May the best party win
Indian Weekender asked a set of burning questions to each of the political parties vying to form the next government and here’s what they came up with
NATIONAL PARTY
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour ?
National wants to reward New Zealanders for hard work and getting ahead. We’ve made it pretty clear that any tax cuts next term would be pretty modest – and only if they can be afforded.
Our priority is to get back to surplus and stay there. Through the John Key-led Government’s responsible, stable management were on track to surplus.
In Budget 2014 we announced annual new spending and revenue allowances of $1.5 billion a year over the next three years. This would give us room to consider modest tax cuts for lower and middle income earners, alongside a bit more spending on priority public services and debt reduction.
With the economy growing and the Government on track to surplus this year, the very last thing New Zealand needs right now is higher taxes.
Between them Labour, the Greens, and Dotcom Parties want five more taxes – higher income tax, a capital gains tax on productive businesses and farms which excludes three quarters of houses, a carbon tax, a water tax, and a regional fuel tax.
That would stall the economy’s good momentum.
The only reason the opposition want more taxes is to try to pay for their wasteful and expensive spending promises.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear ofunavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Unemployment
New Zealand’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.6 per cent – its lowest level in five years – with the number of people employed increasing by 83,000 over the past year. The challenge now is to continue to build on this momentum so we have consistent and sustained economic performance that really lifts the opportunities for and incomes of New Zealanders over the longer term. The Government is continuing to work hard through its Business Growth Agenda to implement policies that encourage businesses across the country to invest and grow, and hire more people.
Crime
New Zealanders deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities. We embarked on a comprehensive programme of reform to protect communities, prevent crime, and put victims first. And it’s paying off- National has built a safer New Zealand. We now have the lowest crime rate in 35 years, and this is due, in large part, to our Police.Delivering better public services is one of National’s four priorities for this term in Government, and we set challenging target for crime – to reduce the crime rate by 15 per cent, violent crime by 20 per cent, and youth crime by 25 per cent by 2017.We have already exceeded two of those targets. Since the base period of June 2011, the recorded crime rate has fallen 16 per cent, violent crime has fallen 11 per cent, and youth crime rate has fallen 30 per cent. Therefore, if re-elected, National will increase the crime target to a 20 per cent reduction.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
The best way to make housing affordable is to build a more competitive and productive economy – one of National’s four key priorities this term. We’re focusing on increasing the supply of houses to create more affordable housing through housing accords with local authorities. Accords are now in place in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington – with negotiations underway with Queenstown and the Bay of Plenty. Our HomeStart package will help about 90,000 lower and middle income first home buyers over the next five years and complements the wide programme of work National already has underway to improve housing supply and affordability including freeing up more land supply, reducing building material costs, reining in infrastructure and compliance costs and investing in sector skills and productivity.
b) Improving education in the country?
Despite the tight fiscal environment total spending on early childhood, primary and secondary education will be $10.1 billion in 2014/15. This clearly shows National’s commitment to education- we believe every child deserves the best education possible. Most of our kids are succeeding in school and going on to live the lives they want to. Today 78.6% of 18yr olds achieve NCEA level 2, but our plan is about getting all of our kids succeeding because education is one of the foundation stones on which we build our lives. That’s why National is investing an extra $878m over four years to raise educational achievement.
c) Better healthcare for all?
While many developed countries around the world are freezing or even reducing health funding, National is investing an average of $500m extra each year in public health services. Next year our health budget will reach a record $15.6 billion. We’re making each dollar go further, delivering 1500 more doctors, & 3200 more nurses, with 1000 fewer back office staff.
It is an important part of our plan to deliver better care for families. This is what careful financial management can deliver.National brought in the policy of free GP visits and prescriptions for children under six, including free after-hours visits. It is only because of our prudent management of the health budget, we can extend this policy to all children under 13.More than 400,000 primary school-aged children and their families are expected to benefit.
d) Captial gains tax?
New Zealand needs more taxpayers, not more taxes. What Labour doesn’t tell you is capital gains tax would slap extra tax on every New Zealand business and farm, and over two million people in KiwiSaver. Other countries like Australia have a capital gains tax on housing and it hasn’t stopped rising house prices.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
National is committed to ensuring older New Zealanders have the security, wellbeing, and respect they deserve. National will maintain the married rate of superannuation at 66 per cent of the average wage and on our watch, the age of eligibility will remain at 65. This is a promise the Prime Minister has made to Kiwis.
Seniors have worked hard and deserve to enjoy their retirement. Ensuring they can retire with dignity is part of our wider plan to build a brighter future for all New Zealanders.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
The National Party is focussed on ensuring all New Zealanders are able to participate in our communities, employment and decision-making, and can make a positive contribution to our national success. For example, we run intercultural awareness and communication programmes for City Councils, DHBs, University faculties, government departments and private sector companies. We also support better inter-cultural understanding and respect between ethnicities by supporting initiatives such as the Building Bridges programme, which was held at the Muslim World Forum in New Zealand for the first time last year to develop understanding between New Zealand’s Muslim communities and wider society.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Our policies are available on the National Party website as they are announced.
National supports practical initiatives that make a real difference in the lives of ethnic New Zealanders. Recognising our diverse population, and the importance of Asia to New Zealand’s economy, if re-elected we will invest $10 million into a contestable fund over five years to increase the provision of Asian languages in schools. We will also continue to promote leadership amongst our ethnic community, and particularly among ethnic women. We will continue to run Ethnic Women in Leadership conference and the Ethnic Youth leadership programme from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton. We also want greater ethnic representation on government boards, committees and advisory groups,our work so far has seen 76 ethnic people secure leadership positions in the past year.
We want to ensure services are accessible to our ethnic community, such as ensuring as power and banking and superannuation. We have been achieving this through a variety of means, such as our Language Line which has provided interpreting to 90 public and private sector organisations in 44 languages.
LABOUR RESPONSE
Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour
Under Labour, children’s education will be enhanced by smaller class sizes. Children and retired people will get free doctor’s visits and prescriptions. Labour will give real help to those wanting to buy their own homes. We will lift wages and help children out of poverty and make New Zealand a fairer and more prosperous place for all.
We can be a country in which people matter most. Our vision for New Zealand is that we regain our sense of community, that we get better jobs and higher wages from shifting to a high-value economy. And that we build a fair and just society where everyone can thrive. At the same time we will protect our beautiful environment, and strengthen our culture for generations to come.
The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Labour believesNational is not listening on law and order. They’ve gutted police resources. Sexual assaults, domestic violence and violent crime are causing huge concern for New Zealanders. In the last budget National cut $40 million of operational expenditure for police. As Inspector Greg O’Connor says, the level of service from police will drop as resources are cut.
We need to have a policing system that is responsive to victims when they report crimes. Labour will stop non-sworn staff being cut so that Police officers can be freed up for frontline work. Youth Service roles within Police must be fully staffed, with preventive action to stop juvenile crime rather than just respond after the event.
What is your party’s stand on:
Housing affordability, especially in Auckland
Labour will restore the dream of home ownership to Kiwi families.
First home buyers are struggling because of a lack of affordable houses. Home ownership rates are at their lowest in 50 years. Overseas property speculators are making it worse. Labour’s KiwiBuild policy will build 100,000 new affordable homes over ten years and sell them at cost to first home buyers. Using the purchasing power of the Government and off-site building techniques we will be able to lower the cost of building a home. Labour’s policy will help 50,000 families over ten years buy a first home. National’s policy will only give a slightly higher deposit to 40,000 families. A couple earning around $75,000 a year would be $200 a week better off buying a two bedroom terraced Labour KiwiBuild home instead of an equivalent new build under National’s housing policy. Currently there are no restrictions on non-residents buying houses in New Zealand. Our lack of restrictions and a capital gains tax make us an attractive target for speculators. Real estate agencies are actively marketing Kiwi homes to overseas speculators.
Labour will restrict the purchase of residential property by non-residents, so that they will only be granted permission to purchase a residential property if they intend to live here permanently or that purchase adds to our existing housing stock, e.g. building a new house.
Improving education in the country
Labour wantsNew Zealand to have a world class education which produces the most successful kids in the world. Labour will ensure we deliver high-quality, lifelong learning which we recognise is essential for both social and economic development.
Labour will:
• Fund schools $100 per student per year if they don’t demand donations from parents.
• Put in place a programme that provides an affordable option, available to all schools, for Year 5-13 students to have access to a portable digital device, in the classroom and at home.
• Reduce class sizes by funding an extra 2000 teachers using resources freed up by scrapping National’s flawed ‘executive principals’ policy
• Raise the standard of entry into the teaching profession by pre-screening entry into all initial teacher education programmes
• Establish a comprehensive school advisory service to share best practice and act as mentors and advisors to teachers throughout New Zealand
• Establish a democratic process for appointing the Board of the new Education Council
• Re-direct resources spent forcing “National Standards” on schools into teacher professional development programmes
• Require schools to report student progress to parents in all areas of their learning
• Re-direct resources spent forcing ‘National Standards’ on schools into teacher professional development programmes that assist students who are underachieving
• Develop a comprehensive plan for re-building out-dated and worn-out school buildings, so that every school has access to modern learning environments by 2030
• Scrap the use of Public Private Partnerships for the build of new schools and the re-building of existing school facilities
• We will work with schools to determine a fair proportion of direct Ministry funding so all schools will be able to afford to offer Reading Recovery to all students who need it
• Partner with community and voluntary organisations, incorporating the most cost-effective approaches currently operating, to provide free food in every decile 1-3 primary, intermediate school that needs and wants it
Better healthcare for all
Labour’s vision for health is to build a nation where all New Zealanders are able to live longer and healthier lives because they have the knowledge to make more informed health decisions with the support of a strong and adequately funded public health system. Labour is committed to adopting an approach to health that takes into account physical health, mental health, the family, culture and community environment, and the socio-economic determinants of health. Under a Labour Government doctors’ visits and prescriptions will be free for under 13 year olds, pregnant mums and over 65s. Expectant mums will also get free dental care.
Capital gains tax
(See housing) Labour will crack down on speculators through a 15 per cent capital gains tax (excluding the family home), and restrict offshore speculators buying New Zealand houses. This capital gains tax is not retrospective. It will exclude the family home on the farm and the property around it which people own now.
Increase of retirement age to 67
We are proposing a gradual rise in the age of NZ Super from 65 to 67 – at a rate of two months a year from 2020 to 2032. This will not affect anyone currently receiving NZ Super. We recognise that there some are people who won’t be able to sustain work in their normal occupations until they are 67. This is why we are also introducing an exemption for these people set at the same level as NZ Super and starting at 65. Labour will not reduce the rate of NZ Super payments. We will not move from the current indexation of NZ Super to wage movements. New Zealanders have earned the right to decent retirement.
Elimination of racial discrimination
Principles Labour is founded on include a belief that all people are entitled to dignity, self-respect and the opportunity to work, and that the same basic human rights, protected by the State, apply to all people. Members of ethnic communities can have experiences that impact on their confidence, sense of self-worth and inclusion. Labour will develop, in partnership with ethnic communities, policies to reduce and remove discrimination.
In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders (covered above or see the website for a full outline of our policies http://campaign.labour.org.nz/) as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Labour wants a New Zealand that celebrates its multicultural character and builds a tolerant and mutually respectful community.
Labour will upgrade the Office of Ethnic Affairs to a Ministry, responsible for making New Zealand a leader in successfully integrating ethnic communities. It will investigate, report, and advise on the provision of services to ethnic communities. The MEA will promote representation and participation by ethnic communities, and will monitor outcomes for ethnic communities in the major areas affecting them including health, employment, education and housing.
New Zealand needs to support refugees and new migrants to develop skills that will help them integrate into New Zealand, find work and contribute to New Zealand society to their full potential. Labour will develop an integrated national plan to assist refugee resettlement in collaboration with the refugee community and from refugee-led agencies.
Immigration policies aim to strengthen our skilled workforce. They must also fairly address issues of reunification of immediate family members and granting visitor visas. Labour, in consultation with ethnic communities, will examine the adequacy of immigration policies to allow for families to be reunited and to allow visits by family members while safeguarding against overstaying. Labour will ensure that immigration services are understandable and accessible. Labour will lift the refugee quota to 1000 bearing in mind our international commitments and in the light of increased international political and environmental challenges.
NEW ZEALAND FIRST
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
New Zealand First will introduce strict and effective regulation over foreign ownership of New Zealand land, housing and businesses to ensure thatNew Zealand national interests and those of New Zealanders are paramount, because we want to use our national resources and our people’s abilities to work towards full employment and rapidly grow our national wealth.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
New Zealand First’s policy is to seriously reduce unemployment and improve the job prospects and pay for all New Zealanders. NZ First has always had a strong law and order policy. Police have been under-resourced under the National government, with a frozen budget for five years and now a $40m budget cut. As we did when we got a thousand extra frontline police, and we are going to train many more frontline police to prevent and arrest crime.
We will pass new legislation to crack down on the binge drinking culture.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
There is a serious lack of supply to meet great demand. We will use a new state agency to create a land bank that will supply affordable sections, with finance for first home buyers at low interest rates. And we will buildthe required numbers of houses to deal with Auckland’s housing crisis. Housing demand has been increased by offshore buying.
New Zealand First’s immigration policy to only bring to New Zealand people who have a job will reduce pressure on demand for housing– particularly in Auckland and Christchurch. New Zealand First also has policies that will encourage innovation in the housing sector such as smaller and more affordable houses on smaller sections. New Zealand First will stop non-residents buying our houses and land.
b) Improving education in the country?
We will close charter schools. We will remove National Standards and we will introduce a dollar for dollar student debt write-off scheme for graduates who remain and work in New Zealand. This will encourage students to pay off their debt.
We also want to improve standards of rental accommodation to benefit all of those who are renting and students.
New Zealand First will increase the number of apprentices each year, to increase our skilled workforce.
There will be more government-funded research grants and scholarships for graduates, universities and employers.
c) Better healthcare for all?
We will give free GP visits to all primary school children and extend this to three free visits per annum for SuperGold Cardholders.These visits for seniors will actually save money because if only one percent of SuperGold Cardholders use the free visits and are thereby saved from needing hospital care, then we will save not cost money. By getting children and seniors to the doctor they will be treated before there is a need for hospital care.
It’s much better for them, and economically it makes sense. The fewer people we have in hospital, the less the cost to the taxpayer.NZ First is committed to funding a first class public health system.
d) Capital gains tax?
New Zealand already has a capital gains tax. The question is will NZ First extend this. NZ First is opposed to a capital gains taxextension if there is not equally a concession for capital losses.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
NZ First is opposed to raising the age of entitlement from 65. NZ super is affordable at 4.1% net of GDP, which is half the cost of some other countries. We will keep the 66 per cent rule, it will not be means tested and we have further benefits coming with the SuperGold Card.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
NZ First has always stood for one people and equality of all before the law, whether your background in New Zealand goes back a thousand years or one year. We have three candidates of Indian background in our party list. We chose them because they were the best for the job.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
NZ First has a comprehensive range of common sense policies that are all designed to improve New Zealand’s prosperity and security and ensure that all New Zealanders, whether old or new, can lead fulfilling lives.
New Zealand First believes in economic nationalism where we put our people’s interests first, whether it is ownership, employment, education, manufacturing and business.
We have a serious national savings strategy to free ourselves up in time from our dependence on foreign savings.
Indian communities know that sacrifice, hard work, and savings are the way to personal and family advancement.New Zealand First understands that and that is why we have serious policies to rapidly expand our national wealth whilst ensuring that everyone in New Zealand gets the benefit of that.
Housing, health, education, and First World jobs with First World pay is what we stand for.
GREENS
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
The Green Party announced a Student Green Card policy which would give free off-peak transport to tertiary students and apprentices.
The Student Green Card will benefit the 325,000 students studying at Universities, Wananga, polytechnics and Private Training Establishments, as well as the approximately 28,000 training under the New Zealand Apprenticeship scheme.
This would help ease congestion for everyone by getting more people on to public transport less than the cost of one kilometre of one of National’s ‘Roads of National Significance’.
A recent poll found the majority of New Zealanders are strongly in favour of this proposal, especially in Auckland. This policy is just one part of a broader transport policy that aims to shift more funding away from certain uneconomic motorway projects to better public transport infrastructure.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
The Green party believes that the Police should be focusing on investigating andapprehending offenders. To that end, we believe community policing plays a major role in reducing crime as well as addressing the needs of communities. All of these policies sit alongside our commitment to ensuring that victims of crimes are looked after at every stage. We believes that businesses can play an important part in helping with community policing initiatives as they have a great understanding and awareness of the issues affecting communities
The Green Party justice policy sits alongside our human rights, social development and economics policy. We believe that prevention of crimes is the key to building a safer society. This means providing better jobs, more opportunities and adequate social support so people are not turning to crime.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
In Government, the Green Party will take real steps to assist with home affordability. We will introduce a capital gains tax (excluding the family home) and place restrictions on foreign investors to dampen housing speculation.
We will increase the supply of affordable house by undertaking a programme of state building affordable houses and state houses.
Our Progressive Ownership policy will allow low income families to 'rent-to-own' government-built houses at an affordable price.
b) Improving education in the country?
The Green Party is committed to high quality education from Early Childhood Education to Tertiary Education.
The Green Party’s plan is to expand and strengthen public education and support schools to be the heart of their communities - places where children and their families can be connected to what they need to get the most out of education.
One of the ways we’ll do that is to set schools up as community hubs. Our hubs plan is based on research that shows that, although education is the most effective route out of poverty, kids in low income families are much less likely to overcome poverty to achieve well at school.
Our plan will:
• put a dedicated school nurse in every decile 1 to 4 school;
• provide a healthy lunch for all children who need it;
• build quality early childhood education centres onsite where they’re needed;
• offer free after school care so that all children can experience sports and cultural activities regardless of their parents’ income, and parents can work knowing that their kids are safe, having fun and are well looked after.
• Employ a hubs coordinator to work in each school to draw together the hub and work with outside health, welfare and social agencies, such as adult and parenting education, ESOL, etc., that want to be part of the hub.
c) Better healthcare for all?
The Green Party is committed to maintaining the level of services currently provided, unlike the National government, which will cut health spending by 4.5 percent in real terms over the next three years according to independent economic analysis. The cuts are actually 9.8 percent when you apply real health sector price increases. (https://home.greens.org.nz/press-releases/national-cut-38-billion-health-education-and-environment-spending)
In addition to this the Greens will extend free doctors’ visits to all people under the age of 18, as well as talking a number of other such as placing school nurses in low decile schools.
The Green Party believes in a holistic approach to health that is focused on promoting positive health and lifestyles. We believe that education and prevention are the best approaches to maintaining health. This is why primary health is very important in our policy.
We recognise that there are some communities that have higher needs in some areas than others. Where appropriate, the Green Party would look into supporting community health workers to target specific population groups and communities to achieve better health outcomes
d) Capital gains tax?
We will introduce a comprehensive capital gains tax on all assets (excluding the family home), paid when assets are sold.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
Greens policy is to keep the age at 65.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
The Green Party believes that every New Zealander has the right to live free of discrimination. The New Zealand government has an obligation, due to human rights commitments, to help remove discrimination and inequities between ethnic groups.
The Green Party believes adequate funding needs to be directed to combating institutional racism and agencies that do this work, such as the Human Rights Commission, need to be fully supported in their work. The Green Party will ensure that the Human Rights Commission and Race Relations Office are fully supported in their endeavor to implement the Human Rights Act, counter prejudice and discrimination, and address racism.
We will work with communities to combat prejudice; develop fair, compassionate and effective processes in all areas and ensure that education, health and other institutions meet the special needs of marginalised communities.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
- Increase the top income tax rate to 40% and increase the trusts tax rate to raise money to pay for new poverty alleviation measures, including school nurses in low decile schools
- Create a $2,000 income tax-free band, a 1 percent company tax cut and introduce a carbon charge. Households will be on average $319 better off every year with the Climate Tax Cut
- 1 billion of new government funding over three years for research and development, kick-starting a transformational shift in how our economy creates wealth.
- Start up government-owned Green Investment Bank
- Create a single buyer of electricity, NZ Power, to bring down rising electricity costs
- The Green Party will fund an additional 1,000 places at tertiary institutions for students of engineering, mathematics, computer science, and the physical sciences.
- Introduce free off peak transport for students and apprentices
- Extend free doctors visits for all New Zealanders up to the age of 18
- Lifting low wages by moving the minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2017
- A new legislative minimum redundancy package of four weeks’ pay.
- Bringing top pay back into line requiring companies to report on the gap between top and bottom pay.
- Measures to boost bargaining power and make workplaces safer more democratic.
- Support the establishment of a Ministry for Ethnic Affairs
INTERNET PARTY
Election special issue on Indian Weekender, to be published on September 5, 2014.
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
Free tertiary education and universal allowances is fundamental to a future where our economic growth is achieved through innovation, not the limited natural resources of New Zealand. Successful economies around the world are testament to the value of a free education. We cannot expect a successful informed economy with growth based on innovation if we continue to burden our young people with debt. Students should not have to borrow to live, this is betrays the social contract which the previous generation of New Zealanders too for granted. We should also progressively write-off existing student loan debt, and increase apprenticeships.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Unemployment breeds severe social problems such as child poverty, increased crime, health issues, reduced education and general loss of morale; as well as causing loss of skills and human capital over the whole economy. Therefore Internet MANA sets a national goal of full employment – New Zealand unemployment has doubled since National came to power and even the current rate of 5.6% is nothing to be proud of. Unemployment for young people is particularly high and has increased in all regions, between 2006-2013.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
The reality is that most young people cannot afford to buy in Auckland and the 2013 20% deposit requirement makes it even harder for those whose families don’t already have an asset base to leverage off. House prices are going up faster than incomes of most Aucklanders’ and their ability to get into the market. Government intervention to-date has been top level and a one-size-fits-all across the whole market disadvantaging those in the Auckland market.
We support initiatives to increase affordable housing supply in Auckland. We support capital gains tax to stop speculation on the housing market by investors. Internet MANA also supports wider initiatives to narrow the poverty gap which will positively impact housing affordability: we will lift minimum wage to living wage of $18.80 per hour and ensure this is pegged to two thirds of median wage so it doesn’t lag behind, focus on creating jobs, support creation of state housing, invest in establishment of a tech industry to create secure, high-value jobs; these initiatives will help balance out the economy and make housing affordability a reality for more Aucklanders.
b) Improving education in the country?
Education is underfunded and has been managed without proper consultation of stakeholders; now we see a sector wide breakdown in communications between the expertise in the teaching sector and the Ministry of Education. A key policy failure has been the implementation of National Standards and Charter Schools; in the tertiary sector students are being charged higher fees yet our universities are dropping in the ranks. We support consultation with a view to scrap national standards, we support free tertiary education and allowances we cannot continue to burden our young people with debt, students should not have to borrow to live. We should also progressively write-off existing student loan debt, and increase apprenticeships.
c) Better healthcare for all?
The Internet Party will balance the ever-increasing demand for more health expenditure and better healthcare for New Zealanders by effectively using technology to stop the waste within the healthcare sector. In particular, we will cut waiting lists by better operations at a whole-of-system level and eliminating waste.
d) Captial gains tax?
A capital gains tax should be introduced to stop speculation in the housing market. Currently investors see profits to be made in the property sector that are not fully taxed, investor interest creates price rises higher than usual in the housing market and creates affordability issues for new homebuyers.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
We have no plans to adjust the retirement age.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
Definitely, we have reflected a vision for a multicultural party in our party list with one third of the top 15 being of ethnic origin. We also have a commitment to working with the MANA Movement based on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Internet MANA’s focus is on education and the economy in New Zealand for a just and equal society for all people – Indian, Maori, Pakeha, Asian, everyone. New Zealand has had a lack of economic vision and leadership and many people are suffering because they are underpaid or unemployed. Internet MANA strongly believes there must be investment in the establishment of an innovative digital economy to parallel New Zealand’s excellence in agriculture and to create more secure high-value jobs. This must also be met with strong investment in education, which is why we have a free tertiary education policy, and Feed the Kids policy for kids in low-declile schools. Both of these require focused political leadership to be achieved. Right now most people do not even believe free tertiary education is possible, but that is not the case. There is a serious problem with a widening gap between rich and poor which stifles innovation. Also, economies with a wide income gap tend to have slower growth. Increasing the minimum wage to a living wage will boost local business through increased spending and create more jobs (as past wage increases have shown), as well as addressing social inequities. Internet MANA will deliver a vibrant, educated New Zealand full of opportunities for everyone from every race.
Indian Weekender asked a set of burning questions to each of the political parties vying to form the next government and here’s what they came up with NATIONAL PARTY 1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour ? National wants to reward New Zealanders for...
Indian Weekender asked a set of burning questions to each of the political parties vying to form the next government and here’s what they came up with
NATIONAL PARTY
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour ?
National wants to reward New Zealanders for hard work and getting ahead. We’ve made it pretty clear that any tax cuts next term would be pretty modest – and only if they can be afforded.
Our priority is to get back to surplus and stay there. Through the John Key-led Government’s responsible, stable management were on track to surplus.
In Budget 2014 we announced annual new spending and revenue allowances of $1.5 billion a year over the next three years. This would give us room to consider modest tax cuts for lower and middle income earners, alongside a bit more spending on priority public services and debt reduction.
With the economy growing and the Government on track to surplus this year, the very last thing New Zealand needs right now is higher taxes.
Between them Labour, the Greens, and Dotcom Parties want five more taxes – higher income tax, a capital gains tax on productive businesses and farms which excludes three quarters of houses, a carbon tax, a water tax, and a regional fuel tax.
That would stall the economy’s good momentum.
The only reason the opposition want more taxes is to try to pay for their wasteful and expensive spending promises.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear ofunavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Unemployment
New Zealand’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.6 per cent – its lowest level in five years – with the number of people employed increasing by 83,000 over the past year. The challenge now is to continue to build on this momentum so we have consistent and sustained economic performance that really lifts the opportunities for and incomes of New Zealanders over the longer term. The Government is continuing to work hard through its Business Growth Agenda to implement policies that encourage businesses across the country to invest and grow, and hire more people.
Crime
New Zealanders deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities. We embarked on a comprehensive programme of reform to protect communities, prevent crime, and put victims first. And it’s paying off- National has built a safer New Zealand. We now have the lowest crime rate in 35 years, and this is due, in large part, to our Police.Delivering better public services is one of National’s four priorities for this term in Government, and we set challenging target for crime – to reduce the crime rate by 15 per cent, violent crime by 20 per cent, and youth crime by 25 per cent by 2017.We have already exceeded two of those targets. Since the base period of June 2011, the recorded crime rate has fallen 16 per cent, violent crime has fallen 11 per cent, and youth crime rate has fallen 30 per cent. Therefore, if re-elected, National will increase the crime target to a 20 per cent reduction.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
The best way to make housing affordable is to build a more competitive and productive economy – one of National’s four key priorities this term. We’re focusing on increasing the supply of houses to create more affordable housing through housing accords with local authorities. Accords are now in place in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington – with negotiations underway with Queenstown and the Bay of Plenty. Our HomeStart package will help about 90,000 lower and middle income first home buyers over the next five years and complements the wide programme of work National already has underway to improve housing supply and affordability including freeing up more land supply, reducing building material costs, reining in infrastructure and compliance costs and investing in sector skills and productivity.
b) Improving education in the country?
Despite the tight fiscal environment total spending on early childhood, primary and secondary education will be $10.1 billion in 2014/15. This clearly shows National’s commitment to education- we believe every child deserves the best education possible. Most of our kids are succeeding in school and going on to live the lives they want to. Today 78.6% of 18yr olds achieve NCEA level 2, but our plan is about getting all of our kids succeeding because education is one of the foundation stones on which we build our lives. That’s why National is investing an extra $878m over four years to raise educational achievement.
c) Better healthcare for all?
While many developed countries around the world are freezing or even reducing health funding, National is investing an average of $500m extra each year in public health services. Next year our health budget will reach a record $15.6 billion. We’re making each dollar go further, delivering 1500 more doctors, & 3200 more nurses, with 1000 fewer back office staff.
It is an important part of our plan to deliver better care for families. This is what careful financial management can deliver.National brought in the policy of free GP visits and prescriptions for children under six, including free after-hours visits. It is only because of our prudent management of the health budget, we can extend this policy to all children under 13.More than 400,000 primary school-aged children and their families are expected to benefit.
d) Captial gains tax?
New Zealand needs more taxpayers, not more taxes. What Labour doesn’t tell you is capital gains tax would slap extra tax on every New Zealand business and farm, and over two million people in KiwiSaver. Other countries like Australia have a capital gains tax on housing and it hasn’t stopped rising house prices.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
National is committed to ensuring older New Zealanders have the security, wellbeing, and respect they deserve. National will maintain the married rate of superannuation at 66 per cent of the average wage and on our watch, the age of eligibility will remain at 65. This is a promise the Prime Minister has made to Kiwis.
Seniors have worked hard and deserve to enjoy their retirement. Ensuring they can retire with dignity is part of our wider plan to build a brighter future for all New Zealanders.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
The National Party is focussed on ensuring all New Zealanders are able to participate in our communities, employment and decision-making, and can make a positive contribution to our national success. For example, we run intercultural awareness and communication programmes for City Councils, DHBs, University faculties, government departments and private sector companies. We also support better inter-cultural understanding and respect between ethnicities by supporting initiatives such as the Building Bridges programme, which was held at the Muslim World Forum in New Zealand for the first time last year to develop understanding between New Zealand’s Muslim communities and wider society.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Our policies are available on the National Party website as they are announced.
National supports practical initiatives that make a real difference in the lives of ethnic New Zealanders. Recognising our diverse population, and the importance of Asia to New Zealand’s economy, if re-elected we will invest $10 million into a contestable fund over five years to increase the provision of Asian languages in schools. We will also continue to promote leadership amongst our ethnic community, and particularly among ethnic women. We will continue to run Ethnic Women in Leadership conference and the Ethnic Youth leadership programme from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton. We also want greater ethnic representation on government boards, committees and advisory groups,our work so far has seen 76 ethnic people secure leadership positions in the past year.
We want to ensure services are accessible to our ethnic community, such as ensuring as power and banking and superannuation. We have been achieving this through a variety of means, such as our Language Line which has provided interpreting to 90 public and private sector organisations in 44 languages.
LABOUR RESPONSE
Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour
Under Labour, children’s education will be enhanced by smaller class sizes. Children and retired people will get free doctor’s visits and prescriptions. Labour will give real help to those wanting to buy their own homes. We will lift wages and help children out of poverty and make New Zealand a fairer and more prosperous place for all.
We can be a country in which people matter most. Our vision for New Zealand is that we regain our sense of community, that we get better jobs and higher wages from shifting to a high-value economy. And that we build a fair and just society where everyone can thrive. At the same time we will protect our beautiful environment, and strengthen our culture for generations to come.
The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Labour believesNational is not listening on law and order. They’ve gutted police resources. Sexual assaults, domestic violence and violent crime are causing huge concern for New Zealanders. In the last budget National cut $40 million of operational expenditure for police. As Inspector Greg O’Connor says, the level of service from police will drop as resources are cut.
We need to have a policing system that is responsive to victims when they report crimes. Labour will stop non-sworn staff being cut so that Police officers can be freed up for frontline work. Youth Service roles within Police must be fully staffed, with preventive action to stop juvenile crime rather than just respond after the event.
What is your party’s stand on:
Housing affordability, especially in Auckland
Labour will restore the dream of home ownership to Kiwi families.
First home buyers are struggling because of a lack of affordable houses. Home ownership rates are at their lowest in 50 years. Overseas property speculators are making it worse. Labour’s KiwiBuild policy will build 100,000 new affordable homes over ten years and sell them at cost to first home buyers. Using the purchasing power of the Government and off-site building techniques we will be able to lower the cost of building a home. Labour’s policy will help 50,000 families over ten years buy a first home. National’s policy will only give a slightly higher deposit to 40,000 families. A couple earning around $75,000 a year would be $200 a week better off buying a two bedroom terraced Labour KiwiBuild home instead of an equivalent new build under National’s housing policy. Currently there are no restrictions on non-residents buying houses in New Zealand. Our lack of restrictions and a capital gains tax make us an attractive target for speculators. Real estate agencies are actively marketing Kiwi homes to overseas speculators.
Labour will restrict the purchase of residential property by non-residents, so that they will only be granted permission to purchase a residential property if they intend to live here permanently or that purchase adds to our existing housing stock, e.g. building a new house.
Improving education in the country
Labour wantsNew Zealand to have a world class education which produces the most successful kids in the world. Labour will ensure we deliver high-quality, lifelong learning which we recognise is essential for both social and economic development.
Labour will:
• Fund schools $100 per student per year if they don’t demand donations from parents.
• Put in place a programme that provides an affordable option, available to all schools, for Year 5-13 students to have access to a portable digital device, in the classroom and at home.
• Reduce class sizes by funding an extra 2000 teachers using resources freed up by scrapping National’s flawed ‘executive principals’ policy
• Raise the standard of entry into the teaching profession by pre-screening entry into all initial teacher education programmes
• Establish a comprehensive school advisory service to share best practice and act as mentors and advisors to teachers throughout New Zealand
• Establish a democratic process for appointing the Board of the new Education Council
• Re-direct resources spent forcing “National Standards” on schools into teacher professional development programmes
• Require schools to report student progress to parents in all areas of their learning
• Re-direct resources spent forcing ‘National Standards’ on schools into teacher professional development programmes that assist students who are underachieving
• Develop a comprehensive plan for re-building out-dated and worn-out school buildings, so that every school has access to modern learning environments by 2030
• Scrap the use of Public Private Partnerships for the build of new schools and the re-building of existing school facilities
• We will work with schools to determine a fair proportion of direct Ministry funding so all schools will be able to afford to offer Reading Recovery to all students who need it
• Partner with community and voluntary organisations, incorporating the most cost-effective approaches currently operating, to provide free food in every decile 1-3 primary, intermediate school that needs and wants it
Better healthcare for all
Labour’s vision for health is to build a nation where all New Zealanders are able to live longer and healthier lives because they have the knowledge to make more informed health decisions with the support of a strong and adequately funded public health system. Labour is committed to adopting an approach to health that takes into account physical health, mental health, the family, culture and community environment, and the socio-economic determinants of health. Under a Labour Government doctors’ visits and prescriptions will be free for under 13 year olds, pregnant mums and over 65s. Expectant mums will also get free dental care.
Capital gains tax
(See housing) Labour will crack down on speculators through a 15 per cent capital gains tax (excluding the family home), and restrict offshore speculators buying New Zealand houses. This capital gains tax is not retrospective. It will exclude the family home on the farm and the property around it which people own now.
Increase of retirement age to 67
We are proposing a gradual rise in the age of NZ Super from 65 to 67 – at a rate of two months a year from 2020 to 2032. This will not affect anyone currently receiving NZ Super. We recognise that there some are people who won’t be able to sustain work in their normal occupations until they are 67. This is why we are also introducing an exemption for these people set at the same level as NZ Super and starting at 65. Labour will not reduce the rate of NZ Super payments. We will not move from the current indexation of NZ Super to wage movements. New Zealanders have earned the right to decent retirement.
Elimination of racial discrimination
Principles Labour is founded on include a belief that all people are entitled to dignity, self-respect and the opportunity to work, and that the same basic human rights, protected by the State, apply to all people. Members of ethnic communities can have experiences that impact on their confidence, sense of self-worth and inclusion. Labour will develop, in partnership with ethnic communities, policies to reduce and remove discrimination.
In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders (covered above or see the website for a full outline of our policies http://campaign.labour.org.nz/) as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Labour wants a New Zealand that celebrates its multicultural character and builds a tolerant and mutually respectful community.
Labour will upgrade the Office of Ethnic Affairs to a Ministry, responsible for making New Zealand a leader in successfully integrating ethnic communities. It will investigate, report, and advise on the provision of services to ethnic communities. The MEA will promote representation and participation by ethnic communities, and will monitor outcomes for ethnic communities in the major areas affecting them including health, employment, education and housing.
New Zealand needs to support refugees and new migrants to develop skills that will help them integrate into New Zealand, find work and contribute to New Zealand society to their full potential. Labour will develop an integrated national plan to assist refugee resettlement in collaboration with the refugee community and from refugee-led agencies.
Immigration policies aim to strengthen our skilled workforce. They must also fairly address issues of reunification of immediate family members and granting visitor visas. Labour, in consultation with ethnic communities, will examine the adequacy of immigration policies to allow for families to be reunited and to allow visits by family members while safeguarding against overstaying. Labour will ensure that immigration services are understandable and accessible. Labour will lift the refugee quota to 1000 bearing in mind our international commitments and in the light of increased international political and environmental challenges.
NEW ZEALAND FIRST
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
New Zealand First will introduce strict and effective regulation over foreign ownership of New Zealand land, housing and businesses to ensure thatNew Zealand national interests and those of New Zealanders are paramount, because we want to use our national resources and our people’s abilities to work towards full employment and rapidly grow our national wealth.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
New Zealand First’s policy is to seriously reduce unemployment and improve the job prospects and pay for all New Zealanders. NZ First has always had a strong law and order policy. Police have been under-resourced under the National government, with a frozen budget for five years and now a $40m budget cut. As we did when we got a thousand extra frontline police, and we are going to train many more frontline police to prevent and arrest crime.
We will pass new legislation to crack down on the binge drinking culture.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
There is a serious lack of supply to meet great demand. We will use a new state agency to create a land bank that will supply affordable sections, with finance for first home buyers at low interest rates. And we will buildthe required numbers of houses to deal with Auckland’s housing crisis. Housing demand has been increased by offshore buying.
New Zealand First’s immigration policy to only bring to New Zealand people who have a job will reduce pressure on demand for housing– particularly in Auckland and Christchurch. New Zealand First also has policies that will encourage innovation in the housing sector such as smaller and more affordable houses on smaller sections. New Zealand First will stop non-residents buying our houses and land.
b) Improving education in the country?
We will close charter schools. We will remove National Standards and we will introduce a dollar for dollar student debt write-off scheme for graduates who remain and work in New Zealand. This will encourage students to pay off their debt.
We also want to improve standards of rental accommodation to benefit all of those who are renting and students.
New Zealand First will increase the number of apprentices each year, to increase our skilled workforce.
There will be more government-funded research grants and scholarships for graduates, universities and employers.
c) Better healthcare for all?
We will give free GP visits to all primary school children and extend this to three free visits per annum for SuperGold Cardholders.These visits for seniors will actually save money because if only one percent of SuperGold Cardholders use the free visits and are thereby saved from needing hospital care, then we will save not cost money. By getting children and seniors to the doctor they will be treated before there is a need for hospital care.
It’s much better for them, and economically it makes sense. The fewer people we have in hospital, the less the cost to the taxpayer.NZ First is committed to funding a first class public health system.
d) Capital gains tax?
New Zealand already has a capital gains tax. The question is will NZ First extend this. NZ First is opposed to a capital gains taxextension if there is not equally a concession for capital losses.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
NZ First is opposed to raising the age of entitlement from 65. NZ super is affordable at 4.1% net of GDP, which is half the cost of some other countries. We will keep the 66 per cent rule, it will not be means tested and we have further benefits coming with the SuperGold Card.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
NZ First has always stood for one people and equality of all before the law, whether your background in New Zealand goes back a thousand years or one year. We have three candidates of Indian background in our party list. We chose them because they were the best for the job.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
NZ First has a comprehensive range of common sense policies that are all designed to improve New Zealand’s prosperity and security and ensure that all New Zealanders, whether old or new, can lead fulfilling lives.
New Zealand First believes in economic nationalism where we put our people’s interests first, whether it is ownership, employment, education, manufacturing and business.
We have a serious national savings strategy to free ourselves up in time from our dependence on foreign savings.
Indian communities know that sacrifice, hard work, and savings are the way to personal and family advancement.New Zealand First understands that and that is why we have serious policies to rapidly expand our national wealth whilst ensuring that everyone in New Zealand gets the benefit of that.
Housing, health, education, and First World jobs with First World pay is what we stand for.
GREENS
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
The Green Party announced a Student Green Card policy which would give free off-peak transport to tertiary students and apprentices.
The Student Green Card will benefit the 325,000 students studying at Universities, Wananga, polytechnics and Private Training Establishments, as well as the approximately 28,000 training under the New Zealand Apprenticeship scheme.
This would help ease congestion for everyone by getting more people on to public transport less than the cost of one kilometre of one of National’s ‘Roads of National Significance’.
A recent poll found the majority of New Zealanders are strongly in favour of this proposal, especially in Auckland. This policy is just one part of a broader transport policy that aims to shift more funding away from certain uneconomic motorway projects to better public transport infrastructure.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
The Green party believes that the Police should be focusing on investigating andapprehending offenders. To that end, we believe community policing plays a major role in reducing crime as well as addressing the needs of communities. All of these policies sit alongside our commitment to ensuring that victims of crimes are looked after at every stage. We believes that businesses can play an important part in helping with community policing initiatives as they have a great understanding and awareness of the issues affecting communities
The Green Party justice policy sits alongside our human rights, social development and economics policy. We believe that prevention of crimes is the key to building a safer society. This means providing better jobs, more opportunities and adequate social support so people are not turning to crime.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
In Government, the Green Party will take real steps to assist with home affordability. We will introduce a capital gains tax (excluding the family home) and place restrictions on foreign investors to dampen housing speculation.
We will increase the supply of affordable house by undertaking a programme of state building affordable houses and state houses.
Our Progressive Ownership policy will allow low income families to 'rent-to-own' government-built houses at an affordable price.
b) Improving education in the country?
The Green Party is committed to high quality education from Early Childhood Education to Tertiary Education.
The Green Party’s plan is to expand and strengthen public education and support schools to be the heart of their communities - places where children and their families can be connected to what they need to get the most out of education.
One of the ways we’ll do that is to set schools up as community hubs. Our hubs plan is based on research that shows that, although education is the most effective route out of poverty, kids in low income families are much less likely to overcome poverty to achieve well at school.
Our plan will:
• put a dedicated school nurse in every decile 1 to 4 school;
• provide a healthy lunch for all children who need it;
• build quality early childhood education centres onsite where they’re needed;
• offer free after school care so that all children can experience sports and cultural activities regardless of their parents’ income, and parents can work knowing that their kids are safe, having fun and are well looked after.
• Employ a hubs coordinator to work in each school to draw together the hub and work with outside health, welfare and social agencies, such as adult and parenting education, ESOL, etc., that want to be part of the hub.
c) Better healthcare for all?
The Green Party is committed to maintaining the level of services currently provided, unlike the National government, which will cut health spending by 4.5 percent in real terms over the next three years according to independent economic analysis. The cuts are actually 9.8 percent when you apply real health sector price increases. (https://home.greens.org.nz/press-releases/national-cut-38-billion-health-education-and-environment-spending)
In addition to this the Greens will extend free doctors’ visits to all people under the age of 18, as well as talking a number of other such as placing school nurses in low decile schools.
The Green Party believes in a holistic approach to health that is focused on promoting positive health and lifestyles. We believe that education and prevention are the best approaches to maintaining health. This is why primary health is very important in our policy.
We recognise that there are some communities that have higher needs in some areas than others. Where appropriate, the Green Party would look into supporting community health workers to target specific population groups and communities to achieve better health outcomes
d) Capital gains tax?
We will introduce a comprehensive capital gains tax on all assets (excluding the family home), paid when assets are sold.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
Greens policy is to keep the age at 65.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
The Green Party believes that every New Zealander has the right to live free of discrimination. The New Zealand government has an obligation, due to human rights commitments, to help remove discrimination and inequities between ethnic groups.
The Green Party believes adequate funding needs to be directed to combating institutional racism and agencies that do this work, such as the Human Rights Commission, need to be fully supported in their work. The Green Party will ensure that the Human Rights Commission and Race Relations Office are fully supported in their endeavor to implement the Human Rights Act, counter prejudice and discrimination, and address racism.
We will work with communities to combat prejudice; develop fair, compassionate and effective processes in all areas and ensure that education, health and other institutions meet the special needs of marginalised communities.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
- Increase the top income tax rate to 40% and increase the trusts tax rate to raise money to pay for new poverty alleviation measures, including school nurses in low decile schools
- Create a $2,000 income tax-free band, a 1 percent company tax cut and introduce a carbon charge. Households will be on average $319 better off every year with the Climate Tax Cut
- 1 billion of new government funding over three years for research and development, kick-starting a transformational shift in how our economy creates wealth.
- Start up government-owned Green Investment Bank
- Create a single buyer of electricity, NZ Power, to bring down rising electricity costs
- The Green Party will fund an additional 1,000 places at tertiary institutions for students of engineering, mathematics, computer science, and the physical sciences.
- Introduce free off peak transport for students and apprentices
- Extend free doctors visits for all New Zealanders up to the age of 18
- Lifting low wages by moving the minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2017
- A new legislative minimum redundancy package of four weeks’ pay.
- Bringing top pay back into line requiring companies to report on the gap between top and bottom pay.
- Measures to boost bargaining power and make workplaces safer more democratic.
- Support the establishment of a Ministry for Ethnic Affairs
INTERNET PARTY
Election special issue on Indian Weekender, to be published on September 5, 2014.
1. Name that one policy of your party that will swing the elections in your favour?
Free tertiary education and universal allowances is fundamental to a future where our economic growth is achieved through innovation, not the limited natural resources of New Zealand. Successful economies around the world are testament to the value of a free education. We cannot expect a successful informed economy with growth based on innovation if we continue to burden our young people with debt. Students should not have to borrow to live, this is betrays the social contract which the previous generation of New Zealanders too for granted. We should also progressively write-off existing student loan debt, and increase apprenticeships.
2. The Herald DigiPoll shows that New Zealanders feel an increased fear of unavailability of employment as well as getting burgled. What does your party intend to do to assure people of safety and security? What do you have to offer to the migrant community?
Unemployment breeds severe social problems such as child poverty, increased crime, health issues, reduced education and general loss of morale; as well as causing loss of skills and human capital over the whole economy. Therefore Internet MANA sets a national goal of full employment – New Zealand unemployment has doubled since National came to power and even the current rate of 5.6% is nothing to be proud of. Unemployment for young people is particularly high and has increased in all regions, between 2006-2013.
3. What is your party’s stand on:
a) Housing affordability, especially in Auckland?
The reality is that most young people cannot afford to buy in Auckland and the 2013 20% deposit requirement makes it even harder for those whose families don’t already have an asset base to leverage off. House prices are going up faster than incomes of most Aucklanders’ and their ability to get into the market. Government intervention to-date has been top level and a one-size-fits-all across the whole market disadvantaging those in the Auckland market.
We support initiatives to increase affordable housing supply in Auckland. We support capital gains tax to stop speculation on the housing market by investors. Internet MANA also supports wider initiatives to narrow the poverty gap which will positively impact housing affordability: we will lift minimum wage to living wage of $18.80 per hour and ensure this is pegged to two thirds of median wage so it doesn’t lag behind, focus on creating jobs, support creation of state housing, invest in establishment of a tech industry to create secure, high-value jobs; these initiatives will help balance out the economy and make housing affordability a reality for more Aucklanders.
b) Improving education in the country?
Education is underfunded and has been managed without proper consultation of stakeholders; now we see a sector wide breakdown in communications between the expertise in the teaching sector and the Ministry of Education. A key policy failure has been the implementation of National Standards and Charter Schools; in the tertiary sector students are being charged higher fees yet our universities are dropping in the ranks. We support consultation with a view to scrap national standards, we support free tertiary education and allowances we cannot continue to burden our young people with debt, students should not have to borrow to live. We should also progressively write-off existing student loan debt, and increase apprenticeships.
c) Better healthcare for all?
The Internet Party will balance the ever-increasing demand for more health expenditure and better healthcare for New Zealanders by effectively using technology to stop the waste within the healthcare sector. In particular, we will cut waiting lists by better operations at a whole-of-system level and eliminating waste.
d) Captial gains tax?
A capital gains tax should be introduced to stop speculation in the housing market. Currently investors see profits to be made in the property sector that are not fully taxed, investor interest creates price rises higher than usual in the housing market and creates affordability issues for new homebuyers.
e) Increase of retirement age to 67?
We have no plans to adjust the retirement age.
f) Eradication of racial discrimination?
Definitely, we have reflected a vision for a multicultural party in our party list with one third of the top 15 being of ethnic origin. We also have a commitment to working with the MANA Movement based on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
4. In your manifesto, can you please highlight your primary policies for New Zealanders as well as special policies for ethnic communities?
Internet MANA’s focus is on education and the economy in New Zealand for a just and equal society for all people – Indian, Maori, Pakeha, Asian, everyone. New Zealand has had a lack of economic vision and leadership and many people are suffering because they are underpaid or unemployed. Internet MANA strongly believes there must be investment in the establishment of an innovative digital economy to parallel New Zealand’s excellence in agriculture and to create more secure high-value jobs. This must also be met with strong investment in education, which is why we have a free tertiary education policy, and Feed the Kids policy for kids in low-declile schools. Both of these require focused political leadership to be achieved. Right now most people do not even believe free tertiary education is possible, but that is not the case. There is a serious problem with a widening gap between rich and poor which stifles innovation. Also, economies with a wide income gap tend to have slower growth. Increasing the minimum wage to a living wage will boost local business through increased spending and create more jobs (as past wage increases have shown), as well as addressing social inequities. Internet MANA will deliver a vibrant, educated New Zealand full of opportunities for everyone from every race.
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