pn980. Where David Seymour leads: Act to abolish protections that equalise and safeguard

ACT leader David Seymour says New Zealand is on a "long, slow slip" from being a "first-world nation in an island paradise" to "something more like a kind of big Fiji".

His analogy about NZ as a "big Fiji" is a little ridiculous.  Of course, no one wants to change our GNP for theirs. Neither are we a first world island paradise sliding towards the third world. Get real, David.  Read the full article here.

  But at least Seymour is not coy about his party's  policies: 

Lower taxes, especially for the rich (two rates by the end of 2025 - 17.5% up to $70,000 and 28% over that);  cuts in civil service numbers to 2017 levels; no more money for NZ Super  and  progressive increases in the superannuation age to 67 ;  less money on environmental protection; more people in prison (moving the management of young offenders to  Corrections and 200 more youth justice beds); and a whole string of abolitions:

 "Abolish the bright line test, fees-free education, Kiwisaver subsidies, the Progressive Home Ownership Scheme, the First Home Grant scheme, the Provincial Growth Fund, research and development-related Grants, Callaghan Innovation, domestic and international film subsidies, the Climate Emergency Response Fund, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, the Climate Change Commission, the Clean Car Discount, and the Climate Change Chief Executives Board...

— AND ABOLISH THE MINISTRIES FOR — 

"Women,

 Pacific peoples,

 Māori development,

 Ethnic 

the Office for Crown-Māori Relations 

and the Human Rights Commission." 

If you can live with that, follow the pied piper. You'd be in good company — or consider moving to Fiji.

Act also proposes to link Index main benefits and superannuation to CPI; increase defence spending by 2%, provide more pay for principal-selected teachers,  and boost the income of GPs per patient by 13%. Mostly quite reasonable proposals. 

-- ACW