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Free Press: Muldoon Lives!


Free Press
 

 
 
ACT’s regular bulletin


Muldoon Lives!
On the weekend New Zealand First challenged the Prime Minister to dictate which branches Westpac could and couldn’t close, because Westpac is the Government’s banker.  The taxpayer would effectively be subsidising Westpac to keep some branches open for political reasons.

What About Kiwibank?
As some commentators have already pointed out, doesn’t the Government already own a bank for social purposes?  How many does it need?  2017 will be a referendum on New Zealand going forwards, or back to the 70’s.

Meanwhile at Domino's
Transport Minister Simon Bridges took the photo-op with pizza company Domino's, who are planning to deliver by drone.  Bridges took the announcement as a nod to New Zealand’s permissive regulatory environment, but the details look sketchy.  It is illegal to operate a drone if it is out of your line of sight, or flies over property.  Unless you live across the road from Domino's, current regulations won’t do you much good.

Merchants of Melancholy?
We hate to be down on Simon all the time but his transport innovations always have so much sizzle and so little sausage.  His basic idea – that New Zealand should be permissive of new transport technologies – is first class, but as with road pricing, ride sharing, and autonomous vehicles, the reality of drone deregulation hasn’t met the rhetoric yet.  C’mon Simon!

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Party Like it’s 1689!
Eighty years before James Cook set foot in New Zealand, the English adopted the Bill of Rights.  Chief among its provisions was that only Parliament could raise money through taxes.  Parliament has taken to the task with greater enthusiasm than ACT would like, but it is still a good rule.

Revenue Minister Above Law
Michael Woodhouse may have missed a history lesson as he now wants to be given a ‘regulation making power’ such that he can make tax rules without asking Parliament.  Oddly, he has done so by proposing an amendment to the Tax Administration Act while the bill is still taking public submissions.

A Question Answered
Free Press has long wondered what the Taxpayers' Union does, but we must credit them for spotting this bizarre Woodhouse initiative.  Well done.

New Beating Required
The best thing that ever happened to the IRD was when ACT’s Rodney Hide gave them a good beating, after which they behaved for about a decade.  Sadly we hear a growing chorus that the IRD is up to its old tricks again, having little respect for the people who pay the bills.  It’s little wonder, when the Minister supposed to hold the tax collectors to account instead tries to overturn three centuries of parliamentary law to make their job easier.

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