The Leader

Introduction

This is the first of a new email newsletter to members and supporters of the ACT Party.

I want to use this newsletter to let you know what the ACT team have been up to, what our focus and priorities have been, and how we are responding to the issues of the day.

We had a great result at the last election: we lifted our ACT team from 2 to 5 MPs, helped form a government, and have taken two Ministerial positions. We have all – except Roger Douglas, who has done it all before – been on a huge learning curve.

Our first achievement was to negotiate a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the National Party which ensured that important ACT policies had a real chance of being advanced. Much of my work this year has focused on ticking off the items in that Agreement.

I had intended to review the state-of-play with our Confidence and Supply Agreement with the National Party, but so much has happened in the past few weeks that I will save that for another issue.

Auckland Governance Issues And Maori Seats

In respect of Auckland governance changes, the consultation process went well. Interested parties moved on quickly and began engaging with the government on fine-tuning the details of proposals, rather than resisting the overall intent of the changes, which I believe now have broad support. The select committee reported back last week and the proposals will now be addressed by Parliament.

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago the issue of Maori seats on the new Auckland council erupted when an email from Tau Henare to his National colleagues was leaked. This email attacked me and ACT. It wrongly accused me of threatening the government, and led to a flurry of media interest. I was asked whether I had said I would stand down as Local Government Minister if the Government decided to introduce reserved Maori seats. I had no choice but to answer truthfully that I had said this to the PM (on June 3).

That discussion had happened on the basis of “no surprises” under our C&S Agreement, but I had also made it very clear that there were no risks to our support for National on confidence and supply. Until the Tau Henare email that was a private discussion, and would have remained so if not for that email.

ACT’s support for the government and the PM was never in doubt. We have made every effort to accommodate the Maori Party by giving them every opportunity to place before Cabinet a range of options for separate Maori representation. At that point, it was up to Cabinet to decide.

For ACT, this issue goes right to the core of our political philosophy and Party ideals – equal citizenship and equal opportunity. In fact that principle is jointly expressed in our C&S Agreement with National. That principle entails one person, one vote, all positions of political power being contestable by anybody, and all being able to vote.

We have received strong support on this issue, with the heavy flow of email and letters coming into all our MPs offices overwhelmingly in favour of our stand.

The Smacking Issue – Should A Smack Be A Criminal Offence?

On the 7 August I wrote an open letter to the PM urging the Prime Minister to respond to the results of the referendum. I wrote:

The current legislation gives carte blanche to any interfering busybody to judge the behaviour of parents as they struggle to fulfil their responsibility to protect their children and demonstrate the boundaries of acceptable behaviour to them. Most damagingly, the legislation drives a wedge between parent and child.

One of the main reasons the Labour Government was so decisively rejected by New Zealanders last year was that people were sick of being told how to live their lives by politicians and bureaucrats. The current legislation is the worst manifestation of the attitude that we, as politicians, know best, and it would be a tragedy if, six months into government, a nanny state tendency emerged once again in ignoring the clear wish of the public.

While any of us may disapprove of the way other people behave, including bringing up their children, that does not give us the right to make them criminals for behaving that way, unless their behaviour is demonstrably causing harm.

I urge you and the National Party to listen to the public and respond properly to the result of this referendum.

That referendum has now been held, resulting in a truly stunning rejection of the current law. Of the 1.7 million people who voted in the referendum, 87.4% voted against the current law. And this was in a poll with a turnout of 56%, well above the average turnout in the 2007 local government elections of between 41-49%.

My worst fears about the perpetuation of nanny state tendencies were confirmed when National rejected the referendum. ACT is now the only Party supporting the 1.7 million people who voted against the current law.

In a stroke of good fortune, John Boscawen’s Crimes (Reasonable Parental Control and Correction) Amendment Bill was drawn from the private members’ ballot. This is an Amendment Bill that was first proposed by National MP Chester Burrows, but which Labour rejected. This Bill provides for a sensible amendment which would have provided clear guidelines on what is, and is not, appropriate discipline by the parent, by setting a well-defined and low hurdle for the application of reasonable force by a parent.

This Bill gave National another chance to allow Parliament to revisit this issue in light of the overwhelming referendum result, but once again the public were ignored and National said they, along with Labour and other Parties, would vote the Bill down on its first reading.

This issue will not go away, and ACT will not stop publicising this issue. I have been shocked by how many parents have already been unfairly treated under this law, and we can be sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg – the referendum result shows that. The problems with this law will build over time, and ACT will continue to advocate for the vast majority of parents who oppose it.

Climate Change – The Emissions Trading Scheme

The Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee, which was a result of the National-ACT C&S Agreement, has finally reported back. ACT have written a minority report, and this is now on the ACT website. I will have more to say on this in my next newsletter, but suffice to say ACT remains sceptical of the claims about the human contribution to climate change given the huge scientific uncertainties, and entirely unconvinced that, even if we agree to “play our part” internationally, an ETS is the most efficient solution.

As we conclude in our Minority Report, we agree that New Zealand should be seen to be willing to play a part in any fully international effort to reduce global climate emissions. A low rate carbon tax and subsidy scheme is a more appropriate initial step, with any advance from there dependent on the advance of scientific knowledge and on a fully international effort to reduce emissions.

ACT agrees with the Treasury view that current proposals are based on a best-case scenario, do not adequately recognise a number of risks, and that they will impose higher costs on New Zealand than will be imposed on other countries.

ACT doubts that the gross emissions target is achievable for New Zealand given how far above 1990 levels emissions are projected to be in 2020 and the evident unwillingness of New Zealanders at large to incur real costs for no demonstrable benefits. Such targets merely perpetuate the empty political gestures of the past decade.

Conclusion

I can assure you the ACT Parliamentary team is working hard and making a difference, and I will have more to say about the issues we are all working on next time.

On the major policy issues of the day - on reserve Maori seats, the anti-smacking law and the ETS - ACT is now the only Party representing the position held by the majority of New Zealanders.

I would like to thank all our supporters for their efforts during the campaign and since. I am aware that there is some frustration that your ACT representatives in Parliament are not as accessible as in the past. I can assure you we have been working flat out and we are making great progress in delivering on the items in our C&S Agreement, and we will be continuing to push hard for Act policies to be reflected in government policy.

Rodney Hide
ACT Party Leader