Or, at the very least he’s apparently quit politics (opens new window). This one was a bit of a surprise to me, as Billy had only just announced that he was re-naming his Public Party to the Freedom Party. Maybe he just quit because he realised that there had already been a Freedom Party in NZ, and that all the most obvious domain names had already been taken? Alternatively, it might be that recent accusations of financial mis-management (opens new window) and fraud (opens new window) are making life in the limelight a little too uncomfortable for Billy at the moment.

Of course, the void left by this conspiracy driven political movement will likely quickly be filled by the Outdoors Party and others. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mothers Who Stand for Freedom (Renee Argyros and Laura Surrich), Voices for Freedom (Claire Deeks), the Brave Truth Society (Damien De Ment), the Maori Ranger Security Division (Monica Eastick and Peter Martic) or some other conspiracy minded group tried to start a political party, in an effort to capture those voters who want to give their vote to an "alternative" party.