A message from Richard McGrath, Libertarianz Party Leader, in the latest Liberty newsletter.
To freedom lovers, the return of John Banks to Parliament as an ACT MP is as unwelcome as the rash that announces the resurgence of syphilis following healing of the primary ulcer. If ever it could be claimed that ‘the science is settled’, it is the political science that predicts annihilation of the ACT Party at or before the 2014 election. The demise of the liberal wing of this once proud political force creates an opportunity for a regrouping of New Zealanders committed to the idea that self-government is the best form of government.
For several months, in various forums including Facebook groups, disaffected current and former ACT members, along with Libertarianz members and others, are throwing around ideas and discussing how best to advance the cause of liberty in this country. One suggestion is that a coalition of political organisations that broadly promote the ideals of smaller government and more individual freedom – a Freedom Alliance – be formed, with candidates to contest the local body elections next year and possibly the general election scheduled for 2014. The individual parties forming such an alliance would most likely comprise the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, the Libertarianz Party, the liberal rump of ACT represented in part by the ‘True Liberals’ and others yet unknown.
The unifying principle of such a coalition would be a belief in the principle of self-determination; of New Zealanders having greater control over their lives, and taking greater responsibility for their actions. The various parties to such a grouping would not have to see eye to eye on every single issue, and would retain their individual identities and be able to withdraw from the Alliance at any time.
Aiming for success at local body level is, as I see it, far more realistic than hoping that an ALCP or Libertarianz candidate will upset their National or Labour counterparts in an electorate seat, or break the totally arbitrary 5% (six seat) party vote barrier that crushes the smaller parties (why couldn’t the threshold be 0.83%, which would result in one seat?). Although local government is, to a large extent, dominated by central government in terms of its funding, a Freedom Alliance could stand on the basis of (for example) opposing rates rises (instead, pushing for significant and sustained decreases), slashing compliance costs, balancing district council budgets, devolving services into the private sector where feasible and legalising cannabis for medical or other use.
Over the past week, I have had conversations with the ALCP, and the True Liberals. I have examined the ALCP list of policies and estimate about 90% (if not more) of the content of those policies is written from a pro-individual liberty stance. The True Liberals may as well be clones of Libertarianz in terms of underlying beliefs and principles, so I hold great hopes of being able to working constructively with these two fairly major players.
If you are reading this, and think you have a better name than ‘Freedom Alliance’ for a grouping of liberal-minded political activists, or a better strategy for advancing the cause of freedom, then please let me know. Meantime, aim to get yourself to Auckland on Saturday 6 October to attend the Libertarianz Party conference. We are organising some interesting speakers including, I am confident, representatives from some of the other political groups mentioned above and one or two special (and unexpected) guest speakers.
I am looking forward to capitalising on what appears to be a groundswell of discontent at the way the centre-right coalition led by John Key continue to over-borrow (still a third of a billion dollars a week – ouch!), over-spend and overgovern us in the same misguided and mindless manner as their predecessors.
The 2012 conference will be different from those of the past. It’s not just for Libertarianz members—it’s a symposium for all people who believe we need a new political party in Parliament presenting small-government answers to the issues of today; a party which consistently advocates liberal solutions to problems such as our current economic malaise as well as taking a small-government approach to what individuals do in their private lives.
We will be confronting the urgent need for a new liberal party at both the national and local body level. Ever since local government was granted Power of General Incompetence in 2002, we have seen an explosion in its spending and power. In Auckland the C&R City Vision duopoly has run amok, overseeing year after year of enormous increases in rates and spending. There is room in local councils across the country for a party that really protects ratepayers’ wallets, property and liberties.
This year’s conference is shaping up to be historic. We have fantastic speakers lining up to have their say on the design of a new, united, truly liberal force in New Zealand politics.
Whether you be libertarian, liberal, a cannabis law reform advocate or disillusioned with the formerly semi-liberal ACT, you should help write New Zealand political history by attending this year!
Note: Persons who wish to attend this conference have the opportunity to make submissions on the name, branding and policies of a new national and local level political party at the conference. Anyone wishing to be part of the submission process can email conference@libertarianz.org.nz with their personal/organisation details and the content of their submission.
When:
Saturday, 6 October 2012 from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Where:
Crowne Plaza Auckland
128 Albert Street, Auckland
Schedule (Provisional):
09:00 AGM
09:15 President’s Address
09:30 Sean Fitzpatrick
09:50 Julian Pistorius
10:10 Richard McGrath
10:30 Morning Tea
10:45 Phil Scott – Foundation for Economic Growth
11:15 Lindsay Perigo
12:00 Peter Cresswell
12:30 Lunch
13:00 Stephen Berry on party re-brand and chairing of submissions
15:00 Afternoon Tea
15:15 Cameron Slater
15:45 Submissions on local body elections
17:00 Conclusions
17:30 END
Cost:
$59 Full price (Includes morning & afternoon tea & lunch)
$49 Early bird special; pay by 31st August
$39 Student/youth rate
Bank account:
Libertarianz
02 0278 0151989 00
Or send cheque to:
PO Box 6173
Wellesley St
Auckland 1036
Animals have rights. Yes, even feral conservatives like John Banks.
This PR may seem like one out of left field to some, but John Banks has a long history of campaigning for animal rights and supporting animal welfare legislation. It may seem that he and (former) Green MP Sue Kedgley make strange bedfellows, but a SAFE media release in (pre-election) October last year had this to say.
Greens Lead the Way against Colony Cages
If the nation’s three million caged hens could vote, the Greens and Act’s John Banks would be ruling the roost come this year’s election, says leading animal advocacy organisation SAFE.
Outgoing animal welfare spokesperson and Green MP Sue Kedgley, announced yesterday that her party will pledge against cruel colony cage systems and Act Party candidate, John Banks, also says he will pledge his personal support to help caged hens.
…
I say (and I am afraid this is going to be very unpopular), good on them both. Many libertarians are conflicted about animal welfare legislation. They think such legislation is unprincipled, while at the same time they abhor animal cruelty. I find their arguments, that the way to prevent animal cruelty is through social rather than legal sanctions, feeble at best and unconscionable at worst.
My defence of my seemingly unlibertarian views on the matter of animal welfare legislation is this. Animal welfare legislation is not a moral issue. It is a metaphysical issue.
(Almost) all libertarians I know subscribe to the view(s) that
human beings are individually possessed of certain inalienable rights, which are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of … happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers – and only such powers – from the consent of the governed; that all laws legislated by governments must be for the purpose of securing these rights; that no laws legislated by government may violate these rights …
If you believe, as I do, that non-human animals also possess some (limited) rights, then it is within the proper scope of government to secure those rights. Animal welfare legislation is not necessarily unlibertarian. Whether it is or not depends on whether or not non-human animals possess rights. And that is a metaphysical question, not a moral one.
While most Kiwis concern themselves with the state of the Economy, there is another issue of even greater magnitude being foisted up us… the preparations for a New Republican Constitution for New Zealand.
This process is being carried out in stealth, ie there is no public debate going on, but rather a collection of ‘Hui’ which are dominated by Socialists, Greens, and Racial separatists who have hijacked this project and are setting about to manipulate public opinion into accepting a corrupt constitution which enshrines Racial separatism and pseudo-legitimises totalitarian powers to Parliament.
I am currently attempting to rally a lobby group to oppose this skulduggery and to propose an alternative Constitution based upon Equality before the Law and Limited Government, which includes a Bill of Rights which must be respected by Parliament.
I have so far had no success.
One of my associates, One New Zealand Foundation’s Ross Baker shares my alarm that the separatists have Hijacked the process for establishing a New Constitution, and is concerned that the fact that John Key’s National Government has accepted the UN Declaration on Indigenous rights means it will be used as leverage by the Separatists to enshrine a separatist Constitution. He is also concerned about the lack of any organised opposition.
We intend to put up a fight!
Yet currently we are so few in number that we fear we have little hope of getting our side of the Debate herd, let alone be successful in halting the ambitions of the Racist Socialists.
Below is an Opinion piece I wrote at the time John ‘Quisling’ Key endorsed the Racist/ Anti- Enlightenment Document… The UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights. The danger I forewarn is now upon us.
This Declaration is about to be used in the most diabolical way. To enshrine an apartheid constitution.
This can only bring Greater evils and injustices upon us.
It will perpetuate the Extortion Racket that syphons millions of dollars into the hands of vile racists.
It will further entrench Maori in the mentality of victimism and the poverty of Socialist dependence.
I post it here today in the hope of stimulating interest in this ‘Mother of all Political struggles’ we currently face… To sound the Alarm… The Barbarians are at our gates! Prepare for Battle or be slaughtered, and your children enslaved.
Article/ Opinion piece… Quisling John Key sells out New Zealand to UN Socialist racism.
By Tim Wikiriwhi Libertarian Independent Hamilton West.
Recent dire events lead me to write this article asking how is it possible that earth shattering truths can explode in the face of a so-called educated people without causing so much as a tiny ripple of contemplation their consciences, yet at other times these same nation of scholars are provoked into a lynch mob frenzy at the drop of a hat? Machiavelli would say “tis elementary”… for the Prince skilled in statecraft.
I however conclude no such Diabolical genius is necessary!
*Mass Deception is easily achievable via corrupting the peoples education*… and thus over time manipulate their grip on reality.
* Furthermore I say New Zealand clearly has been so manipulated*… by mediocre liars who have been furnished with just such socialist political engines of condition and have propagated a nation of thoroughly ‘educated’ Ignorami!
Why am I pouring scorn upon my countrymen?
Let me explain.
Via John Key, New Zealand has just endorsed the UN separatist declaration of Indigenous rights which is contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi and the principles of justice which say our rights must be equal before the Law.
It pains me to think thousands of Kiwis voted for the Quisling John Key and his band of sycophants calling themselves the National Party!
That these Toe rags managed to convince anyone to vote for them is more than a badge of stupidity, it is fast proving to be a fatal error, yet most Kiwi are too ‘educated’ to grasp what this Quisling has achieved in his short stint at the top Job, and most of those who are ‘in the know’ belong to a club of shyster lawyers, racists, stooges, and power hungry Politicains now wringing their hands with glee at the thought of how to enrich themselves with filthy lucre…. thanks to the utter imbecile running our country.
I say John Key must rank as one of the worlds greatest two faced idiots in power today along side the President of Iran and Hugo Chavez, and ultimately is just as dangerous…just as disastrous.
Sitting at my computer, I could not express how grievous has been the collaboration of John Key with the radical racist separatists of the Maori Party, without venting this tirade you are reading.
As a Hamiltonian I wonder where are the voices of protest from our elected representatives Tim Macendoe and David Bennet?
Their silence betrays their complicity!
They have no spine… No independent conscience… They are loyal little minions.
John Key is no Prince yet is Machiavellian enough to time this vile political betrayal now, in the hope that the stupid New Zealanders will have forgotten about his deception at election time.
Not only did he do this without warning the nation, he did it behind the back of his coalition partner Rodney Hide!
This must rank as one of the most fowl deeds of recent NZ politics, right up there with Helen Clarks election fraud regarding Pledge Gate and Winston Peters and the Baubles of Power!
As far as civilisation and progress is concerned this UN document is an Anti- civilisation declaration!
It is the reverse of that great beacon of enlightenment dated 1776 that declared that All men are created equal!
It is a violation of that latter enlightenment treaty of 1840 that guaranteed equal rights for all New Zealanders, and cuts asunder the peoples it ideologically united as one.
I now wonder what National/Maori Spin doctors will weave, to convince the sheeple that the real treaty of Waitangi and the UN declaration of Indigenous rights can be honoured at the same time?
Oh that’s right…they have already been ‘educated’!
Hypocrisy! Stinking filth!
Where I ask, are journalists reminding the sheeple that Hone Harawera and co rejected all established authority in New Zealand apparently demanding Maori Sovereignty, yet now call for us to surrender our sovereignty to the dictates of foreign powers centralised in the UN?…oh that’s right, all our journalists have been ‘educated’ too!
It has been left to Libertarians and Patriots such as the One New Zealand Foundation to ring out the alarm.
I have been telling New Zealanders for years that contrary to what we are being taught, the real racial troubles of our Nation were not a result of failure to honour the treaty of Waitangi, but emanates from Anti Western Racist Socialist Ideology emanating from the UN.
I have been saying that even without the Treaty of Waitangi we would still be in this racist mess and I have referred to Zimbabwe and Fiji as proof of this, yet my voice and that of a small bunch of individuals has been as one who cries out in the wilderness.
When I said Frank Bainamarama is a hero of racial equality before the Law, desperately fighting the Indigenous racists of his country, The media and the sheeple choose to ignore my arguements, and vilify Bainimarama.
Well ignore me if you will, but don’t ignore the Haka of Hone Harawera!
You do so at your Peril and that of your children.
Harawera has already told you to your face that his party intends to wield The UN declaration as a weapon to crush the rights of all non-Maori!
Listen to the Racist Judges such as Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie who have already indicated to Maori Party that they will collaborate with their racist schemes that invoke the UN declaration!
Listen to the media that now tells us that even the treaty grounds themselves will now be claimed as exclusively Maori!
Read the declaration for yourselves and realise it is a green light for an utterly divided country, severed into two different Nations, with two different governments!
That is what self-determination means!
Ask your Zimbabwean neighbours who are now refugees from their motherland!
Why has Rodney Hide not withdrawn his support from such treacherous Leadership?
Hide has no credibility! It was obvious from the day John Key hongied Tama Iti what extremes he was prepared to stoop to in his bid for power and when Key ask to support a National/Maori Party coalition, Hide should have refused outright!
He sold himself and his party’s claims to oppose Waitangi apartheid for forty pieces of silver…just as Winston Peters did with Helen Clark.
True Justice is Blind to Colour, Culture, Creed, etc.
Whom will save us from this diabolical scheme?
What evils must we now face?
To what lengths must we now strive… how much blood must soon flow to win yet again justice and equality before the Law and restore our land to the tranquillity hard won in the 1860s?
We must throw out National and the Maori Party, and don’t let Labour or the Greens back in either as they share the same racist politics as National/Maori.
We must get the Real treaty restored, ie The Littlewood Treaty which is an exact translation of The signed Maori Te Triti o Waitangi and scrap the perverted revised Modern perversions that are being used to justify Maori sovereignty and separatism .
We must abolish the separate electoral roll and Maori seats in Parliament.
We must abolish all race based Laws and state institutions.
We must enshrine a New constitution of equality before the Law!
We must abandon the UN.
We ought to support Frank Bainimarama in his struggle to have racial equality in Fiji.
New Zealanders need to look past all the charlatans of the mainstream parties and look for new representatives who have not sullied themselves with racist politics
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Libertarian Independent
Hamilton West.
Opposition parties say New Zealand has been turned into a “police state” after Parliament last night narrowly passed the Government’s controversial Search and Surveillance Bill.
Parliament last night passed by the Bill by 61 votes to 57.
It was opposed by all Opposition parties and the Government’s support partner the Maori Party.
…
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira said 70 different government agencies could obtain surveillance warrants based on suspicion a crime could be committed.
“This Bill goes way beyond what they have in Europe, in Canada and even in the US.”
If someone was detained under the Bill, enforcement officers could search a person’s workplaces and friends, he told Parliament.
“You don’t have to be guilty of anything, you don’t even have to be to be arrested. You only have to be detained.”
Mana opposed the Bill because it led to a “police state”.
“Where the liberties and freedoms most of us now enjoy will disappear, where the powers of the police will be extended without the approval of the judiciary, where the powers of government agencies will assume more authority that the rights of ordinary New Zealanders and where there will be an assumption of guilt not only on an alleged offender but on anyone who knows that person.
“Where enforcement officers can bug your granddaughter’s phone, install a hidden camera in your daughter’s bathroom, download the files from your wife’s computer and steal your files without even having to prove a crime has been or will be committed.”
At the risk of starting a storm even more intense than the debate on climate change, I thought I’d note that the current issue of “The Economist” (in my opinion the best weekly news magazine in the English-speaking world) has an article on the ongoing drug wars in Latin America. Thousands of people have died, and it is not at all obvious than the flow of drugs, much of it to the US, has been reduced despite the cost in human life.
Last year, I enlivened my campaign for the ACT Party – unwisely in retrospect – by suggesting that in New Zealand we should be taking a serious look at whether the present policy on drugs like marijuana should be changed. The Law Commission has suggested there should be change, and internationally the Global Commission on Drugs has made a similar recommendation. I should stress that I myself have not ever used recreational drugs (except relatively small amounts of alcohol) and I do not want to see my teenage son using them either. I’m simply saying that by continuing to make the possession of small amounts of marijuana a criminal offence we drive the drug traffic into the hands of seriously bad people, who do enormous damage to everybody they touch.
Don The Freedom Fighter. With his fall New Zealand lost its best hope of economic recovery, improved property rights, greater personal freedom, and racial equality before the Law.
I Salute You Don. You stepped forward in the time of your country’s need and did your best to bring economic sanity to the table and halt our spiral downward into the abyss. You opposed Waitangi Racism. You opposed The Green Scam of ETS. You sought to end the stranglehold of the RMA, and you even dared to question the popular bigotry and oppression of the war on drugs. You did not fail in my book. You are a hero. It was the one eye media and the Sheeple of New Zealand, and the Luke warm whimps in your midst whom failed you and themselves. Please dont regret your Idealism. Do not think you ought to have pandered to the Sheepish mentality. Be proud that you made your appeals to Reason and justice.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Don The Stoner. This image appeared after Don Brash bravely declared he believed Cannabis ought to be decriminalised. Truly a Legendary appeal for Liberty and Justice.
The Devil offered Christ all the Kingdoms of the world if he would but bow down before him.
A low vote count can be very devastating to a person or party standing for election.
No doubt many Act party members are moping about, licking their wounds.
There can be many reasons why election defeats occur and those involved in such situations discuss ways to improve their chances of election next time, yet there is a very evil temptation that must be avoided at all cost.
The thing to beware is the notion that principles must be sacrificed for the sake of popularity… Compromise is the road to hell.
Many Power hungry Politicians are Poll driven sluts!.
Humanity is in peril. The stormy world of politics needs an immovible lighthouse to shine its light in the darkness
The Libertarianz Party will Stoically endure all. They have faced election defeats for a decade and a half, yet have always resisted the temptation to soften their bid for freedom and justice. I have stood for Parliament and council both as a Libertarianz Party Candidate and as an Independent, yet have never changed a single policy. My principles are not for sale. Having no lust for power for its own sake. I see no point in striving to win election if the price must be to forsake and betray my values. Yet it is amazing how many parties and individuals do just that. If you read the National party constitution you would think they were the Libertarianz or Act party, yet in reality they are today virtually identical to the Labour party. Via compromise after compromise….step by step they deserted their original/ foundational ideals and now represent the very opposite convictions. For the sake of Political power they sold out. Thus my message to Don Brash and the Act Party is Don’t blame your principles as being ‘the problem’! Don’t fall into the trap that you must ‘water down’ and compromise your Ideals…for popularities sake! No! You must be resolved. You must improve how you get your message across to the public… but stand rock solid… immovable upon the principles which define you and distinguish you from the National Party…lest ye become light blue. Here is a short list of things you cannot compromise upon without selling your soul to Satan.
1. Be resolute in regards to the RMA. Liberty and Property rights are an essential for a prosperous and just Nation.
2. Be resolute in opposition to the ETS. It is a giant socialist scam attempting to cripple industry and growth, and control of the Means of production.
3. Push for the decriminalization of Cannabis. This is an extremely important Law and order issue. The gains that such a reform would make to our society is Monumental.
4. Stand firm upon Ending Waitangi Apartheid. Racial Equality before the Law is a fundamental of Justice. The Waitangi Gravy train is a heinous disease that ensnares Maori in Racism and socialist dependence and corrupts race relations.
Thus Act must spend the next three years working to gain back support. I suggest you push harder…not softer upon these righteous policies… or Quit….and leave the field clear for the Libertarianz Party. Those are the only two moral options you have.
I may have only recieved 101 votes yet I wont be changing my principles.
St Paul said “I have fought the Good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…”
Christian note: Of all people, Christians ought to be aware of the evils of selling out the principles of justice for Popular support. We are warned about the evil of compromise many times in the scriptures. For example “Broard is the way that leadeth to Damnation, and many there be thereon; Narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it”, and again “Let God be true and every man a Liar”, and again What profit a man should he gain the whole world but loose his own soul?, and again “Ye cannot serve both God and Mammon”. The Utilitarian Principle of the greatest Happiness is actually an Anti-Christian Atheist Doctrine designed to opposes Christian Values and Idealism.
Of course this does not mean a Christian cannot make compromises on non-essential questions and be accommodating with the desires of others, as long as this does not compromise essential principles. As far as values go Integrity to truth and justice ought to be much higher up your hierarchy than the lust for power (Integrity to truth and justice ought to occupy the very highest tier and be a defining characteristic of your being!). Do not deceive yourself that you may Compromise yourself to gain power, and that when it is within your grasp that you will then wield it with resolute integrity. Remember ‘Power tends to Corrupt’, thus if you are prepared to make compromises to gain power, undoubtedly you will be prepared to make more to keep it. Tim Wikiriwhi.
Fitzpatrick Calls on ACT, ALCP for Electorate Vote
“In the 2008 election 487 Ohariu voters gave their electorate vote to the ACT candidate and 1,304 gave ACT their party vote,” Libertarianz Ohariu candidate Sean Fitzpatrick observed today.
“This year ACT has chosen to not stand a candidate in the Ohariu electorate. This leaves a void for those who sympathize with the classical liberal / libertarian side of the ACT party.”
“I call on ACT voters from previous years to seriously consider giving me your electorate votes this year, even if you still intend to give ACT your party vote. There is simply no other alternative that is even remotely satisfying.”
Fitzpatrick points out, “ACT supporters will not want to see Chauvel or Hughes as their local MP. Dunne has openly bagged Dr Brash for his views on the economy, drug law reform and virtually everything else. Katrina Shanks is only campaigning for the list vote.”
“In short, the ACT voter who still wants their electorate vote to count for something this year really only has one choice: Sean Fitzpatrick of Libertarianz.”
“In similar fashion, the Aotearoa Legalize Cannabis Party is also not standing a candidate in Ohariu this year. ALCP voters can be assured that I back their view on drug law reform,” Fitzpatrick concludes.
Can you imagine a political campaign ad like this in New Zealand? No, didn’t think so.
Perhaps not uncoincidentally, also in my inbox later in the day was a press release from ACT Leader Don Brash with the subject line, Time for Action. Don says
PREFU figures released today show that the National Government is projected to achieve fiscal surplus by 2014/15, as originally projected in the Budget. If achieved, this would place New Zealand in an elite group of countries. But the PREFU also highlights some very disappointing facts …
New Zealand will continue to suffer from anaemic economic growth for the foreseeable future and is projected to have long-term growth markedly slower than the growth assumed for Australia. This suggests that the Government’s objective of narrowing the gap between incomes here and those in Australia is still a distant dream.
I think I have a sound grasp of basic economic principles. I know what wealth is and where it comes from. But I have no idea what PREFU is. If Don says that today’s release of PREFU figures is good news, I believe him. But this anaemic press release doesn’t inspire this reader to action. I suspect that the latest poll which shows that John Banks trails in Epsom did not inspire the writer. It now looks likely that Don will have nothing to show for his unprincipled pragmatism in regard to ACT’s choice of Epsom candidate. A seat for him in Parliament after the upcoming election is still a distant dream.
I admire Don for (among many things) his public stance on cannabis law reform, and I despise the media and assorted low-lifes who used the opportunity to put the boot in rather than seize the opportunity to debate the issues. But now it looks like the cannabaton has been passed back to the ALCP. Thanks, Don, we’ll run with it.
