“I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the New Zealand First caucus, party members, and in particular the Rt Hon Winston Peters for his strong leadership and commitment towards a greater New Zealand.”
Replacing her would be David Wilson, who was next on the party list after contesting the Upper Harbour electorate.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said he was “sad” but supported Unkovich’s decision to leave Parliament.
“Tanya has been a great asset to our party and to parliament with her unique voice, strength, and passion for helping New Zealanders and representing the values, ethos, and principles of our party.”
A motivational speaker and author of several books, including on overcoming adversity, Unkovich was elected to Parliament on New Zealand First’s list following the 2023 election.
However, prior to that, while she was a candidate, the Herald reported that Unkovich had received media attention for her possible association with a conspiratorial group.
A screenshot appeared to show Unkovich, in February 2022, joining the Telegram channel nuremberg.nz, dedicated to “identifying New Zealand politicians, bureaucrats, mainstream media and academic personalities who must face military tribunals under international law for crimes against humanity”.
Peters responded to media questions at the time: “This is a woman whose grandmother was murdered by the Nazis, her uncle and family were murdered by the Nazis. And you guys are saying she’s a Nazi.”
Unkovich told Reality Check Radio that she had been a National Party voter, but the vaccine mandates had led her to look for a new political home.
“When I finally read everything that NZ First stood for, basically for me, the big thing is unity. Peace. What I loved about Winston was he did go and speak to the protesters [at Parliament in 2022].”
Unkovich has a Member’s Bill in Parliament’s ballot that is intended to “boost government support and begin a debate about implementing palliative care as a ‘right’”.
She previously had a bill that would require organisations providing public facilities to have “separate, clearly demarcated, unisex, and single sex bathrooms”.
“It goes against logic and common sense for a government to allow biological men to access women or girl’s restrooms, changing rooms, and other safe spaces. It is essential that the Government protect women’s spaces,” the bill said.
However, this was later withdrawn as NZ First introduced another bill intended to define the terms ‘woman’ and ‘man’ in law.
In August last year, Labour’s Ingrid Leary apologised to Unkovich in Parliament after reportedly calling her a “known anti-trans activist” during a select committee meeting. Unkovich took offence to the remark.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
