"Balance New Zealand", "we", "us" and "our" mean Balance New Zealand of 176 Ridgway Street, Whanganui.
"Website" means the website published at www.balancenz.org.nz and any subdomain or related page operated by us.
"You" and "your" mean the person accessing or using the Website.
"Privacy Policy" means our website Privacy Policy, available at Balancenz.org.nz, as updated from time to time.
About us
Balance New Zealand is unregistered Political Party. The Website is operated by us in connection with our political activities in New Zealand.
Acceptance of these Terms
These Terms of Use, together with the Privacy Policy, govern your access to and use of the Website. By accessing or using the Website you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website.
When you complete the membership application form, the donation form or the newsletter signup form, you will be asked separately to agree to the applicable terms for that activity. Those activity-specific terms apply in addition to these Terms of Use.
Changes to these Terms
We may change these Terms of Use from time to time. Where we make a material change, we will post a notice on the Website with the effective date and, where reasonably practicable, notify members and active subscribers. Changes take effect from the stated effective date. If you continue to use the Website after that effective date, you accept the changes. Non-material changes (for example, updates to contact details or service provider names) take effect when posted.
Using the Website
You may use the Website for your personal, non-commercial purposes, and for any other purpose for which the Website is plainly intended (such as making an enquiry, applying for membership, making a donation or signing up to our newsletter).
The Website is intended for use in New Zealand. We make no representation that the Website or its content is appropriate or available for use in any other jurisdiction.
Acceptable use
You agree not to:
use the Website in a way that breaches any New Zealand law or regulation, or any other law that applies to you;
post, send or transmit any content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, threatening, harassing, or otherwise harmful — including any content that would amount to a "harmful digital communication" under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015;
impersonate Balance New Zealand or any of our members, candidates or office-holders, or misrepresent your affiliation with us;
transmit unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional material, or other commercial electronic messages;
scrape, harvest or otherwise collect personal information from the Website;
attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website, our systems, or any account or service used in connection with the Website;
introduce any virus, worm, malware or other harmful code to the Website;
use the Website to publish any material that would amount to an election advertisement (as defined in the Electoral Act 1993) without our prior written authorisation; or
interfere with the use or enjoyment of the Website by any other user.
We may, in our discretion, remove any content that we reasonably consider breaches these Terms of Use, and suspend or terminate your access to the Website (see clause 19).
User-generated content
If the Website allows you to submit content (for example, comments, posts, photographs or messages) (Your Content), the following apply:
you must own or be licensed to use Your Content, and Your Content must comply with the acceptable-use rules in clause 6;
you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual licence to use, reproduce, modify, publish, display and distribute Your Content in connection with the Website and our political activities, with the right to sub-licence those rights to our service providers as reasonably necessary;
we may remove or refuse to publish Your Content at any time, without notice, where we reasonably consider it breaches these Terms or is otherwise inappropriate;
we operate a notice-and-takedown process consistent with the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. If you consider any content on the Website is harmful (within the meaning of that Act), please notify us using the details in clause 24 and we will deal with the notice in accordance with the Act.
We do not actively monitor user-submitted content. Views expressed by users are their own and not necessarily ours.
Contact form
By submitting a contact form you authorise us to use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry. Please do not submit sensitive personal information (such as financial details or health information) through the contact form.
We will not add your contact details to any mailing list, or use them for any other purpose, without your express consent.
Membership
Membership of Balance New Zealand is governed by our constitution and rules, available at balancenz.org.nz. In the event of any inconsistency between our constitution or rules and these Terms of Use in respect of membership, the constitution or rules prevail.
By submitting the membership application form you:
agree to provide accurate, current and complete information, and to keep your details up to date;
agree to abide by the constitution and rules of Balance New Zealand;
acknowledge that submission of the form does not in itself confirm your membership — we reserve the right to decline any application in accordance with the constitution and rules;
acknowledge that any membership fee will be processed through Stripe Inc. (for card payments) or by bank transfer to our nominated account; and
authorise us to use your personal information for membership administration in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
If your membership application is declined after payment of a membership fee, we will refund the fee. If your membership ceases for any reason, fees already paid for the current membership period are not refundable except where required by law.
Donations
Donations to Balance New Zealand are voluntary and are governed by the Electoral Act 1993 (in particular Part 6AA, which deals with party donations).
By making a donation through the Website you confirm that:
if your donation is more than $50, you are a New Zealand citizen, a registered elector, or a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand (Electoral Act 1993, s 207K);
the donation is being made by you in your personal capacity (and not on behalf of any other person whose identity has not been disclosed to us); and
you authorise us to use your information for donation processing, recordkeeping and statutory reporting purposes in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
Payment is processed by Stripe Inc.. We do not see, store or have access to your full card details.
Refunds and prohibited donations. Donations are generally non-refundable once processed. However, where a donation:
is made by a person who is not eligible to donate to a registered political party under the Electoral Act 1993 (for example, an overseas person donating more than $50);
exceeds the statutory cap for anonymous donations and the excess is required by statute to be transferred to the Electoral Commission; or
has been made in error (for example, a duplicate transaction or an incorrect amount), we will refund the donation or pay it to the Electoral Commission, as required by the Electoral Act 1993. If you think any of the above applies to your donation, please contact us promptly using the details in clause 24.
Tax treatment. Donations to a political party are not eligible for the donations tax credit under section LD 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007. We will, on request, provide a receipt confirming the donation for your records, but the receipt cannot be claimed for the donations tax credit.
Newsletter and electronic communications
You may sign up to receive our newsletter and other electronic communications. Sign-up is opt-in: we will not send you communications unless you have specifically asked to receive them, or you fall within an exception permitted under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (for example, an existing member where the communication relates to your membership).
Every electronic communication we send for marketing or fundraising purposes will:
identify us as the sender, and include current contact details for us;
include a functional unsubscribe facility; and
be unsubscribed within five working days of you using that facility (Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, s 11(4)).
You can also unsubscribe by contacting us using the details in clause 24.
Cookies and analytics
Our use of cookies and analytics tools (including Google Analytics) is explained in the Privacy Policy.
Intellectual property
All content on the Website (including text, graphics, logos, images, video, audio, and software) is owned by us, or used under licence from third parties. The "Balance New Zealand" name and any associated logo are our trade marks (whether registered or not).
You may view and print content from the Website for personal, non-commercial purposes. You must not:
reproduce, distribute, modify, publish or create derivative works from any content on the Website except as expressly permitted above or by law;
use any of our trade marks without our prior written consent; or
use any content from the Website in an election advertisement or in any political material that purports to come from, or to be authorised by, us.
Authorisation and promoter statement
Communications on the Website that constitute election advertisements (within the meaning of section 3A of the Electoral Act 1993) will carry a promoter statement as required by sections 204F and 204J of that Act. The promoter statement for this Website is: “Authorised by “Juan Coffey, 176 Ridgway Street, Whanganui.”
Third-party links
The Website may contain links to third-party websites. Those links are provided for convenience only. We have no control over the content of those sites and accept no responsibility for them. A link does not imply our endorsement of the linked site.
Disclaimers
The Website and its content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. While we take reasonable care to ensure the Website operates as intended and that its content is accurate at the time of publication, we do not warrant that the Website will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses or other harmful components.
Content on the Website is general in nature, may be updated from time to time, and is not legal, financial, electoral or other professional advice.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary loss arising out of, or in connection with, your use of the Website or any inability to use it. Our total liability to you arising out of, or in connection with, your use of the Website is limited to NZ$100 / the amount you have paid us in the previous 12 months.
Nothing in these Terms of Use:
excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy that cannot be excluded, restricted or modified by law — including under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (where it applies) and the Fair Trading Act 1986;
excludes our liability for fraud or wilful default; or
excludes our liability for personal injury or death caused by our negligence (noting that compensation for personal injury is generally dealt with through the accident compensation scheme).
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify us against any loss, liability, cost or expense (including reasonable legal costs) we incur as a result of your breach of these Terms of Use or your unlawful or wrongful use of the Website. This clause does not require you to indemnify us for any loss caused by our own negligence or wilful default.
Suspension and termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Website (or any part of it) at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably consider you have breached these Terms of Use or that suspension or termination is necessary to protect the security or integrity of the Website. Suspension or termination does not affect any rights and obligations that have accrued before suspension or termination, including our entitlement to enforce these Terms of Use and the obligations in clauses 13, 17, 18, 20 and 22 which survive.
Privacy
Our collection, use and disclosure of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, available here. The Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms of Use.
Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms of Use are governed by the law of New Zealand. The courts of New Zealand have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any dispute arising in connection with these Terms of Use, except that we may bring proceedings in any jurisdiction to protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce a judgment.
General
Entire agreement - These Terms of Use, together with the Privacy Policy and any activity-specific terms (such as those applying to membership or donations), record the entire agreement between you and us about your use of the Website.
Severability - If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable, the rest continues in force, and we may replace the unenforceable provision with one that, as nearly as possible, achieves the same intent.
No waiver - Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms of Use is not a waiver of that provision or any other provision.
Assignment - You may not transfer or assign any of your rights or obligations under these Terms of Use. We may transfer or assign our rights and obligations to a successor entity, including in connection with any restructure of the party.
Notices - We may give you notices under these Terms of Use by posting them on the Website, or (where appropriate) by emailing you at the address you have provided. You may give us notices using the contact details in clause 24.
Currency and GST
All amounts on the Website are in New Zealand dollars. Donations to a political party are gifts and outside the scope of GST. Membership fees and payments for goods or services (for example, event tickets, merchandise) may be subject to GST if Balance New Zealand is GST-registered. Prices on the Website will indicate whether GST is included.
For us to build our party and to help us achieve our goals, we need the support of our community. Become a Balance New Zealand party member now and let’s start making a change.
