Part of the issue is the system of voting is set up so that there can only ever be two parties. Dividing the country up into chunks and then having one winner in each chunk creates a situation where voting third party is a wasted vote. When there are only two options it's pretty hard to vote for your interests.

In the 90s when New Zealand changed to MMP to led to a proliferation of new parties getting into parliament and the people involved were much much less often old white males. It changed the dynamic completely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed-member_proportional_representation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_New_Zealand