ACT New Zealand




New Zealand political party

























































ACT New Zealand
President Ruwan Premathilaka
Leader David Seymour
Deputy Leader Beth Houlbrooke
Founder
Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley
Founded 1994; 25 years ago (1994)
Headquarters
27 Gillies Avenue,
Newmarket, Auckland
Student wing Young ACT
Ideology
Classical liberalism[1][2]
Right-libertarianism[3]
Political position
Right-wing[3][4]
International affiliation None
Colours Yellow and blue
MPs in the House of Representatives

1 / 120
Website
www.act.org.nz

  • Politics of New Zealand

  • Political parties

  • Elections


ACT New Zealand, usually known as ACT (/ˈækt/), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand.[3][1] According to former[update] party leader Rodney Hide, ACT stands for "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natural environment and for smaller, smarter government in its goals of a prosperous economy, a strong society, and a quality of life that is the envy of the world".[5]


The name comes from the initials of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, founded in 1993 by Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley, from which the party grew in 1994. It was briefly led by former[update]National Party leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash for the 2011 general election.


The party's current leader and only member of parliament is David Seymour. During the 2017 general election, ACT kept its sole seat in Epsom and gained 0.5% of the popular vote.[6]




Contents






  • 1 Principles


    • 1.1 Policies




  • 2 History


    • 2.1 Formation


    • 2.2 1996 election


    • 2.3 1999 election


    • 2.4 2002 election


    • 2.5 2005 election


    • 2.6 2008 election


    • 2.7 2008–2011


    • 2.8 2011 election


    • 2.9 2014 election


    • 2.10 2017 election




  • 3 Electoral results


  • 4 Leadership


    • 4.1 Leader


    • 4.2 Deputy Leader


    • 4.3 Parliamentary leader


    • 4.4 President


    • 4.5 Vice-President




  • 5 Elected representatives


    • 5.1 Current Members of Parliament


    • 5.2 Former Members of Parliament




  • 6 See also


  • 7 References


  • 8 External links





Principles


ACT bases its philosophy on individual freedom and on personal responsibility.[7] ACT sets out its values:



  • That individuals are the rightful owners of their own lives and therefore have inherent freedoms and responsibilities

  • That the proper purpose of government is to protect such freedoms and not to assume such responsibilities.[8]



Policies


Former leader Don Brash promised to focus the party on controlling government debt, equality among all New Zealanders, and rethinking the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.[9] Under previous leader Rodney Hide, ACT New Zealand had primarily focused on two main policy areas: taxation and crime.


At the New Zealand general election, 2011, ACT advocated lowering tax rates and also supported something approaching a flat tax, in which tax rates would not be graduated based on wealth or income, so every taxpayer would pay the same proportion of their income in tax. The flat tax rate that ACT proposed would be approximately 15% with no tax on the first $25,000 for those who opt out of Government accident, sickness and healthcare cover.[10] Aligned to the lower tax proposal, ACT also wants to reduce or remove some Government programmes which it sees as unnecessary and wasteful and to increase self-reliance by encouraging individuals to take responsibility to pay for services traditionally paid for by Government.


Other policies ACT canvassed include:



  • Re-instating private prisons; allowing private firms to free up police for "Zero Tolerance" policing; speeding up courts[11]


  • Welfare reforms similar to those instituted by the United States in the mid-1990s, based primarily on the reforms first undertaken in Wisconsin

  • A greater spend on defence with closer strategic alliances with the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom

  • Re-introducing interest on student loans


Members of ACT's caucus in parliament voted 5 to 4 in favour of the 2004 Civil Unions legislation which gave the option of legal recognition to (among others) same-sex couples. A majority also supported the legalisation of brothels by the Prostitution Reform Act 2003.[12]


The Act Party's current position on climate change is that there is no warming trend in New Zealand.[13] The ACT Party went into the 2008 general election with a policy that in part stated "New Zealand is not warming" and that their policy goal was to ensure "That no New Zealand government will ever impose needless and unjustified taxation or regulation on its citizens in a misguided attempt to reduce global warming or become a world leader in carbon neutrality".[13] In September 2008, ACT Party Leader Rodney Hide stated "that the entire climate change - global warming hypothesis is a hoax, that the data and the hypothesis do not hold together, that Al Gore is a phoney and a fraud on this issue, and that the emissions trading scheme is a worldwide scam and swindle."[14] In February 2016, ACT deleted this climate change policy from their website and ACT Party Leader David Seymour attacked the Green party for doing "bugger all for the environment".[15]


The party has shifted to a more classical liberal stance under current leader David Seymour, whereas it embraced a mix of liberal and conservative populist policies under former leaders Richard Prebble and Rodney Hide.[16]



History



Formation


The name comes from the initials of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, founded in 1993 by Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley. From this, they formed ACT New Zealand in the following year as a political party.[17]



1996 election


In the 1996 election, ACT fielded 56 list candidates.[18]Richard Prebble won the Wellington Central electorate[18] and with 6.10% of the vote, the party was eligible for seven list MPs.[19]



1999 election


In the 1999 election, ACT obtained 7.04% of the party vote, making it eligible for nine list MPs.[20]



2002 election


In the 2002 election, ACT obtained 7.14% of the party vote, making it eligible for nine list MPs.[21]



2005 election


In the 2005 election, ACT obtained 1.51% of the party vote, and hence had 1 list MP and 1 electorate MP.[22]



2008 election


In the New Zealand general election, 2008, ACT fielded 61 list candidates, starting with Rodney Hide, Heather Roy, Sir Roger Douglas, John Boscawen, David Garrett and Hilary Calvert. The election marked an improvement in ACT's fortunes. Hide retained his Epsom seat and ACT's share of the party vote increased to 3.65% (up from the 1.5% gained in the 2005 elections). The combination allowed the party five MPs in total.[23]


In addition, the National Party won the most seats overall, forming a minority government, the Fifth National Government of New Zealand, with the support of ACT as well as the Māori Party and United Future. John Key offered both Hide and Roy posts as Ministers outside Cabinet: Hide became Minister of Local Government, Minister for Regulatory Reform and Associate Minister of Commerce, while Roy became Minister of Consumer Affairs, Associate Minister of Defence and Associate Minister of Education.[24]



2008–2011


See also: Tea tape scandal

However, after 2008, some caucus MPs and organisational members became dissatisfied with ACT's coalition partner status and argued at ACT's national conference (27 February 2010) that there were insufficient fiscal responsibility policy gains for their party and that the National Party had resiled from its earlier commitment to the politics of fiscal responsibility over the course of the previous decade. Throughout 2009, there had been at least one reported ACT caucus coup attempt against Hide's leadership, believed to have been led by Deputy Leader Heather Roy and Roger Douglas. However, it faltered when Prime Minister Key supported Hide's retention and threatened a snap election. In addition, the party's polling of a lowly one to two percent in most opinion polls meant only Heather Roy might accompany Hide after any forthcoming general election, if Hide retained ACT's Epsom pivotal electorate seat.[25]


On 28 April 2011, Hide announced that he was resigning the ACT leadership in favour of former National Party leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash who joined the party that morning. Brash's leadership was unanimously approved by the party board and parliamentary caucus on 30 April.[26] Brash promised to focus the party on controlling government debt, equality between Māori and non-Māori, and rethinking the Emissions Trading Scheme, with a target of getting 15 percent of the party vote in the next election.[9]


In November 2011, a recording of a conversation held between John Key and the former National Party member and former Mayor of Auckland City John Banks, who had been selected as the new ACT candidate in Epsom, was leaked to Herald on Sunday.[27][28]3 News also obtained copies of the recording suggesting the two politicians were discussing issues related to ACT New Zealand's leadership.[27]



2011 election


In the New Zealand general election, 2011, ACT fielded 55 list candidates, starting with new leader Don Brash, Catherine Isaac, Don Nicolson, John Banks, David Seymour and Chris Simmons.[29] The election was a disappointment for ACT, with the party's worst election result since it began in 1996. John Banks retained the Epsom seat for ACT, however the 34.2% majority held by Rodney Hide was severely cut back to 6.3% as large numbers of Labour and Green voters in Epsom tactically split their vote and gave their electorate vote to the National candidate Paul Goldsmith. Nationwide, ACT received only 1.07% of the party vote, placing eighth out of 13 on party vote percentage.[30] As a result, ACT were only entitled to one seat in the new Parliament, filled by John Banks. Subsequently, Don Brash announced that he had stepped down as leader during his speech on election night.[31][32] Following the 2011 general election John Banks stated that he believed that the ACT brand "...just about had its use-by date..." and needed to be renamed and relaunched.[33]


Their previous partners, the New Zealand National Party, again won the most seats overall, and formed a minority government. The Fifth National Government of New Zealand had ACT support as well as that of United Future and the Māori Party, providing the coalition with confidence and supply.



2014 election




David Seymour and Jamie Whyte at the ACT selection announcement for Leader and Epsom in February 2014


At the ACT Board meeting of 2 February 2014, Jamie Whyte became the party's leader-elect, and David Seymour was made the ACT candidate for Epsom. Kenneth Wang was appointed deputy leader on 15 April 2014. In the September 2014 New Zealand general election, Seymour won his seat, and ACT moved from seventh to sixth place, despite a decline in their share of the popular vote. Seymour took over as party leader on 3 October 2014.[34][35]



2017 election


Wang resigned as deputy leader on 9 July 2017, the same day ACT released its party list; Beth Houlbrooke was announced as his replacement.[36]


The Party List had 39 candidates, none of whom were elected.[37] Party leader David Seymour was re-elected in the Epsom electorate, giving the party its only seat.[6]



Electoral results





























































































Election
 Candidates nominated
 Seats won
 Votes
 Vote share %
 Position[A]
 Government/Opposition
Electorate
 List

1996
 65
 56

8 / 120


 126,442
 6.10%
 5th
 Crossbenches

1999
 61
 65

9 / 120


 145,493
 7.04%
 4th
 Opposition

2002[21]
 56
 60

9 / 120


 145,078
 7.14%
 4th

2005
 56
 59

2 / 121


 34,469
 1.50%
 7th

2008
 58
 61

5 / 122


 85,496
 3.65%
 4th
 Supported Fifth National Government

2011
 50
 55

1 / 121


 23,889
 1.07%
 7th

2014
 39
 41

1 / 121


 16,689
 0.69%
 6th

2017
 36
 39

1 / 120


 13,075
 0.50%
 5th
 Crossbenches
^A Ranked by number of seats, then by number of votes as a tie-breaker.


Leadership











Elected representatives



Current Members of Parliament



  • David Seymour (2014–present)


Former Members of Parliament












See also




  • ACT on Campus

  • End of Life Choice Bill



References





  1. ^ ab Boston, Jonathan (2003). New Zealand Votes: The General Election of 2002. Victoria University Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780864734686. Retrieved 8 February 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "Speech - Our classical liberal tribe". www.act.org.nz. ACT New Zealand. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2017.


  3. ^ abc Norris, Pippa (2005). Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market. Cambridge University Press. p. 285. ISBN 9781139446426. Retrieved 8 February 2017.


  4. ^ Levine, Stephen (20 June 2012). "'Political values - Values and political change". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 8 February 2017. New Zealand’s right-wing ACT Party campaigned at the 1996 election on the slogan, ‘Values. Not politics’.


  5. ^ Rodney Hide Archived 20 September 2006 at Archive.today, "Speech to ACT Auckland Regional Conference, 30 July 2006"


  6. ^ ab "2017 General Election - Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 October 2017.


  7. ^ ACT's Pledge To New Zealand, reported on 19 May 2008


  8. ^ "ACT Policy at a Glance". 5 Jan 2007. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007.


  9. ^ ab O'Sullivan, Fran (30 April 2011). "Coup aside, bold Brash must deliver on gamble". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 April 2011.


  10. ^ "ACT Taxation Policy". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2009.


  11. ^ "The 20 Point Plan - Policies in summary form". Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008. Action: Bring back private prisons - now best practice overseas. Let private firms free up cops for 'Zero Tolerance' policing. Speed up courts (eg. night courts) to reduce unfair delays.


  12. ^ Taylor, Kevin; NZPA (26 June 2003). "Barnett celebrates 'historic moment' with prostitution bill". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2008.


  13. ^ ab "ACT Climate Change Policy" (PDF). 6 October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2014.


  14. ^ Hide, Rodney (3 September 2008). "Hide: Emissions Trading Bill". Press Release ACT Party Speech to Parliament. www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 12 January 2010.


  15. ^ Cooke, Henry (27 February 2016). "Coup ACT deletes climate change policy from their website". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 February 2016.


  16. ^ "ACT's battle for significance". Newsroom. 4 October 2017.


  17. ^ Curtin, Jennifer; Miller, Raymond (16 November 2012). "Political parties - Small parties under MMP". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 July 2013.


  18. ^ ab "Part III - Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.


  19. ^ "Part I: Summary of Party List and Electorate Candidate Seats" (PDF). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2013.


  20. ^ "Election Results 1999: Summary of Overall Results". Electionresults.govt.nz. New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 May 2014.


  21. ^ ab "Official Count Results -- Overall Status". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 August 2013.


  22. ^ "Election Results 2005: Official Count Results -- Overall Status". Electionresults.govt.nz. New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 May 2014.


  23. ^ "Chief Electoral Office: Official Count results: Overall status".


  24. ^ "Key's Government". The New Zealand Herald. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2011.


  25. ^ Kay, Martin (27 February 2010). "Leader warns ACT's hardliners". Dominion Post.


  26. ^ "Act accepts Brash as leader". The New Zealand Herald. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.


  27. ^ ab Wilson, Peter (16 November 2011). "Key may face more teapot tape accusations". 3 News. New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2011.


  28. ^ Armstrong, John (16 November 2011). "'Teapot tape' could nail lid to ACT coffin". The New Zealand Herald. New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2011.


  29. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 October 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2008.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)


  30. ^ Chief Electoral Office: Official Count results: Overall status.


  31. ^ "Don Brash interview announcing resignation as ACT party leader". 26 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.


  32. ^ "John Banks' comments on Don Brash's resignation". 27 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.


  33. ^ "John Banks' comments on ACT Party brand". 28 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.


  34. ^ Vance, Andrea (3 October 2014). "ACT's Jamie Whyte quits as leader". Stuff. Retrieved 3 October 2014.


  35. ^ "David Seymour Accepts Act Leadership". Scoop (Press release). ACT New Zealand. 3 October 2014.


  36. ^ Small, Vernon (9 July 2017). "ACT party list prompts resignation of deputy leader Kenneth Wang". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 July 2017.


  37. ^ "2017 GENERAL ELECTION PARTY LISTS". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 September 2017.


  38. ^ "John Thompson". ACT New Zealand. Retrieved 8 February 2017.


  39. ^ "ACT says prisoners could earn time off by learning". radionz. Retrieved 8 February 2017.




External links







  • ACT New Zealand


  • ACT on Campus ACT's Youth Wing


  • ACT New Zealand at Curlie


  • Is this the end of the road for Act? - New Zealand Herald article










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Information security

Image
This article is part of a series on Information security Related security categories Internet security Cyberwarfare Computer security Mobile security Network security Threats Computer crime Vulnerability Eavesdropping Malware Spyware Ransomware Trojans Viruses Worms Rootkits Bootkits Keyloggers Screen scrapers Exploits Backdoors Logic bombs Payloads Denial of service Defenses Computer access control Application security Antivirus software Secure coding Secure by default Secure by design Secure operating systems Authentication Multi-factor authentication Authorization Data-centric security Encryption Firewall Intrusion detection system Mobile secure gateway Runtime application self-protection (RASP) v t e Information security , sometimes shortened to InfoSec , is the practice of preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction of information. Th...
Read more

Volkswagen Group MQB platform

Image
The Volkswagen Group MQB platform is the company's strategy for shared modular design construction of its transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout (optional front-engine, four-wheel-drive layout) automobiles. Volkswagen spent roughly $60bn [1] developing this new platform and the cars employing it. The platform underpins a wide range of cars from the supermini class to the mid size SUV class. MQB allows Volkswagen to assemble any of its cars based on this platform across all of its MQB ready factories. This allows the Volkswagen group flexibility to shift production as needed between its different factories. Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen Group marketed the strategy under the code name MQB , which stands for Modularer Querbaukasten , translating from German to "Modular Transversal Toolkit" or "Modular Transverse Matrix". [2] [3] MQB is one strategy within VW's overall MB (Modularer Baukasten or modular matrix) program which also includes th...
Read more

New York City Police Department

Image
"NYPD" and "New York City Cops" redirect here. For other uses, see NYPD (disambiguation). Not to be confused with New York City Sheriff's Office or New York State Police. City of New York Police Department NYPD patch NYPD patrol officer's shield Flag of the New York City Police Department Common name New York City Police Department Abbreviation NYPD Motto Fidelis ad mortem (English: "Faithful Unto Death" ) Agency overview Formed May 23, 1845 ; 173 years ago  ( 1845-05-23 ) Employees 55,304 Annual budget US$5.6 billion (2018) Jurisdictional structure Operations jurisdiction New York City, U.S. Map of City of New York Police Department's jurisdiction. Size 468.484 square miles (1,213.37 km 2 ) Population 8,537,673 [1] Legal jurisdiction New York City General nature Local civilian police Local civilian agency Headquarters 1 Police Plaza Park Row Lower Manhattan (across th...
Read more