Free Press

ACT’s new regular bulletin

Outstanding Performance

Over the weekend, David Seymour used an interview on TVNZ’s Q+A to outline ACT’s relevance. Correspondence has poured in saying it is his best performance yet. It’s still online here.

The Real Outcome of Northland

You’ve heard it before, but a point worth repeating from Q+A: By refusing to compete in the heartland provincial seat of Northland, Labour’s Andrew Little ceased being the prime opposition leader. Winston Peters destroyed Bolger and Clark in their respective third terms. Little would have to accommodate a strong Winston in his first term. ACT is as relevant as ever to voters who want a stable coalition on the right.

A Costless Poverty Measure

Among David’s points: ACT has the soundest poverty policy, making housing affordable by fixing the regulatory framework. The Listener recently suggested child poverty would be more than halved (from 285,000 to 130,000) if only housing returned to affordable levels. Surely the poverty lobby should be on board here?

It’s the Land…

A major attraction to New Zealand is abundant land (it’s no coincidence that the Kiwi Dream is a place of one’s own) but now you’re not allowed to build on much of it. Overwhelming international evidence tells us that overbearing land use planning strangles the housing supply, pushes up prices, and fuels speculation. This evidence comes from North America where tax and monetary policies are similar nation-wide but land use planning varies by State and City. You don’t build a $150,000 house on a $500,000 section, so the poor get cut out when land is scarce. You also don’t mass produce housing if there’s no pipeline of land to put it on, so those who can’t afford bespoke homes lose again.

An Intellectual Wasteland

The greatest disappointment of the program came from Grant Duncan, a little-known Massey University academic on the pundits’ panel. Rather than considering, let alone refuting, the arguments above, he described ACT’s concern for poverty as a ‘joke’. His contribution to the world of ideas didn’t improve throughout the session, consisting of petty ad hominem attacks. He referred to ACT as a lapdog and Epsom voters as sheep. His argument against ACT was not about policy but polling. So much for politics as the contest of ideas. Free Press wonders if Mr Duncan was having an off day, or if his performance reflects the standard at Massey? If he is, should Massey students ask for their money back?

Super Policy

Also covered in the interview is ACT’s call for a referendum on superannuation. If New Zealand can appoint an expert committee to generate options for changing the flag, then vote on them in two referenda, why not do the same for the critical issues of fiscal sustainability and intergenerational fairness?

Watch this Space

David has written to and is talking to nearly all leaders about the Super Referendum idea. The reception has been cordial so far – more to come.

Dr Cullen Strikes Back

We know Labour’s fiscal blowout sunk the tradable sector of the economy from 2005 on, and forced New Zealand into recession before the great financial crisis. But, as a thought experiment, could Helen Clark have won a fourth term if Michael Cullen had cut taxes instead of spending more in her third term?

Here we go Again

As David revealed in parliament, the stealth tax increase of bracket creep has cost the average Kiwi family $1036 since 2010. This year it will cost them another $431. Things are starting to sound familiar.

A Clark II Prime Minister

The final point from the interview was: After seven years of National, is this as good as it gets? Centre-right voters accept that after earthquakes, a global financial crisis, and an attempted coup by Kim Dotcom, we’re damned lucky to have the government we have. But John Key has effectively declared a truce on Clark’s policies. What about housing, super, and tax? Are we merely holding our ground when in power and going backwards when out?

ACT goes to Tanzania

The world now has two ACT parties. The Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Tanzania) party was officially launched in Dar es Salaam earlier last week. They adhere to principles of “patriotism, democracy, freedom of thought and action, dignity, equality, integrity, transparency and accountability”; and believe in “self-reliance, hard work, sincerity and professionalism towards bringing positive change in the country”.

Monetary Policy Confuses Everybody

Bill English said the outlook for interest rates depends on "whether you think zero inflation is permanent or temporary, and it's a bit hard to tell right now. The question of whether it's permanent or temporary: that's exactly the challenge the Reserve Bank Governor has got.” Actually, it’s simpler than that: the Reserve Bank’s job is to keep inflation within the 1-3% target band, regardless of whether global inflation is high or low. So the medium term inflation path should be determined so long as the Bank does its job. What’s hard to judge is just how long near-zero, or even negative, nominal and real yields will persist in the major industrialised countries.

But it Confuses NZ First the Most

Winston has always been good at making complicated issues seem simple, perhaps a little too good. He’s claimed that high interest rates are both crippling the economy and creating a consumption boom. So high interest rates discourage spending and investment and encourage spending and investment. Welcome to Planet Winston.

Easter Time

Apparently every MP receives a generous box, perhaps $100 worth, of Easter treats from the Food and Grocery Council. What is the purpose of these big boxes? Surely no MP would be influenced by Easter eggs, even an inexplicably large number of them, but then why go to such an effort? For the record David sent his straight back.

ends

© Scoop Media