Category: Political Parties

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Posted on

Prison costs cannot be excuse to go soft on crime

Source: National Party – Headline: Prison costs cannot be excuse to go soft on crime

The Government needs to stop looking for excuses to go soft on crime and come up with a plan to reduce crime, National’s Justice Spokesperson Mark Mitchell says.

“No doubt the report today from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor saying that being tough on crime is to blame for rising prison costs and inmate numbers is music to Justice Minister Andrew Little’s ears.

“He’s been looking for excuses to loosen up bail and sentencing laws so that the Government doesn’t have to go ahead with building the new Waikeria prison and can boast about reducing prison numbers.

“But the cost of prisons cannot be an excuse not to put people in prison, if that’s where they need to be. The priority must be to ensure that victims are kept safe from violent criminals.

“We know that the overall crime rate has been decreasing, but a lot of that is due to a reduction in lower-level offending.

“Violent crime has actually gone up four per cent since 2011 and this is largely the type of crime that people get sent to prison for. This is also the type of crime that has the most serious and long-lasting impact on victims’ lives.

“That’s why perpetrators of violent crime must be taken out of our communities and into a place where they can’t hurt others and where they can get rehabilitation.

“Tightening up bail laws was part of ensuring this because we know that a very large number of people go on to commit more crimes and rack up more victims while on bail.

“Part of the reason violent crime has gone up is because there’s been a stronger focus on family violence in the last few years, meaning more people are coming forward to report incidents of family violence and police and the courts are taking the issue more seriously.

“It’s worrying that the Government scrapped National’s target to reduce crime and instead introduced a target to reduce the prison population.

“Surely the measure of success must be to reduce the number of victims, not the number of prisoners, because if we can do the former we achieve the latter.

“It’s time the Government realised that and got on with developing a plan to reduce crime.”

Posted on

Hipkins’ approach to online learning archaic

Source: National Party – Headline: Hipkins’ approach to online learning archaic

The Government is taking New Zealand’s education system back to the dark ages with the announcement that it is scrapping Communities of Online Learning (COOL) and increasing its control over the Education Council, National’s Education Spokesperson Nikki Kaye says.

“Digital technologies have rapidly evolved in the decade since Labour was last in Government and it’s important our education system reflects that.

“That’s why National established COOLs, with the intention of harnessing digital technology to provide more learning options for children and young people.

“For instance, parents who home-schooled their children could have enrolled them in a COOL which would have opened them up to subjects that the parent might not be able to teach. Or a rural school that doesn’t have the capacity to teach languages might have allowed its students to use a COOL to learn Mandarin or Te Reo Māori.

“Scrapping COOLs takes these possibilities away from children and young people, all because Labour is ideologically allergic to privately delivered services.

“At the same time as the Government is taking opportunities away from kids, Education Minister Chris Hipkins is giving himself more control over the Education Council.

“Despite the spin from Mr Hipkins that allowing teachers to elect most members to the Education Council gives the sector more control, the changes proposed in the Education Amendment Bill actually hand the power of decision-making over to the Minister.

“The Council will be required to consult with the Minister on decisions relating to teacher training and registration. Changes will also enable the Minister to issue a policy statement which will essentially tell the Council what to do and how to do it.

“What’s the point of telling teachers they can elect members to the Council when the Minister is just going to tell them what to do anyway?

“The sooner Mr Hipkins realises that the Government doesn’t have all the answers, the better.”

Posted on

M-Bovis compo should be fast and fair

Source: National Party – Headline: M-Bovis compo should be fast and fair

A long-awaited decision to cull cattle infected with the Mycoplasma Bovis disease will bring some welcome relief to affected farmers but questions remain whether the Government is fully committed to eradication, National’s Primary Industries spokesperson Nathan Guy says.

“Yesterday the Minister, Damien O’Connor, told Parliament that Cabinet is still to decide if eradication is possible – or if it’s even economically viable – which is nothing but a ‘get out of jail free’ card so the Government doesn’t have to commit to any further funding.

“The $85 million package – that includes $11 million from industry – will go some way toward culling the 22 herds but it’s also needed to cover ongoing operational costs, including some feed and compensation costs.

“While this gives certainty to those individual farmers, this is going to be a stressful time as they see their animals trucked off for slaughter, and I feel for them.

“Many will have spent a lifetime investing in the best animal genetics and also have a stand down period before they can purchase replacement stock and get back farming again.

“I acknowledge the work of the Rural Support Trust and banks, who will play a very important role in supporting these farmers through this soul-destroying period.

“Because of a lack of funding, the Government has been too slow to compensate farmers to date and my challenge to the Minister and his officials is be fair and fast with future compensation claims.

“I’m also calling on the Minister to release the tracing report that is currently sitting on his desk. My pick is that it will be inconclusive as to how Micoplasma Bovis got here – tracing the origins of this disease will be a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” Mr Guy says. 

Posted on

Govt needs to provide clarity on free to air sport

Source: National Party – Headline: Govt needs to provide clarity on free to air sport

The Government must be clear about its policy on free to air sport, given NZ First has promised to implement it while Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran has said it is not a priority, National’s Sport and Recreation Spokesperson Nikki Kaye says.

“National has always recognised that the money from selling broadcasting rights is important to the sporting codes. The minute the Government tries to force greater access to coverage, it must pay for it.

“While National did not campaign on a free to air sport policy, NZ First promised it would be a non-negotiable demand in its coalition discussions.

“But shortly after becoming Minister, Clare Curran said it was not a priority for the Government.

“This issue is further confused with today’s news that Sky TV is not the preferred bidder to broadcast the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

“It’s important to respect the tender process, however Ms Curran must be clear about whether the Government will provide additional funding to ensure greater access to either Rugby World Cup coverage or free to air sport as promised by Labour’s coalition partner.

“Labour has promised additional funds for broadcasting so they need to be clear whether any of these funds will be used for greater access to sporting matches.

“Taxpayers deserve transparency from this Government, but if recent events are anything to go by I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

Posted on

PM’s blatant back-track from child poverty targets

Source: National Party – Headline: PM’s blatant back-track from child poverty targets

The Prime Minister has announced with much fanfare that she is dialling back on her child poverty targets, National’s spokesperson for Children, Alfred Ngaro says.

“Jacinda Ardern has announced that she intends to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 70,000 over three years,” Mr Ngaro says.

“But in an interview she gave during the election campaign in September, Jacinda Ardern said that she was committed to lifting 100,000 children out of poverty by 2020.

“This is an extraordinary back-track from her pre-election promise.

“We don’t believe that a reduction of 70,000 children in poverty is anywhere near as ambitious as it could be given the previously-announced Families Package – which was a rebadge of National’s package – is likely to impact the lives of 64,000 kids.

“So essentially she’s saying her Government is only going to raise another 6,000 in this term of Parliament.

“During the campaign, National committed to lifting 100,000 children out of low income households by 2020 through the introduction of a second income package to build on the 50,000 children our first package would have helped.

“It should also be noted that it was the National Government that raised benefits for the first time in 40 years and the impact of that increase is yet to be seen in the numbers. Jacinda Ardern’s pet policy is wholly reliant on the economic management and evidence-driven initiatives of the National Government. 

“We’re continuing to fight hard for any future legislation around reducing child poverty to have some real teeth to it.

“National has lodged three Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) seeking to force the Government to be more ambitious with its targets, measures, and evidence.

“We supported the Prime Minister’s Bill to select committee but have always said that our ongoing support would depend on the Government agreeing to make changes that will ensure it measurably improves deprivation.

“I look forward to discussing these SOPs as they come in front of the Social Services and Community select committee and I hope the Government agrees to allow an increase in the report-back time and for the public to be able to give feedback on our proposed changes,” Mr Ngaro says. 

Posted on

Capital Gains Tax in all but name

Source: ACT Party

Headline: Capital Gains Tax in all but name




“Tonight, we have a capital gains tax in all but name, and the National Party is as responsible as the Government,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Tonight’s passage of the Taxation (Employment Income and Remedial Matters) Bill means homes bought and sold within five years will be subject to tax on capital gains.

“The five year bright-line test means that many New Zealanders will find themselves paying tax when they sell a home.

“Amy Adams’ contortions on the Bill would qualify her for Cirque du Soleil. She tries to claim that a five-year bright line test is a stealth capital gains tax but the two-year bright line tax introduced by National was not.

“Adams leaned on the IRD’s report on the Bill, more for support than illumination. Contrary to her claims in the House, the IRD’s Regulatory Impact Statement does not say a two-year bright line test will better catch speculators than a five-year test.

“The lesson for National and voters on the right is this: taxes are like acorns, they grow. You don’t fight taxes by introducing them and then complaining when they grow.

“The two-year bright line test should never have been introduced. There is no evidence that a capital gains tax charged over any length of time will reduce house prices as claimed. Some of the worst housing affordability in the world is in Sydney, Vancouver, London and Los Angeles, all cities with capital gains taxes.

“This a sad day for New Zealanders and the quality of our policy settings. We now have a more complicated tax system with no useful benefits to New Zealanders”, says Mr Seymour.

Posted on

Poor hit from all angles with regional fuel tax

Source: ACT Party

Headline: Poor hit from all angles with regional fuel tax




“The poorest Aucklanders will be in hit in at least three different ways with Phil Twyford’s new regional fuel tax”, says ACT Leader David Seymour. 

“Grant Robertson doled out $40 a week to many families with children in his ‘Families Package’. Now Phil Twyford will take back four weeks’ worth of Families Package payments with a new tax that will cost the average household $160 a year.

Legislation to enable the regional fuel tax will begin its first reading in Parliament today.

“The government’s regulatory impact statement shows poorer Aucklanders will be the hardest hit for three reasons.

“First, they use more fuel during their commute given they often live further from the city centre.

“Second, they are less likely to be able to access electric and newer fuel efficient vehicles meaning they use even more fuel.

“Finally, according to Westpac, increased fuel costs will put upward pressure on the prices of everyday goods and services.

“Mangere Budgeting Services Trust Chief Executive Darryl Evans has echoed these sentiments, saying the city’s poorest families will be among those hardest hit by the new tax. 

“The real kicker, though, is that Aucklanders aren’t even being told which transport projects the tax will fund”, says Mr Seymour.

Posted on

America’s Cup: great theatre, poor deal

Source: ACT Party

Headline: America’s Cup: great theatre, poor deal




“The America’s Cup is a fantastic event, but David Parker and Phil Goff have negotiated an incompetent deal on behalf of New Zealanders”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Clearly feeling the pressure, Parker and Goff will stump up at least $212.5 million of taxpayer and ratepayer money, including a $40 million ‘hosting fee’.

“Economists have put the cost-benefit ratio of the event at between 0.997 and 1.14. That means the most optimistic scenario has the country only just breaking even.

“But, with a high likelihood of cost blowouts, New Zealanders could end up losing money on the event. 

“No private investor in the world would accept a maximum $1.14 return on the dollar. Why should the taxpayer?

“David Parker and Phil Goff should have pushed Team New Zealand much harder for a better deal for New Zealanders”, says Mr Seymour.

Posted on

Free Press Monday 26 March -A Popular ACT Policy

Source: ACT Party

Headline: Free Press Monday 26 March -A Popular ACT Policy




A Popular ACT Policy

ACT commissioned independent polling to test the popularity of Partnership Schools. As one of our former leaders likes to say, politics is hard slog in the fog, then suddenly you’re out in front. After six years of battling everybody, including the National Party half the time, ACT’s Partnership Schools have gone mainstream. Sixty per cent believe the Government has handled the issue badly, fifty-seven per cent believe the schools should stay open.

Government Overture Fails

Jacinda Ardern wants to get rid of Partnership Schools because they’re a failure, but wants them to stay open because they are a success. Her strategy was to avoid closing them by inviting operators to turn their Partnership Schools into state schools, but Ardern admitted this week only one of the eleven schools has applied, and only two more are ‘close.’ She can’t close them, so what now?

How you can Help

Ardern says she will meet anyone and work across partisan lines to achieve more for New Zealand. We like this style and have written asking her to meet signatories to a petition to save Partnership Schools. You can help by signing here www.savecharters.kiwi. If you have already signed, please use your email and social media to share it with more people. Stay tuned for the presentation date.

Where’s the Report?

The previous Government commissioned Wellington policy shop Martin Jenkins to do a three-part report on the Partnership Schools policy. It cost over $400,000. The first two parts are public and highly complementary of the policy. They say it promoted innovation in education and engaged marginalized kids well. The public deserve to see the third, due since the change of Government, but it has been suppressed.

Aussie Cricketers Would be Proud

Chris Hipkins has claimed in Parliamentary Questions that he has not read the report. We find this extraordinary as it has existed for months. Free Press predicts that Hipkins’ staff have read it and are busy trying to get Martin Jenkins to recast it with the schools in a less favourable light before the Minister reads it. Australian cricketers would not attempt such brazen tampering.

Government Ghetto

Let’s start by complimenting Phil Twyford for recognizing that the housing market is a problem, and it is a problem of supply. But his plan to cram 4,000 homes onto 29 hectares of Unitec Land in Mt Albert is nuts. It is reminiscent of the 1960s projects that British and American Governments are now pulling down.

The Numbers in Context

At Unitec, Twyford wants to put 4,000 homes on 29 hectares. A hectare is roughly the size of a rugby field. The densest area of Auckland at the moment is the Waitemata Local Board Area, taking in Parnell, the CBD, and some western inner-city suburbs such as Freeman’s Bay. It has a density of 19 dwellings per hectare. The Albert-Eden area has a density of 12 dwellings per hectare. Twyford’s proposal puts 138 dwellings per hectare. The new development will have seven times more homes on a given area than anywhere else in New Zealand. It will be nearly twelve times denser than the surrounding area.

Density Problems

Many Free Press readers maybe spending or will have spent two years in London or perhaps North America, and they probably loved living cheek by jowl. That all changes as life goes on, something we see in the Epsom Electorate daily. Dense living is living with parking disputes, noise, traffic, and other unexpected incidents. Council compliance officers privately admit their jobs are growing because of the Council’s push for density. It is no exaggeration to say that the Government risks creating American-style projects with its plan for Mt Albert.

What ACT Would Do

Regular Free Press readers will be able to rehearse it with their eyes closed. If only the Government would replace the Resource Management Act with pro development legislation, give councils better incentives to issue resource consents by funding infrastructure properly, and get councils out of the building consent business, the Government would not need to get into the property development game because the private sector would be doing it. Alas, Phil Twyford has admitted that the Government hasn’t even discussed the RMA in Cabinet yet.

Research Shows Students are Rational

A new study from Motu Economic Research shows us what happens when students stop getting free money. In one of its better ideas, the previous Government took Allowances from post graduate students in 2013. Did this stop ‘poorer’ students (those who had been eligible for an allowance as undergraduates) from doing Masters’ Degrees and Doctorates? No it did not. They simply borrowed more on their loans and studied at the same rate.

Government Waste in the Billions

Free money doesn’t affect whether Postgraduate students’ study or not. They’ll laugh all the way to the bank if offered it, but they won’t stop studying not. Free Press predicts that wiping fees for undergraduate students will have the same effect on studying. None. There won’t be any more students studying, but they will happily bank the taxpayer’s money.

What ACT Would Do

There actually are kids who need help, but it’s not the ones who get into Tertiary education and earn millions more for the rest of their lives as a result. It’s the kids who never make it to the starting line who deserve any extra education spending. If a Government was going to spend more taxpayer money on education, it should pay good teachers more but only if they leave the union. There is nothing more powerful we could do to give poor kids a chance in the current system than flushing out bad teachers and rewarding the good ones.

An Even Easier Solution

Of course, a much easier solution would be to leave Partnership Schools alone. They are getting more kids a high school qualification than sate schools for the same cost. Please don’t forget to add your weight to our petition and share it www.savecharters.kiwi

More Government Waste from ‘Demographic’ Ministers

We are no fans of ‘demographic’ ministers. The ministers for Seniors, Youth, Pacific Peoples, Ethnic Communities, Women and Pacific Peoples cannot point to one achievement for their respective types of human. Their real job is to provide a lot of photo ops with said humans for the various Governments they’ve served. They are an enormous waste of taxpayer money.

Foot in Mouth Disease

Women’s Minister Julie Anne Genter has proved these positions are useless at best and hazardous at worst when she told a group of intermediate-aged girls and boys that old men in senior positions should ‘move on.’ Had a male MP gone and said women dominating, say, the education sector should move on to give men a chance, there would be outrage. What message does it send to the little girls in the class? That they should be ashamed to succeed? Did Genter think of the boys she was addressing?

Incredible Silence

People wonder why traditional media outlets are in trouble. The answer is right before us in this mini-saga. Not a single journalist has asked Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy how Genter’s comments square with her #givenothingtoracism campaign. This would not be difficult, and lots of people would love to know, but there you go.

Posted on

Hipkins tries to bully schools while suppressing their success

Source: ACT Party

Headline: Hipkins tries to bully schools while suppressing their success




“The Government has utterly failed in its attempts to bully fledgling charter schools into accepting a different educational model”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“A month and a half after introducing a Bill to scrap charter schools, only one has taken the Minister up on his offer.

“Meanwhile, Mr Hipkins is suppressing the final Martin Jenkins evaluation of the charter school model which by all accounts is glowing.

“Jacinda Ardern says she accepts that charter schools have a right to exist and are working, but wants to take away the freedoms that have seen them succeed.

“This confused approach is one reason why polling shows that most New Zealanders disapprove of the Government’s handling of charter schools and support the schools remaining open.

“The Government should now wake up to the fact it is on the wrong side of public opinion and end its ideological opposition to educational choice”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.