ACT bills
No Right Turn has his normal useful summary of new proposed private member bills:
KiwiSaver (Contribution Flexibility) Amendment Bill (John Boscawen): amends the KiwiSaver Act 2006 to add 6% and 10% contribution rates to the existing 2%, 4%, and 8% rates, improving flexibility for older earners close to retirement and young, high-income earners.
Can’t see anyone objecting to that except the computer programmers at IRD!
Tariff Act Repeal Bill (Roger Douglas): does exactly what it says on the label: repeals the Tariff Act 1988. In the 90’s National legislated to phase out all tariffs by 2006, but this was reversed by Labour in 2000 in the name of protecting local industry. Tariffs have remained fixed at their 2000 rates ever since. And so we pay an extra 26.5% for imported footwear, 18% for imported cane baskets, and 12.5% for imported skateboards (the full list is here), either as some sort of “luxury tax” or to protect businesses which can’t compete in a global marketplace.
ACT is putting its money where its mouth is on free trade here, and challenging the government (which supports the status quo) to move further to the right.
Good God it almost sounds like NRT approves. Well I certainly do. National recently froze tariffs in place until 2015. I’d love it if this bill was drawn out, as I think quite a few National MPs would want to vote for it.
Victims’ Rights (Victim Impact Statements) Amendment Bill (David Garrett): would amend the Victim’s Rights Act 2002 to prevent the courts from “censoring” victim impact statements. At present, such statements are limited to the actual impact upon the victim; Garrett’s bill – driven by the recent Weatherston case – would give victims free rein to vent their spleen against the offender and the justice system. Such material has no place in sentencing, and no place in our justice system; if they want to say it, then there is no reason why they should be given a privileged platform in a court to do so.
Simon Power has said he will be proposing a law change in this area, so it will be interesting to see how that compares to the status quo, and what Garrett proposes.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
A twenty five &$^! percent tariff on imported footwear!? Does NZ HAVE a footwear industry to protect?!
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
So if there is no tariff on footwear my $29.99 Nike lookalikes from (The Warehouse, the Warehouse, where everyone gets a bargain!) will only cost @#$*^&* = fuckall.
Shit I’ll be into that.
The bastard things fall apart after you’ve worn them once anyway!!
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
18% on cane baskets? And 12.5% on skateboards? WTF? Those products aren’t even made in NZ.
Definitely time for that act to go.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I have to agree about removing the tariffs. Having just looked over the list of items within the harmonised system we really don’t protect against much, except items which we don’t seem to make. So Sir Roger is right to get rid of such a wasteful piece of legislation. It would be nice to get trainers at ten or fifteen per cent less. We could market it as a ‘get the nation healthier’ campaign, by ‘encouraging physical exercise’, and get the Greens onboard
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
The spineless Tories will vote against it, choosing to maintain the status quo.
So much for National, the party of principles, individual responsibility and self-reliance……yeah right.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Heh if it is marketed correctly, along the lines of what redqueen suggests, the Greens won’t know what to support!
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Griffins biscuits now cooked in Fiji, Minties now made in Thailand, $250 million a week borrowed to pay benefits. Ever get that sinking ship feeling, No? well you can’t miss all the rats leaving anyhow.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Yeh well the Tories won’t change anything. It will be too hard to do. I mean they will be too busy trying to shore up their ETS especially now that the system has been hacked and all the codes etc are readily available to the world.
I’m waiting for Smith and Key to spin that one on Monday,(if they actually have been told yet).
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Great to see Act trying to push some good policies regardless.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
Irony of the decade?
There are no tariffs on importing nuclear reactors.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:32 am
Hah look at the wet-bus-ticket namby pambies geting in a panic about the victim impact statements. The thought that the people who are most affected by the retarded criminal-friendly things that spineless lefties have done to the justice system actually getting a say about it, is a terrible shock to them.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:43 am
DPF: I’d love it if this bill was drawn out, as I think quite a few National MPs would want to vote for it.
I predict no National Socialist will vote for it.
Have they already built the cycle way so John Key can actually focus on some important issues? The nats are watering down the three strikes bill, not listening to 90% of NZ who wants the anti-smacking bill removed, ad no movement on real penalties for offenders. Instead we get higher taxes (ETS) and abolishing of tax cuts.