Destiny aims for ‘Vision NZ’
Destiny Church’s Hannah Tamaki has applied to register a new political party called Vision New Zealand, after her bid to register her party under the name Coalition New Zealand was refused.
In a public notice, the Electoral Commission — the body in charge of the election rules and regulations — said it was now considering the application and the party logo.
The logo has the word “Vision” sitting on top of a large “V” with a Maori pattern inside the block letter.
The Electoral Commission is inviting anyone who wishes to provide feedback on the party name, or logo, to do so before October 16.
In August, the commission ruled that the proposed name and logo of Coalition New Zealand could mislead or confuse voters and blocked it from being registered.
“The word coalition has a specific meaning in elections and politics and means a grouping or alliance of multiple parties,” said a spokesperson from the commission.
“Under MMP, Governments are usually coalitions and it is common to refer to Governments as ‘the coalition’.”
Apart from the name and logo, all other parts of the party’s application to be officially registered were in order.
The commission invited the party to reapply for registration with a different name and logo, which it has now done.
It was not the first time the Tamakis have run into trouble with their party name. Soon after Hannah Tamaki unveiled the Coalition NZ name, the website domain was bought by someone unaffiliated with the party.
In May, Tamaki was announced as the leader of the Coalition New Zealand party — a party based on “family values” and not associated with Destiny Church.
Her husband Brian — who is also the pastor of Destiny Church — promised the party would be a “vehicle for the silent majority” to express their beliefs. Hannah Tamaki had said the party was not looking for a “backroom deal” and planned on reaching the 5 per cent threshold of votes needed for a party to get into Parliament without having an electorate seat.