Hear, hear.
Tick the leaf and give your party vote to the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.
Category Archives: Vote 2011
Now is the time for action!
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.
Sermon on the Hill
At short notice, I was roped in to substitute for ALCP leader Michael Appleby at a Wellington Central candidates meeting, held this evening in St. John’s Hall in Karori, Wellington. I was the final speaker. The meeting was organised by Ethne Wyndham-Smith, Coordinator for the Karori Community Centre. Thanks, Ethne!
We’re in a church hall, so I’m going to give you a sermon! A short sermon. A sermon on Prohibition.
There was a song released a few years ago which you may have heard. My kids introduced me to it. It was called What if God smoked cannabis? Well, it’s an interesting question. Of course, God wouldn’t smoke cannabis. He’s sky high, all the time! Let’s bring it down to earth a bit and ask, instead, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus smoke cannabis? I don’t know, but I think the short answer is no. Jesus would not smoke cannabis.
But if you ask, would Jesus smoke cannabis, you’re asking the wrong question! The question is not, would Jesus smoke cannabis, but would Jesus arrest people who do? And the short answer to that, I believe, is also no. Jesus would not arrest people who smoke cannabis. He would not support Prohibition.
The Bible reading this evening is from the Epistle to the Collossians. Chapter 2, verses 20-23. Here’s what the Apostle Paul had to say about Prohibition.
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (NIV1984)
Paul recognised that Prohibition doesn’t work. Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! Don’t take drugs! These rules lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
There are good people with me up here on the stage. Two particularly good people are ACT candidate Stephen Whittington and Libertarianz candidate Reagan Cutting. Both Stephen and Reagan recognise what Paul recognised, and both support the ALCP’s core policy: legalise cannabis. They’ll join with me in telling you that Prohibition doesn’t work. And they’re right, it doesn’t.
Prohibition doesn’t work. Now think for a moment about that. Prohibition doesn’t work… OK. So, what would it be like if Prohibition did work? What’s Prohibition supposed to achieve? What’s Prohibition for? Prohibition is supposed to stop people taking drugs. Now, ask yourself, why on earth would you want to do that? Is it any of your business if people are taking drugs? How are you going to stop them?
Do you want to stop me taking drugs? If so, how are you going to stop me? Are you going to persuade me that taking drugs is a bad idea? Or are you going to send the police around to my house one day? Would you have them enter my house, against my wishes? Would you have them ransack the place, searching for the wrong kind of plant? Would you have them drag me off to a police cell, and detain me against my will? Would you?
Prohibition is violence! Jesus was not violent. What would Jesus do? I’d like to think that Jesus would give his party vote to the ALCP. This election, I ask you to do the same.
Please, give your party vote to the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and help end Prohibition. Prohibition is VIOLENT, it’s UNCHRISTIAN and it’s WRONG!
[Cross-posted to SOLO.]
Stephen Berry for Tamaki
Libertarians come and libertarians go … and some libertarians come back, older and wiser, and on steroids! Such a libertarian is Stephen Berry. One time Deputy Leader of the Libertarianz Party, this time around Berry is an Independent candidate for the Tamaki electorate. His website is here.
I’ve always loved Berry’s press releases. ACT – Classically Illiberal Stinkers is an all-time favourite.
“Any person who openly advocates a war on people of whom they disapprove could be called many things, most of which are uncomplimentary, but they can not be called ‘classical liberal.’ They are an authoritarian.
“I had always thought that classical liberals supported individual freedom and ownership over your own body and life,” Berry says. “Now, either I am mistaken about what a classical liberal is, or Newman truly has no political integrity. No prizes will be awarded for the correct answer.”
It was press releases like this one (and constant aggravation from Muriel Newman) that inspired me to join the Libz. Indeed, my first press release as a Libz spokesman, Smoking ban poll causes alarm, followed a week later.
There are many candidates to choose from in Tamaki this election. Most of them offer varying degrees of the status quo; only one offers the alternative of individual liberty. That candidate is Stephen Berry …
Unlike the other candidates for the seat of Tamaki, I am not going to bribe you with election lollies obtained through taxation. I am not going to promise to spend more of your money on special interests. I am not going to pretend that the solution to local and national issues is more Government. I am not going to tell you how to live your life, spend your money or what you must do with your property!
I am standing on a platform of individual freedom. Real individual freedom – not the watered down illusion that the Act party will offer. I am advocating true personal sovereignty – unlike the National party which has a constitution espousing freedom while they ban substances they do not approve of. I promote complete economic freedom – in contrast to Labour and Green politicians who wish to steal your money to redistribute to the lazy.
Bring it on!
I am Tamaki’s only freedom candidate!
Vote Stephen Berry for Tamaki! (And give the ALCP your party vote!)
Vote Sean Fitzpatrick – Ohariu 2011
I’m standing as the ALCP candidate for the Mana Electorate in this years’s General Election. Expect an official announcement soon.
Meanwhile, friend and fellow freedom fighter Sean Fitzpatrick has officially announced his candidacy for the Ohariu electorate.
Sean Fitzpatrick to be Libertarianz Candidate in Ohariu
Friday, 30 September 2011, 4:52 pm
Press Release: Libertarianz PartySean Fitzpatrick to Stand as Libertarianz Candidate in Ohariu
Libertarianz Deputy Leader, Sean Fitzpatrick, has officially announced his candidacy for the Ohariu electorate in this year’s general election.
As an alternative to power lusting professional politicians, Mr. Fitzpatrick will be contesting the electorate this November to serve the interests of individual voters themselves rather than serve the interests of a political party.
“While the authoritarian Greens are willing to back anti free speech campaigner Chuck Chauvel and the ‘cling to power at all cost’ Nats are willing to support Peter ‘I need Ohariu more than it needs me’ Dunne, Libertarianz wants to give voters a real alternative,” Fitzpatrick says.
“I am the only candidate who believes individuals are best qualified to run their own lives. Every other candidate either thinks people are too dumb to make their own decisions or simply views them as a tool to wrangle a political career.”
“Many people are struggling to find work and the national debt is worsening by the day. It is becoming increasingly urgent for politicians to get out of the way of the people who are the real source of economic growth: ordinary, hard working kiwis. These are the folk who care a lot more about their bank balance, their health care, their kid’s education and their own future prospects than any pack of politicians ever could.”
Mr. Fitzpatrick was the Libertarianz candidate in the Mana by-election in 2010. A professional martial arts instructor, he runs a highly successful full time school in Wellington.
For more information, see www.libertarianz.org.nz or contact:
Sean Fitzpatrick
Libertarianz Deputy Leader
Ohariu Candidate
Phone: 021 1699 281
Email: sean.fitzpatrick@libertarianz.org.nz
Website: http://seanfitzpatrickonline.comLibertarianz: More Freedom, Less Government
www.libertarianz.org.nz
Go, Sean!
Shaking hands and kissing babies
Soon I’ll be out shaking hands on the Mana campaign trail.
This time I’m standing for the ALCP. Last time I stood for Libertarianz. This time the Bill and Ben (pictured left) Party won’t be around to compete for the party vote at “the lower end of the scale”.
I’m pleased. The so-called “wasted” vote belongs to the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.
A party of parrots
It looks like Hekia Parata is the first off the blocks here in the Mana electorate. A flyer was in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago. Half the content is under the heading “I stand for:”
Not included are the three most important of the National Party’s stated values, viz.,
• Individual freedom and choice
• Personal responsibility
• Limited government
Included is
Safer communities. I back law and order policies that put victims first and deal with serious repeat offenders. I support early intervention for young offenders and measures to win the drug war on ‘P’.
Hekia’s list is standard copy that I presume has gone out to all candidates because the exact same text is on Mark Mitchell‘s website and Leonie Hapeta‘s website.
National Party candidates don’t know what they stand for. That’s why they have to be told. Parata’s party is not a party of principle, it’s a party of parrots!