Reasons men supported the suffrage movement

In 1891 - 1893, suffragettes such as Kate Sheppard gathered signatures and compiled a series of massive petitions calling on parliament to enact female suffrage. The 1893 petition for female suffrage gained over 24,000 signatures that were submitted to the parliament in Wellington.

New Zealand's men supported the suffrage movement. As a "colonial frontier" country, New Zealand had far more men than women and believed that an influx of women would stabilise the society. Women were thought to be morally superior, and that a society where women could vote would increase morality.