Destiny New Zealand was formed early in 2003. By June 2004 the party claimed to have around three thousand members, and indicated an intent to stand candidates in all electorates. The party took a strongly conservative stance in most policy areas. It repeatedly criticised what it saw as the permissive nature of modern society, with Brian Tamaki saying that New Zealand "has moved so far away from God that anything goes now". The party's political leader, Richard Lewis, spoke out strongly against the former Labour-Progressive administration, saying that the nation "simply cannot afford to spend another term under the dictates of an anti-marriage, anti-family and anti-Christian government." Destiny New Zealand also condemned the existence of "fatherless families", saying that lack of male leadership contributed to social ills. In 2000, Tamaki reportedly stated that having female political leaders formed part of the "Devil's strategy", although Tamaki says that reports have taken his remarks out of context.
In 2004, Tamaki predicted that Destiny Church would rule New Zealand by 2008. However, in the 2005 elections, Destiny New Zealand received just over 14,000 votes or 0.62% of the vote—well short of 5% threshold required to enter Parliament without winning an electorate. This was the highest vote of any party not to make it into Parliament. Polling before the election consistently showed the party was well short of the threshold. None of its electorate candidates were a serious factor in their respective races.
Links with Destiny Church
Some confusion exists as to how closely the Destiny New Zealand party overlapped with the Destiny Church. According to both Brian Tamaki and Richard Lewis, the two remained quite separate, with the teachings of the church merely having inspired the party. Tamaki described the situation by saying: "the way I preach has stirred something in their hearts and they've decided to do something", and described himself merely as "a spiritual adviser". Lewis similarly denied that the church controlled the party. Others, including several former church members, see this paradigm as just an illusion, and say that Lewis actually just served as a "frontman" for Tamaki. Groups such as Cultwatch, a multi-denominational Christian group that targets what it perceives as cults, have attacked the party and the church. The church and the party dismissed these criticisms as merely attempts to undermine the movement.
Deregistration, stalled merger, and successors
On 18 September 2007, Brian Tamaki announced that Destiny New Zealand would be deregistered as a political party. In its place, a new Christian political party would be formed, with Richard Lewis as the co-leader. The second co-leader was not announced. However, then-MP for The Kiwi PartyGordon Copeland announced that he was the other co-leader of the party. On 20 September Copeland announced that he "could not work" with Richard Lewis, and would remain an independent MP. In October, it was announced that Destiny New Zealand would put its support behind The Family Party, to be led by Lewis and former United FutureMP Paul Adams. The Family Party contested the 2008 election without success and was disbanded in 2010. In 2019, Hannah and Brian Tamaki announced a new party, initially called Coalition New Zealand then renamed as Vision NZ.
