Free Press

ACT’s regular bulletin

The ‘Others’
In the cult television series Lost, the characters are tormented by the ‘others.’ Parliament recently has felt a bit like that with the Keep Kiwibank Bill, Foreign Homebuyer Bill, Panama Papers and even Tobacco Plain Packaging debates being turned into exercises in xenophobia.

Worldwide Trend
Brexit, Trump, and even Pauline Hanson are riding a worldwide trend where people don’t seem to like the others very much anymore. There are legitimate concerns too, such as the E.U. being an undemocratic bureaucracy, but the trend is worldwide.

Back to the Future?
Newshub manufactured a story from John Key not denying the hypothetical scenario where Winston Peters is the Deputy Prime Minister. It is not impossible on current polling. One of ACT’s jobs is to grow and keep him out so that we have a Government looking forwards, not back, after next year’s election.

Staying True
Here in New Zealand we are not immune to the wave of xenophobia. ‘Immigration’ has gone from being a zero rated issue to a top-five concern amongst voters. ACT believes New Zealand is a trading nation that needs to stay open to the world, not close itself off.

A Values Statement
ACT’s suggests that those who want to stay permanently in New Zealand should sign a values statement, citing equality before the law, tolerance of ethnic, gender, sexual, and spiritual differences, freedom of speech and due process as core New Zealand values. This is designed to make New Zealand a country that is open to the world on our terms.

A Prediction
All of the part-time liberals who pooh-poohed ACT’s values statement idea will loudly celebrate the 30th anniversary of homosexual law reform. They are prepared to celebrate a tolerant and open society, but run a mile from an idea that would reinforce those values.

Political Genius
You have to hand it to John Key. He knows the housing market is a major issue driving voters’ choices, and that he needs to be seen to be doing something about it. The offer to lend $1 billion to councils does not change anybody’s net position, but gives the impression that something big is being done.

The Underlying Problem
Councils are unwilling to free up land and provide infrastructure because they carry the costs while the central government gets the revenue from new development (and cost savings on the $2 billion of housing supplements if supply was to loosen up).

One Idea
ACT favours the New Zealand Initiative’s suggestion of sharing GST from new home construction costs with the council where the construction occurs. Eric Crampton of the Initiative has an excellent and very readable analysis of the market here.

Political Menace
Nick Smith’s suggestion that the Government start confiscating land bankers’ property is Venezuelan. How do you decide which land is being ‘land banked?’ How much does it have to be worth, and how long does it have to be held before it can be confiscated? Who would make these decisions? This is not the kind of policy one elects a centre-right government for.

Science
110 Nobel Laureates have signed an open letter calling on Greenpeace to cease its blanket opposition to Genetically Modified Organisms. In particular, they are calling for an end to opposition to Golden Rice, genetically modified rice that could deliver Vitamin A to children in Southern Asia, saving them from going blind.

The Silence of the Greens
The Green Party of Aotearoa, none of whose MPs have a scientific training, remain opposed to Genetic Modification in New Zealand. It is a shame that the party of the environment has so little in the way of scientific credentials.

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