Mauri Pacific

Mauri Pacific
Leader	Tau Henare
Founded	1998
Dissolved	2001
Headquarters	N/A (disbanded)
Ideology	multiculturalist
International affiliation	N/A (disbanded)
Website
N/A (disbanded)

Mauri Pacific (literally meaning "spirit of the Pacific") was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 by five former members of the New Zealand First party. It has often been described as a Māori party. Officially, Mauri Pacific was a multiculturalist party, welcoming anyone who supported racial and cultural harmony. Three of its five MPs were Māori, and two were Pākehā.

The party only contested one election, and failed to retain any of its five seats in Parliament. The party disbanded shortly afterwards.

Mauri Pacific had its origins in New Zealand First, a populist party led by former National Party minister Winston Peters. After the 1996 election, New Zealand First won 17 seats, including a sweep of all five Māori seats. It held the balance of power in Parliament, and eventually went into coalition with the incumbent conservative National Party with Peters as deputy prime minister. Gradually, however, the relationship between New Zealand First and the National Party deteriorated. In August 1998, Peters was sacked from Cabinet, and he pulled New Zealand First out of the coalition.

Many New Zealand First MPs were not willing to follow their party back into Opposition, however. Eight of the party's sixteen MPs defected, establishing themselves as independents. These MPs supported the National Party government, enabling it to keep a slim majority in Parliament.

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Wikipedia