Act’s coalition gamble puts party in danger at next election - Richard Prebble

Act leader David Seymour fronts media at the 2024 annual rally. Photo / Alex Burton

THREE KEY FACTS:

• The Act Party has set a target of 15 per cent of the party vote at the next election
• It got 8.6 per cent of the vote in the 2023 election
• It currently has 11 MPs

Richard Prebble is a former leader of the Act Party and a former member of the Labour Party.

OPINION

I went to the Act Party conference on Sunday. Only, it was not a conference but a rally. No policy remits, just MPs speaking and the guest speaker, Paul Henry.

I can listen to Parliament to hear MPs. I’ve heard Paul on the radio.

I went because Act is now in the most dangerous position. Since MMP no minor party in Cabinet has survived the next election remaining in Cabinet. I wanted to know if the policy gains are worth the political risk of being in a coalition.

David Seymour told the rally that if Act was not in government, then the Budget would have borrowed more.

As ministers cannot reveal Cabinet discussions how can we tell if Seymour is correct?

Act ministers have found savings even in ministries that Act strongly supports, like Primary Industry. Winston Peters demanded an increase in the Foreign Affairs vote. A lot of foreign affairs spending is a total waste of money. Our embassy in Beijing did not notice there was a pandemic.

For an alternative view: What threatens Act’s goal of 15 per cent in the next election?

I think Seymour’s claim is correct.

Going to the rally made me see the obvious. Something I knew but had not grasped the significance of. Most Act ministers are of Māori descent.

Much of the treaty discussion is an internal debate within Māoridom. Te Pāti Māori’s claim to speak for all Māori outrages Act’s Māori MPs.

Nicole McKee, the Minister of Courts and Associate Justice, defended her hard line on crime.

“The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows that Māori - more than any other ethnicity – make up a large number - of the victims of crime. We make up 37 per cent of victims. And the figure is even higher for Māori women. I believe the rights of those victims matter. That’s what I’m fighting for. So they dare not tell me that any part of Act’s mission is anti-Māori. .”

Act MP Karen Chhour said that Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has put race ahead of the welfare of children. She told of “a family being threatened with a reverse uplift because they were not Māori, who by the grace of God managed to find a Māori ancestor generations back in their bloodline” and of caregivers “being forced to send children to visit previous abusers just to keep the family connection.”

Chhour related how she has been subjected to racist attacks suggesting that she is “not the right kind of Maori”.

Chhour, a foster home survivor, has an authenticity that drives the left mad.

“My four children are Māori. They are also Pākehā. And through my husband’s side, they are Cambodian. But above all, they are individual people, with unique experiences and their own perspectives on the world.”

Chhour says Section 7AA is “the result of a twisted interpretation of the Treaty that divides New Zealanders” and is firmly in favour of Act’s proposed Treaty Principles bill. “The promise of the same rights and duties for all.”

Seymour in his address covered charter schools and regulatory reform but much of his address was devoted to saying: ”Each person has the same universal human dignity, no matter where they’re from”.

Christopher Luxon cannot wish the Treaty bill away. These Act MPs believe: “It’s your aspirations and your efforts that should matter, not who your ancestors were”. They will never agree to drop their fight for all New Zealanders to be treated equally.

I came away concerned whether Act ministers realise reforms are sent to committees and consultation to die.

Paul Henry speaking at the Act Party rally at the Viaduct Events centre in central Auckland at the weekend. Photo / Alex Burton

Act’s deputy, Brooke van Velden, is impressive. She won the Tāmaki seat and is the Cabinet’s youngest minister. She said she will send her proposed Holidays Act reforms for consultation.

Labour’s 2003 Holidays Act imposed an impossibly complex formula for calculating holiday pay. No employer or employee ever agreed to the formula. For 20 years governments have been consulting on fixing the mess.

What one Parliament passes; another can repeal. Just repeal the 2003 Act.

Andrew Hoggard, the Associate Minister for Agriculture, said “The coalition Government is going to deal with the big kahuna … the RMA … We wouldn’t need to have fast-track legislation if we had the underlying policy right. Everyone should have a fast-track”.

Act proposes a planning law based on property rights which would be a huge improvement.

Then Hoggard said, “You can be assured that Act’s voice is being heard”.

No one cares whether Act’s voice is being heard. What matters is that Act’s RMA reform is urgently implemented.

Paul Henry’s address was prophetic. Paul said the country is in serious trouble. He believes that all the changes will be academic if we do not create a much more productive economy.