The Act Party has named New Zealand’s most famous former gun lobbyist as its new deputy leader, writes Henry Oliver in today’s excerpt from The Bulletin.
To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
At a lavish party conference on Auckland’s waterfront this weekend, the Act Party announced its new deputy leader would be Nicole McKee. Taking over the 2IC role after the departure of Brooke van Velden (who is pregnant and heading to the private sector), McKee is likely most well known as a lobbyist for the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners, one of the few critics at the time of the Labour-led government’s tightening of firearms laws in the aftermath of the March 15 mosque attacks in 2019.
Chosen from what the NZ Herald reports were four candidates in a secret ballot, McKee hopes she was chosen for her effectiveness in parliament as an MP and minister, telling Katie Bradford in a video interview she’s had 18 pieces of legislation go through the house, nine of which are completed, with the other nine still progressing.
More than just guns
While she is leading a rewrite of the Arms Act, most of that legislation had nothing to do with guns. McKee, who is minister for courts and the associate minister of justice in the coalition government, said she had worked hard to show she was “more than just the ‘gun lady’”, mentioning her reinstatement of the three-strikes law, her efforts to speed up the courts, and reforming anti-money laundering rules.
“Those issues may sound different,” she said in a report from 1News’s Justin Hu. “But they are connected by the same values. Protect the public from real harm, hold offenders accountable, respect the law-abiding, cut red tape where it serves no purpose, and remember that the state has enormous power, so it must use that power carefully.”
‘My whakapapa is mine’
McKee, whose appointment means that the party’s two leaders are both Māori (and both whakapapa to Ngāpuhi), also used her speech to take aim at Te Pāti Māori. “I am proud of both my Māori and my British ancestry,” McKee said. “I do not need to choose between them, and I do not need a political party to tell me what my identity is supposed to mean. My whakapapa is mine. My views are mine. My vote is mine. My country is mine too.”
“Te Pāti Māori claim to speak for all Māori. They do not speak for me. They do not speak for every Māori parent who wants their children safe and well educated, every Māori business owner who wants less red tape and more opportunity, or every Māori victim of crime who wants consequences.”
Scene report
With its largest caucus in party history, and a recent influx of cash from generous donors, the Act Party conference was a world away from the modest affairs when Seymour had the reins of the party as its sole MP. Among the 500 or so attendees at the party conference was Joel MacManus, who published his report on The Spinoff this morning, going to great lengths to avoid naming the US president whose use of nicknames and sign-waving supporters stagecraft may have been an influence on the party’s new aesthetic and rhetorical choices (we’ll see whether “Wily Winnie”, “Haka Party Hana”, “Business Class Chlöe”, “Cynical Chris Hipkins”, “Clever Chris [Luxon]” or “Labour-lite” gain any traction over the next couple of months).
Against a sonic backdrop of protests chanting and blaring sirens outside, MacManus describes the announcement of McKee as somewhat of an anti-climax, with the party’s heavy use of YouTube videos, including an “aura edit” of McKee subtracting from the in-the-room suspense – not to mention that McKee’s introductory speech went on for a bit before she even mentioned she was speaking as the party’s new deputy.
Whether the party’s new aesthetic – the aura edits, the stagecraft, the nicknames – translates into the kind of electoral momentum that carries ACT from 11 MPs to something larger will become clearer over the coming months. For now, the party had at least managed to launch its campaign in a way that felt very 2026 Act. Even if Seymour did get his Latin backwards.
