Internet Party (New Zealand)

Multiple opinion polls prior to the election suggested Internet Mana could receive more than two percent of the party vote,^{[16][17][18][19]} which would give Internet Mana multiple MPs if it could retain Te Tai Tokerau. The only poll of that electorate suggested a very close race; in that poll 38% said they would give Harawira their electoral vote, while 37% said they would vote for his main challenger, Labour's Kelvin Davis.^[20]

On election night, Harawira lost Te Tai Tokerau, receiving 8,969 electorate votes to Davis's 9,712.^[21] Internet Mana received 1.42% of the party votes.^[2] Without an electorate seat or 5% of the party vote, the coalition failed to have any representation.

Dotcom said to reporters on election night that "I take full responsibility for this loss tonight, because the brand—the brand Kim Dotcom—was poison for what we were trying to achieve."^[22] The parties later separated. After the election, Laila Harré resigned as leader of the Internet Party^[23] and the party told its members that it was concentrating on efforts to build its internal structures to support its grassroots movement.^[24] In December 2016, Kim Dotcom posted a poll on Twitter asking if his followers wanted the Internet Party to stand in the 2017 election.^[25]

2017 election

The Internet Party remained leaderless until 8 February 2017, when it appointed

In a tweet of April 2018, Suzie Dawson said that she was no longer eligible to run for Parliament as she had lived outside New Zealand for more than three years, and so was resigning as party leader. She said that she had been elected party president instead.[28]

The party was deregistered on 12 June 2018 because its membership had dropped below the 500 required for registration.^[4]

Current status

As of August 2022, the Internet Party has not announced that it has dissolved. However, the party has not contested local or general elections since the 2017 general election. The party remains unregistered.^[29] As of August 2022, its website is live and lists Suzie Dawson as its leader, but all links on the page redirect to an archived version of the site from 2018, stored on the Internet Archive.^[30] The party applied for broadcasting funding in May 2020 for the 2020 general election. It received $41,457 of funding conditional on achieving party registration,^[31] but it did not register. In August 2022, party founder Kim Dotcom tweeted that the party would be "in the Beehive" in 2024.^[32]

Policies

The party used a consultative process to form policies with its membership using online platforms with policy writers following the forum in the background.^[33]

During its launch in 2014, the party set an agenda which included the following broad aims:^[8][34]

• Provide unlimited high-speed internet to all New Zealanders, 50% cheaper than current prices;
• Build another submarine communications cable connecting New Zealand to the world;
• Create new high-tech jobs;
• Restrict government surveillance;
• Review the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement;
• Copyright reform;
• Encourage clean energy and green technology;
• Reduce social inequality.

Electoral results

See also

• Internet Party and Mana Movement
• Pirate Party of New Zealand
• Criticism of copyright
• Digital rights
• Kim Dotcom

References