Thank You Tour Starts Today

It’s been a fortnight, and ACT misses campaigning. Plus, there are so many people to thank for contributing to ACT’s 2020 success. There are new MPs to meet. Then there’s the question: What Happens Next? So, David Seymour and new ACT MPs are embarking on a 12 stop Thank You Tour. Please check out the schedule.

What Sort Of Labour Government?

We’ve been asked ‘what sort of Labour Government do we face?’ Labour must have supporters urging them to implement true socialism (if only it had been tried somewhere). But how will they actually behave? Some commentators say that they’re determined to become the new National Party, semi-permanently in government. Free Press believes they have few ideas, and fewer Ministers capable of implementing them, so the commentators are probably right.

Running Out Of Options

New Zealand is becoming an outlier for deficits, size of government, and economic growth. We are lying out at the wrong end on nearly every measure according to the IMF’s 2025 forecast. The New Zealand Initiative’s Bryce Wilkinson summarised it here. The truth is that the Labour Government will have limited space for dumb policy.

But If They Wanted Some

The Human Rights Commission has heaps. Who knew that 1970s labour laws were a human right? How have incomes risen for the last 40 years? The HRC is a taxpayer-funded lobby group masquerading as a government department. We all love human rights but only the Human Rights Commission thinks attacking free speech advances human rights. They need to go.

A Great Day To Be A Kiwi

It’s not every day that human rights actually expand. The Soviet collapse was the last big advance in human freedom. There’s been few breakthroughs against a backdrop of creeping decline since. But, the grim global picture is a for another time. On Friday we found the New Zealand public voted 2:1 to expand human freedom.

The End Of Life Choice Act

Mentally competent adults suffering a terminal illness will have a genuine choice about how they go and when they go. They’ll be able to have control and greater dignity as their life ends. Over the years to come, thousands of New Zealanders who might have suffered excruciating pain and indignity will be able to go on their own terms with their own timing. ACT stands for freedom under the law.

True North

Assisted dying bills have been defeated twice in New Zealand. Around the world, most such bills fail against vociferous opposition. How did a single rookie MP, who is still only 37, pull off such a feat? David Seymour knows where his north star is. A freer society really is kinder, because it respects the dignity and autonomy of every individual. In short, David Seymour succeeded because he understands the cause of human freedom.

What’s Truly Amazing…

Most MPs go to Parliament for reasons other than expanding human freedom. Many campaign to increase state control of peoples’ lives, to impose their whacky theories and values on other people. The more you think about it, the crazier it is. Only a Party Vote for ACT brings in MPs who are committed to expanding human freedom because it’s the only sustainable way to increase human wellbeing.

Speaking Of…

We are astonished at the Greens’ naïveté. No minor party has ever made the five percent threshold after a stint in Government until the Greens in 2020. Free Press knows that they were surprised at their own election result. Only two weeks later, they have decided it was not a fluke but their new normal. It’s led to an incredibly dumb decision to join Labour.

The Upshot

The Greens are happy to vote for the Labour Cabinet’s budgets and never criticise its climate policy. Why? So that two Green MPs can ride in limousines. Julie Anne Genter and Eugenie Sage will take the pay cut and fish out their taxi charge card. Chlöe Swarbrick will have to help people with real problems as a the MP for Auckland Central, while a radical Marxist lectures her about dialectical materialism. We feel for Chlöe.

One To Watch

By contrast, we are impressed with the new Marxist Green MP, Ricardo Menéndez March’s principles. He says he will not swear allegiance to the Queen. We presume she must be a symbol of oppression in the great class struggle. And you have to admit, she does have class. If he doesn’t swear allegiance, he cannot take his seat in the House. No take seat, no pay. Not many MPs would give up their salary on such a fine point of principle. Free Press predicts he is one to watch.