New Zealand’s populist party New Zealand First reopened the gender identity debate by tabling a bill that legally classifies people of both sex according to biology. This comes after the UK Supreme Court recently ruled to legally classify women according to sex at the time of birth.
Deputy PM Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, claims the bill combats “cancerous social engineering.” With sparse political backing and rising criticism, however, the suggestion sparks debate regarding populist politics, vagueness in the law, and rights for transgender individuals.
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law.
This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the…
— Winston Peters (@winstonpeters) April 21, 2025
Peters Pushes Back on Gender Diversity
Winston Peters made a frontal attack on so-called “woke ideology.” His bill explicitly states that a woman is an “adult human biological female” and a man is an “adult human biological male.” Peters says the bill is to protect the rights and safety of women.
He maintains that earlier gender policies facilitated confusion and caused harm to women athletes and in public places such as toilets.
“Common sense is coming back into fashion,” Peters asserted. His party has campaigned before to exclude transgender women from women-only facilities and sports teams.
UK Ruling Sets Global Precedent
The timing of the bill is not coincidental. Only a week before, Britain’s Supreme Court ruled to define gender in terms of biological sex. That decision had denied a trans woman the status of being legally female for work and safety legislation claims. New Zealand First repeated that message, which is an international trend among right-wing parties.
New Zealand First is the government’s smallest coalition partner, and who knows if it will ever be up for debate in parliament. It was put forward by a party MP, not the government. That makes it less likely to be a priority in parliamentary sittings.
Centre-left Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins condemned the move. He accused Peters of pursuing “one headline after the next” rather than addressing serious national issues.
Rights vs. Populism: A New Political Fault Line
The bill pits progressive rights against populism. It also stirs legal concerns about the treatment of transgender people under current New Zealand law.
The larger question is are countries trending toward fixed biological definitions, or is this just a short-term populist ripple?
New Zealand now finds itself a part of a wider global debate—one where political strategy, gender identity, and human rights come into sharp collision.
