{{Short description|New Zealand politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Tony Brunt | image = Councillor Tony Brunt (crop).jpg | caption = Brunt in 1976 | office1 = 1st [[Values Party|Leader of the Values Party]] | deputy1 = Geoff O'Neill | successor1 = Reg Clough | term_start1 = 30 May 1972 | term_end1 = 25 August 1974 | office2 = Member of the [[Wellington City Council]] | term_start2 = 12 October 1974 | term_end2 = 11 October 1980 | constituency2 = [[At-large]] | birth_name = Anthony John Brunt | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1947}} | birth_place = [[Auckland]], New Zealand | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = [[Victoria University of Wellington|Victoria University]] | party = [[Values Party|Values]] | profession = [[Journalist]] }}
'''Anthony John Brunt''' (born 1947) is a New Zealand journalist, activist and politician. He was the founder and leader of the environmentalist [[Values Party]] in the 1970s.
==Biography== ===Early life=== Brunt was born in [[Auckland]] in 1947 and later became a journalist. He has [[Samoans|Samoan]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vui-Talitu |first1=Sara |title=Rare photos underpin new book on German-era Samoa |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/329670/rare-photos-underpin-new-book-on-german-era-samoa |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=28 April 2017 |language=en-nz}}</ref> He briefly changed profession and became a [[trade union]] organiser before returning to his career in journalism.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |title=New Councillor |date=16 October 1974 }}</ref> He then moved to [[Wellington]] to study [[political science]] at [[Victoria University of Wellington]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10809555 |author=Davison, Isaac |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |title= Political party marks 40 year milestone |date=30 May 2012 |access-date=10 December 2016 }}</ref>
===Political career=== Brunt became politically active and formed the environmentalist [[Values Party]] in the early 1970s and served as its inaugural leader. He founded the party to serve as a response to the "barren and miniaturist" political culture that existed in New Zealand at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/forty-years-since-first-green-party-2012060121 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073801/http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/forty-years-since-first-green-party-2012060121 |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2016 |last=O'Brien |first=Tova |work=Newshub |title=Forty years since first green party |date=1 June 2012 |access-date=10 December 2016 }}</ref> Then aged 25, Brunt was the youngest leader of a political party in New Zealand history.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tony Brunt, 'Reluctant Midwife' to Lusty, Growing Values Party |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |date=18 November 1972 |page=5 }}</ref> He went on to contest the [[Wellington]] electorate of [[Island Bay (New Zealand electorate)|Island Bay]] at the [[1972 New Zealand general election|1972 election]], where he placed third out of six candidates, gaining 7.6% of the vote.{{sfn|Norton|1988|pp=256}}
Two years later, he [[1974 Wellington City mayoral election|stood for the Wellington mayoralty]] and City Council on a Values ticket. He placed third for mayor but was easily elected to the council. Brunt's candidacy for the mayoralty was viewed as having [[Vote splitting|drawn away]] many left-wing voters from the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]]. Labour mayor [[Frank Kitts]] lost office in a very close race and blamed the Values vote for his defeat.<ref>{{cite news |work = [[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |title=Values Eye No. 1 City Job |date=20 April 1977 }}</ref> In [[1977 Wellington City mayoral election|1977]] he again stood for both positions and was again elected only as a councillor, topping the poll with more votes than any other candidate.<ref>{{cite report |last=Smyth |first=A.J. |date=25 October 1977 |title=Declaration of Election Results |publisher=[[Wellington City Council]] }}</ref> Brunt opposed extending the [[Wellington Urban Motorway]] to the foot of [[Mount Victoria (Wellington suburb)|Mount Victoria]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Yska |first=Redmer |title=Wellington: Biography of a City |year=2006 |publisher=[[Reed Books]] |location=Auckland |isbn=9780790011172 |page=216 }}</ref> While he was a member of the Council, Brunt was also employed by the [[Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment|Commission for the Environment]] as an investigating officer.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |title=Values Name Three More Candidates |date=20 April 1977 }}</ref> He did not stand for re-election in 1980.
===Later activities=== In the 1980s Brunt was chairman of the campaign committee of the Save the Rivers campaign to protect New Zealand's best wild and scenic rivers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19811021.2.73 |title=River protection 'inadequate' |work=[[The Press]] |date=21 October 1981 |page=11 }}</ref> Brunt later moved back to Auckland and settled in the suburb of [[Hillsborough, Auckland|Hillsborough]]. In 2000, he became the chairman of the Friends of Puketutu Trust, a lobby group campaigning for the [[Manukau Harbour]] island of [[Puketutu Island|Puketutu]] to be classified as a regional park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=148717 |author=Rudman, Brian |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |title=Gem of an idea for our project |date=23 August 2000 |access-date=23 February 2017 }}</ref>
== Publications == * Brunt, Tony. & Samoa Historical and Cultural Trust. (2017). [https://www.worldcat.org/title/1030297521?oclcNum=1030297521 ''To walk under palm trees : the Germans in Samoa : snapshots from albums''.] Apia, Samoa : Samoa Historical & Cultural Trust. OCLC 1030297521. ([https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20160305190029/http://germansinsamoa.net/ Online e-book edition.])
==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}}
==References== *{{cite book |last = Norton |first = Clifford |title = New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science |year = 1988 |publisher = Victoria University of Wellington |location = Wellington |isbn = 0-475-11200-8}}
==External links== * [https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018845483/tony-brunt-50-years-since-founding-the-values-party Tony Brunt: 50 years since founding the Values Party.] Interview on [[Radio New Zealand|RNZ]], 11 June 2022
{{S-start}} {{s-ppo}} |- {{s-new|party}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Values Party|Leader of the Values Party]]|years=1972–1974}} {{S-aft|after=Reg Clough}} {{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunt, Tony}} [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Wellington City Councillors]] [[Category:New Zealand trade unionists]] [[Category:New Zealand journalists]] [[Category:New Zealand people of Samoan descent]] [[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election]] [[Category:Values Party politicians]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni]] [[Category:Leaders of political parties in New Zealand]]