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The Act Party 2008 election policy is a favourite of mine. A focus on reigning in wasteful spending and returning it to those who earnt it in the first place will find favour with most New Zealanders.
Their policies will do the most of all the parties to restore the economy which is in a recession and will get worse without a dramnatic change of thinking.
The bonus of having Roger Douglas as finance spokesman gives ACT'S ideas even more validity.
| ACT Policies, and the boost they will provide to... | Annual Growth | Average Weekly Pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Government Waste Cut state spending to Australian levels. Benefit: Lower inflation. Lower interest rates. More money left for people who earn it. | 1/2% | $50.00 |
| 2) Tax Cut and flatten rates. Benefit: More incentive for people with initiative to create wealth and jobs. | 3/8% | $37.50 |
| 3) Local Government Limit to core activities. Benefit: Lower rates. Keep money for other things. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 4) Public Service 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. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 5) Red Tape 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. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 6) Resource Management Reform the Resource Management Act. Benefit: Good projects start and finish sooner. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 7) Education 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. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 8) Health Create competitive market. Benefit:Hospitals cure more patients, sooner. (State gives health policies to all. Paitents choose hospitals. Doctors, not bureaucrats drive healthcare. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 9) Accident Compensation Create competitive market - as used to work well here. Benefit: Accident victims back sooner. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 10) Welfare 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. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| 11) Immigration Welcome more good quality immigrants. Benefit: Industries get the skilled workers they need. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 12) Labour Allow freedom of contract to make it easier to trail new workers and replace poor preformers. Benefit: Businesses run better with the right staff. Workers and company earn more. Contract protects both parties. | 1/2% | $50.00 |
| 13) Privatisation Sell state businesses where private firms can serve customers better. Benefit: Happier customers. Lower prices. More product variety and choice. | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 14) Infrastructure 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 | 1/4% | $25.00 |
| 15) Tariffs 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. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| 16) Housing Free up more land for homes. Benefit: Cheaper sections. More people achieve Kiwi dream of owning home. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| 17) Law And Order 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 securer, more humane, cheaper prisons. Young taggers don't progress to worse crimes. People feel safer. More decisions sooner. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| 18) Climate Change 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. | 3/8% | $37.50 |
| 19) Constitutional Framework Strengthen. Adopt Tax Payers Bill of Rights. Pass Regulatory Responsibilty Act - to set checklist for good law making. 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 Electoral Finance Act. Free access to best judicial minds from a population of 58 million. People get long-overdue say on how they like MMP. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| 20) Families At Risk Appoint mentors to teach parenting and life skills. Benefit: Less family violence. Fewer damaged children. Thriving families less drain on the taxpayers. | 1/8% | $12.50 |
| TOTAL TO BOOST NEW ZEALAND'S GROWTH RATE AND AVERAGE WEEKLY PAY | 5% | $500.00 |