Reserve Your Place
Sunday, 16 June will witness a political party conference like no other. 18 months consulting party members and
redesigning the party machinery for next year’s election will culminate in ACT’s relaunch. What will be presented, and
how it will be presented, will reflect a new standard for New Zealand politics. Reservations are now open on the party
website here.
Without Giving Away Too Much…
Attendees will see answers to four challenges faced by the party. You’ll see a party with a clearly stated identity and
purpose, three new policies, more faces, and new channels for campaigning. Members who joined the party in 1996 will get
a sense of ACT’s original energy. People who joined in 2019 will get the same sense of a party that is here to provide
ideas for a better tomorrow.
The Details
The party’s Annual General Meeting for members only will take place at 9:30am. The conference, that all are welcome to
attend, begins at 11am. The day is Sunday, 16 June, and the venue is The Common. We hope to see you there. The
conference will be short and sharp, modelled on the approach of Germany’s Free Democrats, concluding with a lunch
(included in the ticket price) at about 2pm.
Today’s Labour Law Changes
Labour’s new pro-union law comes into effect today, in a last-ditch effort to rescue unions from their own unpopularity. Among other things, the
law will make union membership an opt-out rather than opt-in, allow union members to enter workforces without consent,
and force employers to give employees union information. ACT’s 90-day trials are also being watered down.
Very Unpopular
Today only 17 per cent of workers join unions, and their net favourability amongst the general public is negative. You
don’t have to look far to see why. Teachers are among the most unionised workforces in the country. Over the past forty
years their pay has slipped 40 per cent relative to the average wage. They are demoralised and leaving in droves. It’s
so bad the Government just announced $95 million of bribes to entice students into the profession, presumably so that
these unsuspecting kids can get burned out and quit in a few years too.
Public Sector Holdouts
Unions are a parasite on employers and employees alike. Instead of working together to produce a product the customer
wants at a price they can afford, they end up in endless zero-sum wrangles. In the private sector, this wrangling means
the business goes bust as customers find better products at lower prices elsewhere.
What a Goal
Without competition customers can be forced to accept higher prices (taxes) or worse service. This is why Partnership
Schools were a mortal threat to the teacher unions. The Government’s objective is to tilt the playing field away from
employers and employees towards union representatives. If they succeed, the whole workforce could have morale and
conditions like teaching does.
A Better Goal
This excellent column about the Government’s Wellbeing Budget makes a useful point: New Zealand has incredible living standards compared with
other countries of similar GDP per capita. If we want greater wellbeing, then, our best strategy is not to spend money
better but increase our GDP per capita.
Productivity Please
Unfortunately, productivity growth is in the tank, and has been for a decade. To some extent this is a global problem but in New Zealand is among the worst. What’s more,
countries that are behind normally have more scope to grow faster. Not us. One option would be for Government to improve
the quality of regulation, the competitiveness of the tax system, and the skills of the workforce.
Alas
Sadly, the current Government is either ignoring or actively damaging our policy settings in all those areas, and
National are promising the same. That’s why this country needs a party like ACT, and we hope to see you on 16 June.