John Banks Welcomes Productivity Commission’s First Report
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.
“Housing affordability is an issue that must be addressed and the Productivity Commission’s first report has given us much to think about,” concluded Mr Banks.
ACT - National Agreement Nets Significant Policy Gains for ACT
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.
“In particular ACT wanted to see controls put in place to prevent excessive Government spending and poor quality regulation, improved choice in education, especially in disadvantaged communities, and reform of other key policy areas that are currently holding New Zealand’s economy back,” Mr Simmons said.
Hon John Banks said that the policy programme outlined in the agreement was an excellent platform for ACT in Parliament and a strong base from which to continue building the relationship between the two parties.
“It shows that National is willing to make changes in these key economic and social policy areas to ensure our joint aspirations for a more prosperous New Zealand are met,” Mr Banks said.
Key features of the agreement are:
• Continuation of ACT’s focus during the last term on publicly monitoring progress on improving the country’s economy wide performance using international benchmarks, and building on the work of the 2025 Taskforce, with a requirement for Treasury to report annually on the progress being made to improve the quality of institutions and policies, raise productivity, and reduce the income gap with Australia.
• Continuation of ACT’s work during the last term to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and individuals through taking the Regulatory Standards Bill through to the new Parliament, with an agreement to pass a mutually agreed Bill based on Treasury’s preferred option (option 5) within 12 months.
• Continuation of ACT’s work during the last term on the Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill with an agreement to incorporate a legislated spending cap through a mutually agreed amendment to the Public Finance Act.
• Reform of the Resource Management Act, including simplifying legislation to ensure there is only one plan (a “unitary” plan) for each district.
• The provision to set up a trial charter school system - under sections 155 (Kura Kaupapa Maori) and 156 (designated character schools) of the Education Act – for disadvantaged communities, specifically in areas such as South Auckland and parts of Christchurch where educational underachievement is most entrenched. A private sector-chaired implementation group will be established to develop the proposal for implementation in this parliamentary term.
• The establishment of a taskforce to produce a comprehensive report on governance issues relating to state policy towards state, integrated and independent schools.
• The implementation in this parliamentary term of the Welfare Working Group recommendations 27: Parenting obligations, 28: Support for at-risk families, 30: Income management and budgeting support, and 34: Employment services.
• To introduce competition to ACC’s Work Account.
• To support National’s Post-Election Action Plan.
• The appointment of Hon John Banks to the positions of Minister for Small Business, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Associate Minister of Education and Associate Minister of Commerce.
Mr Banks said New Zealand is facing very challenging times.
“This agreement is a significant achievement for ACT, addressing not just economic issues but key social issues as well, in particular those that are currently contributing to our very high rates of unemployed, undereducated and socially marginalised young people.
“I intend over the next three years to advocate for further advances in these areas as well as in the areas of government spending and regulation, labour market reform, and other policies to reduce the burden on businesses and boost productivity and economic growth.
“I would like to thank former ACT MP and Parliamentary Leader John Boscawen for the lead work he has done over the past week to finalise the terms of the agreement. His advice and ACT Party experience has been invaluable and stands us in good stead to reinvigorate and strengthen the Party over the next three years.
“ACT looks forward to working with National, and Prime Minister John Key, to put in place policies to strengthen our country and put us on a path to prosperity,” Mr Banks concludes.
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ETS: Limited Benefits and Embarrassing Consequences
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.
“As a country we cannot afford to be yet another Western democracy that has not faced up to reality.
“We therefore cannot afford to have poor policies like the ETS – which UBS labelled in the EU as having ‘limited benefits and embarrassing consequences’ – dragging our economy down. Yet National, Labour and the Greens continue to push for this foolish scheme.
“It is no good thinking what may have been after the election – this Saturday is crunch time.
“ACT is the only Party that is opposed to the ETS and is the only Party that will continue to push for the scheme to be scrapped until our major trading partners come on board.
“If New Zealanders want to rid themselves of the ETS handbrake on our economy, and if they honestly care about our future, then they need to make sure they give their party vote to ACT,” Mr Nicolson said.
ACT Slams Phil Goff's Selective Comparisons
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.
"New Zealand is the only country in the OECD that has legislated for a highly damaging and costly all-gases, all-sectors ETS.
"If Labour and the Greens form a government, we'd be the only country in the OECD to then put farm biological emissions into an ETS.
"Not that National can be trusted since they did a 180 degree turn on it after being elected in 2008.
"If farmers want the ETS moderated and eventually abandoned, farmers need to party vote ACT. Only ACT will be farmers’ voice in the Parliament," Mr Nicolson said.
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Brash Calls For Referendum on Retirement Age
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.
“ACT believes we cannot afford to have a single politician influence such an important issue in this way. ACT will push hard for a referendum to be held on the retirement age in the coming year.
“We would negotiate for such a referendum to form part of our Confidence and Supply Agreement with National in the upcoming Government.
“The referendum question could be very simple. For example: ‘Should New Zealand match Australia’s retirement age of 67 by 2023 by raising the age of eligibility six months every second year starting from 2017?’
“A referendum would take this issue, and its long term consequences, out of today’s politics and put New Zealand’s fiscal destiny in the hands of New Zealanders.
“New Zealand faces stark realities about its economic future; it should be up to the people to choose. A vote for ACT is a vote for New Zealanders to take control of their destiny,” Dr Brash said.
National Turn Their Back On Parents
ACT Wellington Central Candidate Stephen Whittington today called on National to release the school performance information held on the SchoolSMART website so that parents can make better and more informed decisions about their child’s education options.
“SchoolSMART is a website run by the Ministry of Education which collects and compares up to 36 indicators of school performance, including NCEA results,” Mr Whittington said.
“ACT believes that parents should be able to access data available on the SchoolSMART website in order to gain a better understanding of how their child’s school is performing. This will empower parents to make better decisions about their child’s education options.
“Just last week an Official Information Act request to release the information held on the School Smart website was declined. Now, National are claiming that after the election, they will make more information available to parents.
“ACT wants to know why are parents are being denied access to this data, when principals, teachers, and bureaucrats have access? When Deputy Prime Minister Bill English was National’s education spokesman, he campaigned to have this data released. So why, since being in Government, have National members changed their minds?
“National says it believes in a brighter future – but it’s clear their future will leave parents disempowered. Parents need all the facts – as available on SchoolSMART – to make informed choices for their children.
“If individual freedom and choice were really core values of the National Party, they would have already made all of this information available to parents” Mr Whittington said.
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Green Party’s Water Policy Reckless And Dangerous Says Don Nicolson
ACT Party Primary Industries spokesman Don Nicolson today described the Green Party’s water policies as “reckless and dangerous” following a radio interview with Kevin Hague, in which the Green MP said water storage and irrigation was bad because it intensified land use – a prospect Mr Nicolson said will alarm gardeners.
“I don’t like being negative, but this is sheer lunacy from the Green Party,” Mr Nicolson said.
“During my term as President of Federated Farmers, we invited Russel Norman to Canterbury’s Opuha Dam and he went away saying reasonably positive things about water storage for farming and the environment. Then we hear Kevin Hague contradicting his leader on the radio by slagging off water storage because it will ‘intensify’ land use.
“Using Mr Hague’s loopy logic, it would mean no more water dams for the cities.
“According to the Greens, all water dams will do is to ‘intensify’ cities so it’s time for them to come clean. You won’t need better public transport because, as Federated Farmers pointed out the other day, water storage makes city life possible. No water storage: no cities.
“It must mean the Greens want a hose pipe ban every day of the year.
“That will shock gardeners who know that if you don’t water your veggie patch in summer, it dies. Scale that up to farms and you are talking about an economic meltdown.
“Green policies need critical scrutiny environmentally and economically. Water storage makes for more exports, and these exports help pay for all sorts of public services including hospital operations. What public services would Mr Hague cut to deliver his green nirvana?
“The Greens are dangerous, inconsistent and reckless. It’s high time to expose them for what they are: hard core socialists in a green cloak.
“We know the dirtiest rivers and streams are all in the cities, but the Greens wouldn’t admit that because that’s where their supporters live, and no one likes to look in the mirror. It seems much easier for them to abuse farmers with their mouthful, and that reveals their true colours.
“There’s something in the water alright and it’s not green,” Mr Nicolson said.
Click here for an audio link to Mr Hague’s radio interview.
Labour’s ‘Roadmap’ A Tax And Spend Dead End
ACT New Zealand Leader Dr Don Brash today described Labour's 'Roadmap for the Economy' as a dead end policy of yet more spending, more borrowing, higher taxes, and more unemployment, saying it was exactly what got the economy into its current state, and that it would do nothing to improve living standards for hardworking New Zealanders.
"Labour's 2005 election bribes saw government spending skyrocket, leaving New Zealand completely unprepared for the global financial crisis. They have failed to learn from their mistakes and have today reiterated their promise of more of the same," Dr Brash said.
"The policies to raise the envy tax on top earners back to 39 percent and impose a capital gains tax is nothing new from Labour, and neither are the inevitable consequences. Higher taxes scare away investment, drive down productivity and growth, and export jobs overseas.
"Equally destructive is Labour's proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. When Labour abolished youth rates it was a disaster. The Department of Labour estimates that, as a direct result of this policy, up to 9000 youths were priced out of the job market. Canterbury University economist Eric Crampton estimates the impact to be as high as 12,000 jobs. This will be replicated en masse under Labour's $15 minimum wage policy.
"ACT knows that growth is the key to raising incomes and that to grow the economy we must bring spending under control. ACT will put politicians on a budget by pushing for the passage into law of its Spending Cap Bill and will reduce spending as a portion of GDP to the level it was in 2005.
"Both National and Labour have tried the tax and spend approach and it has not worked. ACT has a plan to get the economy back on track, because in uncertain times New Zealand needs a real roadmap for growth, not Labour’s dead end," Dr Brash said.
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Reducing Govt Spending Crucial For Exporters
Excessive government spending - and the borrowing to fund it – is partially to blame for the high New Zealand dollar that is hurting our exporters, ACT Leader Don Brash said today.
“Today, the Official Cash Rate (OCR) in New Zealand is higher than in any other developed country in the world except Australia,” Dr Brash said.
“The relatively high OCR affects our domestic interest rates, driving them up, resulting in more overseas investors buying up New Zealand dollars to invest in New Zealand. It’s this demand for our dollar that’s keeping it so high.
“The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association estimate that each one per cent rise in the New Zealand dollar costs exporters $200 million per annum. Over the past two and a half years the dollar has skyrocketed 38 per cent, costing exporters approximately $6.6 billion. This is a massive and unfair burden to bear, and is hugely damaging to the overall economy.
“Right now, we need to be assisting our exporters, not penalising them. If National showed greater fiscal restraint and reduced government spending, it would inevitably prompt the Reserve Bank to reduce the OCR, which would boost export growth.
“That’s why it’s so important for National to agree to pass ACT’s Spending Cap Bill immediately after the election. This would cap government spending, limiting any increases to inflation and population growth. It would inhibit future Governments from irresponsible ‘Labour-like’ spending binges.
“Getting government spending under control is crucial and ACT is the only Party in Parliament with a serious policy to do that,” Dr Brash said.
Unimaginative Policy Treats Children as Numbers
Labour’s Education Policy continues a theme of treating children as numbers instead of individuals, ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman David Seymour said today.
“The truth is that every child is unique, but Labour prefers to treat the education system as a factory for students,” Mr Seymour said.
“The party that wants to send every child in the country out to exercise at the same time each week, now wants to stipulate investment in laptops 31,000 at a time, reduce schools’ flexibility around the curriculum and the funding of support staff.
“Even the way schools deal with bullying would come under closer Ministry of Education control.
“It is a policy for educrats. When the rest of the world is giving parents, principals and teachers more local control, Labour advocates a system increasingly run from Wellington.
“In Alberta, Canada it is Charter Schools, in England it is David Cameron’s Free Schools, in Sweden it is the voucher system. In Australia over a third of students now attend independent schools. All of these places are giving power back to Principals.
“ACT’s Interparty Working Group Report Free to Learn has shown that good leadership within a school is the most important factor in a school’s success.
“If New Zealand wishes to improve educational outcomes for all New Zealanders – and particularly our infamous long tail of under achievers – then Labour’s great centralisation is a step in precisely the wrong direction,” Mr Seymour said.
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