Outdoor Recreation New Zealand
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Current Outdoor Recreation NZ logo
Outdoor Recreation New Zealand (sometimes called ORNZ) is a small political party in New Zealand. It is primarily based around the hunting and fishing lobbies, but also includes other people who participate in other outdoor sports. The party states its goal as being to fight "the rapid erosion of sporting rights, resources and opportunities for outdoor sportspeople", claiming that current environmental policies impose unreasonable restrictions.
The party was first proposed in October 2001. Shortly afterwards, a meeting near Nelson agreed to establish a political party. The founders of the party say that "lobbying government has never been effective", and that establishing a political party was the only way to achieve their goals. On 8 March 2002, the party successfully registered with the Electoral Commission, having obtained the necessary five hundred members. This entitled it to seek and gain list votes under the MMP system. The party also gained government funding for broadcasting.
Outdoor Recreation New Zealand had its first test in the 2002 elections, and although it did not win any seats, it performed better than many had anticipated. It won 25,985 votes, around 1.28% of the total.
In 2003, the party announced that it would be seeking an agreement with the larger United Future New Zealand party, which was already in parliament. This agreement, further elaborated on in 2004, saw Outdoor Recreation "become affiliated" to United Future - Outdoor Recreation retained its separate identity, but contested the 2005 elections under the United Future banner. It did not, however, gain any seats.
In March 2006 the party split with United Future due to a dissatisfaction with the Christian evangelism within the party. ORNZ acting chairman Phil Hoare stating that: "We strongly believe in the traditional bedrock values of our nation's heritage but we also affirm the separation of church and state." [1]
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