This is actually the key reason I will likely be voting ACT this time around, this party cannot be allowed to be part of our government with these goals.

This is a by Māori, for Māori, according to Māori solution and we will not compromise."

They will not be allowed to divide this country.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I cannot support Act policies, no matter how much I dislike the other parties. Here are some scary Act policies:

They want to abolish the Human Rights Commission
Allow unregulated overseas investment from OECD countries
Sell all or part of many state owned enterprises (e.g. sell 49% of KiwiRail).
Sell public hospital buildings to private investors
Water pollution would be managed by letting companies bid for the right to pollute up to the allowed pollution levels
They want to repeal the zero carbon (by 2050) act
They will abolish the building act, replacing it with mandatory insurance. The idea is if it's not built to a good standard then insurers won't insure.

And here are some others (some seem to overlap with National):

They want to abolish fair pay agreements
They want to abolish rules that protect valuable natural areas
They want to decrease tax for higher earners, and increase tax for lower earners
They would re-allow live exports of animals
They oppose any laws banning hate speech
They would abolish ministries for Pacific people, Ethnic communities, Women, Māori development, etc.
Reduce the rate superannuation increases each year, and stop putting money in the super fund
Remove the Matariki public holiday
Reintroduce the 90 day fire at will period
Remove or reduce government kiwisaver contributions for most workers
They want to increase the prison population (see my other comment about private prisons)
They want to introduce privately owned toll roads
They want to pay emissions trading scheme revenue back to everyone as a tax credit, instead of spending it on reducing emissions
They want to stop contractors from challenging their status, to allow employers to bully employees into being paid as a contractor to avoid paying leave entitlements and other protections
Make a literacy test a requirement to get parole (again, private prisons want people to stay longer)
Hold a referendum to introduce a rule that allows anyone to take the government to court if they think new laws don't fit a set of standards
Abolish the climate emergency response fund
I'm gonna quote this one: "This party says that the current government requires councils to review speed limits and reduce them in high-risk areas like school zones. This party believes that this is slowing people down and making society less productive."
Create a new state owned enterprise to manage roads, being required to return a profit via charging people for the use of roads (no current plans stated to sell off 49% but I think it's implied)

[–] schzztl@lemmy.nz 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Thanks for compiling that detailed list. Don't forget their thoughts on education - they seem to basically want to privatise public education and only make it "public" in the sense they give children a bit of money to pay for their own schooling. Naturally it doesn't add up to what is already spent per child. If a child hasn't lived in this country since they were two years old they're even worse off, even if they are rightful citizens.

They're anti-student, too, wanting to remove caps on tertiary fees and gut fees free education. They want to defund Callaghan Innovation which provides internships for students. Those internships go a long way in helping people get jobs in the fields they studied in. Seymour is also anti interest free loans - they're not campaigning to remove them this year, but it's enough to put me on edge. This makes me believe they have no regard for the interests of young, skilled New Zealanders who are a flight ticket away from fucking off to Australia.

The end goal of all their policies seems to be to emulate the joke that is the USA. I have issues with this specific policy of TPM but I wouldn't touch ACT with a 10 foot pole if my life was on the line.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 5 points 2 years ago

Act is the party that represents the idea that regulation messes with a system, and the best system has almost no regulation. Any tampering causes unintended consequences so we shouldn't tamper. Which is silly, and I believe the only reason they support the idea is because they benefit from it.

I have issues with this specific policy of TPM but I wouldn’t touch ACT with a 10 foot pole if my life was on the line.

Yep this is pretty much my position. There are definitely issues with the details of this proposal. In general, I like the idea of steps towards abolition of prisons (learning from each step and adjusting expectations as we go). But I can't imagine a world where I'd vote for Act. Their views are fundamentally against my lived values.