Young ACT

Freedom of Speech: Use it or lose it!

Help us guarantee freedom of speech on campus by making your voice heard!

By signing our petition, we hope to be taking this to the universities in due course.

https://youngact.org.nz/free-speech/

The last government was addicted to telling us what to think. They ripped away the voices of local communities while also undermining the principles of democracy. They did not trust people to do the 'correct' thing.

If we let them get away with it, the universities might decide they cannot trust their community of students to be able to think the 'right' way about things either. And so they will undermine the principles of higher education to control what we think to get the outcomes they want.

This already happened earlier this year when a group of staff and academics tried to deplatform someone they didn't particularly like.

Only a society that protects the right to express one's views and ideas, can call itself free. Many Students we’ve spoken to have said they’ve had to suppress their own views in assignments and essays, just so their biased lecturer or tutor gives them good marks.

'Afterall, letting people think for themselves could be dangerous'.

And they are sort of right.... thinking and speaking is metaphorically dangerous. It has destructive and creative power that anyone can use.

Being able to make decisions about what is best for you, makes you a better person. If you think and say only what others want you to, then you are living someone else's life, not yours!

We must celebrate the common humanity that unites all people and oppose different ways to pigeonhole and control us.

https://youngact.org.nz/free-speech/

You remember when Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington's free speech event was postponed earlier in the year? Apparently to help make sure the discussion included a cross-section of balanced and representative views.

Was it really? We went looking to find out.

At University, Always Cite Your Sources – Young ACT You remember Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s free speech event was postponed earlier in the year? Apparently to help make sure the discussion included a cross-section of balanced and representative views.

We're welcoming the University of Otago's adoption of a free speech policy.

We now push for other Universities to also adopt policies of free speech. They shouldn’t wait for the Government to take action, they should just do what’s right. To nudge them along, we're relaunching our campaign to demand free speech on all campuses.

Demand Free Speech on Campus – Young ACT Only a society that protects the right to express ones views and ideas, can call itself free. Across the world, Universities (and their students) have always been at the centre of the debates over these ideas. Whether its civil rights or climate change, we’ve been able to express our views peacefu...

Are you sick of the university's bias in telling you what you should and should not think or do? So are we!

We believe in an open and benevolent society in which individuals they are the owners of their own lives.

We must be free to act according to our own judgments so long as we accept and respect the like freedom of others.

This is the best way that individuals are free to achieve their full potential.

Come and see us at our clubs expos around the country this week and next, starting with Young ACT Wellington.

Free Speech Event Postponed at Victoria University of Wellington

What did VUWSA take issue with? The argument was that the Free Speech Union was so prone to hate speech, that it should not be relied upon to support informed and balanced perspectives.


Marcail, President of VUWSA went on The Platform with Sean Plunket.

"We had some worries that it was going to end up being a forum which would breach the ethical needs for universities to protect the right to speak and challenge ideas that are based in evidence, research, and scholarship. We know that the views held by some people on the panel sometimes have not been based in evidence." she said.


Ironically, in the video clip on YouTube she then proceeded to fail to adequately produce an informed and balanced argument supported by evidence and good research to back up her claims.

Then on what evidence did the University agree to the postponement?


Young ACT Wellington has worked out who is spreading disinformation and promoting hate speech on campus... and it is not the Free Speech Union!


See the full press release here: https://youngact.org.nz/free-speech-event-postponed-at-victoria-university-of-wellington/

ANZAC Day holds deep significance for New Zealanders, as we see from the tens of thousands gathered around the country at dawn services. Lest We Forget the sacrifices of the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli 109 years ago.

David Seymour gave his State of the Nation Address the other day. And like many viewers, We found it overwhelmingly intelligent and positive. It presented a clear and inspiring path forward where New Zealanders can go on together with the message: “The value that individual people, given freedom under the law, can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those they care about.”

New Zealand is at an inflection point, and some may find it hard to change from the old, helpless ways of thinking into one of exultation and purpose.

Students are in the hotseat. We are the next generation of architects, engineers, musicians, scientists, and teachers, who benefit from taking our lives into our own hands and moulding ourselves into who we want to be. And this can only be done if we have the freedom to make choices for ourselves, and to be free to reap the consequences.

To find out more about how you can join this vision, join Young ACT today!

State of the Nation Address 2024 You’ve done it - ACT is at the Cabinet table for the first time. You’ve empowered us to build a freer country with more opportunity for generations to come.A...

Sick of the same? Tune in live for David's post-debate analysis @ 8:30pm

If you want to hear ACT's case for why young people should vote for ACT, come along to the youth debate tomorrow at Auckland town hall. ACT will be represented by Felix Poole for ACT Auckland Central.

We're excited to announce that David Seymour is coming to the University of Auckland to have a yarn about what ACT can do for you, and why you need to give ACT your party vote. ACT's Candidates for Auckland Central and Mt Albert, Felix Poole and Ollie Murphy will be joining us to talk about why they're standing for ACT.

Great to hear from everyone at clubs expos across the country. Students are being hit hard by the cost of living that's only grown under this government. Roll on October.

Today we're launching a campaign to 'Save the Vapes'.
This August, Labours new regulations will take effect. This will limit your choices, and crush competition. What's worse is that National want an outright ban. You only have to look to Australia to see how much this doesn't work.
Sign and Share this petition to show not just Labour, but National too, that we reject their views.

Save the Vapes – Young ACT Labour has plans to restrict the opening of new va**ng stores, disposable vapes, and even what we call the flavours. This will crush competition. But that’s not as bad as the Nats who want to ban ni****ne vapes entirely.

A bad meme for a bad policy.

It's seriously grasping at the straws to try win easy votes. Whether you like it or not, te reo Māori is an official language, other countries seem to do just fine with bilingual signs. That being said, we shouldn't be tearing down perfectly good signs for this, just update them when the sign needs replacing.

Lest we forget the young men of the ANZACs who sacrificed their futures so we could have ours.

Join us this Friday @ 6pm for some Pints and a bit of Politics at the new Headquarters bar in the Auckland Viaduct!

Come see us at the VuW Clubs Expo!

Come see us under the pavilion at the UoA Clubs Expo!

Come see us this Thursday at the University of Otago Clubs Day! You're also invited to come and support Chris Bailie MP in the Debate @ 3pm

Come see us tomorrow at the University of Canterbury Clubs Expo!

Come join us on the 28th Feb to support Simon Court MP in the The University of Auckland Debating Society Election Debate!

Our next candidate is Auckland-based ACT MP Simon Court!

First term ACT MP and spokesperson for Environment, Climate, Transport and Local Government, Simon is a Civil and Environmental Engineer with 20 plus years' experience in roles for the private sector and local government. This includes 10 years leading engineering, planning, tendering, and leading construction teams primarily in Auckland, Wellington, and Fiji.

Simon has three teenagers, the youngest with Down Syndrome which influences his perspective on accessibility.

In local government Simon managed a portfolio of 200 closed landfills, many in the coastal area, with aging and failing infrastructure. This experience led to a change of direction, and eventually to Parliament with ACT, where Simon sits on Environment Committee and Transport Committee.

Hear all about Simon’s ideas at our 2023 Election Debate on February 28th!

Next year's election may seem far away, but the work starts now!