Destiny New Zealand

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Destiny New Zealand, a Christian political party in New Zealand, centres around the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church, founded and led by the televangelist Brian Tamaki. The party describes itself as "centre-right", and places a strong focus on traditional family values. It does not hold any seats in Parliament.

Destiny New Zealand first formed early in 2003. By June 2004, the party claimed to have around three thousand members, and indicated an intent to stand candidates in all electorates. The party takes a strongly conservative stance in most policy areas. It has repeatedly criticised what it sees as the permissive nature of modern society, with Brian Tamaki saying that New Zealand "has moved so far away from God that anything goes now". The party's political leader, Richard Lewis, has spoken out strongly against the current Labour-Progressive administration, saying that the nation "simply cannot afford to spend another term under the dictates of an anti-marriage, anti-family and anti-Christian government." Destiny New Zealand has also condemned the existence of "fatherless families", saying that lack of male leadership contributes to social ills. In 2002, Tamaki reportedly stated that having female political leaders (as New Zealand currently has) formed part of the "Devil's strategy", although Tamaki says that reports have taken his remarks out of context.^{[citation needed]}

Some confusion exists as to how closely the Destiny New Zealand party overlaps the Destiny Church itself. According to both Brian Tamaki (leader of the church) and Richard Lewis (leader of the party), the two remain quite separate, with the teachings of the church merely having inspired the party. Tamaki describes the situation by saying "the way I preach has stirred something in their hearts and they've decided to do something", and describes himself merely as "a spiritual adviser". Lewis similarly denies that the church controls the party. Others, including several former church members, see this paradigm as just an illusion, and say that Lewis actually just serves as a "frontman" for Tamaki. Groups such as Cultwatch, a multi-denominational Christian group that targets what it perceives as cults, have attacked both the party and the church. Both the church and the party dismiss these criticisms as merely attempts to undermine the movement.

In 2003, Tamaki announced that Destiny Church would rule New Zealand by 2008. However, in the 2005 elections, it received just over 14,000 votes (out of over 2 million nationwide) for 0.62% of the vote--far short of the 5% threshold required to enter Parliament without an electorate MP. None of its electorate candidates were a serious factor in their respective races (Lewis had the best showing, gaining 1,111 votes for a distant third in Manukau East). This was the best showing of any party that failed to enter Parliament. [1].

However, in recent Destiny Church media releases, Richard Lewis has been referred to as Destiny Church general manager, rather than as Destiny New Zealand party leader, which may suggest that Brian Tamaki and his associates have switched perspectives to working within a mainstream centre-right political party.

There has however been some talk of Destiny standing candidates for local body elections in 2007 in what is seen as their strongest area, South Auckland. Although significantly beaten in the electorate in the tightly fought 2005 election, it is likely they would have some success should they run candidates for Council/Community Board etc.