After the Coalition NZ name was dismissed by the Electoral Commission, Destiny Church's Hannah Tamaki is back with a new name for her political party - Vision New Zealand.
The party name as well as a logo - a large block-letter V with a Māori design inside it - appeared on the Electoral Commission website on Wednesday, as an "application to register political party and logo".
- Hannah Tamaki to lead new political party Coalition New Zealand
- Hannah Tamaki's party Coalition NZ declined registration over 'misleading' name
- Opinion: Comedian Tim Batt on trolling Brian and Hannah Tamaki's Coalition NZ political party
The applicant is the party's secretary, Anne Williamson, who has long been associated with Destiny Church.
She told Newshub the party wants to be a "credible alternative" for Kiwi voters in the next election.
"As you can see we are moving ahead with our plans to register a political party to contest the 2020 election. There is a vacuum in the current political landscape and Vision New Zealand intends to fill that vacuum with a credible alternative for the New Zealand voter," Williamson said.
The commission has invited submissions on the name and logo until Wednesday, October 16.
The party - under the Coalition NZ name - was formally announced in May, with Hannah Tamaki, the wife of controversial Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki, as the leader.
However, the party's journey to becoming registered hasn't been smooth.
Quickly after the party was revealed, comedian Tim Batt purchased two Coalition NZ domain names, redirection one to the web series Male Gayz and another to a petition to take abortion out of the Crimes Act.
In August, the Electoral Commission rejected the name Coalition NZ on grounds that it was likely to "confuse or mislead voters".
"The word coalition has a specific meaning in elections and politics and means a grouping or alliance of multiple parties," a spokesperson said. Governments formed by differing parties are often referred to as "the coalition".
The commission said at the time that apart from the name and the accompanying logo, other parts of the party's application were in order, and that it could apply for registration under a different name.
The Tamaki-led party was revealed after months of speculation, with Newshub revealing in February that Brian was considering starting a new party, but not with himself as leader.
- Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki considering launching political party
- Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki announces political party launch
Details about what electorate seats the party would target or who would stand in them haven't been announced, but Hannah said it would focus on both the five percent threshold and winning a seat.
The potential of the legalisation of marijuana, euthanasia and late-term abortion worried her and were issues from the wider political climate that spurred on the decision to launch a new party.
"I stand here as a Māori woman and a Christian. I stand here as a wife of 39 years, with 40 years of experience helping thousands of New Zealanders through the ministry that I have built alongside my husband, Brian," she said at the party reveal.
"I am fed up with the level of censorship growing around the issues that face our nation. The persecution that comes with daring to have an opinion or view that does not fit the leftist agenda."
In 2003, Destiny Church members started the Destiny New Zealand political party with Brian as its "spiritual adviser". It gained less than one percent of the vote in the 2005 election and was subsequently deregistered. Further attempts to set up Christian parties turned acrimonious and failed.
Newshub.
