It was founded in 1982, with the goal of standing candidates in every electorate and advocating for women's issues.
The party was formed in March 1982 at a one-day seminar organised by the collective which ran Broadsheet, a feminist newspaper.
Sandi Hall, a spokeswoman for the party, said that although men would not be excluded from membership they would not be able to hold office which did not infringe the Human Rights Commission Act 1977 as while under the act it was illegal to discriminate against people on grounds of race, sex or religion it only applied in certain areas and political activity was not such an area.
[2] The party ultimately only ran 3 candidates in that election — Lyn Cotman in Auckland Central, Christine Corker in Kaipara, and Sandi Hall in Tamaki.
In regards to other policies, Hall said that the party viewed ANZUS as a "military protection pact", which they would discard, and instead turn New Zealand into a global mediator of disputes between countries.