New Zealand Young Nationals
|
New Zealand Young Nationals
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| President | Stefan Sunde |
| Vice President | Jay Hadfield |
| Secretary | Eli McKeown |
| Policy Chair | William Lewis |
| Treasurer | Ethan Hill |
| Founded | 13–14 May 1936 |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | International Youth Democrat Union |
| Party affiliation | New Zealand National Party |
| Colors | Blue |
| Website | |
| youngnats |
|
The New Zealand Young Nationals (commonly abbreviated to Young Nats) is the youth wing of the New Zealand National Party, a centre-right political party in New Zealand, and a member of the International Young Democrat Union.
The National Party has had a youth section since its inception in 1936 and the name Young Nationals has been used since 1969. The Young Nationals have been a strong lobby group inside the National Party, and often at the forefront of policy development being representative as a Core Group or a Policy Action Group of the party at varying times. For a short period during the party's earlier years there was a younger section of the National party for pre-teenage members but has since disappeared due to the changing environment of New Zealand politics and society.
In 2009, under major changes led by the organisation's governing executive, the Young Nationals were re-organised to serve as a more effective tool for policy activism and campaign activity. As of 2011, The Young Nationals are divided into five regions nationwide, Northern, Central North Island, Lower North Island, Canterbury/Westland and Southern. Each of these regions are headed by their own Chair and executive group and supervised by a National Executive, elected annually during the National Party Conference. The National Executive set the agenda and leadership for the Young Nationals during the year. Some regions of the Young Nationals also may have branches. These include the Alfred Street Young Nationals, which are based in Auckland and considered a counter group to the Princes Street Labour movement and VicNats which is based around Victoria University. In 2011, the Young Nationals celebrated 75 years as New Zealand's oldest and largest political youth movement.
Often the more liberal views of the Young Nationals have been at odds with those of the wider party. The shift in party opinion in areas such as the nuclear ships debate, economic reform, liquor law reform, and anti-discrimination laws has often been influenced by the Young Nationals.
Recently the Young Nationals have been at the forefront of lobbying the New Zealand Government to adopt and pass legislation that would move tertiary Students’ Associations to a system of voluntary membership. Currently, Student Union membership is compulsory in New Zealand for most university students. They believe that students deserve the same choices as all other New Zealanders as students are the only group who are forced to join a union. As a result of this policy, the Young Nationals, in conjunction with ACT on Campus, Free Me and other New Zealanders, were successful in winning select committee and subsequently government support to pass a private member's Bill by ACT MP Heather Roy to introduce voluntary membership to student associations in tertiary institutions. The Bill, Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment, was passed into law in September 2011, and took effect in 2012.
...
Wikipedia