Editing New Zealand Labour Party (section)

=== Fifth Government (1999–2008) ===
{{main|Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand}}
[[File:Helen_Clark_Visits_the_National_Assembly_for_Wales,_11_April_2012_-_Ymweliad_Helen_Clark_i_Gynulliad_Cenedlaethol_Cymru,_11_Ebrill_2012_(7083404269)_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Helen Clark]], Labour Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008]]
After the {{NZ election link|1999}}, a minority coalition government of Labour and the [[Alliance (New Zealand political party)|Alliance]] took power, supported by the [[Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand|Green Party]] with Helen Clark becoming New Zealand's second female prime minister.<ref>{{cite web|title= Helen Clark|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/helen-clark |website=nzhistory.govt.nz|publisher= New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage.|language=en}}</ref> This government, while undertaking a number of reforms, was not particularly radical when compared to previous Labour governments, and maintained a high level of popularity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skilling |first1=Peter |title=New Zealand's Fifth Labour Government (1999–2008): A New Partnership with Business and Society? |journal=Labour History |date=2010 |issue=98 |pages=39–53 |doi=10.5263/labourhistory.98.1.39 |jstor=10.5263/labourhistory.98.1.39 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5263/labourhistory.98.1.39 |issn=0023-6942}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Espiner |first1=Colin |title=The prime of Helen Clark - steady as she goes |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/vote-08/news/profiles-28606/633471/The-prime-of-Helen-Clark-steady-as-she-goes |access-date=23 January 2023 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=29 July 2014 |language=en}}</ref> The Alliance, however, fell in popularity and split internally. Clark cited the Alliance split as one of the reasons for calling the {{NZ election link|2002}} several months early; Labour won comfortably.<ref>{{Cite journal|last= Geddis|first= Andrew|date=2004|title=The General Election in New Zealand, July 2002.|journal= Electoral Studies |volume=23|issue=1|pages=149–155|doi=10.1016/s0261-3794(03)00036-2}}</ref>

Policies of the Fifth Labour Government included the [[KiwiSaver]] scheme,<ref>{{cite web|title= KiwiSaver Act 2006 No 40 (as at 01 April 2017), Public Act Contents|url= http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2006/0040/latest/DLM378372.html|publisher= New Zealand Parliament|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en-NZ}}</ref><!--See end reference for following policies--> the [[Working for Families]] package, increasing the [[minimum wage]] 5% a year, interest-free student loans, the establishment of [[district health board]]s, the introduction of a number of [[tax credit]]s, overhauling the secondary-school qualifications system by introducing the [[National Certificate of Educational Achievement|NCEA]], and the introduction of fourteen weeks' parental leave.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Julc0FIsYMEC&q=new+zealand+abolished+interest+student+loans+2008&pg=PA50|title= Historical Dictionary of Polynesia|isbn=978-0810867727|last1=Craig|first1=Robert D.|year=2011|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref> Labour also supported the [[Civil Union Act 2004]], which legalised [[civil union in New Zealand|civil unions]] for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.<ref>{{cite web|title= Civil Union Bill – Procedure, Third Reading|url=https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/47HansD_20041209_00000803/civil-union-bill-procedure-third-reading|publisher= New Zealand Parliament|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en|date=9 December 2004}}</ref>

The foreign policy of the Fifth Labour Government strongly reflected [[liberal internationalist]] doctrine, with a particular emphasis on promoting democracy and human rights, advocating for antimilitarism and [[disarmament]], and encouragement of free trade.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCraw |first1=David |title=New Zealand Foreign Policy Under the Clark Government: High Tide of Liberal Internationalism |journal=Pacific Affairs |date=2005 |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=217–235 |doi=10.5509/2005782217 |jstor=40023914 |hdl=10289/8178 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40023914 |access-date=16 February 2024 |issn=0030-851X|hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 2003, the government opposed New Zealand military action in the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite news|title=NZ made 'right judgement' over Iraq|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/308164/nz-made-'right-judgement'-over-iraq|access-date=7 July 2016|work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=7 July 2016|language=en-nz}}</ref> 

In early 2004 Labour came under attack in the [[New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy|foreshore and seabed controversy]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Barker|first1=Fiona|title= Debate about the foreshore and seabed|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/video/34605/debate-about-the-foreshore-and-seabed|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=13 June 2017|date=June 2012}}</ref> Significant internal tensions within the party eventually culminated in the resignation of junior minister [[Tariana Turia]] and her establishment of the new [[Māori Party]].<ref>{{cite news|last1= Dunne|first1=Peter|title=What to do about that foreshore and seabed? |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/3236512/What-to-do-about-that-foreshore-and-seabed|access-date=13 June 2017|work=[[The Dominion Post (Wellington)|The Dominion Post]]|date=18 January 2010|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Labourlogo2008.png|thumb|left|Party logo in 2008]]
Following the {{NZ election link|2005}}, Labour formed a minority coalition with the [[New Zealand Progressive Party|Progressive Party]] (breakaway party of the old Alliance), and entered into complex [[confidence and supply]] agreements with the centrist [[United Future]] and populist [[New Zealand First]] parties, which gave each party's leader a ministerial portfolio, while the support parties remained outside the Cabinet. A limited support agreement also linked Labour with the [[Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand|Green Party]], giving certain policy concessions to the Greens in return for abstention on [[confidence-and-supply]] votes. Labour lost power when the National Party soundly defeated it in the {{NZ election link|2008}}.