Category: ACT Party

Source: ACT Party

The Haps

The media spent last week trying to blame Nicole McKee for March 15. ACT is used to being attacked but this is final proof of something Free Press has long said. The media are not going broke because of the internet but because they are not selling a good product. As for Nicole, she is a calm and classy act.

Boot on the other Foot

We campaigned to end the Human Rights Commission, and it should still be gone. However, recent events have almost changed our mind.

Watching the left and media react to people with the ‘wrong’ views being made Human Rights Commissioners is what the lecturing class used to call a ‘teachable moment.’

We long warned that the Commission was being politicised by appointments with a view and an agenda that didn’t mesh with most New Zealanders’ views of human rights. There have been so many howlers it would be quite funny if we taxpayers didn’t have to pay them, which is basically ACT’s position.

There was Susan Devoy who tried attacking white men when her job was to promote racial harmony. There was the even more hapless Meng Foon, who made a series of gaffes then resigned in embarrassing circumstances.

There was Paula Tesoriero, the Disability Commissioner who talked the halls of Parliament campaigning against the End of Life Choice Act. Her basic logic was that people with a disability were too feeble to make choices. In doing so she undermined decades of hard-won recognition for people living with disability.

These, however, were harmless in comparison with Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt. This delightful character needed to be dragged kicking and screaming by Kim Hill to denounce antisemitism. At one point, on his watch, the Commission defined lesbians out of existence (by saying you couldn’t insist a woman was biologically female).

We could go on, but you get the picture. Enter into this sorry tale some genuinely good and principled people. Stephen Rainbow is a long-time gay rights activist who passionately believes in human rights, including free speech, for everybody.

Here’s part of a write up in the Herald, quoting Rainbow.

Asked if some people might feel excluded from the aims of the Commission because of what he’d posted online, Rainbow said he was “open to talking to anybody … about any issue”.

“I think one of the things that is desperately needed in New Zealand at the moment is more honest dialogue about the issues we’re facing.”

In a free society, we had to accept there was “no one set of correct views”, but a range of views, and we were privileged to be free to express and debate those views with others who might not share them “in order to reach the truth”, he said.

“That’s the whole basis of our free society, and I’m going to be absolutely committed to upholding that … clearly I’m not going to disavow the views that I formed over 60 years, but I am utterly committed to honest, open dialogue about the key challenges that we face.”

What a breath of fresh air! This cannot stand, according to no less than the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, who says “Looking at profiles of some new appointees to Human Rights Commission, there are grounds for concern. Such senior statutory appointments need to be able to command respect. Ideologically extreme appointments won’t & would diminish the institution.”

Well, Helen, look who the Race Relations Commissioner is! Dr Melissa Derby is a founding member of the Free Speech Union, one of the people who has been championing academic freedom in an increasingly suffocating campus environment.

The Spinoff, after a brief interlude producing the brilliant Juggernaut podcast, are back to left-wing identity politics fundamentalism, denouncing the appointments as the end of life as they know it (which could be true).

Where does that leave us? Layers of delicious irony.

For those who believe in high taxes and big government, the ‘teachable moment’ is that you can take our money for political purposes we disagree with, but we can do it to you, too.

For the intolerant left, who believe they own human rights and tolerance, a terrible conundrum. Why can’t they tolerate people with different views at the HRC?

Now, it would still be better if there was no Human Rights Commission, but these appointments will do good in two ways. One is they’ll continue to expose the hypocrisy of the intolerant left. Two is they’ll actually promote real human rights, universalism, tolerance, free speech: the things New Zealand needs.

If you’re a Free Press reader, you can take a little credit for these appointments, we just can’t say how.

Source: ACT Party

ACT Social Development spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar is welcoming the Government’s announcement of strengthened oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system – a commitment secured in ACT’s coalition agreement.

The announcement ensures the independence of the children’s monitor, and creates a stand-alone Children’s Commissioner.

“Children in the care of the state deserve a truly accountable Oranga Tamariki, and that means having a truly independent and accountable advocate in their corner,” says Dr Parmar.

“Labour’s reforms of Oranga Tamariki oversight let kids down by stripping accountability and shifting the ‘Independent’ Children’s Monitor to the Education Review Office. ACT campaigned on undoing Labour’s reforms and creating greater oversight independence by establishing the children’s monitor as an Independent Crown Entity so it is absolutely clear who has the job of advocating for children in state care.

“Now, in government, we are delivering. Together with the Minister for Children’s repeal of Section 7AA, this move brings us closer to an Oranga Tamariki system that puts the safety and wellbeing of children first, with protections against poor bureaucratic decision-making that could have lifelong impacts.”

Source: ACT Party

“For several elections ACT has said central government and local government must partner to make sure important infrastructure gets built, today that idea has become policy,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Today’s announcement by Local Government Minister Simeon Brown comes straight from the ACT Party Coalition Agreement, and it is a very good example of how ACT makes the Government better.

“ACT started campaigning on City and Regional Partnerships five years ago. In the lead up to the 2020 election we said, ‘we need to adopt a policy of city and regional partnerships so that infrastructure investment is long term, coordinated between central and local Government, and subject to adequate cost benefit analysis.’

“Regional deals are an idea whose time has come. As Council rates rise and infrastructure is in deficit, intelligent partnerships between central and local government can ensure spending is disciplined and long-term investment is possible.

“Short-term political ambitions will be set aside in favour of a pipeline of projects that can endure beyond the political cycles of any incumbent government or council. Ultimately, this looks like homes being connected to opportunities in employment and education by quality infrastructure.

“It means ratepayers and taxpayers are respected and given confidence to invest and plan for the future, instead of being subject to the constantly changing spending whims of their local councils.”

Source: ACT Party

ACT has been shown an email chain between the Firearms Safety Authority and an Officer of the New Zealand Army applying for a renewal of his firearms licence.

The applicant was told that, because he has spent more than six months in Afghanistan in the last ten years, he needs a criminal record check from the local Afghan authorities.

The incredulous applicant had to explain to the Firearms Safety Authority that he was in Afghanistan serving Her Majesty in hostilities between New Zealand’s armed forces and the Taliban.

The Taliban, being the current authority in Afghanistan, would be the same group from whom he would now have to request a positive reference.

“What an absolute doozy from the Firearms Safety Authority,” says ACT Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron.

“Experiences like this are exactly why licenced firearms owners have become fed up with the way Police exercise their powers through the Firearms Safety Authority.

“Veterans often want to maintain their interest in and skills with firearms after leaving the armed forces. But they’ve told me they are often treated with suspicion by the Police, as if they are all unstable and PTSD-addled. This is an utterly disrespectful way to treat those who fought for peace overseas.

“ACT’s coalition commitment secured a transfer of responsibility for the Firearms Safety Authority from Police to another department – work that Hon Nicole McKee is now progressing.”

Source: ACT Party

“Two stories from today show how the energy shortage is biting regional economies hard,” says ACT Energy spokesman Simon Court.

“Together the news paints a picture of a poorer, colder, and darker future for New Zealand unless we take urgent steps to restore confidence for energy companies to explore and invest in new supply.

“Winstone Pulp has proposed responding to unsustainable energy prices by shutting mills and cutting hundreds of jobs, an outcome that would devastate livelihoods in the Ruapehu District. They’re currently paying more than five times as much for energy as their overseas competitors, and it’s not feasible to pass these costs to their customers.

“Down south, Tiwai Point has confirmed yet another cut in production, in a deal to give energy back to the gentailers to service the rest of New Zealand. It mirrors a similar deal Methanex struck to shut down production until October and sell its gas to power companies. In a first world country, we shouldn’t have to shut down productive enterprises just to keep the lights on at home, but that’s what we’re seeing.

“We can’t go on like this. We’re in an energy crisis, and if it becomes an annual event we’ll see regional economies hollowed out from the inside as factories and smelters and mills become unviable. On cold mornings we’re coming perilously close to blackouts.

“We can’t rely on hydro alone. Usually in an energy crunch we could dip into stocks of natural gas, but the previous Government crashed that sector’s confidence to explore and invest in new supply, hence the desperate deals like the one we’ve seen with Methanex. The new Government reversed the oil and gas ban, but the sector still looks at New Zealand in fear that a future government could shut them down.

“I’ve written to Party Leaders from across Parliament calling for cross-party action. If the likes of Chris Hipkins and Chloe Swarbrick can commit to allowing natural gas companies to operate, we’ll see more investment and ultimately more supply brought online. ACT awaits their response.”

Source: ACT Party

“I welcome the Waitangi Tribunal’s contribution to the debate about the principles of the Treaty”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“We need a national conversation about our founding document. Are there are two classes of New Zealanders in partnership, each with different rights? Or are we a modern democracy where all citizens have equal rights? I look forward to having that discussion over the next several months.

“My fundamental question is this: where are the successful societies that treat people differently based on their ancestry? Many of the worst events in history came from treating humans based on their membership of a group.

“If the Treaty is a partnership between the Crown and only Māori, what is the place of a non-Māori child born today? Are they born into second class citizenship where some public positions are not available to them because they have the wrong ancestors?

“New Zealand can have a bright future, but it requires casting off the divisive notion that the Treaty is a partnership between two classes of New Zealanders each with different rights.

“It is not only untrue, it is incompatible with the fundamental democratic value that all citizens are equal under the law.

“Each of us is united by universal humanity. The same rights, the same dignities for every person. That is what has driven all the good movements in human history.

“My belief is that this is the only way forward for any society. Every time we say that people have different rights based on ancestry, we breed resentment. And more importantly, we create the idea that which group you’re a member of is more important than your basic value as a human being.”

Source: ACT Party

ACT MP Laura Trask is welcoming the announcement that company directors will have the option to remove their home address from the Companies Register.

“The Government’s announcement today finally addresses a serious concern for company directors who have risked stalking and harassment,” says Trask.

“I’ve heard some pretty horrible stories from the likes of hairdressers and tradies who’ve had to worry about stalkers, aggrieved contractors, or abusive exes knowing where they live and showing up at any time of day or night, and it’s an issue that’s ranked as a top concern in surveys of company directors.

“In one case reported by The Post a director felt forced to break the law to avoid having her address listed, because the legal option – getting a protection order – would have involved cost, delay, and potentially even coming face to face with the man harassing her.

“ACT has long argued the requirement for company directors to share their home address is unjustified and risks ugly unintended consequences, and as a former company director myself I was glad to help keep this on the agenda, along with Brooke van Velden.”

Trask has sponsored a member’s bill to address this issue, which in turn was previously sponsored by Brooke van Velden during the previous term of Parliament. Van Velden withdrew her bill after a commitment from the Labour Government that action would be taken – a commitment that was not fulfilled.

Source: ACT Party

“ACT welcomes changes to the RSE scheme that mean Kiwi growers will find it easier to hire the help they need in harvest season,” says ACT Immigration spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar, while reiterating ACT’s view that the cap on RSE workers should be scrapped.

“When an orchard or vineyard enjoys a bumper crop, the last thing they need is a labour shortage that leaves fruit rotting on the ground. Seasonal workers from overseas can fill short-term roles that locals looking for more stable work just won’t do.

“Lifting the cap on RSE workers fulfils an ACT coalition commitment and will boost the productive potential of our growers over the coming season. However, we campaigned on removing the cap entirely, and hope that will be considered in future. The RSE scheme is different to other kinds of migration because it is strictly temporary, and businesses apply for workers based on how many they actually need. We shouldn’t kneecap them with an arbitrary limit.

“Growers have told ACT that one rule causing major frustration was the requirement for employers to pay RSE workers for 30 hours a week, every week. That just didn’t reflect the reality of work on an orchard, where a single turn of the weather or a disruption in supply chains can mean some weeks are quiet, while others require long hours. Now the work requirement is a more flexible average of 30 hours – a victory for common sense.”

Source: ACT Party

The Haps

ACT and its Ministers are being attacked for an unusual reason. They are being too effective. Karen Chhour really is making Oranga Tamariki colourblind and child centric. Nicole McKee is introducing common sense into gun laws. Yesterday National Ministers announced electronic road pricing to ease congestion and electronic payment cards to prevent welfare abuse. Both are ACT coalition commitments. No wonder the Left are losing their rag at ACT. As core ACT supporters, Free Press readers are making a difference.

The Energy Crisis

If you rank countries by the standard of living people enjoy, and the amount of energy people consume, they’re basically the same ranking. Unless you’re a monk, more energy equals a better life.

If you’re feeling poorer, it might be because we’re getting short of energy. Labour’s solution was to give people more money in winter, they called it the winter energy payment. We know that no Government can buy its way out of a fundamental problem, just like welfare doesn’t solve poverty.

The solution has to be striking at the root of the issue. There is not enough electricity and gas in this country. That problem in turn is caused by a lack of investment in generation and gas discovery.

There will always be people who want to blame ‘the market.’ If only the Government owned the generators and did it for the people, not profit, salvation would arrive. If only.

The truth is Government could do electricity fairly well when the world was much simpler. When New Zealand consisted of three million people, some very big dams, and all-you-can-burn coal, running electricity networks was simpler.

Then things got tricky. More people, more of them environmentalists, and more kinds of generation than just hydro and coal, made the system more complicated. The whole thing got harder for the old New Zealand Electricity Department to plan.

Separating out generators, retailers, lines companies and Transpower was and is the best model. Letting private companies invest in new generation capacity is better than politicians and Government officials with little commercial expertise or incentives working it out.

Nonetheless we’re short of power, so what gives? There’s not enough fuel. By fuel we mean water in the dams, gas in the fields, wind in the air, and sun in the sky. The wonderful mild winter we’ve had with still blue skies and little rain is fantastic for running rugby and outdoor dining, but absolutely rubbish for generating electricity.

It doesn’t help that there hasn’t been much in the way of gas finds for the last decade, but what really buggered it up was the Labour (and New Zealand First and Green) Government banning oil and gas exploration. That scared away investment, and the people who could help boost production have left.

It doesn’t help that the same Government threatened Lake Onslow, the massive battery project (it would pump water uphill then let it run down again later to store energy) costing $15 billion dollars. Who would invest in generation when the Government threatens to dump a $15 billion dollar battery on the market?

Then there’s just the general madness that is the RMA. Getting anything done takes too long and costs too much. It needs to be replaced with a property rights-based law.

There are more technical changes that would help. Transpower is regulated to make a return on new lines over five years. If the period were longer, it could invest more and pay off its investments over a longer period. New generators could be hooked up to the grid faster.

Where do all these ideas leave us?

One thing’s for sure. New Zealand won’t get investment if industrial energy is too expensive. New Zealanders won’t live rich lives if they can’t afford energy. If we, as a country, keep shooting ourselves in both feet with bad policies, maybe we don’t deserve to.

What we all need is a cross-party accord on gas exploration, as ACT’s Simon Court has been calling for. We need a new RMA that lets people do stuff as the starting assumption (which Simon Court is also working on). We need to point out projects like Onslow are absurdly silly, so that Labour and friends don’t dare propose them again. It would also help to change Transpower’s regulations so they can invest in more transmission to new generators.

If we do those things, investment in generation will increase so it’s easier to get through winters like we’ve just had. Meanwhile, we’ve all got lots of time opening big power bills to see just how much reckless economic policies hurt in the end.

Source: ACT Party

“Finally, New Zealand has turned the corner on the three year old cost-of-living crisis. With the new Government spending carefully, like business and households have had to, pressure has come off inflation and interest rates. Less Government spending means less pressure on inflation, means less pressure on interest rates, and means relief for households and businesses,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The 3.3 per cent inflation data last month was the first sign the fiscal restraint is working. Lower inflation expectations, released last week, were more news we’re headed in the right direction. Today’s OCR cut, the first in four-and-a-half years, is more good news for struggling households and businesses.

“An interest rate cut is more powerful than any tax cut, and that’s why it’s critical the Government keeps its eye on the prize of careful spending. ACT believes it’s critical the Government keeps spending wisely to reduce waste wherever possible, and it will be doubly important while the economy and Government revenue are soft.

“Families with home loans will get to keep more of what they earn, to pay for groceries, or things that bring them joy. A rate cut will also ease pressure on rents, because landlord have mortgages too.

“Of course, it’s still going to be tough out there. That’s why it’s so important the Government continues to wind back wasteful spending and give the Reserve Bank confidence to cut rates further.”