Topic+5+-+New+Zealand's+Political+Parties

In the upcoming New Zealand election New Zealanders have two votes. One is called a "party vote" and the other is called an "electorate vote". The party vote lets voters choose which party they most want to control the country over the next three years, and the electorate vote lets voters choose which party's representative will look after their region for the next three years.

A political party is an organisation of people with similar, but not necessarily identical, views on how the country should be run. In New Zealand's parliamentary system the Government is either made up from representatives from the political party which gets the most seats in the election, or by a coalition of MPs from two or more political parties.

Political parties perform an important function in democracies. They bring together broad groups of people who alone would have little chance of getting their voices heard. They also help set out the choices for voters, who can tell broadly what a candidate's political views are by the party he or she belongs to.

New Zealand has 8 significant political parties. These are National, Labour, the Green Party, NZ First, the Maori Party, Act, Progressives and United Future.



 * Step 1:**

Right click on this link to a webpage about [|New Zealand Political Parties] and open it in a new window.

Choose what party you want to research from either the New Zealand National Party, New Zealand Labour Party, the Green Party, New Zealand First Party or the Maori Party. Click on the name of the political party. This will take you to the party's website.

Find the following information and write the information in a Microsoft Word document

1. The Party Leader

2. List up to 5 of their current Members of Parliament (note: some parties have less than 5 MPs)

4. Their Logo (paste it in your Word doc):

5. Their Slogan (if they have one):

6. Their Colours

7. 3 things they believe are important (ie. their values) and 3 things they want to do if they got into power (ie. their policies)


 * Step 2:**

Use the information you have gathered to create a Microsoft Word poster advertising your chosen party to potential voters.

Choose a //specific audience// that you think the party's policies and values would appeal to eg. young people, old people, women, men etc. Make sure that your poster targets this specific audience.

Use colours and pictures appropriate to the party and their policies


 * Step 3:**

Save the poster to your student drive and then print it out and hand it in to Mr. Larsen.