Free Press

ACT’s regular bulletin

The Road to Serfdom
Mugabe’s (and, more importantly, the people of Zimbabwe’s) demise reminds us of F.A. Hayek’s classic work The Road to Serfdom. Hayek maps out how government ownership of private property begets government control of all our lives, and only the nastiest among us have the desire and ruthlessness to run such all-powerful governments. You won’t hear it from the mainstream media, but Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and North Korea all have one thing in common: socialism.

Shouting Down the Socialists
Young Nats have been animated by David Bennett giving them something (other than Partnership Schools) to believe in with his fiery anti-socialist speech, where he used the word socialism or socialist every 20 seconds for 10 minutes running. As is so often sadly the case, he followed this up by voting to extend (taxpayer) paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

NZ Politics in a Nutshell
Bennett’s word-action disconnect captures the reason why New Zealand is a socialist country. The left pillage the taxpayer, National howls blue murder, then joins in. Helen takes us on a step to the left, John holds the line for a few years, then Jacinda takes us another step left…. What next?

Teal Deal 2020?
Elements in the National Party would like to buddy up with the Greens after 2020, accepting Prime Minister Ardern’s policies just as John absorbed Helen’s. The net result is two giant steps to the left in 20 years with no real fight back except for partially privatizing a few power companies and ACT’s Partnership Schools. There’s got to be a better way.

Don’t Cry for Me Aotearoa
Looking back ten years from now, historians might say something like: New Zealand got world-class policies thanks to Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson. First Past the Post made coherent reforms possible, then MMP locked the policies in (sort of). Unfortunately, MMP also made every election a bidding war. Every coalition of the left expanded Government, then every coalition of the right marked time unable (and mostly unwilling) to do anything about it. Gradually, we got same kind of high tax, low growth European Welfare State that most countries with proportional representation have.

There’s Got to Be a Better Way
ACT stands along in parliament standing for personal responsibility, low taxes, and pushing back the every widening regulations that gradually erode our living standards from what they should be. This country does not belong to the socialists, but they are winning politically. We accept that ACT has not performed in the polls, but that acceptance starts the path to better performance.

Join Us
ACT Members have recently received a comprehensive survey on the party’s values and strategy. The survey is a precursor to a series of regional conferences in the new year. If you believe New Zealand deserves better than a deadly ratchet to the left, please join us.

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