Focus NZ Party

The Northland Bay Chronicle reports:

The country’s newest political party is hoping a name change will increase its support base.

The party with Far North origins has elected a board and adopted a name change from the NZ Rural Party to Focus NZ.

I doubt it. At least a rural party was something people would have some idea of by the name. No one will know what Focus NZ means.

Focus NZ is aimed at securing support from a broad sector of New Zealand and will contest the next general election as a list-only party.

The board has six vacancies, which are aimed to be filled as the party grows, and consists of six members including its Far North founders.

Former National Party candidate Ken Rintoul, a civil engineer, contractor and farmer; and regional councillor and farmer Joe Carr will continue their involvement and are joined by: former Federated Farmers Dairy chairman and primary industries commentator Lachlan McKenzie of Rotorua; former MP and under-secretary for agriculture and forestry and chairman of the primary industries select committee Ross Meurant, who now has business interests in aquaculture in the Middle East; former MP Sandra Goudie of Coromandel who is closely involved with a landowners rights network; and fashion designer and small business manufacturer Marina Koltsova, formerly an architect in Russia who now has New Zealand citizenship and lives in Auckland.

Actually Rintoul is not a former National Party candidate. He sought the nomination for National in 2011, but lost to Mike Sabin. The fact he is in another party just a year later speaks volumes.

For the 65 year old Meurant, this will be his 4th or 5th party. He has been National, Right of Centre, Conservative, NZ First and now this. He was sacked by Bolger for unethical conflicts of interest as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary.