Free Press: ACT’s regular bulletin
Free Press
ACT’s regular bulletin
Lest we Forget
Free Press salutes
those who fought and died far from home to secure our
freedom this week. They will not be forgotten.
The
Bartlett Case
On the face of it, the Bartlett
case is a budgetary decision. The Government is nearly the
only employer of care workers, so it has decided to give
them a pay rise. Damian Grant points out that it is
likely to lead to a smaller number of more productive people
employed, but that’s by the by. What is more interesting
is how it has framed politics.
Not Helped
By…
Jim Bolger has gone off his rocker,
apologising for his neoliberal reforms that have allegedly
led to an increase in inequality. As has been widely
documented, there has been little change in income shares
since the 1980s. What has changed is that since the RMA was
passed by Bolger’s Government in 1991, the lowest income
quintile have gone from spending 27 per cent of their income
on housing to 54 per cent. That is the equality issue Bolger
should apologise for.
National
Awards?
Interviewed on Q&A over the weekend, CTU
boss Richard Wagstaff stopped short of calling for a return
to National Awards in the wake of the Bartlett case. However
recently returned Labour member Laila Harre said on the Q&A
panel that Wagstaff should not shrink from promoting
National Awards.
Reverse
Takeover
Labour now has a union boss for a
leader because the unions control the leadership. Willie
Jackson is a candidate, Matt McCarten is a chief party
organizer, and Laila is back in the fold. Can anybody
believe that the Labour Party agenda is not a return to
National Awards where wages for the entire economy are set
sector by sector in Wellington?
Shooting
Themselves in the Foot
As New Zealand Initiative
economist Eric Crampton has pointed out, there has actually been
a slight decrease in inequality since the introduction of
the Employment Contracts Act in 1991. It is not obvious that
a return to national awards would even help with the
objective of the CTU. Lots to play for this
election.
Please Explain
How can
someone immigrate to New Zealand as a resident, be convicted
of six offences including indecently assaulting children as
young as eight, serve two jail terms, and not be deported?
That is the case with Sultan Ali Abdul Ali Akbari. Normally
we’re all for individual privacy, but in this case the
Minister cannot hide behind procedure. The public interest
outweighs the privacy of someone who is bloody lucky to
still be here. The Minister should issue a detailed
explanation of how this happened to protect public
confidence in our immigration system.
If Not Now,
Then When?
That is the powerful lament of Tracey
Chapman, but it could also be applied to Steven Joyce’s
painfully slow reveal of tax cuts for the budget. ACT will
be revealing a fiscally viable tax package that starts from
the assumption it is your money before the Government taxes
it away. You know, the way a centre-right government should
approach these things. In the meantime, you can console
yourself with Tracey’s soulful ballad.
Shadows
of Shoah
It is also a week of remembrance for
the Holocaust. We have been attending remembrance ceremonies
where the extent of the barbarism is brought into the
present by diary readings, accounts of survivors, and this haunting set of videos called
Shadows of Shoah. As the events of the Holocaust slip from
living memory, these videos are worth the
watch.
Resolution 2334
An unavoidable
topic at these events is UN Resolution 2334, a New Zealand
sponsored Security Council resolution that, if taken
seriously, would make Israel practically indefensible. ACT
appreciates the complexity of the region but that is more
reason for New Zealand to not take sides, or side with the
only free and democratic country in the region if at all.
Many National supporters see the resolution as a
betrayal.
ends