Source: New Zealand First
Introduction
Good afternoon.
This election is going to be pivotal for the direction of our country, and what is needed more than anything else is serious skill, and serious experience in the next government.
It is vital that the left does not win.
It is just as vital as who the Ministers and MPs in the next government are.
We need Members of Parliament and Ministers who have a track record of delivery and competence, who have the right values and principles to help make the changes that are needed in the key areas of government.
Most of all they need pragmatism and common sense.
That is why we are announcing today the New Zealand First candidate standing here in the Wairarapa this election – former Minister of Defence Ron Mark.
Ron has been a Member of Parliament, a Minister of the Crown, a Mayor, and more recently has continued serving internationally, travelling to Ukraine during the war to support humanitarian and reconstruction efforts and to assist communities affected by the conflict.
Ron brings proven leadership and a deep commitment to serving the people of New Zealand.
When Ron was the Minister of Defence, he had a huge impact on the Defence Force, was well respected within the ranks, and delivered massive changes and upgrades to our forces.
No modern Minister of Defence can match his record in terms of procurement of essential military equipment.
Ron seriously delivered as a Minister and an MP in this area.
Others might talk about the Wairarapa interests, Ron does something about it.
We ask you to make sure your vote counts this election, to ensure you have the real representation in government that this country needs.
This election is going to be like no other. There is a sea change happening around the world and it is also happening here in New Zealand – people are sick of the pendulum swing between Pepsi and Coke, Tweedledum or Tweedledee – they are voting for people who are not afraid to tell it like it is, for people who are offering hope for a change from the old party status quo of the past forty years that has failed to focus on ordinary hardworking kiwi battlers.
And they want to bust out of the mainstream media’s choice of the next election winner, and restore the voters pre-eminence in a democracy.
You, not the mainstream media, are the masters.
Ron has a real chance here in the Wairarapa to help turn things around, but we need you to give us the tools to get the job done.
A Pivotal Election
The election is a little over three months away, and we are already seeing the other parties reverting to type, as they always do at election time, with no direction, no plan, and no policy, that will give New Zealand the real change that we need.
There is a difference in this election, that we haven’t seen in a long time.
Kiwis are looking at what parties are offering as their values and principles in these uncertain times.
There will be the inevitable policies and promises made, and they are important, but kiwis are looking to a party that stands with them in their core values – that will change the current pathway we are on as a country.
Challenging the Status Quo
The greatest challenge to blind ideology, to social elitism, and to the status quo, is New Zealand First.
If you doubt that, look at the way they all salivate over any comment we make.
Frothing at the mouth, frothing at the print, and hyperventilating while they clutch their pearls and go bonkers. And they did so from the very start of this party’s formation.
We, from the very beginning, stand for one country, one people, one law, one flag, regardless of gender, race, or religion.
And the country we are defending is called New Zealand – it’s in our party’s name.
We have been for protecting our nation’s sovereignty and national interest, protecting our unique role in the world, protecting our nation’s pride in who we are, where we have come from, and our traditional Kiwi values.
We fight for the hardworking blue-collar Kiwi battler, who just wants the chance to help build a country they are proud of.
We have always been, and always will be, for common sense.
Thirty-three years ago we created this party with a vision. A vision of hope for every New Zealander for the chance of a better future for our children and grandchildren.
Our country is not just a place, it is who we are as people.
It is a set of values, stitched together across time. It is never complete – it grows.
It grows into what we, as a New Zealanders, together, chose it to be.
And the question is, ‘what do we want our country to be?’
We can no longer continue to accept the status quo who represent the establishment, who want nothing more than to protect the power they think they have, and maintain the separation of the ordinary kiwi from the elite.
In this election, we have a rare chance to change the shape of parliament for the better, and in doing so, to reshape our country the way you want it.
We can choose to continue down the path we have been on for over forty years, where the old parties, in opposition, pathetically bleat “its our turn now”, expect when they do get that turn, its usually a turn for the worse.
What we have seen, over and over again, is just a continued management of our country’s decline against the best countries in the world.
We are asking you to make a choice with our future generations in mind.
Take back control from the Wellington Bluesky bubble,
take back control from the ‘way it’s always been’,
take back control from those who choose to be a CV politician, where they are here one day, run out of gas, and are gone the next – taking with them a rolodex of international job opportunities, speaking circuits, or book tours, looking back over their shoulder at New Zealand’s decline- which they were critically part of.
New Zealand First, from our launch thirty-three years ago, has been battling that elitist status quo. No one can deny that. On issue after issue that needed public exposure, the rest remain silent – the latest being the Covid Inquiry disgrace. When others wouldn’t raise a finger, we have raised the roof.
We will never give up that fight against the elitest status quo, and this election we are going to bust the mainstream media polls.
In November we have the real chance to show the power of MMP. We can move away from what our system used to be, and make a real change to how our country is governed and who is representing you in government.
We can’t fly a microlight to the moon, but if you give us a rocket, we will, together, reach the stars.
We must change the path we are on as a country and make New Zealand great again, like it once was when we were the number one democracy in the world.
New Zealand is in its eleventh hour.
The time is now.
Strong Leadership, Bold Polices
Now is not the time for weak leadership.
We need leaders of the next government to say the things that people are thinking without fear or favour.
We need leaders to say the things that might be unpopular.
To say the things that others only talk about behind closed doors, but are too afraid of the backlash from the woke precious snowflakes on the left, or worse, the mainstream media.
We need leaders who are not afraid to have strong stances on important issues that are affecting ordinary kiwis.
We certainly don’t want weak, out of touch leaders, who can’t make the tough decisions this country needs in these uncertain times.
And we don’t need weak leaders to don’t understand New Zealand values.
We can’t continue to allow the two big parties to tinker round the edges of big issues, and do nothing but manage the decline of our country.
We are at a pivotal point in the future of New Zealand.
That is why we need bold policies that will fundamentally change the direction and thinking of our country.
We have already announced a number of bold policies this year.
It is what we need for real and fundamental change to drive down the cost of living, secure a future for kiwis, and reinforce who we are as New Zealanders.
We have announced policies to break up the power companies.
We have announced policies to split the supermarket duopoly.
We have announced polices to re-establish a competitive state-owned bank.
We have announced polices to return mining royalties created in the regions back to the regions.
We have announced that we will establish a select committee inquiry into those who were injured by the Covid 19 vaccine – so we can find out exactly what happened, who was responsible, and publicly hold them to account.
The massive cover-up from the other parties about this matter is a disgrace.
When the Covid issues are headlining internationally in other democracies, the politicians in the other parties are trying to shut it down.
They knew the risks about the vaccines for under 17-year-olds, and they kept it from the public, from the parents, and from you.
The previous inquiry was a sham and did nothing but sweep everything under the carpet. We do not accept that it is done. That is what the establishment want. People suffered, people need answers, and people need to be held to account for their lies and coverups.
And looking to the future, we announced our KiwiSaver policy of making it compulsory with automatic sign-up at birth $1000 kickstart. It means the day the baby is born it gets $1000 in their account to start saving.
Our policy is to establish a $100 billion Future Fund that will invest in a thirty-year infrastructure plan for our country.
We have also announced that we will pull out of the Paris Agreement that is senselessly hamstringing our economy. Our carbon footprint is 0.17%, whilst China, India, Russia and the US are 60% – our opponents have us sinking into the Pacific Ocean and it still wont make a jot of difference – how can any woke lefty Greenies make that make sense.
New Zealand has one of the loosest electoral laws in the world, and that is why we have announced a policy to ensure that only citizens are allowed to vote in our country.
And two weeks ago, at our Campaign Launch, we announced a policy to invest $1billion to start exploring our gas and oil reserves in our deep-sea basins so we can own and export our own oil and gas.
Here we are wrestling with an international fuel crisis while we could be owning and using our own.
New Zealand has natural resources that are there, ready to be utilised to transform our country.
This is about New Zealand’s economic sovereignty and security,
We can’t continue serving international interests and decision making.
We will find those energy reserves, we will extract them, and what we find, we will use to make our country prosperous again.
These are the bold polices that will change the status quo, reform our country, and put New Zealand back on a pathway to prosperity.
And what have the other parties announced as policies so far? Solar panels and free bus rides.
New Zealand’s Birthrate Crisis
There is an issue that most people are not aware of and has not been given the serious attention that it needs.
It is a monumental problem that our country is facing and only one party is talking about it.
As a country we have been blind to this issue and now have found ourselves at the eleventh hour with a disaster coming, if we don’t do something about it now.
That problem is our massively declining birthrate.
Here are the facts.
The rate of New Zealand citizens having children has dramatically fallen over the past decade, from 52,000 in 2006 to just 36,000 in 2025. That is a 30% drop – in just the last ten years.
Think for a moment – where we will be in another ten years if this continues.
New Zealand’s current birthrate is 1.53 births per person, which is well below the rate of replacement and even that rate is continuing to decline.
A rate of 2.1 births per person is needed to just maintain our population.
This is a population precipice for the future of our country and it’s happening now.
With an ever-decreasing birthrate, we will face a future where we are totally dependent on immigration to maintain our economy and mounting costs of supporting our population and growing our economy.
This is not exaggeration or soundbites. This is a cold hard fact.
At the same time that the number of New Zealand citizen births is dramatically decreasing, the non-citizen birth number is dramatically increasing.
There were 8,000 non-citizen births in 2006, and last year it almost doubled to 14,000 births.
Put in simple percentage terms, in 2006 87% of all births were by citizens and 13% non-citizens.
Last year that percentage was just 72% New Zealand citizens giving birth, and 28% non-citizens.
This equation is severely unbalanced and means a diminishing kiwi population.
The issue of a declining birthrate is found around the western world, other countries have implemented fundamental changes of policy to reverse their decline, and we need to make serious changes here too before it’s too late.
Masking this massive problem by increasing migration is just papering over the cracks and will be disastrous for our future.
There are many and varied reasons why in modern western societies people are deciding to not have children or choosing to have children later in life – which all inevitably lead to fewer children.
Those reasons range from prioritising careers, prioritising a dependent-free adulthood, increasing costs, and sacrifices of raising children.
The fact is, we need more Kiwis having more children, and one way to do that is to substantially lower the main barrier most are facing – that is the cost.
Campaign Policy Announcement: Kiwi Kids Grant
New Zealand First is today announcing we will campaign on introducing a ‘Kiwi Kids Grant’ that will support New Zealand citizens raising the first three children, through the first three years of their lives.
The ‘Kiwi Kids Grant’ will encourage Kiwis to have more kids, and remove the barrier of the increasing costs of having children.
The ‘Kiwi Kids Grant’ is a universal, non-means tested grant of $5000 annually for the first three years, and for each of the first, second, and third child.
This regular payment will be facilitated through IRD, with an option of the first-year grant for the first child being taken as a lump sum to help with the costs for a first child.
The $5000 will be tax free and will be in addition to all other existing support that parents are currently eligible for.
Only parent must be a New Zealand citizen to be eligible for this grant.
This policy has an estimated cost of $400 million by the third year once the full cycle is established.
This is an essential investment in our country’s future demography, culture, and sustainable economic future.
New Zealand needs to get our birthrate increasing before it’s too late.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen, we are all here because we love our country, and we are proud of it.
True democracy is a rare flower in the history of humanity.
We have inherited a free country that our forebears fought and died for, and it’s our job to preserve it.
But only if we are proud of what we have inherited can we come together and move forward to shape the vision of our country’s future.
We live in a country that, at its core, traditional New Zealand values once saw us amongst the world’s leaders – hard work, fair pay, valuing our citizenship, building a sense of community, and knowing who we are as kiwis.
We must remember, New Zealand is the beneficiary of Western values, democracy, and the rule of law. And the advancement and enhancement of those principles have only occurred in those societies that have united together as one people – and who celebrate their nationhood instead of perpetuating division.
There is a lot of uncertainty around the world and at home, but we must keep hope alive that, with hard work and perseverance, tomorrow will be better.
New Zealand First is nationalist, patriotic, and socially conservative.
We are proud to not only stand for those values, but to fight for them.
It hasn’t been easy – but things in life worth doing – are never easy.
It is what will build the character of our country.
We must never forget that challenge.
We must never stop believing in New Zealand.
That is our vision and that is our mission.
To protect, to save, and to restore New Zealand’s place at the top of the world.
By putting New Zealand and New Zealanders first.
We are asking you to join us – and Party Vote New Zealand First.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/08/02/winston-peters-new-zealand-in-its-eleventh-hour/