Myah Deedman ACT

Please join David Seymour, James McDowall MP and Regional Councillor Roger Weldon ACT - Hamilton West in Hamilton tomorrow night on the second stop of the Real Change Tour!

The ACT Party has hit the road today on another tour of New Zealand to hear New Zealanders' concerns and promote ACT’s positive policies.

The demand for real change is apparent with many venues already sold out, and limited seats available at others.

ACT is listening. Developing good policies that improve the lives of New Zealanders starts with really listening to the concerns of people and having honest conversations.

You can see when ACT will be in your town here: https://www.act.org.nz/events 💛

2021 Wrapped! Here's the political year in review 😅

All 10 ACT MPs will be out in support of rural New Zealand at Groundswell NZ events around the country this weekend. James McDowall MP, our Waikato-based MP, will be in Tauranga.

ACT is the loudest voice in Parliament when it comes to standing up for the rights of rural New Zealand. We hope to see you at Groundswell on Sunday!

ICYMI - here are some of ACT's rural-focused petitions:

🗣 Stop Labour's Car Tax: https://www.act.org.nz/cartax
🗣 Dump Three Waters: https://www.act.org.nz/threewaters
🗣 Stop the Government's SNA Land Grab: https://www.act.org.nz/sna

Today marks 25-years of the ACT Party entering parliament, unique in the world for championing personal and economic freedom.

Nowhere else in the world has a party that consistently stands for free markets and free minds gained consistent electoral traction, but ACT has won seats in every MMP election.

Every other party, in New Zealand and beyond, campaigns to tax and regulate one group of voters to curry favour with another.

ACT alone stands on principle for free markets and free minds. We do it because the record of human history is crystal clear, freedom is the only path to human flourishing.

From everyone at ACT, thank you for 25-years of support. We’re now focussed on the next 25-years and coming up with more ways to continue ensuring New Zealanders lead their best and most fulfilling lives

If you aren’t already a member, you can join us here: https://www.act.org.nz/support_us 💛

The latest Roy Morgan poll shows ACT polling at 11.5%. This is a record result for us. Importantly, ACT and National are rising together and would have 54 seats in total.

Thank you to all of our supporters, both old and new, for making this possible. ACT is honoured to be your voice in Parliament and will continue to stand up for hardworking New Zealanders.

This is just the beginning. Please join us in making New Zealand a better place for hardworking Kiwis www.act.org.nz 💛

Today has been a massive win for individual dignity, autonomy and self-determination‬ 💛

Thank you to David Seymour and Brooke van Velden ACT for their incredibly hard work on the End of Life Choice Act, thank you to our passionate advocates including the late Lecretia Seales, and thank you to everyone who voted YES to End of Life Choice - you have all helped to make New Zealand a more compassionate and humane society today.

I would like to thank everyone who lent ACT their vote this election. This was the best result in our party’s history and we truly couldn’t have done it without your support 💛

We had a stronger than usual response in Hamilton East, with a total of 2,322 party votes this election compared to a total of 225 party votes in the last election. I also received a total of 589 candidate votes. On both accounts, these are ACT’s best results in Hamilton East in 18 years!

The main reason I stood as a candidate this election was to help increase ACT’s party vote in my electorate, so I am ecstatic with the progress that we have made and I hope to keep this momentum going for years to come.

This has been an incredible experience and certainly not one I ever anticipated to have at 21 years old. I am so grateful to the wonderful people I have met, for the support and encouragement I have received and for the opportunity to help make history.

Our team of 10 MPs have a strong mandate to work for New Zealanders to hold all the other parties accountable. Thank you again for sharing our vision for a free and prosperous New Zealand, and turning up to vote to 💛

ACT is putting out a final call to voters of all stripes.

To people who perhaps have never thought of voting ACT, or those who have always 'bled blue', I say this: Lend us your vote this time and at the end of three years, I think you’ll want us to keep it.

It has never been more important to hold all of the other parties accountable. To ensure that the government doesn't saddle the next generation with debt it can never hope to pay off. To fight for a faster recovery and a lower tax burden. ACT will never fear speaking truth to power in Wellington. Our values are your values.

Our focus will be on making good laws that benefit New Zealanders. We have all seen too much petty politicking. The simple truth is this: you deserve better.

We have a bold vision for a freer, more prosperous New Zealand. Where businesses and workers pay less tax. Where the next generation are as free to build houses as the last.

We will take a modern approach to taking the politics out of infrastructure, and a pragmatic approach to the environment that prioritises innovation over regulation, and real results over rhetoric.

ACT will always stand on principle against bad policy. Many of the votes in Parliament have been 119-1. Whether it was the rushed fi****ms laws which won’t actually make Kiwis safer, or the botched Zero Carbon Act, or End of Life Choice, we have been prepared to put what is right ahead of what is politically expedient.

We have done this with just a single MP. Imagine what ACT could deliver with more. A Party Vote for ACT is a vote for accountability. It is a vote for honest debate. And a vote for the small businesses and self-starters who will drive our recovery. Seven of our top ten are business owners who understand the struggles New Zealand businesses are facing in the real world.

Trust and transparency have never been more important. New Zealand needs a genuinely independent team to hold them all accountable.

That's why I’m asking New Zealanders to Party Vote ACT, and together, let's change your future 💛

I voted 🗳

✅ ACT Party
✅ End of Life Choice referendum
✅ Cannabis referendum

We are now one week away from the most important election of a generation. I urge you to get out and vote for freedom, choice and personal autonomy 💛

You can find your nearest voting place here: https://vote.nz/voting/ways-you-can-vote/find-a-voting-place-on-a-map/

Forget fundamental housing reform, Labour couldn’t deliver a pizza to the front door.

After being opposed to replacing the RMA for years, and the disaster that was KiwiBuild, does anybody really believe a Labour government can get the job done?

The RMA is the single biggest barrier to development and housing affordability in New Zealand.

New figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show the median house price across Waikato now sits at $628,000 – a 16.7 per cent increase during the past 12 months to August. Housing costs as a proportion of income have increased massively.

It’s time for real change on housing. ACT has consistently advocated for overhauling the RMA.

National and ACT had the numbers to do reform between 2008 and 2011 and then again between 2014 and the Northland by-election, but National failed to act.

Labour was elected to solve the housing crisis, but with even more red tape has made it worse.

The next government must confront the housing crisis head on. Only a government with a strong ACT can deliver real change.

You can read our policies here: https://www.act.org.nz/build_baby_build and here: https://www.act.org.nz/ending_the_infrastructure_deficit 💛

Businesses have been a punching bag for this Government.

ACT is the voice of small-business and self-starters, and that’s why we have a plan to boost the economy by promoting a recovery led by private enterprise. Investment, jobs and growth.

ACT understands the struggles and that SMEs have faced with lockdowns and law changes, and that all the red tape wastes time, money and the opportunity to employ more people.

That’s why we will cut GST to 10 per cent for a year initially and scrap the RMA and other regulations impeded on businesses. We will also put a moratorium on minimum wage increases for three years, reintroduce 90 day trials, making it far easier to hire new workers and create new jobs.

ACT has a positive plan for small business and the self-employed. Only a Party Vote for ACT will ensure there is a real focus on jobs and the economy in Parliament.

It’s been a great week for ACT but we’re not taking anything for granted.

We’ve been travelling the country, listening to New Zealanders and focusing on the things that matter.

Whether it’s reducing the debt, improving access to mental health treatment or working with our farmers who do so much for New Zealand.

We’ll keep listening, standing up for your freedoms and fighting to make New Zealand a better place.

We hope you'll join us: https://www.act.org.nz/support_us 💛

Freedom of expression is one of the most important values our society has.

The promise from Labour of tougher hate speech laws shows the danger of a "cancel culture" that is all about political correctness, and does nothing at all to protect the very real rights of minorities.

Threatening others or inciting violence should be illegal, but tests as subjective as ‘offensive’ or ‘insulting’ should never be used to prosecute offences.

ACT will continue to defend the critical principle that nobody should ever be punished on the basis of opinion.

Will you join our campaign to stop Labour's hate speech law?
https://freespeech.act.org.nz/ 💛

Tonight’s 1 NEWS-Colmar Brunton poll has ACT on 7 percent, a result that would elect 9 MPs.

This is a momentous result - our best since July 2002 - and it encourages us to campaign even harder.

If you want to stop the out-of-control spending and get on top of the debt, then donating to our election campaign could be the best investment you ever made.

Can you help us make this poll a reality on Election Day? Please donate here: https://www.act.org.nz/donate 💛

ACT is backing farmers to succeed.

We want to see the rural sector given the respect it deserves. Through Covid-19, the efforts of our farmers raised the level of respect rural New Zealanders get.

The rural sector has been given a short reprieve from the campaign of demonisation. It’s time to put that change in rhetoric into action.

The environmental efforts of the rural sector should be acknowledged and valued before heavy-handed regulations are put in place.

With the right approach, we can once again see the rural sector as an essential and valued part of the New Zealand economy.

You can read our new primary industry policy here: https://www.act.org.nz/primary-industry-policy 💛

The Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update has revealed our position has got worse since the Budget.

New forecasts show public debt, unemployment and economic growth will all be worse after the Government and Reserve Bank-funded ‘sugar hit’ wears off.

New Zealand’s historic debt levels demand serious political leadership. Our current fiscal track is totally unsustainable.

Every other political party is now in a race to spend even more taxpayer money. Every vote for ACT is a vote for lower debt, less tax and a faster recovery.

Only a Party vote for ACT is a vote to stop the spending splurge and balance the books with no new taxes.

You can read ACT’s fully costed plan here: https://www.act.org.nz/alternative_budget 💛

I'd like to thank Leighton for inviting me to write in the first issue of The Pearson Magazine on why you should give your party vote to ACT this election.

Voters are tired of the old red-blue duopoly, the dirty politics and the mudslinging, and recent polls show New Zealanders are looking for an alternative.

ACT may be a small party, but if we can enact change with only one MP - such as empowering families with educational choice through partnership schools, championing the End of Life Choice Bill and standing up for freedom and democracy when others wouldn’t - just imagine what we could achieve with more!

You can read the full article below 💛

I would like to thank the Waikato Chamber of Commerce for giving me the opportunity to participate in their political candidate questionnaire!

If you’re interested in learning how ACT plans to solve the biggest issues facing our country, how we plan to support businesses and/or why I am standing as a candidate - be sure to give this post a read 💛

Continuing with our political candidate questionnaire, below is the response from Myah Deedman. ACT Candidate for Hamilton East

What are the 3 biggest issues facing New Zealand going into 2021?

1. The economy following COVID-19
2. Controlling debt
3. Health
How would you solve the biggest issue?

While COVID-19 has had many negative effects on our economy and business confidence, it also presents us with an opportunity to unleash New Zealand’s potential and create a modern, world-class economy with high productivity and high wages. ACT has a 5-Point Plan that outlines the regulatory changes necessary to enable our vision of a freer, more prosperous New Zealand to come to fruition.

By reducing taxes and red tape, providing more job opportunities by reducing barriers to employment, ensuring safety and security from future pandemics by investing in public health and better technology at our border - not only can we encourage economic growth, but we can balance the books and leave less debt for our children.

How is business important to the wider NZ community?

Businesses are vital to New Zealand as they are the engine room of employment and growth. Economic recovery will come not from the Beehive, but through the hard work and aspiration of millions of New Zealanders. We know that small businesses are spending too much time on red tape compliance activities which comes at a cost. This simply isn’t productive for them or our economy. We want to work with business to reduce compliance requirements, freeing up time and money.

What business friendly initiatives would you support?

As outlined in ACT’s 5-Point Plan, we support actions such as repealing the RMA and other ineffective red tape which stifles innovation and wastes both time and money. We support stimulating consumption activity by cutting GST from 15% to 10% for 12 months, which will boost purchasing power across all income levels. Furthermore, we support reducing barriers to employment by implementing voluntary 12-month trial periods for new employees, by restoring minimum wage to pre-COVID-19 levels and by halting minimum wage increases for 3 years.

What would your Party do to help business?

I believe this question has been covered in my previous responses, however, if you are still uncertain on what ACT would do to help businesses, you can read more about our policies at act.org.nz/policies

Outline your business history?

As a 21-year-old full-time student focussed on finishing my degree in Psychology and Philosophy, it is unfortunate that the extent of my business history is working in administration for a local small business here in Hamilton.

Are you in favour of more taxes?

ACT is not in favour of more taxes as we do not believe that it is possible to tax ourselves into prosperity. Instead, we believe that tax cuts are one of the most effective ways to increase spending, production, employment and investment. In addition to the aforementioned temporary cut to GST, we would permanently cut the 30% marginal tax rate, which applies on income between $48,000 and $70,000, to 17.5%, thereby flattening the tax system to three rates.

Who is your historical Political idol?
I do not have a single historical-political idol as my beliefs and values have been shaped by many essential liberal thinkers, however, I am appreciating a lot of the ideas that Kat Murti is currently putting out.

Why are you standing?

I am standing to raise ACT’s Party Vote in Hamilton East. I believe Thomas Paine said it best when he said: "Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

As a philosophy student, I understand the importance of asking the hard questions, thinking outside of the box and using critical thinking skills to promote ideas that are pragmatic rather than politically expedient. I am standing for ACT as I believe that they are the only party to consistently demonstrate these skills.

As a psychology student, I understand how the social determinants of health influence the ability for individuals to truly flourish in their mental health, but more importantly, in their lives. Some of the social determinants of health include employment, education, income and housing. Furthermore, I believe that the concept of freedom is absolutely integral to the concept of human flourishing. I am standing for ACT as I believe they have the best policies to solve the issues that are vital to maintaining good mental and physical health.

By the time students currently at intermediate and high school start paying tax, we’ll be spending more on interest repayments than education. Treasury forecasts the interest on the debt will be $13 billion by 2030, or $13,000 every year for a family of five.

They will ask, ‘what the hell were you thinking,’ when the Prime Minister went to Queenstown to get her photo taken with a bungee jump operator for $10 million, and the Green Party gave $12 million to a school where students learned about the healing power of crystals.

It’s time for all political parties to step up and be transparent about their plans. Only ACT has a fully costed plan for economic recovery, which keeps the debt low, cuts taxes, and gets the country back to surplus, while keeping Kiwis in work.

You can learn more about ACT's plan here: https://www.act.org.nz/budget2020

As businesses go broke and household budgets tighten, we need an honest conversation about the Government’s spending splurge.

While the Government hands out money to Green Schools and Bungee Jump operators, young New Zealanders are silently being lumped with the debt.

The Government has committed to borrow $140 billion on top of the $60 billion debt it had pre-Covid. That’s an extra $140,000, making it $200,000 on behalf of a family of five over the next two years. For many families, their biggest debt will be the one the Government took on for them.

We are being lulled into a false sense of security by cheap money and low interest rates. Two years ago the Government was paying four per cent interest, ten years ago it paid over six per cent. Cheap money won’t last, and the impacts of Government borrowing will be felt keenly by generations.

Even at current Government borrowing rates under two per cent, a family of five will soon pay over $5000 in interest for public debt every year. The Government has left New Zealanders with a debt equivalent to having every family max out their credit cards.

All of this occurs before we consider the possibility of facing another crisis such as an earthquake or trade war that would further imperil the New Zealand Economy. According to Treasury’s Fiscal Strategy Model, the Government will keep borrowing more money each year until 2028.

Our current track is unsustainable, we need to have an honest conversation about the Government’s spending habit and the debt it is leaving us with. You can learn more about ACT’s stance here: https://www.act.org.nz/budget2020

Where do the parties stand on tax?

ACT is the only party proposing to let hardworking taxpayers keep more of what they earn. We have a comprehensive plan for a faster recovery with lower taxes and less debt. Read more about our alternative budget here: https://www.act.org.nz/budget2020

Source: https://bit.ly/3jhImop

Good contact tracing is essential to avoiding lockdowns. So, how good is the Government's? We don't know.

Today in Parliament, David Seymour asked the Health Minister how many close contacts had been traced though the NZ COVID Tracer app.

He said he didn't know because the Ministry of Health doesn't record how it identifies close contacts.

We can almost guarantee the answer is none. Even now, only a few percent of people are using it. So the chance of matching a contact is next to nothing.

A Party Vote for ACT is a vote to get smarter in fighting Covid-19 by using intelligent technology.

Read more about our Wellbeing Approach here: www.act.org.nz/wellbeing-approach-to-covid19

NZ will pay the price for the Government losing control of the Auckland Covid-19 cluster and the contact tracing app has been particularly useless.

Only 1 million scans are being registered daily, which is around 4% of New Zealander’s scanning in 5 times each day. To have any real effect we should be seeing a daily scan rate of 25 million.

ACT’s wellbeing approach to Covid-19 would better utilise technology to isolate cases more quickly and we would take the Taiwanese approach of tracing cards. Sam Morgan’s Covid Card has great potential, if these had been used and saved Auckland from extra days of lockdown they would have already paid for themselves.

The Government should also be constantly investigating rapid testing and temperature testing at key locations such as airports.

Only a party vote for ACT is a vote to use intelligent technology to help manage the Covid-19 response.

Read our plan here: https://www.act.org.nz/wellbeing-approach-to-covid19

ACT’s Wellbeing Approach to Covid-19, announced today, would consider all of the costs of Covid-19 in a world where we can’t guarantee against outbreaks.

Being free of Covid-19 is just one dimension. We also need to consider students’ life-defining exams, the mental health of small business owners, missed elective surgeries, families who can’t travel for funerals, the financial costs (a Level 3 lockdown in Auckland costs $440 million a week), and the huge uncertainty.

Our response to Covid-19 must consider all aspects of wellbeing. A Party Vote for ACT is a vote to tackle Covid-19 intelligently.

Read our plan here: https://www.act.org.nz/wellbeing-approach-to-covid19

It’s D-Day for the Government on whether Auckland remains in lockdown. The current outbreak has shown that we need a new approach.

ACT has proposed a different path and last month David Seymour set out five principles for better public health:

1. Ask what can be done, not what can’t
2. Have an open debate about our strategy
3. Treat travel to and from different countries differently based on risk
4. Engage with business and businesspeople
5. Make better use of technology

The world has changed and we need to change with it. We need to get much smarter about public health if we’re going to take advantage of opportunities in a post-Covid world.

Last night’s news is something that nobody wanted and there are lots of questions about how it happened that will need to be answered. However, for now we want to confirm how we will move forward over the next few days.

We will not be going ahead with our planned events this week in person, instead we will replace them with online meetings where possible. Events will be reassessed next week as more information comes to hand.

Details of the online meetings will be made available as soon as possible. We see these as a practical thing we can do to provide an opportunity to listen to people’s concerns and communicate what ACT is attempting to do.

Today, ACT launched the Change Your Future nationwide bus tour. Over the next six weeks, our top candidates will be visiting over 75 towns from Whangarei to Bluff.

We’re excited about taking our campaign on the road and talking with hardworking taxpayers face-to-face.

New Zealanders from all walks of life are turning to ACT as we focus on the real issues facing our country. We’re the only party with a comprehensive 5-point plan to restart the economy and repay the debt.

The ACT bus tour will be visiting the Waikato later this week. David Seymour, Nicole McKee ACT - Rongotai, James McDowall ACT, Mark Cameron - ACT Candidate for Northland, Roger Weldon ACT - Hamilton West, Brent Miles ACT Taranaki King Country, David Freeman ACT Taupo and I will be there - so make sure to RSVP to these events by clicking on the following links!

⭐️ 11am in Cambridge (13/08): https://www.act.org.nz/bus_tour_cambridge

⭐️ 3pm in Morrinsville (13/08): https://www.act.org.nz/bus_tour_morrinsville

⭐️ 6pm in Hamilton (13/08): https://www.act.org.nz/bus_tour_hamilton_wintec

⭐️ 6:30pm in Hamilton (14/08): https://www.act.org.nz/bus_tour_hamilton_pistol_club

⭐️ 3pm in Te Awamutu (15/08): https://www.act.org.nz/bus_tour_te_awamutu

Young New Zealanders are facing more debt and higher rents and should be asking the Prime Minister: Where’s the kindness?

Generation Debt will spend decades paying back the $140 billion Labour has borrowed. That’s $28,000 for every New Zealander.
Now Labour’s new tenancy law will reduce the number of rentals and increase rents for Generation Rent.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has told the Government that the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill could reduce the number of rentals available and increase rent, demand for state housing, and homelessness. The Bill will have its second reading in Parliament this week.

The number of New Zealanders waiting for a state house sits at a record 18,000. Rents continue to increase. Our country still faces a housing crisis.

Rather than doing what it was elected to do and solving the housing crisis, Labour is adding new costs and red tape and making the situation worse.

In opposition, Labour talked a big game about cutting red tape, freeing up land and bringing down the cost of housing. But all we’ve seen is new regulation and bureaucracy on the housing market.

New red tape will increase the cost and risk of being a landlord and those costs will be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rents.

It’s taken Labour three years to produce a report on the Resource Management Act which won’t be acted on until at least after the election.

ACT believes real kindness would be replacing the RMA, freeing up land, making it easier to build houses, and bringing rents down. Only then will Generation Rent and Generation Debt be able to afford a stake in the future.

You can read more about our infrastructure and housing policy here: https://www.act.org.nz/budget2020