The right wing A.C.T. Party define themselves as the party of small Government, where they get out of peoples lives and remove themselves from economic decision making. But are they really?
In fairness to A.C.T. the party has shown itself to be libertarian on the matters of firearms, sexual reproduction and euthanasia:
- Nicole McKee, Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms)has championed the relaxation of the rules around high capacity firearms, which has led to concerns that the Assault Rifle 15 (A.R. 15), which is the type used in numerous U.S. massacres and the Christchurch mosques atrocity may be available again
- David Seymour championed the End of Life Choices Act into law, which enabled people with terminal illness to choose assisted suicide
- David Seymour supported the Abortion Legislation Bill becoming an Act of Parliament in 2022
However, A.C.T., since they came to office as part of the National/A.C.T./N.Z.F. coalition have shown some distinctly Orwellian tendencies. For a party that promotes freedom of speech, they were far from impressed with students concerned about the state of the climate striking last week and went so far as to label it “sinister”. Also last week, Mr Seymour went so far as to say that A.C.T. had a plan for dealing with sick children whom he considered to be having “just a sniffle”.
A.C.T. further appear to have no respect for te Tiriti o Waitangi, and are championing a referendum on te Tiriti o Waitangi with a view to ending it. This is interesting, because it’s more moderate centre-right ally National has long respected and worked to advance the Treaty.
Maori have property rights just as non-Maori do, but a lot of Maori property and resources were confiscated often at the point of a musket or bayonet by colonizers. No compensation was on offer and it became taboo to speak te reo Maori. The Waitangi Tribunal and all that it does is to address these injustices. National understand that Maori have these rights too, but A.C.T. seem to want to dispute that by putting the very thing that gives pakeha a right to be here, under the spotlight.
For a party that epouses small Government, A.C.T.’s insistence on us letting the United States maintain surveillance installations and be entangled in their military establishment is confronting. Instead of developing our own unique identity and getting out of big power chess games, A.C.T. seems awfully keen on us being a pawn.
Not only all this, but libertarian commentator Damien Grant, also believes that A.C.T. are not a libertarian party. He acknowledges that A.C.T. never have been, despite some of their M.P.’s and certainly their grass roots membership wanting to think otherwise.
So, who are A.C.T., really?
Some would say right-wing populist for drawing support from people who argue that their needs are not being met. That was the case when Richard Prebble (1996-2004); Rodney Hide (2004-2011) were leading. Then A.C.T. talked tough on justice, the military, repealing the Resource Management Act.
Interestingly enough, commentators despite Damien Grant, seem to believe that under David Seymour there has been a swing towards the more libertarian part of the spectrum.
So, perhaps A.C.T. are a libertarian party after all. But if this is the case, the grass roots membership would do well to caution Mr Seymour and the rest of his caucus. The young students who were at the protest on Friday will be at voting age soon, and parents annoyed at intrusions by someone with no experience in the education system into their childrens education won’t forget any time soon the Orwellian tones of the last few days.
After all, 1984 as any TRUE libertarian will agree, is not an instruction manual!
Leftist Kiwi Writes 