Advance New Zealand
The Advance New Zealand Party (abbreviated as Advance NZ or Advance) was a short-lived political party in New Zealand from 2020 to 2021. The idea was first unveiled in a newsletter from founder Jami-Lee Ross in April 2020. Ross has claimed that the party was a centrist and anti-corruption movement designed to appeal to voters "in the middle"; however, their main policies represent the political fringe rather than centre.
Advance New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Jami-Lee Ross |
| Founder | Jami-Lee Ross |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Dissolved | 19 August 2021 (deregistered) |
| Split from | New Zealand National Party |
| Headquarters | 309 Botany Road, Botany, Auckland |
| Ideology | Conspiracy theorism Right-wing populism COVID-19 conspiracism |
| Political position | Big tent Far-right (alleged) |
| Colours | Blue and Red |
| MPs in the House of Representatives | 0 / 120 |
| Website | |
| advancenz.org.nz offline as of September 2021 | |
| |
Ross had been a member of the centre-right New Zealand National Party until a public spat with leader Simon Bridges during which he accused Bridges of corruption. Ross was since accused of sexual harassment and bullying, and has been investigated for corruption himself.
In July 2020, Advance entered into an agreement with Billy Te Kahika's New Zealand Public Party, a conspiracy theory party that spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic on its Facebook page. It also reached agreements with several other small parties.
Advance did not win any seats in the 2020 New Zealand general election, receiving 1.0% of the party vote and not winning any electorate seats. Te Kahika and the Public Party split from Advance shortly afterwards. On 19 August 2021, Advance was deregistered from the list of registered political parties.