Kōrero: Interest groups

Whārangi 5. Community and recreational groups

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

There are many community and recreational interest groups in New Zealand.

Community groups

While some community groups have a mainly regional focus, others are organised around a network of largely autonomous cells or branches. Grey Power, a powerful interest group that lobbies for the welfare and wellbeing of those aged over 50, is regionally based. On the other hand, each local Returned and Services’ Association (RSA) is independent, but maintains loyalty to the objectives and resolutions of the RSA’s national council.

Iwi groups

Local Māori leaders have assumed greater responsibility for advocating on behalf of iwi and hapū, especially with respect to achieving self-determination and a larger share of the resources of the state. The Iwi Chairs Forum set up in 2005 included leaders from 50 iwi (representing two-thirds of Māori). An iwi leadership group drawn from the forum met regularly with MPs and officials on matters concerning Māori.

A double standard

The New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association has long lobbied against the government’s use of 1080 poison to kill pests such as possums on conservation land, because 1080 also kills game. When protesters scattered 1080 look-alike pellets in Christchurch’s Hagley Park in 2008, the association sharply contrasted the media’s alarmed response with its muted reporting of government 1080 bait drops in public water-supply areas.

Recreational groups

Reflecting New Zealand’s high levels of participation in outdoor recreation and sport, most recreational organisations not only provide a range of services to their members, but also seek to influence government policy. Sports bodies have lobbied ministers and MPs on topics including access to national parks and privately owned land, firearm licensing laws, visits by sports teams to ‘unfriendly’ or ‘unstable’ regimes, state funding provisions and priorities, and commercial sponsorship arrangements, most controversially with tobacco and alcohol companies.

New Zealand Rugby

Undoubtedly the most influential sports organisation in the country is New Zealand Rugby (formerly the New Zealand Rugby Football Union). During the apartheid era in South Africa, the union was publicly criticised for trying to convince the government that politics should not influence sporting contacts with South Africa. Those opposed to such contacts set up interest groups such as the Citizens Association for Racial Equality (CARE) in 1964 and Halt All Racist Tours (HART) in 1969.

Other groups

Other bodies that frequently engage with government policy include the Federated Mountain Clubs (parent body of over 80 tramping and mountain-climbing clubs), the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council (which represents the interests of non-commercial marine fishers) and the New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association (which tries to ensure that hunters organise and manage recreational hunting.)

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Raymond Miller, 'Interest groups - Community and recreational groups', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/interest-groups/page-5 (accessed 28 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Raymond Miller, i tāngia i te 20 Jun 2012, updated 1 Apr 2020