This Parliament has got off to a very good start, with two outstanding contributions by Alfred Ngaro and Paul Goldsmith, new backbench members of the National Party caucus.

ACT New Zealand MP John Banks today welcomed the first draft report by the New Zealand Productivity Commission which concludes that home ownership is unaffordable for many.

“Home ownership is something my generation, and the generations before me, took for granted. For most young people today, home ownership is now only a dream,” Mr Banks said.

 “ACT is glad to have secured National’s support last term for the establishment of the Productivity Commission, which is tasked with improving productivity and therefore the standard of living for all New Zealanders.

ACT New Zealand Party President Chris Simmons and ACT MP Hon John Banks today announced the details of ACT’s Confidence and Supply Agreement, highlighting a number of very significant policy ‘wins’ for ACT.

Mr Simmons said the new agreement builds on the two parties’ strong, constructive partnership of the past three years and advances ACT’s core economic and social policy goals. 

G’day folks,

Six months ago I did a short course in Washington D.C.  The course was called the Campaign Management Institute and it was about political campaigning.
I was keen to learn about the politics and campaigning there, but it turned out to be a bit simpler than I thought.

‘Elections are about choices,’ the lecturer said. 

 
All New Zealand voters need to think smart before they vote after a damming report from SWISS banking giant UBS which shows the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme has cost $287 billion for ‘almost zero impact’ on cutting carbon emissions , ACT New Zealand Primary Industry Spokesman Don Nicolson said today.  
 
“New Zealand has an even more all-encompassing and costly ETS acting as a brake on our economy.  It’s costing every household, every small business, and every farmer, huge amounts for what? A big fat zero,” Mr Nicolson said. 
 

ACT New Zealand Primary Industries Spokesman Don Nicolson today attacked Phil Goff's selective use of comparisons following Wednesday evenings Leaders’ debate on TV One.

"The public deserve to know about Labour's dishonest use of comparisons," Mr Nicolson said.

"On the one hand, Phil Goff talks about New Zealand being one of the few countries in the OECD without a Capital Gains Tax. He’s wrong, because there is tax on some capital gains already. But conveniently, he fails to note that we are much more out on our own with our ETS.

Speech by ACT Leader Don Brash
ACT Wellington Campaign Close
Thursday, November 24 2011

Good afternoon. 

Lewis Carroll once said,

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there'.

The question of where we need to go as a country is very much one of what you believe the most urgent problems are. 

Some will say that our most urgent problems are dirty rivers, child poverty, and the possibility of some power companies being sold.

Speech by ACT Leader Don Brash at Novotel Tainui, Alma Street, Hamilton
Wednesday, November 23 2011

Good afternoon.

In the long term, countries are only as successful as the policy choices they make.  If we look around the world today, we can see the results of denial and unreality in Greece and Italy.  If we look again, we can also see the results of forward-thinking, rational economic policy in countries like Singapore, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. 

Our choice this election is one of which way to jump. 

ACT Leader Don Brash called for a referendum on the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation stating ACT’s belief that a decision on the pension age should not be left to politicians alone.  

“The single biggest impediment to raising the age of eligibility – a measure that is widely-acknowledged as being necessary – is the Prime Minister’s promise that he would resign rather than raise the age, yet this promise is at odds with the demographic and fiscal reality,” Dr Brash said.  

One of the reasons why New Zealand has not had our personal freedoms totally overridden as a result of ever-larger government is because, ordinarily, National and Labour believe in different things, and implement different policies.   

When Labour comes to power, they implement plans that they believe will cure some social ill, throw huge amounts of taxpayer money at it, and increase taxes.