robson-on-politics Tues 21 June

robson-on-politics, a newsletter from Matt Robson MP
Deputy Leader of the Progressive Party
www.progressiveparty.org.nz

18-24 year-olds want to cut youth binge drinking

Yesterday’s Fairfax/ACNielsen nationwide survey of public opinion found that sixty per cent (60%) of those aged between 18 and 24 years support raising the legal purchasing age back to twenty.

That means a majority of young adults agree with the rest of us that my Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill isn’t about penalizing young adults, but instead has everything to do with trying to reduce the harm that alcohol is causing to children. My Bill will soon be put before the Law and Order select committee where everyone can have a say directly to the politicians.

http://www.progressive.org/drinking-age

We need to turn Brash, Dunne, Hide

The leaders of the National, United Future and ACT parties joined together to vote against my Bill going to Select Committee.

Brash, Dunne and almost the entire ACT caucus, including its latest leader, don’t think that the great unwashed (that’s you, the public) should actually have to be listened to on important social policy issues.

Exasperated people keep asking me what they can do to ensure Parliament listens to the people on this issue.

My advice is that we need to turn those M.P.s that are dead against us on this issue to let some of the facts get in the way of their prejudices. A list of M.P.s who opposed by Bill going to Select Committee is available at: http://www.20years.co.nz

Target 17 Labour, 8 National and 7 ACT MPs

As you can see, 17 Labour, eight National and seven ACT MPs didn’t even want the public to have a say on the Bill! You need to contact these MP.s and ask them what their alternative strategy is to better protect 14-year-olds from misusing alcohol?

You need to ask them, politely but firmly, what better proposals they have up their sleeves to protect families that are being hurt by the abuse of alcohol and other drugs by their youngest members?

Campbell wins US Open

Michael Campbell has won his maiden golf major title at the U.S. Open. Besides being a spectacular personal achievement, there is a positive lesson in there for all of us about single-mindedness and hard work paying off.

The Centre-Left’s challenge in 2005

The leadership of the centre-left has known since the night we were elected into office in late 1999 that we would need to be single-minded in our pursuit of New Zealanders’ interests, and hard-working, to continue to earn the trust of voters.

We have always known that centre-Left parties only just won government with 51% of votes cast in the 1999.

Highlights of 1999-2002 government include Kiwibank

In the 2002 election, centre-left parties managed to hold on to that trust because we stuck strictly to practical policies to help working families with: (1) A framework to encourage regional and industry development, which means better paying jobs; (2) Investment in infrastructure (Kiwibank, Air NZ); (3) Increased access to education and health services (tertiary fees were frozen for three years, interest on student loans removed for those in study); (4) Paid parental leave to make the balancing of work and family more manageable.

Highlights of 2002-2005 include 4 Weeks Leave

The biggie of the last three years of Labour-Progressive government has been Four Weeks Annual Paid Leave for workers. We’re also proud of encouraging large budget screen and TV productions (putting Kiwis in jobs and NZ on the map), business tax cuts to encourage private sector R&D, and targeted tax relief for working families.

Progressive candidates are campaigning for an historic third-term centre-left government so we can (1) cut graduates’ debt in return for them using their skills in NZ; (2) take strong action to reduce youth binge drinking; (3) get low income families into their first homes; (4) cut the corporate tax rate to encourage yet more job-creating export businesses to locate in NZ; (5) give a financial boost to retired people struggling on fixed incomes. http://www.progressive.org.nz/candidates

ENDS

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