Outdoors Party formed

The aim of the party will be to lobby and develop policy based on protecting and enhancing the wonderful New Zealand outdoors environment.

The party will concentrate on its key policy areas around protecting the environment and the New Zealand way of life, with little or no emphasis on economic and other areas where small parties have little or no influence.

The New Zealand way of life has always been based around its outdoors heritage and the wonderful community support that is uniquely New Zealand. This will be the party’s mission to protect and enhance those values.

The sponsor of the party, Alan Simmons, said that he believed for a political party to thrive, it needs to stick to its basic principles and only engage in its area of expertise in a positive manner. The party’s role would be to develop and engage in alternative ideas showing a positive way forward.
Mr Simmons said that the sort of issues the party would concentrate on include: water quality and keeping freshwater fresh; climate change; land use changes; encouraging alternatives to pine forests (such as the planting of manuka forest instead); fishing, both recreational and commercial; rural issues (such as loss of rural communities, corporate farming, clean farming methods, and alternative value-added crops); aquaculture; access issues bought about by foreign ownership; trout farming; helihunting; and in general promote the egalitarian principals New Zealand was founded on.

Membership would be encouraged from all outdoor groups such as trampers, anglers, hunters, biking enthusiasts, boaties, mountain clubs, environmental enthusiasts, those interested in climate change, or just with a general love of the bush and mountains. However, by being a centre-of-the-road party we would hope to attract people from a number of outdoors groups, including everyday New Zealanders who are just sensible conservationists.

Membership applications had been flooding in since the website went live on Friday, and Mr Simmons said that he was “thrilled New Zealanders realised the need for such a party”. He also said he wanted to “inject the words ‘positive’, and ‘sensible conservation’ into the political debate about New Zealand’s wonderful environment, while focussing on the sort of world we are leaving for future generations.”

Anyone with an interest should visit the Outdoors Party website or contact Alan Simmons on mobile, 0274 980 304.