Tony Brunt
| Tony Brunt | |
|---|---|
| 1st Leader of the Values Party | |
|
In office 1972–1974 |
|
| Deputy | Geoff O'Neill |
| Succeeded by | Reg Clough |
| Wellington City Councillor | |
|
In office 1974–1980 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Anthony John Brunt 1947 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | Values |
| Alma mater | Victoria University of Wellington |
| Profession | Journalist |
Anthony John "Tony" Brunt (born 1947) is a New Zealand journalist, activist and politician. He was the founder and leader of the environmentalist Values Party in the 1970s.
Brunt was born in Auckland in 1947 and later became a journalist. He briefly changed profession and became a trade union organiser before returning to his career in journalism. He then moved to Wellington in order to study Political Science at Victoria University of Wellington.
Brunt became politically active and formed the environmentalist Values Party in the early 1970s and served as its inaugural leader. He founded the party to serve as a response to the "barren and miniaturist" political culture which existed in New Zealand at the time. He went on to contest the Wellington electorate of Island Bay at the 1972 election, where he placed third out of six candidates gaining 7.6% of the vote.
Two years later he stood for the Wellington Mayoralty and City Council on a Values ticket. He placed third for Mayor but was easily elected to the council. Brunt's candidacy for the mayoralty was viewed as having drawn away many left-wing voters from the Labour Party. Labour Mayor Frank Kitts lost office in a very close race and blamed the Values vote for his defeat. In 1977 he again stood for both positions and was again elected only as a councillor, topping the poll with more votes than any other candidate. While he was a member of the Council Brunt was also employed by the Commission for the Environment as an investigating officer. He did not stand for re-election in 1980.
Brunt moved back to Auckland and settled in the suburb of Hillsborough. In 2000 he became the chairman of the Friends of Puketutu Trust, a lobby group campaigning for the Manukau Harbour island of Puketutu to be classified as a regional park.
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