Charter schools are one of the successes, he said. Parents need a choice about schooling because not every child fits into the present state school system.
A new charter (or partnership) school was announced for Rotorua on Tuesday. He hopes to see at least one in the Western Bay before too long.
"Charter schools are not for the rich, they are for children who are not coping with what's available," he said, adding "Act is not a party for the rich. It was founded by two MPs who left the Labour Party - Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble. They believed private enterprise offered a better solution than central government."
Mr Pedersen, the father of two sons now aged 23 and 22, took them sailing around the world when they were 7 and 5. They were home schooled by their mother Pam, a secondary school teacher.
A highlight was time spent in his father's homeland of Denmark, getting to know his many cousins, aunts and uncles.
His love of sailing led to actively volunteering with the Bay of Plenty Sailing Academy Trust which helps disadvantaged students learn life skills via a sailing programme.
The trust takes six youngsters from each of Gate Pa, Greerton Village, Brookfield and Merivale Schools, during terms 1 and 4 and teaches them to sail and cope with any problems that arise. Associated with the initiative is a "sponsor-a-sailor" programme during which a sponsor agrees to pay for a child's programme through until Year 13.
Four sponsors are lined up for term 4 this year, he said.
Mr Pedersen stance on Act's conscience call on euthanasia is guided by his mother's experience as a nurse, he said.
"I paid particular attention to the safeguards in the End of Life Choice Bill. They are sufficient to ensure there is a free choice. If I get to Parliament, I am, like most Act MPs, inclined to be in favour of the Bill."
He defines Act members as favouring personal responsibility, individual choice and small government - a live-and-let-live approach to government.
Mr Pedersen has a background in economics and strongly believes Kiwis are paying far too much in taxes.
"We are working all day Monday and Tuesday to pay our taxes. Under Act, you'd be working for yourself by smoko on Tuesday.
"This whole approach of taking taxpayers' money and feeding it back to them as tax cuts is a nonsense. The government has built up big surpluses which Labour says it will give back as lump sums for pensioners to pay their winter power bills. How is that fair?" he asks.
Another "good idea" from Act is its policy to reward prison inmates who make an effort to become literate while in jail.
"We need to get tough on crime and extend the three strikes policy from violent offences to include burglary. Our recidivism rate is about 70 per cent. We need to tackle that by teaching the functionally illiterate to read and write."
Mr Pedersen is adamant he is seeking the party vote.
"With a bit of luck, we might repeat the early days when we had several MPs in Parliament," he said.
