Special Edition : The letter 18 September 2014
A vote for ACT can decide the election
Dr Jamie Whyte has been giving thoughtful speeches largely unreported. So we thought we would put out an edited version
on the speech he gave yesterday. The full speech is on the website.
“In three days’ time I will be elected along with a number of ACT MPs. On the latest Colmar Brunton poll, David Seymour
wins Epsom and I am elected.
Once a party wins an electorate, the number of votes needed to win a Party seat is very low. Each National list MP will
take about 60,000 votes, more than the total votes of any one electorate. By contrast, just 28,000 votes will add me to
David Seymour. And 44,000 Party votes will give ACT three MPs.
We believe we will do well because we have addressed the issues that matter.
In 12 month’s time, Here is what will matter
“Voters know that in 12 months’ time the issues that matter will be jobs, the economy, the cost of a house and whether
we feel safe.
Mr Dotcom will have left our shores for America and nobody will even remember what “Dirty Politics” was all about. As
Helen Clark might put it, we will have moved on.
The parties’ policies, what they will do if elected, have been squeezed out by the kind of thing Winston Peters
specialises in: feigned outrage at the wickedness of politicians and speculations about who will form coalitions with
whom.
Some parties have not announced policies that are sufficiently well worked out to warrant serious discussion – most
notably, New Zealand First, the Conservatives and Internet-Mana.
ACT’s announced serious policy
“ ACT has announced a number of serious policies, fully costed and backed up by academic research.
We started our campaign three months ago by publishing a fully-costed budget.
In that budget, we showed how by cutting corporate welfare – we showed how we could cut the company tax rate to 12.5% by
2020.
New Zealand now has one of the highest company rates in the world.
If Australia reduces its company tax rate New Zealand will find itself at a serious disadvantage.
In Parliament, ACT MPs will be pointing out our company tax rates are unsustainable.
People will ask, “Why was this not an issue in the election?” Well, it was, but the media thought other things were more
important.
Parties promising Muldoonism
Other parties all say that they can pull off some form of Muldoonism. They can pick winners and replace private
investment with politically directed investment. They all claim that investment decisions are made better by politicians
risking taxpayers’ money than by private investors risking their own money.
Other parties’ solution to low real wages is to have the government make low wages illegal. But wages do not depend on
the will of legislators. They depend on the productivity of workers – which depend on their education, the amount of
capital they work with and the degree to which they can specialise.
You cannot make people rich by decree. If you could, we would all be billionaires. The only route to wealth is
productivity.
Policies to catch Australia, housing affordability and reduce poverty
ACT predicts that in 12 months’ time, when the Australian economy recovers, the gap between New Zealand and Australia
will be an issue again..
We have put forward a five point plan to catch Australia.
In 12 months’ time housing will still be unaffordable because the RMA is fundamentally flawed. ACT’s policy is to admit
the RMA experiment has failed, repeal the law and start again.
In Parliament we will be telling National that their RMA amendments do not go far enough.
One issue that has had a little air time during the campaign has been poverty and, especially, child poverty.
ACT believes that many children are indeed born into serious disadvantage. And we have a plan to help them. It is based
on job creation and wage increases caused by lower taxes and lighter regulation, on welfare reform, and on parental
choice in education.
We also acknowledge that many of those households in poverty are there because the adults in the house put their
addictions ahead of feeding their children.
20 percent of pupils will still be failing
ACT has a solution: Partnership Schools (or charter schools) and the great progress being made by Partnership School
pupils who were failing in state schools.
That is why ACT MPs will be pressing to allow every school to have the advantages of being a Partnership School.
One hundred thousand homes will be burgled
Next year there will be over 100,000 burglaries. Those burglaries will affect around 250,000 people who will ask, “why
was this not an issue in the election”?
That is why in Parliament, ACT will be presenting legislation to send professional burglars to jail.
The choice this Saturday
All the other parties simply compete to offer people goodies paid for from money confiscated from other people. In 12
months’ time, when the taxpayer has to pay, people will ask why this was not an issue in the election. Well, it was, but
it was not covered..
When voters go to the polling booth on Saturday, many will ask: “Who will always vote for less tax, less nanny state and
more personal responsibility?”
That is why I predict many will Party Vote ACT.
ends