ACT’s economic policies

Don Brash gave a speech last week outlining ACT's economic policies. People may be interested in a summary of them:

  • ACT would promptly re-introduce youth minimum wages – or better still, abolish minimum wages entirely for those under 20.
  • further reform of employment law so it is less heavily stacked against employers
  • scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme
  • radical reform of the RMA
  • seek to reduce spending to below 30% of GDP, the level it was at at the end of Labour's second term in office in 2005
  • Longer term, as the economy grew, we would want to get the government share of the economy to a lower level, perhaps 25%, as it was for much of our up to the mid-seventies
  • harmonise the top personal, company and trust at 21%; or
  • radically reduce the company tax rate, to perhaps 10 or 15%, with the top personal and trust tax rates remaining at, say, 28%
  • age of entitlement for NZ super has to rise gradually over the next 10 years or so
  • favours the sale of government-owned businesses
  • see legislation passed which would constrain the future growth of government spending
  • see legislation passed which would make it harder for governments to pass laws and regulations which would impinge on the rights of citizens
  • see the Bill of Rights amended to protect the property rights of citizens

While don't agree with every single item, there's a lot I do agree with, and they would definitely help push New Zealand faster in the right direction.

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