These are ACT's policies from the 2008 election.
Click here to view ACT's 20 Point Plan.
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Accident Compensation
Action: Create competitive market - as used to work well here.
Benefit: Accident victims back sooner.
- Agriculture
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Climate Change
Action: Adopt saner policies. Low carbon tax better than carbon trading.
Benefit: Don't hurt Kiwi families needlessly. (nations that cause 75% of emissions must lead.
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Constitutional Framework
Action: Strengthen. Adopt Tax Payers Bill of Rights. Pass Regulatory Responsibilty Act. Return to privy council. Hold referendum of MMP voting system.
Benefit: Makes democracy more democratic. States spending capped, taxes kept low. Hard to make bad laws like the EFA. Free access to best judicial minds from a population of 58 million. People get long-overdue say on how they like MMP.
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Education
Action: Create a competitive market.
Benefit: Kids learn faster. State funds parents, parents choose schools. Schools reward good teachers. Good teachers drive education - to please parents not bureaucrats.
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Employment
Action: Allow freedom of contract to make it easier to trial new workers and replace poor performers.
Benefit: Businesses run better with the right staff. Workers and company earn more. Contract protects both parties.
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Families at Risk
Action: Appoint mentors to teach parenting and life skills.
Benefit: Less family violence. Fewer damaged children. Thriving families less drain on the taxpayers.
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Government Asset Ownership
Action: Sell state businesses where private firms can serve customers better.
Benefit: Happier customers. Lower prices. More product variety and choice.
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Government Expenditure
Action: Cut state spending to Australian levels.
Benefit: Lower inflation. Lower interest rates. More money left for people who earn it.
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Health
Action: Create competitive market.
Benefit: Hospitals cure more patients, sooner. (State gives health policies to all. Paitents choose hospitals. Doctors, not bureaucrats drive healthcare.
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Housing
Action: Free up more land for homes.
Benefit: Cheaper sections. More people achieve Kiwi dream of owning home.
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Immigration
Action: Welcome more good quality immigrants.
Benefit: Industries get the skilled workers they need.
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Infrastructure
Action: Build better networks (eg. roads, water, electricity). Replace users charges with tolls which reward off-peak use.
Benefit: Smoothing demand reduces bottleneck. No need to pay for more capacity. Better service for less money.
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Law and Order
Action: Bring back private prisons - now best practice overseas. Let private firms free up cops for 'Zero Tolerance' policing. Speed up courts (eg. night courts) to reduce unfair delays.
Benefit: More secure, more humane, cheaper prisons. Young taggers don't progress to worse crimes. People feel safer. More decisions sooner.
- Local Government
- National Security
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Public Service
Action: Close departments we don't need. Reduce bureaucracy. Return bureaucracy to non-political role. Limit cabinet to 12. Limit parliament to 100 MPs.
Benefit: Millions saved for things we do need, good states servants freed up for more productive jobs, unbiased advice, better decisions sooner and fewer baubles of office.
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Red Tape and Regulation
Action: Get rid of nutty regulations. Appoint Minister of Regulatory Reform. Pass Regulatory Responsibility Act - to set checklist for good lawmaking.
Benefit: The state no longer wastes productive people's time on pointless form filling. Firms cut free of red tape can focus on creating more wealth and more jobs. Politicians must consider national interest, so can't easily pass laws for cynical political reasons.
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Resource Management
Action: Reform the Resource Management Act.
Benefit: Good projects start and finish sooner.
- Risk Insurance
- Superannuation
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Tariffs
Action: Cut remaining tariffs on imports. Strengthen bonds with the US.
Benefit: Cheaper imports, exporters who can't compete switch to fields where they can. US free trade deal would earn NZ $1b+ a year. More Kiwis exposed to US entrepreneurial skills.
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Taxation
Action: Cut and flatten rates.
Benefit: More incentive for people with initiative to create wealth and jobs.
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Welfare
Action: Create competitive market for sickness, invalid, and unemployment insurance.
Benefit: Welfare recipients are back at work sooner. More generous support for those who can't work.