In this year’s election, a party is offering a new economic model.

That party is the Progressive Party and Bruce Dyer who is both its leader and Nelson candidate, said

“Both Jim Bolger when interviewed for the 9th Floor TV series and Edmund Hilary writing in his book ‘Nothing Ventured, Nothing Win,’ called for a new economic model. The Progressive Party will deliver that new model.”

The market driven economic model is out of favour, with the party’s website www.progressiveparty.co.nz featuring PM Jacinda Ardern saying “capitalism is a blatant failure” and Secretary General Guterres of the UN saying “it’s a lie that free markets can deliver health care for all”.

In its place the Progressive party’s policies are underpinned by Sarkar’s Progressive Utilisation Theory (PROUT). The party is confident that by being holistic, its socio-economic theory offers a new model that is both people and planet centred and both local and global in scope. Rooted in ecology, with a vision of the future beyond both traditional capitalism and socialism, it supports economic democracy, local economies and worker-owned enterprises.

Capitalism’s market place will still hold sway for 93% of businesses – those employing up to 9 people. Those employing more than nine however including the likes of banks, supermarkets and retirement villages, would be incentivised to become cooperatives, thereby extending democracy to the workplace. 10% of NZ businesses are already cooperatives. Expect this to rise significantly. Businesses that tend to be monopolistic like energy supply and distribution, communication, railways and mining would be local or state government controlled.

By following a policy of full employment and establishing a just minimum wage, the party would ensure everyone has the purchasing power to meet their basic needs covering food, clothing, housing, medical care and education.

Inequality would be addressed by linking the highest incomes to the just minimum wage.

The Party’s website details other policies like 
establishing a State-owned enterprise for housing construction, 
schooling to include the teaching and practice of mindfulness and meditation and the importance of an ethical/moral foundation, 
replacing income tax and GST with royalties on industrial production, land tax on unimproved land value, selective tariffs to promote the development of local manufacturing and taxes on pollutants and “bads” and sales taxes on luxuries.

The party also recognises that, without jeopardising New Zealand’s global trade, that it is strategically important to enable domestic business to supply essentials like food and clothing. Only by establishing this base line of self-reliance, can New Zealand be confident of engaging with the rest of the world from a position of strength.

Bruce Dyer – Leader
Progressive Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

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