This evening I helped the wonderful people of the Libertarianz prepare our presentation for the Libz Alternative Budget. I’m particularly proud of the line “Libertarianz is pro choice when it comes to your money” which Bernard uses, as I thought of it.
So without further ado, here it is:
Unlike Michael Cullen, Libertarianz believes your money is your own. That’s why our budget is designed to slash taxes and let you keep far more of your own money.
Other parties will be making a big deal about finally offering you a tax cut this year. Libertarianz policy has always been and will always be to cut taxes as fast and as hard as possible. If you are lucky, Michael Cullen will grudgingly give you back $20 a week after nine years in power. John Key is offering $50 – eventually.
Libertarianz will make the first $50,000 of income tax-free. This means that the average New Zealand household, with an income of $68,000, would keep an extra $403 per week, going a long way to offset rising food, electricity and fuel prices.
We will also immediately get rid of GST, knocking $20 off a $250 grocery bill and ten dollars off the price of a tank of petrol.
The government will say they can’t afford this – but it’s not their money – it’s YOURS. You have the right to spend your money however you wish. Libertarianz is pro-choice when it comes to your money. Read the rest of this entry »
Having welcomed in the New Year last night, Kiwis woke up in 2008 to find their freedom of speech severely curtailed - even if they don’t know it. The curtailment in question comes from the Electoral Finance Bill which came into effect today.
“If ever there were a time to openly break a law, it is now. Bugger registering to have your say and bugger staying silent,”
The immediate effect of the bill will not become apparent until the electioneering starts in earnest - that’s when we will see the parties start to use the draconian rules to shut down other parties’ advertising, gag competing interest groups, and get billboards removed. Labour, meanwhile, is allowed to use OUR money to advertise how much good Labour policies are doing for schoolteachers, recreational fishermen, model train enthusiasts and single breastfeeding mothers.
“In 2005 Labour flouted election laws by stealing public money to buy propaganda. In 2006, they abandoned all constitutional norms and retrospectively changed the law so that they wouldn’t be called into the High Court to answer for that action. This year the government has passed legislation allowing them to steal far more at the next election. Worst of all, the Clark regime is now trying to ram through legislation that would ban me from pointing out that they are behaving like tyrants and telling people not to vote for them.”
Along with many other New Zealanders worried about the effect of the Electoral Finance Bill on our freedom of speech, we will be marching on Parliament tomorrow. 12:30 pm at Civic Square for anyone who wants to join us. The protest will be apolitical, organised by Act party member John Boscawen, and with broad support.
The previous protest in Auckland attracted over 2000 freedom fighters, and we expect a high turnout. PC has photos of the Auckland protest here, here and here.
The EFB is one of the most breathtakingly audacious things the Labour Government of New Zealand has attempted so far, exceeding even the 2006 retrospective legislation which legalised the theft of almost a million dollars of taxpayer money (and which the LIbertarianz celebrated by declaring Banana Republic Day). The Electoral Finance Bill will have a chilling effect on free speech, severely limiting an amazing array of activities which discuss or criticise almost any political issue. And the bill’s effect will occur exactly when we need to discuss politics the most: election year.
I’m looking forward to getting the “Down with Nanny State” placard out again. Last time Luke and I marched, we were pictured on the front page of Scoop, I was interviewed for the Hutt News and my placard was quoted in the Guardian, Fox News and the International Herald Tribune
More seriously though, this bill represents one of the worst threats to free speech in New Zealand for many years. Freedom-loving Kiwis must fight it without compromise. It cannot be watered down - it must be drowned!
As with all legislation, the party pill ban has to be reviewed for consistency with the Bill of Rights before it can be passed. Unfortunately, the BORA has no teeth, and the “rights” it describes can be violated by Parliament with impunity, as long as it is for the benefit of the “community.”
But it is interesting anyway that Michael Cullen, in his role as Attorney-General, has pinpointed the “supply” clause of the BZP ban as a breach of the Bill of Rights. It would violate the presumption of innocence by forcing anyone caught with more than 5 grams of BZP (or 100 tablets) to prove that they don’t have it for the purpose of supply. It is yet to be seen whether this review will actually make any difference.
In an ideal system, all drug prohibition would fail the Bill of Rights test due to the violation of individual sovereignty inherent in such laws. New Zealand survived for many years with all drugs legal, and society didn’t collapse. Drug prohibition only started due to a moral panic about opium-smoking Chinese immigrants. So this BZP ban is nothing more than a throwback to the “Yellow Peril”.
Banning a safe, legal alternative to illegal drugs is a horribly retarded example of government incompetence, as they demonstrate not only their utter inability to grasp reality, but their complete lack of concern for the health and safety of the drug users who they claim to be trying to protect. Shame on Jim Anderton and Jacqui Dean!
The EFB is one of the most breathtakingly audacious things the Labour Government of New Zealand has attempted so far, exceeding even the 2006 retrospective legislation which legalised the theft of almost a million dollars of taxpayer money (and which the LIbertarianz celebrated by declaring Banana Republic Day). The Electoral Finance Bill will have a chilling effect on free speech, severely limiting an amazing array of activities which discuss or criticise almost any political issue. And the bill’s effect will occur exactly when we need to discuss politics the most: election year.
The bill is actually the culmination of a range of attacks on free speech by the Labour government, as succinctly explained by the VRWCNZ:
Tell your friends. This horrific attack on free speech cannot be allowed to pass.
