ACT kicks off winter tour

Source: ACT Party

For ACT, listening to New Zealanders never stops.

When we’re not in Wellington, our MPs are up and down the country, and tomorrow we’re kicking off a push to visit 30 different towns and communities in just two weeks.

This is about leaving the Wellington bubble, diving deep into the real New Zealand and hearing from the people who actually keep the country running and pay the bills.

We’ll tour small businesses and rural enterprises, and meet with local supporters. It’s a chance for Kiwis to tell us what challenges they face and hold us to account as we deliver the real change ACT campaigned on.

The tour kicks off in Invercargill tomorrow. The ACT bus will stop in Queenstown, Arrowtown, Alexandra, Dunedin, Waikouiti, Oamaru, Timaru, Geraldine, Ashburton, Rakaia, Wigram, Christchurch, West Melton, Plimmerton, Ohau, Fielding, Palmerston North, Whanganui, Hawera, Kapuni, New Plymouth, Mokau, Uruti, Otorohonga, Hamilton, Te Aroha, Paeroa, and Tauranga, before finishing in Te Puke on the 19th.

Local media outlets are invited to speak to the ACT team in any of these locations.

Mad intensification rules out, housing hope in

Source: ACT Party

ACT is welcoming the end of Labour’s compulsory intensification rules as the Government announces new plans to implement housing growth targets and free up land.

This is how ACT makes the Government better. The mad Labour-National plan to zone every section in major cities for three three-storey houses is dead. Instead, councils will need to show thirty years of future housing supply where it makes sense.

Sanity has returned to housing policy only after encouragement from ACT. This will be a huge relief for many. Councils up and down the country were rejecting the law, and now we’re giving them back control over what happens in their community.

The cost of housing is one of the greatest barriers to flourishing in New Zealand. Families are competing for too few homes, paying too much in rent and too much in mortgages, and are forced to settle for poor-quality housing in places they don’t want to live. If we don’t solve our housing crisis, we risk a generation looking offshore for the hope of a secure future.

With ACT in Government, we’re restoring the hope and aspiration of young New Zealanders to find a place to call home with a little hard work and saving.

Instead of pushing rules on councils that favour triple blocks of three-story townhouses, the plan now frees up undeveloped land and sets targets for councils to zone for more housing. It gives councils flexibility to deliver more homes while respecting existing residents who may not want a three-storey building a metre from their boundary.

ACT understands that housing development isn’t just held back by land use rules, but by a lack of instrastructure. New housing development must be supported with roads and pipes and wires, so our coalition agreement commits to replacing the Resource Management Act to get the big stuff built, and instituting long-term city and regional infrastructure deals, allowing PPPs, tolling and value capture rating to fund infrastructure.

ACT invokes ‘agree to disagree’ on Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill

Source: ACT Party

ACT has invoked the ‘agree to disagree’ provisions of its coalition agreement and will oppose the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
 
The Bill is a sop. Even its supporters estimate it may only provide $30 million in revenue to all media companies, but revenue at TVNZ alone dropped by half that last year. The Bill’s a failed Labour inheritance our partners just can’t shrug off. It’s one of those things you do when you don’t know what else to do.
 
The Fair Digital News bargaining Bill will not solve the fundamental challenges facing traditional media: it’s never been easier to share information online, but people don’t want the product on offer. This Bill is unlikely to change the underlying reality that media companies need to adapt, innovate, and provide a product customers want to buy, just like any other business.
 
Media companies claim they need the Government to step in because internet companies are exploiting them. In my experience, it’s not always clear who needs who the most. Media firms get traffic from Google and Meta, they can’t prove they’re not benefiting from the internet firms.
 
A Sapere report commissioned by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage suggests that the benefits media firms derive from Google and Meta driving traffic to their websites is “significant”. The report’s authors did not agree that Google and Meta were effectively capturing or reducing advertising revenue that might have otherwise gone to media firms.
 
That raises the question of whether there is a problem that government should step in to solve.
 
Labour’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill always appeared like an attempt to force one group of businesses to subsidise another. But it’s not the role of government to protect businesses from the effects of competition and changing customer preferences.
 
We are also concerned that the Bill could have unintended consequences for New Zealanders.
 
In Canada, Meta blocked users’ ability to share or view news content leading to a significant reduction in traffic to smaller, independent media websites and the government having to bail them out. And if news disappears from social media platforms, misinformation will take its place.
 
It’s clear that New Zealand’s traditional media companies support this bill. They believe it would net them significant resources from their online competitors. But the real sums claimed don’t add up to a game changer.
 
When our partners tried to rescue the Bill, they made it worse. The involvement of an elected Minister in deciding who ultimately gets what takes away one of the main benefits of the whole scheme: that it doesn’t involve politicians. ACT worries that a Bill aimed at subsidising traditional media could undermine the separation between political actors and journalists who are meant to be an independent voice in our democracy.

New Zealand’s potential unleashed in third quarterly plan

Source: ACT Party

New Zealanders will be empowered by a series of ACT-driven actions in the Government’s third quarterly plan announced today.

Last quarter, half the action points were ACT coalition commitments or led by ACT Ministers, not bad for a party making up one sixth of the Government.

This quarter, ACT’s influence continues, with half the actions in the next plan reflecting ACT coalition commitments, policies ACT campaigned on, or priorities of ACT Ministers. We will drive real change in education, the economy, environmental regulation, and law and order.

We’re ensuring every child has the opportunity to flourish. With ACT in Government, Cabinet will:

• Open applications for new and converting charter schools.
• Introduce the second phase of initiatives to lift school attendance.
• Finalise the framework to ensure the independence of a standalone Children’s Commissioner and strengthen the oversight of Oranga Tamariki.

We’re unleashing the potential of the economy. With ACT in Government, Cabinet will:

• Initiate the second regulatory sector review to identify and remove unnecessary red tape.
• Sign the new speed limit rule to reverse the previous Government’s blanket speed limit reductions.
• Decide on legislation to support time-of-use charging to reduce congestion
• Decisions on legislative amendments to clarify the employment status of contractors.
• Decisions on new regulations to remove the GE ban and enable the safe use of gene technology in agriculture, health science and other sectors.
• Introduce legislation to eliminate barriers to overseas building products being used in New Zealand.
• Decide on proposed improvements to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism regime to ensure it is both workable and effective.
• Begin public consultation on reform of the Holidays Act.
• Decide on a framework for city and regional deals.

We’re restoring property rights and cutting green tape. With ACT in Government, Cabinet will:

• Decide on a work programme to replace the RMA with a system premised on the enjoyment of property rights.
• Decide on amended requirements for farmers in certain areas to have certified Freshwater Farm Plans.
• Decide on the scope of RMA and National Direction amendments to unlock development in infrastructure, housing, and primary industries, and drive a more efficient and effective resource management system.
• Decide on the final design of the Government’s one-stop shop consenting and permitting scheme, incorporating sensible changes suggested through the select committee process.

We’re putting the rights of victims ahead of criminals. With ACT in Government, Cabinet will:

• Introduce legislation to toughen sentencing rules to ensure real consequences for crime.
• Launch a military-style academy pilot for serious and persistent young offenders.
• Pass the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill to provide Police with stronger powers to get guns out of the hands of criminals.
• Pass the Courts (Remote Participation) Amendment Bill to improve efficiency in the courts and increase access to justice.

ACT is the Party that makes the Government better, powering the agenda with better ideas. Across the board, ACT has been at the leading edge of reforms to empower New Zealanders to achieve on their own terms, not those of Wellington.

MP welcomes Prime Minister’s backing of Easter Trading bill

Source: ACT Party

I’m welcoming the Prime Minister’s support for my bill to liberalise Easter Trading rules.

The Prime Minister told The Country yesterday that Easter Trading rules were outdated and inconsistent and that he was personally supportive of the proposed changes.

I’m pleased to have the Prime Minister’s support and I hope other MPs will consider the points he’s made, such as the inconsistency in shutting down brick-and-mortar stores while online outlets continue to trade.

The Prime Minister has acknowledged that each National MP is free to vote with their conscience. It shows he is genuine about allowing each MP to consult freely with their own beliefs, and with their communities. Other party leaders should take notice.

MPs on the fence ought to consider results of a scientific poll released this week showing that supporters of every political party favour allowing shops to open over Easter.

I’ll continue to have conversations about this bill with MPs in every party, making the case for freedom while also addressing concerns over workers’ rights. My bill looks after workers as it retains the existing employee protections that apply in respect of Easter Sunday and extends these protections to Good Friday.

Fundamentally, my bill replaces a confusing patchwork of local trading policies with a universal principle that if you want to trade over Easter, you can. And if you want to have those days off, you can have that too.

Swarbrick’s rhetoric doesn’t befit position of Party Leader

Source: ACT Party

Responding to Chlöe Swarbrick today leading a chant of “From the river to the sea…”:

The difference here is that Chlöe Swarbrick has now stepped into James Shaw’s shoes as Green Party co-leader. She could be using her new platform to unify, to build bridges, and to share a positive vision. Instead, she’s brought her divisive, crowd-baiting rhetoric to her party’s highest station.

She clearly hasn’t learned anything after being called by the Human Rights Commission to a mediation over her previous use of the phrase.

The chant, which appears in Hamas’s charter, is widely understood to promote the end of Israel and the cleansing of Jews from that corner of the world. It’s a provocation that Swarbrick is using to score cheap political points with the most radical arm of her party’s supporters. It doesn’t befit a party leader and she owes New Zealanders, especially Jewish New Zealanders, an apology.

Livestock export by sea is being reinstated

Source: ACT Party

I believe we can meet our environmental and animal welfare obligations without sacrificing our rural lifeblood. And I’ve got another update on how ACT is making this happen.

Today, Animal Welfare Minister (and ACT MP, and fellow farmer) Andrew Hoggard confirmed the reinstatement of livestock export by sea, with strengthened animal welfare standards. Public consultation begins before September and I hope farmers will have their say.

Labour flushed live animal export down the drain against official advice, in a knee-jerk political stunt that destined prime breeding stock for the slaughterhouse. What a waste.

Livestock export at its best is akin to a Royal Caribbean cruise, with cattle arriving at their destination fatter than when they got on the boat. I know Andrew will work to ensure animals are cared for while farmers enjoy the return of a $300+ million earner.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister announced that an independent panel reviewing methane science and targets will report back to the Government by the end of the year, a key step in ACT’s coalition commitment that ensures farmers aren’t unfairly taxed for their emissions based on dodgy science.

This comes after a fantastic week at Fieldays with no less than eight announcements to empower rural New Zealand from ACT Ministers.

One of those announcements was to disband He Waka Eke Noa and pass legislation to keep agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme. Last night, that legislation passed its first reading.

Lumping costs onto efficient Kiwi farmers and forcing food production offshore never made environmental or economic sense. I enjoyed catching up with Leah Panapa on The Platform last week to discuss how this legislation delivers for farmers.

Finally, the latest GDP figures have revealed that it’s farmers and miners who are doing the economic heavy lifting right now, practically single-handedly keeping us out of recession.

So it’s a bloody good thing that people who work the land are finally being given the respect they’ve earned for their efforts.

ACT congratulates Wellington Council on selling shares in airport

Source: ACT Party

ACT is congratulating Wellington City Council on deciding to sell its shares in Wellington Airport.

“There is no good reason for local government to partially own an airport”, says ACT’s Finance spokesperson Todd Stephenson.

“Rates paid by Wellingtonians should not be supporting a council to play sharemarket games.

“Councils need to focus on delivering the basic public services they are responsible for: making sure roads are maintained, water systems work, and buses run on time.

“Today’s decision helps to support that focus and can help to keep future rate hikes down.

“Councils New Zealand over should take heart from the clear-eyed decision taken by Wellington City Council today.”

Farmers and miners deserve credit for wafer-thin growth

Source: ACT Party

Responding to the latest GDP figures from Stats NZ,

We’re technically out of recession, largely thanks to the efforts of our primary sector which grew 1.3% in the last year. Thank god for the farmers and miners. But economic activity on a per-person basis is down, so the typical household won’t feel better off.

Instead of hitting the shops, families are knuckling down and frankly doing the responsible thing: skipping non-essential purchases, looking for bargains, and servicing debts. That’s a sensible reaction to a cost-of-living crisis.

New Zealanders deserve a government as responsible as Kiwi households are. That means avoiding temptation to borrow and spend ever more while Wellington’s own interest payments spike.

One subsector that’s grown faster than others is ‘public administration’, which grew 5.1 per cent. That growth took place in the first three quarters, but now it’s started shrinking since we’ve been in Government.

This is good news, because spending in Wellington on dubious projects was a big reason we ended up with the dark clouds of inflation and high interest rates voters have now tasked us with cleaning up.

With ACT in government, we’re facing reality head-on, making tough decisions just like your family does. In the Budget we offered modest tax relief, but the bigger story was the hundreds of millions in savings we delivered, and must continue to deliver, while still funding essential frontline services.

This long winter will make way for spring. Inflation, while still high, is tracking down. And so long as we stay the course together, interest rates will come down too.

That’s how we leave you with more in your pocket to spend on the services that help you and your family flourish. That’s how we give businesses the confidence to employ, invest, and put value into your community. That’s how we let in the sunlight of real growth and real prosperity, where we can afford the world-class public services that New Zealanders deserve.

Occupation of Tōwai School site erodes property rights

Source: ACT Party

Private property rights warrant protection, yet again we see their flagrant erosion.

We’ve now got groups who think they can squat on land, destroying its saleability, with complete disregard for whose name is on the title. If they want it they should bloody buy it.

The site has had expressions of interest from people keen to do something positive with it. But thanks to illegal squatters, the land sits derelict, unsaleable, and the poor owner has now died without hope of a positive outcome.

If a hapu group wants a piece of land but can’t make a successful case before the Waitangi Tribunal, they’re free to pool resources and make an offer. But in this case, the hapu is not interested in a legitimate approach, apparently because they smell a freebie.

The Crown must not bow to demands to buy the land. To do so would be to reward to illegal squatters and encourage further occupations.

ACT is increasingly alarmed at an erosion of property rights caused by dangerous precedents we’ve seen at Ihumātao and Ahipara, where councils have stepped in to buy occupied land. It’s sent a message to fringe hapu groups that if you want a piece of land, just squat on it, and it’s yours.

It’s time to reverse this precedent. The Crown, the Council, and especially Police need to bang their heads together and restore the rights of title holders.