OPPORTUNITY...

But for what? Analysis of an ascendant political party

New Zealand’s latest political poll, a 1 News-Verian poll conducted from 13 to 17 June, has The Opportunity Party at 4.6% of the popular vote. Opportunity is trending upwards. If the trend continues, Opportunity will get over the 5% threshold for representation in Parliament and would probably form part of NZ’s next Government.

Opportunity’s website sets out various “policy priorities”, but Opportunity’s most significant stance is not to be found on its website. In an interview with Radio New Zealand’s Guyon Espiner on 10 June, Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong attacked the New Zealand First party, and its leader Winston Peters in particular.

“Q”, as she likes to be called, questioned “what has he [Peters] really done for New Zealand” and described NZ First as “a handbrake on progress”. Clearly, Opportunity won’t be part of any coalition Government with NZ First. And with NZ First having ruled out going into coalition with Labour, Opportunity’s only route to power (assuming its gets over 5%) would be as a member of a Labour/Greens/Māori Party/Opportunity coalition. So, for almost all practical purposes, a vote for Opportunity will be exactly the same as a vote for Labour, Greens or the Māori Party. You can pretty much take your pick. (That said, anyone for – gulp - a National/Labour/Opportunity UNIPARTY?)

Opportunity is technically the same political party that was formed by Gareth Morgan and registered with the Electoral Commission on 6 March 2017. Since leaving TOP, Morgan has repeatedly expressed his regret that he didn’t shut it down, describing its 2019 troupe of actors as “a group of groveling, compromising political aspirants”. On 28 January 2026, TOP changed its official name from The Opportunities Party to The Opportunity Party. The single opportunity offered to voters being to…keep NZ First out of power?

Q got the TOP job by putting her name forward after Opportunity advertised the role nationally, including on job site SEEK. Opportunity’s general manager is ex-Labour Party MP and Government Minister, Iain Lees-Galloway.

In July 2020, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern axed Iain L-G as a Minister, prompting him not to stand in the 2020 election and leave Parliament. Ardern chopped Lees-Galloway because he’d had an extra-marital affair with a former Labour Party staffer. Ardern accused L-G of a “lack of judgment” and of abusing a “power imbalance”. Which were decidedly selective accusations, given Chris Hipkins’ penchants for junior staffers.

Q smells like Jacinda Ardern. She’s slick and outwardly personable, but vacuous, IMO.

Opportunity’s palate is teal and that’s no accident. In the mold of Australia’s Teal movement, Opportunity is looking to portray itself as a blend of fiscal conservatism, environmental activism and social liberalism (LGBTQ+). Then throw in the Te Tiriti re-invention of the Treaty of Waitangi under which the Mystical Magnificent Māori Monolith didn’t cede sovereignty to a central Government and is a separate nation in partnership with the Crown and people pitifully bereft of blessed Māori ancestry.

Opportunity submitted against NZ First’s “Definition of Woman and Man” Bill “because it is pointless, unscientific and unworkable - and because it harms New Zealanders”. In its submission, Opportunity states, “We are firmly against divisive culture wars”.

Opportunity favors empowering unelected “Citizens assemblies”, a 1.75% annual land tax and not jailing anyone under 26 years of age. Outside of those specific policies, Opportunity looks very much like Labour.

Phillip Mills, founder of the Les Mills fitness club chain, has donated $100,000 to Opportunity, because he likes Opportunity’s policies and also hates NZ First. Phillip says he would like to see a Labour-led government after the next election. And for very good reason. Labour was very kind to Phillip. Les Mills took $4.5 million in COVID subsidies from the Labour Government, money that Phillip has failed to pay back.

The Opportunity Party is sometimes abbreviated to “OP”. When I was growing up, an “OP” smoker was someone who didn’t buy their own cigarettes but brazenly and persistently bludged cigarettes off others. There’s a distinct “OP” aroma about Opportunity. They’re overtly against all “extractive industries” (which is code for mining) and want to overturn New Zealand’s current agricultural industry. Deputy leader Daniel Eb, who describes himself as “a social impact founder in the food & fibre sector”, states:

“After almost 10 years working towards a more just, resilient and nature-positive food system in Aotearoa New Zealand, it’s become clear to me that our national-level settings need to change.”

Opportunity will “Strengthen the Emissions Trading Scheme by adding a mechanism for agricultural emissions” i.e., tax farmers for animals farting.

In short, Opportunity is a bunch of acolyte students from the alchemy school of economics. Money and wealth magically materialize, with little truly productive effort. In reality, Opportunity is deeply devoted to the “deindustrialization” dogma of Western Leftism. Shrink the pie, with cultural elites eating the lion’s share, and radically redistribute wealth away from productive people to try and placate the general populace. Opportunity is a vibe party of unserious and potentially damaging individuals.

Opportunity itself hasn’t had to spend much on promotion because all of New Zealand’s mainstream media outlets, and Radio New Zealand in particular, are doing the job for them. Qiulae is a darling of MSM. Independent journalists Ani O’Brien and Chris Lynch have comprehensively covered all this credulous championing of Opportunity.

The media isn't reporting on TOP's rise, they are creating it

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a democracy devotee. If Opportunity gets over the 5% line and forms part of New Zealand’s next Government, then so be it. But New Zealanders have to know what they could be getting themselves into. Opportunity is a clever, elitist, Leftist construct that’s far from what it may seem. If Opportunity gets into Government, then Māori Marxist Dystopia here we come.

By the way, with the election looming, the Government must pass legislation expressly requiring voters to produce credible proof of identity (driver licence, passport) in order to be entitled to vote. Were you as bewildered as me, at the last election, that anyone could simply point to any name on the electoral roll and breeze into the voting booth? That‘s a recipe for widespread electoral fraud.