Friday 17th Sep 1999
Richard Prebble
Speech -- Other

ACT is the party that most closely represents the values the Chinese have made famous. The importance of family. The virtue of hard work. The wisdom of thrift. The belief in personal responsibility.

ACT says that we need a government that rewards hard work, thrift, personal responsibility. A country that values family. ACT believes that we need instead to reward hard work with lower taxes.

We need higher standards in education. We need to promote policies that will enable the economy to grow and create new jobs.

ACT raises policies that all other parties do not want to discuss. The Waitangi Treaty grievance industry has gone off the rails. ACT does not agree that New Zealand is a bi-cultural country. New Zealand, as tonight's dinner proves, is a multi-cultural nation. ACT opposes special quotas which mean that other races miss out. ACT believes everyone in this nation should be treated the same. We acknowledge there have been grievances but all Waitangi claims must be settled quickly and all settlements must be fair-full and final.

ACT says that we must restore Social Welfare to being a hand up not a hand out. Today in New Zealand too many government policies penalise hard work. Government policies reward idleness, spend thriftiness and irresponsibility. New Zealand has one person in three on welfare. Comparatively New Zealand has more fatherless families on welfare than any other OECD country. The social and economic cost is huge. The community pays in high taxes and in crime.

On law and order, ACT says that offenders should serve the time in prison the court orders. Today criminals can be let out of jail after serve one third of their sentence. I have a Truth in Sentencing Bill to ensure that the offenders who commit the crime service at least 80% of their sentence.

ACT has been opposing the increasing red tape and bureaucracy. Small business in New Zealand spends 13% of total revenue complying with Government regulation. In the 1990's government has passed 5200 new laws and regulations affecting business. Hong Kong has just 1000 laws in total.

ACT say that we must slash red tape. ACT is the party that is most supportive of business because it is business, especially small business, that creates jobs and wealth.

ACT is seeking the support of New Zealand's Chinese community. The Party has selected two outstanding candidates of Chinese origin.

Coral Wong. She is a chartered accountant. She runs a successful consultancy in West Auckland. Coral is a symbol of how Chinese immigrants have made a wonderful contribution to this country.

Alex Wong is another ACT candidate. He immigrated from Hong Kong as a school boy. He runs a successful computer firm. He is ACT's Northcote Candidate. Another success story.

They are the symbols of ACT's determination to represent the Chinese community.

ACT seeks your list vote. ACT seeks to increase our number of MPs so that we better represent the values that we all know are critical to our nation's success.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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