The Republic of New Zealand Party

Speech Notes prepared for the launch of the Northcote Campaign

Rawene Centre: 33-35 Rawene Road, BIRKENHEAD

Monday 27 June @ 8:00pm

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen

It’s great to see you here for the Launch of MY campaign for Northcote

And I am proud to stand here as the candidate for the Republic of New Zealand

Party and deliver MY PARTY’S NORTHCOTE STATEMENT

We are the only Party that stands on a platform of
• constitutional reform
• speedy resolution of Treaty claims
• the replacement of the Treaty with a written constitution
• and Direct Democracy

I would like to introduce you to

My good friend Kerry Bevin, our chairman for this evening, and the Party’s candidate for East Coast Bays.

I want to acknowledge the help and encouragement I‘ve had from 2 special friends and fellow party members

Ron Smith – thanks for your help with the leaflets Ron

And Diana Raututi, who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight, but I wanted to mention Diana because she is my light and my inspiration

So Why the Republic of New Zealand Party/ What are we about?

We start with a very simple proposition

In a democracy, the will of the people is the law

Politicians and public servants are OUR servants Not our masters

We the people pay the taxes Our money bank rolls the operation of government and therefore we have the right to have a say in what is done in our name

Can anyone here tonight honestly say that this is the way it is in our country now?

Can anyone honestly say that the people who warm the benches of Parliament really give a damn about what good honest decent and hard working people who work hard every day, pay their taxes and try to raise children to become responsible citizens think and want – except of course at election time

Did they listen to our views about a moratorium on GE?

Did they listen to us when they passed the Civil Union legislation?

You know when I ask these questions I’m reminded of an experience a friend of mine had some time ago

He wrote to the Prime Minister

Yes, he did get a reply

A lot of people who write to Ministers in this government don’t

I remember Kerry and I wrote a letter to the Minister of Broadcasting a couple of years ago.

Marion Hobbs was the Minister at the time – we are still waiting for a reply

Anyway my friend wrote to the Prime Minister about Citizens Referenda

He suggested that on important issues it would be a good thing for politicians to ask the people

What did he get as a reply?

The Prime Minister said she doesn’t believe in Referenda

She said we have the right to express our opinion every 3 years and that’s enough

Yep, you can have 2 votes once every 3 years and then just go away, work hard pay your taxes and leave it to us

This from the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, who says she believes in Democratic Socialism.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen this is NOT democracy

Pay your taxes, keep your mouths shut, leave it to us, and then swallow our bribes one every 3 years is NOT democracy

Democracy requires participation

Democracy demands participation

And citizens must have the right to have their say – not just ONCE every 3 years but constantly

And with a Republic of New Zealand Party Government you will

Our pledge to you: At least one Citizens Referendum per year –

One Referendum per year minimum and possibly more

The Results will be binding

It’s time for a dose of Direct Democracy

It’s time for this country to get rid of its millstones

Millstones that stop us from achieving maturity as a nation

Millstones that stop us from moving forward together as a United Nation where all are equal before the law

The Monarchy – it has to go

The Treaty Industry – it has to go

Separate Institutions established for Ethnic Groups – they have to go

In our new Republic everybody will be on the same electoral rolls

The Republic of New Zealand Party says that everyone should be equal before the law

Different people – BUT ONE NATION

We reject the idea of privilege, based on birth, inherent in the monarchy

We will replace it with an elected Presidency

We reject the mish mash of Statute and common Law that masquerades as our Constitution

We will replace this mess with a written constitution that will make the rights and responsibilities of all citizens clear

We reject the way Treaty Rights have been treated like a political football by successive governments

And the way they have become a gravy train for unscrupulous lawyers

We will push hard for genuine reconciliation on a FAIR and FINAL BASIS

We will set a time limit of 5 years on lodging historical claims

We will provide the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal with whatever resource is necessary to hear these claims, research them and make its recommendations

And then once the Tribunal has made its recommendations, the government will negotiate with the claimants for FAIR and FINAL settlements

It is important for us to achieve CLOSURE on Treaty claims

We cannot move forward until we have done this

And we NEED to move forward

A written constitution will replace the Treaty

An elected Presidency will replace the Head of State

A Legislature will provide a check on Presidential power

And the judiciary headed by the Supreme Court will become the guardian of our Constitution

The Supreme Court will watch both the Presidency and the Legislature

And all these arms of government will be accountable to the people

We come back to our fundamental principle

In a democracy the peoples will is law

In the Republic of New Zealand we will ensure this is so.

The representatives you elect will be accountable to you and so will the Bureaucrats

Last week I re registered my car

I went to a New Zealand Post Shop and filled in the form

And when I wrote out my address I listed my town as North Shore City

Now I’m proud to live in North Shore City this is my town

But when I gave my form to the lady at the Post Shop she shook her head and said the LTA – that’s the Land Transport Authority will NOT accept North Shore City

Why not I asked – it is a city and this is where I live

I’m sorry she said but you will have to cross this out and put AUCKLAND

So the fine people in the LTA do not recognize North Shore City.

This is a case of bureaucratic stupidity

I’m sure that many of you will have tales like this to tell but you know for every tale of stupidity like this there are others which are not so funny

There are others where people are disadvantaged and suffer loss

For example

Why is it that men on the Domestic Purposes Benefit cannot get some allowances that are paid to women? – That’s WINZ we’re talking about

Why is it that men have to pay for their Prostate tests but Cervical Smears and Breast Screens are subsidized? – That’s the Health Department

Why is the IRD allowed to strip income from people in the form of Child support payments way beyond what is required to support their children.

Both Kerry and I know of men, earning good incomes, who live in poverty because IRD has assessed their liability at ridiculous levels

Why did a man have to spend $50,000 to get IRD off his back?

He was paying child support for a child that isn’t even his.

Why can a DNA test to establish paternity, not be done without the mother’s consent?

And please, don’t get me started on the Accident Compensation Commission

Some of the things they’ve done over the years are just downright offensive.

It’s time for a bit of discipline for our bureaucrats

They need to be taught that they are there to serve us – not the other way round

The Republic of New Zealand Party Government will
• put an end to discrimination against male recipients of benefits
• subsidise Prostate tests
• Review Child Support Payments and establish liability at fair and reasonable levels
• Review arrangements for DNA tests to establish paternity

And I will round up all the top brass in the LTA, put rings through their noses and drag them up here, so they can publicly apologise to all of us

One of the great tragedies in New Zealand society over the last 30 years has been the decline of family life.

The traditional family – man, dad and the kids has been under attack from all quarters

Parents have to work longer hours to make ends meet

Detracting from the most important job they will ever have to do in their Lives

Parenting

Whatever happened to the idea of sensible work hours – which give parents the opportunity to properly care for their children

Where is the support for a parent who wants to take time out from the work place to be a parent especially during the critical pre school years

The Government’s approach is to throw money at child care so that women can return to the work place as soon as possible – after all career is more important than child rearing RIGHT?

Another tragedy for the family in our country has been the de-fathering of families

Fathers stripped of access rights in the Family Court or unable to enforce access arrangements because the Court turns a blind eye to breaches committed by their partners

Protection orders served for the most specious of reasons

And the misguided delusions of people who should know better.

This from the Minister of Social Development, Steve Maharey

“FAMILIES DON’T NEED FATHERS”

This is total ignorance of the fact that fatherlessness is the root cause of much criminality

And then we have an insidious piece of SOCIAL ENGINEERING quietly pursued by this LABOUR GOVERNMENT that seeks to promote the aberrant life styles of same sex couples

These aberrant relationships and life styles are being presented to us as normal and we are being pressured to accept them as normal.

The motivation is clear – the acceptance of same sex relationships in law alongside heterosexual relationships leads to the right to parent for same sex couples also being recognized in law

Legislation is already moving us to this

The Republic of New Zealand Party, does not accept this SOCIAL ENGINEERING

We have no quarrel with the desire of people in same sex relationships to have a legal framework in which they can sort out disputes about property, other assets and chattels after a relationship has broken down

BUT WE DO NOT ACCEPT SAME SEX PARENTING

WE STAND FOR TRADITIONAL FAMILY VALUES

WE STAND FOR THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY MODEL

MUM, DAD AND THE KIDS

WE SAY THAT EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT TO A MOTHER AND A FATHER

WE SAY WE NEED A NEW APPROACH TO PARENTING AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

WE WILL

• Provide financial support for one parent to do full time parenting during the pre school years – it could be Mum or it could be Dad – that will be up to the couple to decide

WE WILL
• Abolish the Family Court and replace it with mediation

WE WILL

• Provide for equal parenting

Many of the social strains and stresses in our society stem directly from a failed and totally discredited economic experiment – ROGERNOMICS

Remember the brave new world that was sold to us

LET THE MARKET DECIDE

Without any mandate, Roger Douglas went on a selling spree

And this is what we got:

The Fire Sale of the Forests

Ten years of private ownership of railways and now the track network is in such terrible state of disrepair that the Government will need to spend over $200 million of TAXPAYERS MONEY – that’s your money and mine to fix it up

The Wisconsin mob milked it and then left you and me to pick up the tab.

Remember Bell Ameritech – they’re the ones a Labour Government sold our Telecommunications Infrastructure to

Now before they sold it the Government spent $1 billion of OUR money upgrading it – we had the beginnings of a state of the art fibre optics network

Bell Ameritech milked it and left

A year ago the government had to threaten Telecom with the use of the Kiwi share to force the company to do something about investment in infrastructure

What about the BNZ debacle? – again WE the taxpayers had to pick up the tab

And what about the current mess in power generation and the questionable leasing arrangements Meridian is pursuing with the encouragement of Labour Minister of Finance, Dr Cullen

We run the risk of losing control of a part of our essential infra structure – electric power generation

THE LESSON IS CLEAR

Put our national assets into the hands of the Corporates and PROFIT TAKING AND THE RUN DOWN OF THE ASSET start from Day One.

IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP NEW ZEALAND

OTHERWISE WE’LL HAVE NOTHING LEFT

THE REPUBLIC OF NEW ZEALAND PARTY OPPOSES THE SALE OF NATIONAL ASSETS

DO YOU HEAR ME DR CULLEN?

POWER GENERATION MUST REMAIN IN PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Do you hear me Dr Brash?

Kiwibank is not for sale

We need to invest in it further and make it a fully commercial bank

A KIWI BANK OWNED BY KIWIS FOR KIWIS

And we want an end to foreigners buying tracts of land in our country

We want foreign holdings limited

THIS COULD BE THE SUBJECT OF OUR FIRST CITIZENS REFERENDUM

The Republic of New Zealand Party believes in a two tier mixed economy

Basic infrastructure – power generation, rail tracks, our roads and the telecommunications network should be in PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Operators and Service Providers lease parts of the infrastructure to provide services to customers

The returns from the leases would then be invested in further developing the infrastructure and maintaining it.

There will still be room for entrepreneurs and business people to develop businesses, take risks and make profits

In fact we’ll provide incentives to people with bright ideas that can create jobs

The big difference will be that business people will be able to plan ventures and invest in their ideas secure in the knowledge that basic infrastructure will be there and in good order.

Now wouldn’t this be better than what we have now

A run down rail network – suffering from years of neglect

A power generation system in chaos with threats of power cuts in just 2 years time - for a young and growing country this is a scandal

A telecommunications system where the basic network is still dominated by one player.

Despite all the talk about level playing fields, the telecommunications market has never been a level playing field and isn’t now.

A roading system crying out for attention – they’ve always had the money to attend to it - over the last 3 decades taxpayers – that you and me or your parents and your grand parents have paid billions in road taxes but a lot of that money has never gone anywhere near a road

It’s been put in the consolidated fund and used for other purposes

The new taxes on petrol and the threat to build toll roads is an insult to us and earlier generations of tax payers and an imposition that WE should not have to bear

And now another insult – A BLATANT BRIBE –

The tax take is over $500 million ahead of budget

Okay, says the Minister of Finance, Dr Cullen, we’ll put it into roads.

Well whoopee doo, you can just tell it’s ELECTION YEAR can’t you?

He thinks we’re too stupid to know the difference

WELL, DR CULLEN I DO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HOPE YOU DO TOO.

Here’s another bribe

The Leader of the National Party, Dr Brash, says you’ll have tax cuts before Christmas, if he’s the Prime Minister after the elections

TAX CUTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

The trouble is that the budgeted surplus for the next fiscal year

That’s 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006

Is only $30 million

Dr Brash is going to have to cut expenditure somewhere or run a deficit if he wants to reduce your tax rates

So what is he going to chop?

Is it something in Education, something in Health or something in Social Welfare

Or maybe right across the Board

What is it Dr Brash?

We the tax payers have a right to know

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Republic of New Zealand Party, is NOT going to offer you tax bribes

Running a modern democracy and providing the services expected costs a fortune and is paid for by money raised through taxation.

However, we will review the tax system, looking particularly at company tax and GST.

A reduction in GST from the current twelve and a half per cent to ten per cent, which is where it started, would provide relief for people on low incomes while encouraging those who can afford it to consume more.

We’re certainly interested in that

Before I finish I need to talk to you about Electric Power again

We are approaching crisis

We’re running out of rivers to dam

The Environmental damage caused in constructing a hydro scheme is usually considerable and increasingly unacceptable

Power from Thermal stations – that’s coal or oil fired plant, is more expensive than power from hydro stations.

Thermal stations are also environmentally harmful

We need to find other sources and it seems the time is short

Otherwise we could be staring down the barrel of Nuclear power

We need to find sources of power that are environmentally clean and reasonably cost efficient

Hydro generation is the cheapest, but we have to accept that if further hydro development is not an option we will have to pay more for power

The number of Wind farms are expanding and we will need a lot more

But they on their own are not the answer

The problem is the huge demands made by domestic users on power supply at peak times

The answer is to move domestic users off the National Grid – as many as we can

We believe that we could do this using Solar Power

We will beef up research on gathering Solar energy and storing it

AND

We will provide substantial incentives to home owners to install solar energy systems in their homes
Solar Energy may be more expensive than we would like but if we don’t embrace OPTIONS like this WE WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT NUCLEAR POWER

• Constitutional Reform
• Direct Democracy
• Support for our families
• Public Ownership of our National Assets
• An economy that works for us
• Clean and Sustainable Energy

Will you help us achieve these goals and get our country working for US, our children and their children

OR

Will you say, this is all too hard, let’s stick with the tired old formulas we know

Because you see if you Vote for Labour or National that’s exactly what you’ll get

Tired old formulas from people who are more interested in the trappings of power than doing anything for you or me or their country

I ask you to think carefully about this between now and the Elections

I’ll be moving around the electorate every weekend

You’ll see me at shopping centres and out in the streets delivering leaflets

I’ll be happy to talk to you and discuss our policies at any time

I would like to get some Cottage Meetings going

So why not get a group of friends, family, neighbours or work mates together at your place and invite me round to discuss your concerns and hopes

I’ll be happy to come

From the adolescence of monarchy

To adulthood as a Republic

It’s Time for this country to get rid of its millstones
It’s time for Reconciliation
It’s time for a written constitution
It’s time to get Dad back into families
It’s time to protect our assets
It’s time for some sensible Energy policies
It’s time to make a NEW START with the Republicans – before tweddle HELEN and tweedle DON take us to ruin

It’s time for the Republic

It’s Time for The Republic of New Zealand

Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for coming and please drive safely on your way home

Thank you