freedom, ignited throughout the pandemic response, including Vision NZ, NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party, and One Party.
King has come out swinging at his former party, seeking to mop up voters disillusioned with the "mainstream", calling National Party leader Christopher Luxon "weak" and "sitting on the fence" for criticising the Government's agricultural pricing policy while backing one that seeks to achieve much the same.
"He's not backing the farmers," King said.
"We are going to have more farmers in our party that the National Party."
Former National Party MP and now Democracy NZ leader Matt King at the February COvid-19 protests. Photo / George Heard
He said he would scrap climate change targets for farmers, and work with them to develop a "workable emissions scheme".
It's the first official policy area King, the Northland MP for National from 2017 to 2020, has stepped into outside of opposing the Government's Covid-19 response, particularly the vaccine mandates.
King announced he quit National in February over its support of Covid-19 measures, while controversially attending the protest outside Parliament.
Matt King (right) when he was the Northland MP, with then-National Party leader Judith Collins and MP Scott Simpson. Photo / Peter de Graaf
He told the Herald his party had hit the required 500 paying members several months ago but the approval had only just come through.
He said the party now had "well over 1000" paying members.
"We have been on the campaign trail since March. We have 400 or more coming to an event in Christchurch tonight ... where we will be officially announcing we are now registered."
The majority of their members had contributed the minimum $20 but there were a "handful" of much larger donors "drip feeding" funds as they were needed.
"We'll have enough for our campaign," he said.
King would not yet say who was backing him, saying it would become "public record" once they hit the threshold and had to be disclosed.
"These are regular business people, average Kiwis, some who will be well-known.
"Some came to us offering us a lot more but with conditions. I had to say no. If I was going to keep my mouth shut I would still be in the National Party, but that's not who I am."
Members were of "all ages" and "from across the political spectrum", he said.
"A lot of the existing traditional parties their voter base is dying out, while we have a lot of young and a lot of women."
King said there was a general consensus people were unhappy with the Government and the Opposition as well.
"A lot of people I talk to are former National and former Labour supporters that told me they will never vote for those mainstream parties again because of their actions of the past three years."
Democracy NZ party leader Matt King at the Parliament Covid-19 protest in February. Photo / Michael Neilson
King said it was the Covid-19 restrictions and mandates that were the "birth" of the party after seeing no party in Parliament stand up against them.
He said enshrining freedoms through the Bill of Rights as a "sacred document" would be their main policy and bottom line. He said he could not work with the current Labour Government, but was open to working with National and Act if the opportunity arose.
He planned to "drip feed" policies but generally, Democracy NZ was a "centrist party, practical, common sense and grassroots".
While they would be aiming to reach the 5 per cent party threshold, King said the most "realistic" option was to win back his Northland electorate seat.
On the other parties in the "freedom space", King said he was not looking to join forces.
"There are a few parties competing in [the] freedom movement. I've had conversations with others, but I don't trust them.
"I have a very good strategy and I do not want to compromise that and the people supporting us."
