Christian Politics in New Zealand - Christianity Within Mainstream Political Parties

Christianity Within Mainstream Political Parties

Neither the Labour Party nor the National Party, the two traditional dominant mainstream political parties in New Zealand since the 1930s, represent explicitly religious traditions. Nevertheless, both parties have occasionally contained people who saw their political mission in religious terms. A number of early politicians, both in Labour and in National, saw their respective political ideologies as an extension of "Christian values".

In the early Labour Party a significant sub-set of the party promoted what one might call "Christian socialism", claiming that "Christian kindness and charity" fitted socialism better than it did conservatism. New Zealand's first Labour Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage is said to have personified Labour's "Applied Christianity." Labour won an overwhelming victory by presenting itself as the party of practical Christian compassion, in contrast to the "anti-family" depression-era coalition government. It was in this context that Savage - who would later return to his Roman Catholic roots - described Labour’s Social Security Act (1938), intended to afford security for all New Zealanders 'from cradle to grave', as ‘applied Christianity’. A number of early Labour politicians had Christian backgrounds. One of the first leaders of the Labour Party, HE Holland (1919–1933), had been a street preacher with the Salvation Army in Australia prior to his migration to New Zealand. Savage's successor, Peter Fraser (1940–49), reflected in his personal life on the lasting impact of his Scottish Presbyterian upbringing, and the next leader, Walter Nash, was "an avowed Christian strongly committed to the Anglican Church." Subsequent Labour Party leaders also had church backgrounds. Arnold Nordmeyer, the leader of the Labour Party in opposition from 1963 to 1965, was an ordained Presbyterian minister. David Lange, (Prime Minister 1984-1989) was Methodist, while Norman Kirk (Prime Minister 1972-74) was raised by devout members of the Salvation Army.

Such church connections are also present in the National Party. For example, Keith Holyoake (Prime Minister 1957, 1960–72), was "brought up in a strict Open Brethren environment", and in later years was an irregular attender of the Presbyterian church. John Marshall (deputy Prime Minister 1957, 1960–72; Prime Minister 1972) was active in the Presbyterian church, while RD Muldoon (Prime Minister 1975-84) was raised as a Baptist and continued as a church member until he married and became an Anglican like his wife Thea

In recent times, however, religion has not usually formed a major component of either Labour or National platforms. The current leaders of both major traditional parties would qualify as agnostic by most definitions, although the deputy leader of the National Party Bill English openly practises Roman Catholicism.

The National Party, the ostensibly more socially conservative of the two "major" traditional parties, apparently received increasing proportional support from religiously-identifiable voters between 2002 and 2005.

Also, one should not underestimate the influence of the Ratana movement (see Māori Christianity, below).