What started out as a “tongue-in-cheek” response to the Mana Party’s Maori-only housing proposal now has tens of thousands of “likes” on Facebook and has surpassed every mainstream political party – including the Maori Party, National and Labour – in the social media popularity stakes.
The Pakeha Party was founded by Auckland businessman David Ruck on 20 June and received its first media showcase on Seven Sharp on Monday 8 July. The TV spot showed reporters proclaiming its 4,000 likes, but subsequently sparked a level of interest from supporters and opponents alike that no one could have predicted, and that saw the Facebook page attract more than 50,000 likes in mere days.
Purporting to stand for equal rights for Pakeha, the party lives by the mission statement that “if the Maori get it, we want it to [sic]! No matter what it is!” While it began as a “simple statement” and was a “bit of a joke,” founder David Ruck is now looking to hire staff and develop a party website, despite having no experience in politics.
Ruck has personally fronted the now very public campaign, and has hit back at claims that the party is racist or separatist. In an interview with 3 News, Ruck said it was “shocking to see people prepared to come on a public forum and say some of these degrading comments about people in this country,” and that as a result the page will now be moderated.
Political party registration is governed by the Electoral Act 1993 and, importantly, requires satisfactory evidence that the party has at least 500 eligible members. Ruck has high hopes for the party and is confident “a high percentage of people will get out of bed on voting day and vote for the Pakeha Party.”
Ruck is already on the hunt for legal representatives, race-relations specialists and university graduates to further his cause, as well as starting to establish some concrete policies. Ruck believes that he is a “very quick learner.”
“I’m not stupid … I’ll simply look at the other parties’ policies and basically put them on our website, and have a yes and no box.”
Ruck’s career in politics has already seen the skeletons in his closet exposed, including his having served five months in prison for stealing $40,000 worth of DJ equipment, as well as one month for a driving charge. Ruck points out that the acts occurred 16 years ago and he’s changed since then, but he did say that if someone with a “cleaner” image were prepared to front the party then he would happily hand it over.
As for possible policies, satirical news website The Civilian has already published what it speculates will be in the Pakeha Party’s platform, including:
- Make Christchurch the capital of New Zealand.
- Replace confusing Maori names with their white equivalents. Whangarei to become Wongaray. Kaikoura to become Cackaracka.
- Install Michael Laws as mayor of as many councils as he can logistically manage.
- All Blacks to be renamed Mostly Whites.
- Aoraki Mount Cook to be renamed Mount Cook Mount Cook.
- Prosecute Maori for the extinction of Moa.
- Maori must stop dominating unemployment and prison statistics and give Pakeha a fair go.
Currently, the Maori Party has declined to comment, while Prime Minister John Key doubted that the group – with 5,500 members at the time – would “get legs.” He remarked that NZ is run on “needs, not just on ethnicity,” and that the Maori Party advocates for all sorts of ethnicities. Only time will tell whether the Party will continue to gain momentum and become a reality, or whether Ruck will be another Peter Dunne and find himself captaining only half a team of “Mostly Whites.”
Pakehahaha Are They Serious?
