Sara Passmore – President of the NZARH and Humanist Society of New Zealand

In October 2024, at a Special General Meeting of the Humanist Society of New Zealand, members of the Society decided to formally wind up and instead operate as the Wellington branch of the NZARH.

The decision for the HSNZ to wind up is largely due to changes to the Incorporated Societies Act and decreasing numbers of members and volunteers.

Over the decades, there have been discussions about having one organisation in New Zealand representing non-religious people, Humanists or Rationalists. For many reasons, the attempts to unite the NZARH and the Humanist Society never came about. However, technology has made it possible for national organisations to have wider representation on boards (the NZARH has two members of the Humanist Society council on its Board – me and Mark Honeychurch), and there is little reason for two organisations operating in a relatively small country to campaign and champion our causes. 

There are significant benefits to having one strong working on behalf of and representing non-religious New Zealanders (aside from reducing the duplication of administrative effort). The national coverage and regional branch structure means that participation in activities and campaigns can have much wider spread. And being able to pool resources and talent means that our responses to government consultations will be much more impactful. 

However, this was not a decision taken lightly. The HSNZ was founded in 1967 by Ray Carr (who was also a founding member of the New Zealand Skeptics), John Beadle, M Geary, and D C Worsley, and has a long history of campaigning and supporting national and international causes. Being based in Wellington, the Society has appeared before Parliamentary Committees to advocate the Humanist position on significant public ethical issues – supporting the ban on “conversion therapy”, supporting the legalisation of same-sex marriage, removing abortion from the Crimes Act, and supporting the End of Life Choices Bill, to name a small number of the issues the HSNZ has campaigned on.

The HSNZ has more recently responded to the consultation on the legislation to reinstate Charter Schools, the guidelines for sex and relationships education, and pushed for ending religious instruction in primary schools. The small team of volunteers remain committed to putting forward the humanist view, especially where the voices of non-religious people are drowned out in public and ethical debates. The Wellington Branch of the NZARH will still hold meetings on the first Monday of the month, will continue to respond to government consultations as individual citizens and contribute to submissions on behalf of the NZARH, and, being based in Wellington, will offer to appear before Government Committee hearings to advocate for the Rationalist and Humanist position.

On behalf of the NZARH, I would like to welcome former HSNZ members to your new home. Please make use of the facilities at Rationalist House and enjoy the benefits of being part of a larger organisation. And as the President of the HSNZ, I would like to thank all the people who have contributed to ensuring Humanism in New Zealand is in such a strong and respected position as an advocate for a fairer, more rational and just society.