POLICIES Manaakitanga: Sharing our wealth Feeding the kids It is estimated that 100,000 children go to school hungry each day. Internet MANA will introduce a government-funded breakfast and lunch programme into low decile schools to ensure all children are fed and able to learn each school day. Feed the Kids coordinators would be employed at schools to organise the meals, and with buy-in from food companies, the policy is estimated to cost just $50 million per year. Feed the Kids is part of a wider health and wellbeing package for schools that would also include health, dental care and social support services. Free tertiary education We must end the massive growth of student debt (estimated to rise to $20 billion by 2022) which is crushing the hopes of young New Zealanders. Internet MANA will support our best and brightest to a good start in life, by removing the scourge of debt which stratifies our society and penalises those who seek skills and knowledge. We will reduce fees to zero, remove parental means testing on student allowances, progressively write-off existing student loan debt, and increase apprenticeships. 30,000 new state rental homes In the first three years of an Internet MANA Government we would build 30,000 new state rental houses because the housing crisis is particularly serious for low-income families, many of whom live in cars, overcrowded homes and cockroach-infested caravans. Extra state rental homes means the demand for private rental accommodation will drop so private rents and house prices will also decrease. Internet MANA will establish a public infrastructure entity to build these homes so we can gain the benefits of lower interest rates and economies of scale, as well as placing strong emphasis on training young Kiwi apprentices for a future of work in New Zealand. New taxes Over the past generation the tax burden has shifted heavily onto low and middle income families. Internet MANA would redress the balance with new taxes on those with high incomes and high net wealth which is currently untaxed. Financial Transactions Tax (FTT): This would tax currency speculation which is helping keep the value of our dollar artificially high. As well as gaining revenue this tax would help reduce our dollar’s value thereby increasing income from exports. An FTT would also apply to share transactions, for example as now applies in several European countries. Capital Gains Tax: This would apply to unearned income from the increase in value of property, shares, bonds and precious metals. It would be paid by an individual or company at the same rate as the appropriate personal/company tax rate. It would not apply to the family home. Wealth Tax: This would apply to luxury items over and above current GST. Details will be worked out when full financial information is available. Responsive government Since the 1980s our large political parties have been much more responsive to corporate lobbying than public opinion. Community appeals against the closure of local hospitals and schools, the sale of state assets and the shift in tax burden from the rich to the poor have been ignored. The public have therefore become so disillusioned with parliamentary democracy that close to one million New Zealanders did not bother to vote in the last election. Internet MANA will re-engage voters and the community. Government services will work better for people instead of inward-focussed performance targets. Transparency by default will be the rule. Ngā Moemoeā: A future of hope Right to work Internet MANA will tackle persistent high rates of unemployment by reinvesting back into society and filling the many gaps of past policy failures to take us into the future. We will set a national goal of 0% unemployment for under 25s and eliminate long-term unemployment across the whole labour market. Internet MANA will use the know-how and support innovation and self-start entrepreneurship from within our own communities to solve their own unemployment & social problems as well as invest $1.03 billion each year to fund approximately 100,000 temporary jobs where the labour market is not able to create jobs. Living wage It’s not good enough to just have a job – the hours of work and pay per hour are equally important for a family to have a decent standard of living. Internet MANA would work to stabilise hours of work and increase the minimum wage from the $14.25 an hour at present to the living wage, currently $18.80. We would peg the minimum wage at two-thirds of the average wage to prevent it dropping dangerously in the future as it has done in recent decades. Digital economy & Innovation Internet MANA will be active in helping unleash the power of the Internet with research, direct investment and seed funding for innovative projects to provide employment and extend the benefits of new technology and the Internet to the entire community. We can’t rely on having all our eggs in the dairy basket. New Zealanders are naturally innovative and creative but are often stifled by lack of access to finance, research and development. Internet MANA will make New Zealand the world’s incubator of innovation and invest in skills, training and infrastructure to deliver on that vision. Cheaper, universal Internet Every home and business would have cheaper, faster Internet to reap the 21st century benefits of new technology and the Internet for families and businesses. This will eliminate the “digital divide” whereby those on low incomes do not have ready access to the Internet compared to the rest of the community. Internet MANA will invest $50 million over 5 years to give Internet access to all New Zealanders who can’t otherwise afford it. A further $200 million over 5 years will fund community-led investment in improving Internet access for households outside the main cities. 100% renewable energy There is both an immediate need as well as a significant opportunity for New Zealand to shift focus from finite fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and green technologies. Currently there is a lack of vision, leadership, and long-term commitment to benefit from the global shift to green energy and technologies. Potential export revenues and jobs lie untapped. Internet MANA will adopt the goal of 100% of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2025 and carbon neutrality by 2050. This will create jobs, economic resilience, strengthen our green reputation and form a foundation for greater investment in green technologies. We will place an immediate moratorium on deep sea oil exploration, fracking and new mining in ecologically or culturally sensitive areas. Our jobs plan will provide transition for affected communities. Rangatiratanga : A free and independent nation Te Tiriti o Waitangi Internet MANA will uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation stone of a proud independent South Pacific nation. We will change the Treaty settlements process to ensure claims are settled more justly and better enhance the mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga of iwi and hapū. Internet MANA will promote and facilitate debate and discussion about the central place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa New Zealand to work towards transforming the way in which political and legal power is structured. Maori language in schools Te Reo Rangatira is the first language of Aotearoa New Zealand. Internet MANA would include te reo Maori as part of the core school curriculum to ensure all children have the opportunity to grow up learning to speak the nation’s first language. Internet MANA would also develop a plan to grow the number of te reo Māori teachers and to grow the teaching and learning resources that will be needed. Five Eyes An Internet MANA government would withdraw New Zealand from the “Five Eyes” spy network which also includes the US, UK, Australia and Canada. The “Five Eyes” ties us into US political, economic and military objectives and thereby seriously compromises our national sovereignty and makes it impossible for us to have a truly independent foreign policy. The “Five Eyes” is born out of the country’s colonial past rather than being fit for our future. Mass surveillance Our Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) is complicit in the US National Security Agency conducting mass surveillance of New Zealanders as a way to promote US global interests rather than New Zealand’s interests. Law changes rushed through have given the GCSB a legal basis for mass surveillance. Internet MANA will reverse these law changes and review the respective roles played by GCSB and other surveillance bodies as well as strengthening independent oversight. No TPPA The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is being negotiated in secret and threatens to undermine New Zealand’s independence and democracy. It will limit the law-making power of central and local government across most areas of policy. Internet MANA opposes the TPPA and will lead a campaign to stop it regardless of which parties are in the Government. Bill of digital rights Internet MANA will initiate a fast-tracked review of the Bill of Rights Act by the Law Commission to ensure it is fit for purpose in the digital age and is capable of safeguarding human rights in an environment of overarching digital communications surveillance by the State. If a new Bill of Digital Rights is required, it would be developed through widespread public debate and discussion. Internet MANA will elevate the Bill of Rights to superior legislation so that all future legislation must comply with its provisions and entrench it so that a future government could only change it under special circumstances. The Internet Party and MANA Movement both have other policies that can be viewed on our respective websites. The policies above are the areas that both parties have agreed are our top priorities for this term of Parliament. Internet PartyMANA Movemen Article from here: https://internetmana.org.nz/policies
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 06:48:48 +0000
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