Liberal Reform Party (New Zealand)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Liberal Reform Party was a rural based political party in New Zealand. It was the successor to the Country Party that contested the 1969 election.
The party was launched as a revival of the decades earlier Country Party by the New Zealand Free Enterprise Movement in 1968 feeling that voters needed a genuine free enterprise choice in elections as, in their view, New Zealand was caught between monopoly business interests and overly empowered trade unions.[1] It changed its name to Liberal Reform in 1970.[2] The party criticised [[Robert Muldoon" as a "socialist dictator"[3] and campaigned for the abolition of taxation.[4]
The Liberal Reform Party main goals were individual freedom, self reliance and maximised free enterprise. In addition it had other policy platforms it campaigned on:[1][5]
- To create a written constitution
- Reducing government spending to control inflation
- To hold a referendum on the issue of compulsory unionism
- Establishing a petition system to allow electors to challenge legislation between elections
- The abolition of payroll tax, death duties and gift duties
- Incentivising students to attend technical institutes rather than universities
The party supported sporting links with apartheid South Africa.[6][7]
The party planned to run 40 candidates at the 1972 election,[8] but stood only 16.[9] It performed poorly, winning only 0.29% of the vote with all candidates losing their deposits.[10] It did not stand at the 1975 election election.[11]
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