PREFACE  Sunday, 24 October 1993  New Zealand's Greatest Challenge : TO create A Shared Future.  New Zealand today stands poised on the threshold of a great challenge.  it is a challenge unlike any other that we have faced in almost fifty years. A challenge that requires wisdom, sensitivity and real courage.  And it is a challenge that we dare not fail. For, if we do, we condemn this Nation to further division, hardship and rancour. The last two governments have already taken us to the edge of that despair.  Their blundering insensitivity and lack of accountability - wrapped in a sickly shroud of outmoded ideology - has worsened New Zealand's economic and social plight and that of its people.  The grim tale of a nation's decline is to be seen when compared with those fundamentals which are internationally accepted as indicating a strong economy. LOW real interest rates (NZ second highest in OECD), low or no unemployment, low debt, low inflation, a rising standard of living, high and rising wages, a strong currency, regular balance of payments surpluses and high investment in infrastructure and people.  on that nine point measurement we fail, having got only one indicator, low inflation, right.  The challenge for all New Zealanders is to put aside political prejudice and admit the facts, and having done so, do something about improving them.  New Zealand has a sound resource base and a good people, we all know that given these good fortunes we could be doing much. much better -rapidly expanding our wealth, meeting legitimate expectations, caring for our elderly and investing in our young.  At Elections its normal for parties to present their manifestos - blueprints of where, if elected, they would take the country. Of late manifestos have proven more diversionary than illuminating, frequently masking agendas the details of which are never written.  This is not such a document New Zealand First's manifesto sets out a number of key policies and commitments, economic and social, which given the collective goodwill of New Zealanders will work to restore a once great Nation to its rightful place as a world leader.  Please read it.  For New Zealand First is about recognising where New Zealand is and a strategy to take New Zealand to where it wishes to aspire. These policies make up a manifesto. YOU can make their implementation a reality, it does not hand anything to New Zealanders on a plate, it is all about hard, weary work. it is about accountability not just for or from New Zealanders, but for and from their politicians as well. it is about short and long term planning but is also about getting New Zealanders to the top and New Zealanders getting New Zealand there too.  we invite you to join this most worthy cause - to work for New Zealand and in so doing to be working for yourselves. Remember, you are making choices for your children and grand-children as well.  There are no more words that we can write, we have faith in our principles, that they are right for New Zealand at this time.  we hope that you will believe the sincerity of our invitation .  There is a willingness here to work through the great issues confronting the New Zealand people.  There will be sorrow if you do not join. But in the end what can we write - there are no words.  it is up to New Zealanders to take up the challenge, to join, and work for our country.  "Let's put New Zealand First."  Hon winston Peters MP Leader - New Zealand First  FIFTEEN FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES  TO put New Zealand and New Zealanders First.  Open accountable Government with less Government  Parliament will be reduced from 99 Members to 80. The number of consultancies and Government advisors will be cut by over 50%. Only on a vote of confidence in a Government, will NEW ZEALAND FIRST'S Members of Parliament be required to vote with the party. On all other issues, a Member of Parliament's first duty is to the Electorate and the Nation. Any attempt to coerce an MP to vote against his/her Electorate will constitute  a contempt of Parliament.  Economic Policy  Economic Policy will be an economic development strategy to add value to our resources, relying on independent business expertise with Government support to encourage economic success.  Employment  The employment of New Zealanders is our first planning priority. 10% unemployment is not acceptable, we regard this human and economic waste as a blight on this country's productivity.  Education  Money spent on Education will be treated as an investment not as expenditure. Educational advancement must be in the national as well as the individual interest. Educational investment is critical for economic and social recovery.  Health  Health will cease to be a balance sheet item and will be a critical investment in New Zealand's human resource.  Immigration  Whilst this country, with such a small population, will continue to require the infusion of overseas skills and expertise, immigration will cease to be used as an excuse for our failure to train, skill and employ our own  people.  8 The welfare State  The welfare state must be an umbrella to meet genuine and deserving need. The Government has a duty to properly determine those needs and respond to them. That said, social welfare must no longer neglect assisting recipients to become independent from the State.  9 Taxation  Our long-term objective is New Zealanders paying less tax with simplified and enforced tax laws.  10 Environment  Wise Governments view the preservation and enhancement of the environment as sound economics. When much of the world has deteriorated beyond the margins of environmental sustainability, it is sound economics to proactively improve one of our few competitive advantages. All environmental policies will be proactive with a view to creating employment and sustainable wealth.  11 Foreign Policy  The first objective of foreign policy will be good government at home and being a reliable neighbour in our region. Your desire for a non-nuclear future will be respected.  12 New Zealand Resources  State asset sales will cease, if considered appropriate and only where absolutely necessary, management by private contracts will take the place of state asset sales.  13 Honest Government  An independent anti-corruption commission will be established to enable New Zealanders to have confidence that their institutions are working properly.  14 Electoral Reform  Electoral reform will be determined by the electors. The Government's duty will be to ensure the fair presentation of all views and the holding of appropriate referenda.  15 Towards a Better Democracy  All policies, not contained in the party manifesto, where no national emergency clearly exists, will first be referred to the electorate for a mandate.  ECONOMIC POLICY  "would-be imitators in other countries should have a field-day watching how this pilot experiment in radical right-wing social and economic policies works." (The Economist February 2,1980).  "Thus eight years after the initiation of the stabilisation and liberalisation efforts, the Chilean economy faced great uncertainty, white the once rampant inflation was finally reduced to 10 percent, this accomplishment took nearly a decade and was accompanied by huge losses in real output, particularly in manufacturing; a sharp increase in unemployment; and a significant worsening in the distribution of income, in 1982, when several of the new programmes were abandoned, manufacturing output was 25 percent lower than in 1973, the unemployment rate had reached 21 percent, domestic savings and productive investment were depressed, and the burden of servicing external debt was increasing rapidly."  "For Chile in 1982, read New Zealand 1993.'  PREAMBLE  in the tenth year of unmandated reforms New Zealand is a segmented society. New Zealand's path to "so-called" economic reform is littered with business failures, some New Zealanders are satisfied while the critics affirm that the situation evolves from bad to worse. Can both be right because the contrast can hardly be greater between "the good trend of the indicators" and the lack of any real benefits to most New Zealanders.  The current monetarist experiment was imposed on New Zealand from a flawed diagnosis of a lacklustre economy after 1984.  page 2 Economic Policy  A prescription, which had failed elsewhere was tried in New Zealand, its main features:  D FOCUS on inflation as a negative to efficient growth  2) use a few blunt instruments -  a) control money supply  b) reduce the Government's deficit regardless of purpose  c) devaluation  d) free up pricing  e) eliminate subsidies regardless of their purpose  f) exposure to free trade  g) reduce the role of the state  3) The "shock treatment"; reduce inflation as quickly as possible, rather than a gradual adjustment.  4) propagandise the theme of "facing up to reality".  Meanwhile New Zealand has fallen, in living standards, from twenty-second to twenty-fifth with a thirtieth ranking likely by the year 2000. The claim that there is recovery underway is a cruel hoax. The cost of reducing inflation in terms of unemployment, losses of output and worsening social problems is ignored. Real demand, which would expand employment and income, has not emerged but Government claims that, as in 1987 and 1990, "everything has been done for that to happen". For the great majority of New Zealanders it never will happen.  PHILOSOPHY  NO nation has a fully competitive market economy. The key weakness of the market mechanism is its inability to formulate the effective strategies or restraints other than those that arise from the marketplace itself.  in other words it is only in New Zealand that the market is considered to be without limitation. States have always intervened to spur economic activity and what matters is not the intervention but the quality of it.  The East-Asian successes, which fit none of the formulae of extreme economic liberalism in New Zealand, provides powerful evidence that economic expansion depends on state encouragement to direct economic activity towards greater investment.  The East-Asian developmental model reflects an understanding of market limitations so that critical resource allocation and investment decisions are made by the state on the advice of business, in other words there is an organisational and leadership role for the state in the development process.  New Zealand today lacks a developmental mixed economy; or "encouraged capitalism", which will combine market mechanisms and planning.  New Zealand will only stop its trajectory of economic decline by implementing a national game plan; an economic development strategy, and by striving to join the ranks of the super exporters.  An export earnings target of $45billion. which is achievable within ten years, would restore the living standards of New Zealanders to the top ten in the world, such an outcome is only possible with the guidance and encouragement of sound development planning, not the unseen hand of the free market.  NO society would have better economic prospects than New Zealand. The long-run trends in the global economic order are in our favour but only if we dedicate ourselves to a new strategy of combining industrial and commercial modernisation with the expansion of exports, such a strategy is replete with international examples of success whilst the strategies of the last two governments of Labour and National have none.  The following admission by the Minister of Finance of the state of the deficit on December 19,1990 is proof that three years on no real progress has been made. This admission, against the current deficit of Sl.4b is alarming given the national debt has risen from $l6.2billion (July 1984) to S67billion today.  "After taking account of all supplementary estimates, bids made bv departments and revised tax forecasts, we are now facing a financial deficit for 1990/91 of around $l400m compared with a projection of S69lm at the time of the December initiative." (National's Minister of Finance, Memorandum for cabinet, dated 8 March 1991)  FISCAL  A major contribution to our barren business landscape is that political charade, the Reserve Bank Act and its arbitrary and damaging inflation targets and the barren monetary and credit policies generated by these targets. The present impasse will continue indefinitely until the mindless dogma underpinning it is recognised and replaced.  The Reserve Bank Act, introduced by Labour and supported by National is silly legislation at best and dictatorial and damaging, in economic terms, at worst.  The Act requires that the Governor and the Staff of the Reserve Bank direct their entire energies to the control of inflation within the narrow 0-2% range dictated by political imperatives, in addition the Governor's job is wholly dependent on his successful execution of this goal. if he fails his contract of employment is terminated.  That arrangement at best begs the question - why have a Reserve Bank Governor? For that matter - why continue with the charade of calling the institution over which he presides a "Reserve Bank"? in reality the Governor and his staff are mere puppets acting on the Minister of Finance's dictates and policies, an extension of the Ministry of Finance, and executor of the political ideology of its Minister, in truth it is not a Reserve Bank at all, but a political instrument taking its instruction from the Minister of Finance. The Reserve Bank Act and the manner of the Bank's current operation is dictatorial and damaging because the Act and 0-2% inflation target is one important reason why New Zealand's economy is moribund and failing to deliver benefits, wealth or adequate remunerative employment, for the vast majority of New Zealanders.  The 0-2% inflation target is purely arbitrary based on the inflation rates in certain countries, Japan and Switzerland amongst others, and set at a time when those randomly chosen international inflation models enjoyed sustained growth. Regretfully, there is no evidence to prove that the high growth rates of those countries at the time the arbitrary inflation target was set, were necessarily generated by low inflation. LOW inflation may have been a contributing factor but there is no evidence to suggest that it was the major one.  Attainment of 0-2% inflation targets has been achieved in New Zealand by a monetary policy which has essentially stifled growth and which will continue to do so if maintained into the future.  The important fact is the current under 1.5% inflation level for our overall economy is less than New Zealand's imported inflation component of around about 1.5%. which means our local economy has been in deflationary mode. That is a mathematical and economic fact and little wonder that New Zealand's economy is perceived as being stalled by the majority of New Zealanders.  it also explains why joblessness continues as the number one economic problem and is expected to remain at present levels into the foreseeable future, ie the next five years.  Apart from current monetary policies, credit policies also act as a major constraint to robust and sustained economic recovery.  Real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates remain far too high; the second highest in the OECD at 8.5%. Credit conditions, equity contribution of the borrower, loan terms and repayment conditions, further restrict basic business development.  New Zealand today has neither risk nor venture capital available to fund new business development which is the key to relieving joblessness and creating the wealth we need to finance our health, education, retirement and other essential social programmes.  under current commercial bank lending practices there is no provision to tailor the credit needs of development projects to their cash flow profile. Demands for 50% equity and full repayment of the loan within 5 years fit few business proposals.  in its tenth year of pursuing these policies, the lack of progress signals the impracticality of policies the further pursuit of which holds no greater hope for economic redemption than the last ten years, were this not so, Labour, the architect of these policies, would still be in power. The policies don't work for they are inherently flawed and the mere changing of Government's will not change that.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  inflation  New Zealand's inflationary target will be set at just below the average of our major trading partners.  Economic Strategy  1 New Zealand First believes that New Zealand can achieve GDP growth rates in excess of six percent per annum. New Zealand is not currently capable, given the present policy limitations, of producing the wealth to sustain its legitimate economic and social needs.  2 New Zealand First will work with all sections of business, manufacturing, and exporting, to establish a national strategy for exports.  The present absence of such a strategy is one of the primary reasons for New Zealand's failure to attain achievable export targets. New Zealand First's strategy will include an export target of $45Billion per annum within ten years.  3 The employment of New Zealanders will be the first economic planning priority.  4 A strategy of developmental economics will be introduced, targeting and encouraging the adding of value to all New Zealand resources, as well as those acquired from overseas, instead of letting others from outside New Zealand gather up our resources and develop them for their own profit - and employment.  TO meet that objective the laws relating to the overseas investment Commission, the Land settlement Promotion Act and New Zealand ownership will be reviewed and when changed, enforced..  5 New Zealand First will initiate tax policies to encourage investment in New Zealand business and resource development.  6 New Zealand First will establish an effective national savings policy with the intent of providing a pool of investment funds for the development of New Zealand enterprise and employment and enhancing our international credit rating.  7 New Zealand First will work with all sections of business, professional bodies and academia to ensure that competitive science and technology demands of the modern market are met.  8 New Zealand First will ensure the full participation of Government in national productivity strategies affecting all areas of business and employment.  9 New Zealand First will ensure that import policy will reflect a fair and level market for all areas of New Zealand manufacturing having full consideration for all elements of production in the countries of origin of all imports. New Zealand First believes in the principles of both free and fair trade.  10 small Business Policy (see 4 August announcement).  11 Employment Policy (see 10 October announcement).  12 Taxation policy (see 24 October announcement).  13 welfare Policy (to be announced)  ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION POLICY  "Recognising that the cost of apathy will be paid by our children and their children."  PREAMBLE  Traditional apathy, political 'greenwashing', has typified New Zealand Governmental policy towards our environment. Accordingly, many of our rivers and lakes are polluted, sewage is pumped into our harbours, and we lack adequate controls to protect both the physical and human environment.  New Zealand First is not prepared to allow the continued decline of our natural heritage, it is essential to the future well-being of our land and its people that we adopt a series of far sighted, responsible environmental policies that will well serve future generations of New Zealanders.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand First will establish a regime of ongoing and regular consultations with the groups included in the 'vote for the Environment charter 1993'. our intention is to take unprecedented action designed to make New Zealand the most environmentally advanced nation in the world, in so doing, it is expected that employment, sales of new environmental technology, and tourism will be enhanced to the level where income will greatly exceed the investment expenditure. All new Zealanders will share in the benefits of a real, sustainable environmental and conservation policy.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS  Time frame for implementation of the policy  New Zealand First will introduce legislation on the basis of a ten year plan. Within that time frame, the first two years will be allocated to public consultation, the setting up of infrastructural requirements and the passage of legislation. The remaining eight years will concentrate on research and development, international marketing and compliance. By the end of year ten full compliance will be mandatory by all individuals, businesses and local authorities.  POLLUTION  1 Ail rivers, lakes and coastal waters will be returned to their natural unpolluted condition.  2 All sewage will be treated to an internationally acceptable level.  3 All toxic waste sites will be cleaned up.  4 New Zealand First will require all existing pesticides and hazardous substances to go through a re-registration process.  5 New Zealand First will require all Government Departments to set waste minimisation targets.  6 All chemical use legislation will be grouped under new Environmental Legislation and subject to stringent controls.  7 New Zealand First will ensure that the administration and control of marine pollution and marine dumping will rest with the Marine safety Authority. Their monitoring, together with oil pollution and the collection, storage and incineration of wastes, will be transferred to the Ministry for the Environment.  8 All atmospheric discharge will be subjected to stringent controls, under the Resource Management Act standards to be set by 1995.  9 pollution will become a 'guilty party pays' item.  10 New Zealand First will produce a coherent plan which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by twenty percent of 1990 levels by the year 2000, and by fifty percent by the year 2020.  n Strict liability will be imposed in all but very rare and exceptional circumstances.  12 New Zealand First will initiate a pro-active programme at the local and national level to encourage recycling of wastes including oil.  HABITAT PROTECTION  1 New Zealand First supports the concept of progressively more of the coastline becoming marine reserves. The location of those reserves, however, will be determined by the government, in consultation with all interested parties.  2 The formal establishment of additional national parks is recognised as integral to the overall success of the policy. Allowing two years for consultation, legislation will be introduced during year two to give effect to this policy.  3 National Parks have traditionally been confined to mountainous regions, it is intended that funding be made available for some flat, wetland areas to be included as public heritage reserves.  4 New Zealand First will provide baseline annual funding of twenty million dollars indexed to inflation, to enable the Department of Conservation to protect areas of important indigenous forest and non-forest natural habitats on private land including coastal areas, wetlands and tussock grasslands through a purchase, tease or covenant arrangement.  5 The capture and slaughter of feral horses in the Kaimanawa ranges will be stopped and a research programme will be funded to determine the population parameters and other characteristics of this important tourist resource.  RECREATIONAL FISHING  1 One in three New Zealanders participates in recreational fishing, in order to properly cater for this need, all commercial fishing will be banned within 10 kilometres of the coastline in stipulated areas, governed by a set of criteria which will include public accessibility, population density and ecosystem sensitivity. Commercial fishing interests adversely affected by this ban will be given assistance to relocate in alternative fishing grounds or compensated in full from the proceeds of a special tax on the sale of all recreational fishing equipment.  The ban will not apply to commercial cray fishing, or to the gathering of shellfish. Kite fishing regulations will be amended to reduce the number of hooks from fifty to twenty-five.  2 The 'Queen's Chain' concept of public access along the shores of waterways, is recognised as a special, important right bestowed upon all New Zealanders.  New Zealand First will ensure that the 'Queen's Chain' will be retained. Legislation will be introduced to remove the Minister's existing right to alter the width of the 'Queen's Chain'.  PEST CONTROL  1 New Zealand First will establish a fund of thirty million dollars to help with the eradication of possums, and for the Research and Development of control measures for other introduced pests and diseases.  ENERGY CONSERVATION  1 it is intended to achieve a twenty percent (vote Environment Charter target) improvement in energy efficiency by the year 2000. New Zealand First will adopt a target of doubling energy efficiency by 1995 and will encourage the greater use of alternative fuels for passenger vehicles.  2 New Zealand First will promote and accelerate research into alternative energy sources, including wind power, solar power and other renewable forms of energy.  3 New Zealand First will shift all of Governments Energy Research and Development budget into energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable energy Research and Development by the 1997 round of science Funding decisions.  REAFFORESTATION  1 it is recognised that a sustainable balance must be achieved between indigenous reafforestation, commercial felling, and commercial replanting. Different areas within New Zealand have . specific needs in terms of socio-environmental balance, and it is intended that this emotive issue be determined fairly on a regional basis - by the people who live and work in these areas, where a decision cannot be reached, the government will act to achieve a resolution based on the fundamental principles of its Environmental Policy, and pay compensation where appropriate.  TECHNOLOGY  1 Environmental technology is an up and coming international multi billion dollar industry. Together with Tourism, New Zealands' unique situation gives our country an unequalled opportunity to significantly decrease unemployment - and enhance our heritage - by taking bold, collective action in this critical policy area. After ten years, New Zealand should be the world leader in environmental management, technology and education, we cannot afford not to take these measures.  EMPLOYMENT POLICY  "The employment of New Zealanders is our first economic planning priority"  Preamble  Employment is not just a matter of economics but a matter of attitudes. in late 1993, New Zealand has over 400,000 wanting either work or full time employment as a personal or family economic necessity. This is an alarming figure, which should be cause for mounting outrage, for it represents human and economic waste and a haemorrhage on our country's productive capacity which we simply cannot afford.  over the last seventeen years enough false hopes have been raised - and dashed - by political parties and commentators, whose promises, excuses or inaction have been irresponsible.  TO say that the current economic indicators will take care of the problem is to accept such needless human waste, now, and in the future. That condemns a significant proportion of New Zealand's population to continuing, unrelenting human misery and frustration. Such apathetic resignation destroys the will to work and incapacitates a Nation in an increasingly competitive world, it adds to the loss of productive skills implicit in such a process.  Philosophy.  it is the duty of any Government to assist those out of work to re-enter the workforce. Whilst unemployment is historically a worldwide problem, its emergence in New Zealand is a recent phenomenon which, given New Zealands resource base and population size, is avoidable.  The burden of welfare payments is an immense cost on Government expenditure directly, and indirectly results adversely in a range of unseen costs such as increasing societal breakdown and crime. Predictions that there are young people who will never work and that older people made redundant have no hope of re-entering the workforce, must be rejected.  Whilst there are no quick fixes, the current range of temporary and other job schemes cloak the full extent of the problem. Other countries, without our resource base and having great social impediments, have succeeded in the mass employment of their nationals. New Zealand can too. in this respect political attitude and commitment are as important as any policy.  A revolutionary approach is called for. This will include looking beyond the traditional context of full employment based on a 40 hour, 5 day week (weekend trading has already changed all that), we must consider the possibilities which exist from having more leisure time available, both in job creation, and a richer life style.  we must rethink many of our inherited views about jobs and re-examine the whole notion of the work ethic.  New Zealand First is committed to the concept of the family as the keystone of society, unemployment is a great demoralising pressure, it must be - and it can be - combatted. Studies show that half the women in the workforce are there, not because they wish to be, but because they have no choice in-a society that makes no concessions to the single income family.,  if a homemaking allowance or tax concession was made to women or men in the home, as a recognition of their contribution to Gross National production, then many would be freed from the need to work outside the home. This would then free up jobs for unemployed sons and daughters.  policy and Solutions.  Economic Strategy.  1 New Zealand First believes that New Zealand can achieve GDP growth rates in excess of six percent per annum. New Zealand is not currently capable given the present policy limitations of producing the wealth to sustain its legitimate economic and social needs.  2 New Zealand First will work with all sections of business. manufacturing, and exporting, to establish a national strategy for selling our products internationally against overseas competition.  The present Governments lack of such a strategy is one of the primary reasons for New Zealand's failure to attain achievable export targets at the present time. New Zealand First's strategy will include an export target of $45Billion per annum within ten years.  3 The employment of New Zealanders will be the first economic planning priority.  4 A strategy of developmental economics will be introduced, targeting and encouraging the adding of value to all New Zealand resources, as well as those acquired from overseas, instead of letting others from outside New Zealand gather up our resources and develop them for their own profit - and employment.  TO meet that objective the laws relating to the overseas investment commission, the Land settlement promotion Act and New Zealand ownership will be reviewed and when changed, enforced..  5 New Zealand First will initiate tax policies to encourage investment in New Zealand business and resource development.  6 New Zealand First will establish an effective national savings policy with the intent of providing a pool of investment funds for the development of New Zealand enterprise and employment and enhancing our international credit rating.  7 New Zealand First will work with all sections of business, professional bodies and academia to ensure that competitive science and technology demands of the modern market are met.  8 New Zealand First will ensure the full participation of Government in national productivity strategies affecting all areas of business and employment.  9 New Zealand First will ensure that import policy will reflect a fair and level market for all areas of New Zealand manufacturing having full consideration for all elements of production in the countries of origin of all imports. New Zealand First believes in the principles of both free and fair trade.  10 New Zealand First's educational policies are a critical component of employment policy.  interim Employment Measures  1 New Zealand First will enter strategic partnerships with businesses, using taxation incentives, to take on apprenticeship and traineeship placements.  2 New Zealand First will forgo for two years the taxation component of any wages, in favour of the employee, of any registered unemployed placement in new employment.  3 New Zealand First will encourage a partnership between government and local government and any institution or public enterprise with a proven record of work placement to the full amount of the unemployment benefit plus ten percent.  4 New Zealand First will instigate a full review of the effectiveness of the New Zealand Employment service with specific emphasis on the relevance of its placement record on an annualised basis, and will decentralise the New Zealand Employment Service to make its operations relevant and responsive to regional employment needs.  5 New Zealand First will encourage the contribution of recently retired former administrators and finance managers in job creation programmes that result in converting the unemployment benefit to community work schemes. New Zealanders so engaged in the administration of these employment schemes will receive tax concessions to encourage their participation and assistance, it is envisaged that administrative participation would be for one day a week.  6 New Zealand First will target a wide range of community work initiatives based on the potential available workforce in any given area, taking into account the resources available and community needs, community work schemes will include such areas as forestry, environmental enhancement projects, aged care, child care, community protection initiatives, community project developments and assistance to voluntary community agencies. Persons so employed will be expected to work three days per week leaving the balance of the week for further training or seeking fulltime employment.  Fairness  1 New Zealand First will investigate policies to ensure that genuine temporary work placements will not result in Unemployed Beneficiaries receiving, net of tax, a lesser payment than they would receive if they remained on the benefit.  2 where unemployed beneficiaries unreasonably refuse work offered then they will be making an economic decision at no cost to the tax payer, ie where work is offered and declined the unemployment benefit will not be available.  "work results from the initiatives of two parties - the employer offering employment and the employee offering service, to the mutual benefit of both."  PRESCHOOL AND COMPULSORY.  EDUCATION POLICY.  "Recognising that the cost of ignorance is far greater than the cost of education."  PREAMBLE  Education is an investment in our future, it is only through this form of investment that we can expect to achieve the social and economic growth and development which will take New Zealand into the 21 st century with a standard of living equal to any in the Asia-Pacific rim of nations.  Research, both here and overseas, has shown that a child's development in the first years after birth is crucial to that child's ultimate level of achievement.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand social and economic wealth will be determined by the level of commitment we have towards the education of our children. Those who, at an early age achieve, and learn how to interrelate to others and avoid conflict, are less likely to depend on the welfare state, and are more likely to attain higher levels of academic achievement, in later years.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS • The First Five Years  1 The Parents as First Teachers Programme will continue but its nationwide implementation will be accelerated to ensure that all parents can be included in the programme within three years.  2 A commitment will be made to the full implementation of the relevant recommendations of the Meade Report.  3 The Education Review office will be strengthened to ensure that the high standards required of pre-school institutions in both physical and human resources, is maintained. Where an institution is unable to meet these standards, interest free loans will be provided.  4 Human values education will be included in the pre-school curriculum, with key values such as self-discipline, self-worth, nonviolence, respect for the environment and respect for others being emphasised.  5 New Zealand First will immediately restore funding levels to that which existed in 1990 before the change of Government and will ensure that the purchasing power of those funds is maintained.  6 New Zealand First will cease to bulk fund Kindergartens and will work with the Kindergarten Association to establish fair and equitable staffing ratios.  7 New Zealand First will ensure that ail children are screened by trained professionals at birth, one year and three years of age for developmental disorders, such as delayed motor or language development, and sight and hearing defects. If undetected, these can slow down a child's learning for life.  8 TO enhance the educational value of Kohanga Reo New Zealand First will institute a full review in consultation with parents and teachers.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS • The primary and intermediate school Years.  1 New Zealand First will move to a 1:20 staffing ratio for all junior classes as quickly as possible, to ensure that gains made at the preschool level are consolidated and built on.  2 TO ensure equitable educational opportunities for all children, New Zealand First will continue to fund teachers salaries and determine school staffing levels centrally.  3 in recognition of the importance of consolidating early education gains and the time spent in primary/intermediate teacher training, New Zealand First will investigate the cost and other resource implications of raising to the same level as those of secondary school Teachers, the salaries of Primary and intermediate school Teachers who have comparable qualifications.  4 Human and civic values education will be included in the primary and intermediate school curricula, with key values such as self-discipline, self-worth, non-violence, respect for the environment and respect for others being emphasised.  5 once 1:20 ratios have been achieved for junior classes, work will begin on the achievement of 1:25 staffing ratios for primary and intermediate classes.  6 New Zealand First will study the Stewart and Nolan report with a view to changing existing intermediate schools to Middle schools.  7 Recognising the crucial role School Trustees Association field officers play in the success of the Board of Trustees system, New Zealand First will provide funding for these field officer positions.  8 New Zealand First will, in 1994, restore the equity grants to the level which existed in 1991 and will then examine ways of introducing a system of grants for schools, based on the socio-economic factors of the surrounding area of the individual school.  9 New Zealand First will not alter current bulk funding for relief teachers but will ensure that under special circumstances (ie influenza epidemic) it will provide additional funding.  10 New Zealand First will work with teacher associations and the School Trustees Association to develop a new structure for administration and professional leadership for small schools.  11 The provision of adequate buildings to meet modern educational needs must remain the responsibility of central government. New Zealand First will not implement the Titter Report recommendations.  12 New Zealand First will assist Boards of Trustees with Management Efficiency Audits to ensure that the physical and human resources in each school are efficiently and effectively utilised, in every case, any savings made in a school will be retained for educational purposes in that school.  13 New Zealand First will ensure that a safe effective school transport system for those who live some distance from school, is maintained.  14 New Zealand First will conduct a full review into bilingual and immersion education and Maori Education.  15 For issues relating to the Employment contracts Act - see New Zealand First's industrial Policy.  16 New Zealand First will urgently review the accountability data required by the Ministry of Education and the Audit Office with a view to minimising the administrative load falling on individual schools.  17 information technology and interactive multimedia systems will play an increasingly more important role in education at all levels going into the 21st Century. New Zealand First recognises that Educational institutions will not be able to afford most of what could be available for the education and training of our nation. That said, New Zealand First will encourage major private sector communications interests to actively participate in the delivery of educational opportunities for all.  18 New Zealand First will continue to provide for children who have special needs, we will harness technological advances so that our disabled children may enjoy better educational facilities. Teachers in the special schools will be competently trained and backed up by specialist professional help.  New Zealand First will continue with the programme of mainstreaming for those children who will gain an added advantage in life from the programme. The choice of whether or not a child will be mainstreamed will lie with the parents.  if the child is mainstreamed, the financial assistance will be at the same level as that paid if the child was in a special school, parents of the disabled will be counselled in the education and training of their children.  19 specific learning difficulties will be recognised as an educational disability and will be funded accordingly. New Zealand First will allocate funds for the testing and tutoring of children and adults, and for the appropriate training of teachers and psychologists.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS - secondary Schools  1 in order to cope with the speed at which the modernisation of our country's education is proceeding, New Zealand First will, in consultation with the Post Primary Teachers Association, establish implementation Review Teams to develop curriculum and qualification timelines and a critical path for 1994 to 1998. These Teams will implement modernisation and deliver separate and parallel structures for education decision-making and funding for languages.  2 Bulk funding of secondary school staff will not proceed under a New Zealand First government. Teacher registration will be re-introduced at all levels of schooling in the interests of professionalism.  3 New Zealand First will halt the proposed dismissal of secondary school teachers and will, in doing so, beginning the essential task of reducing the teacher: pupil ratio in all secondary schools.  4 Teacher professional development is a right not a privilege. New Zealand First will introduce an annual professional development entitlement of five working days for all teachers to enable them to better understand and deal with the new syllabus and the National Qualifications systems.  5 The minimum compulsory education leaving age will be raised to 18. However, where students between 15 and 18 obtain appropriate work, and are guaranteed continual upgrading training by the employer, the student will be permitted to leave school before the minimum compulsory education leaving age.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS - colleges of Education  1 New Zealand First will raise primary teacher education and training to degree status and enable the Colleges of Education to offer degrees.  2 New Zealand First will continue the development of outpost training in association with the Colleges of Education and the universities.  3 For issues relating to student fees and loans .refer to the Tertiary Education and Training policy.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS • correspondence schools  1 New Zealand First will initiate a thorough review of the Correspondence school education system.  Recognising that the cost of ignorance is far greater than the cost of education, New Zealand First rejects the notion of user pays for preschool, primary and secondary Education.  TERTIARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING  "Recognising that the cost of ignorance is far greater than the cost of investment in education and training."  PREAMBLE  Education is an investment in our people. It is only through this form of investment that we can expect to achieve the social and economic growth and development which will take New Zealand into the 21st century with a standard of living equal to any in the Asia-Pacific rim of nations.  New Zealand First is concerned about our nations inability to supply sufficient numbers of professionals, skilled craftspersons, tradespeople and technicians at a time when hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are unemployed, it is essential that skills training and continual upgrading training programmes be dramatically increased so that an export-led value added growth strategy can proceed.  PHILOSOPHY.  The philosophy dictating education policy in New Zealand over recent years is wrong. New Zealand First sees money allocated to education as an investment, not an expense. New Zealand First further believes that education is in the national interest and not merely the narrow, private interests of the individual.  Education is the largest and most important value added industry in New Zealand and must be funded accordingly.  it has been clearly recognised by western Economic leaders and developing nations alike, that a nation's social and economic success depends upon the high and ongoing investment in the education of its people.  Export led value added growth will not achieve its potential unless there is an accelerated and increased investment in skills development and continual upgrading training for all those who require it.  Expanded education opportunities for all is an area of investment that New Zealanders are prepared to make sacrifices for.  High and rising student tuition fees inevitably mean that a significant sector of the population will be excluded from further education and training solely because of an inability to pay.  The existing student loans policy sends the worst possible message to our young people - that high levels of indebtedness are an acceptable way of life.  in the area of training, some progress has been made with the Training opportunities programmes (TOPS). However far too many people fail to qualify for TOPS and many of the programmes are at the lowest level of achievement AS a result successful TOPS trainees still need further training before they are employable.  unless or until more advanced levels of training are made available under TOPS, there will continue to be a large and growing number of people who are prevented from taking their training further because they cannot afford to pay the tuition fees at a polytechnic or any other tertiary institution.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS  Funding for Tertiary institutions  1 New Zealand First will continue to fund all tertiary institutions on the basis of equivalent full-time students (EFTS).  2 New Zealand First will fund at 100% of the agreed course costs thereby reducing tuition fees chargeable to students to zero. This will ensure that New Zealanders of all ages and from ail social and economic backgrounds who aspire to a higher level of education and training can do so.  3 The elimination of all tuition fees for students will remove the need for most to arrange for student loans. Because existing loans act as a deterrent to students wishing to return to New Zealand following overseas study, all existing loan obligations will be cancelled.  4 in order to assist with the Administration of all state Tertiary institutions. Management Efficiency Audits will be progressively carried out and any savings made will be directed back into the institutions for the benefit of the students, in line with these Audits. New Zealand First will not proceed with the proposed capital charge on Tertiary Institutions.  5 New Zealand First will restore student living allowances to all full-time students irrespective of their age, financial or marital status.  6 Where there is an imbalance between the demand for graduates with certain qualifications (ie science and technology) and the supply, New Zealand First will vary its taxation policy to enable appropriate businesses to invest in training by offering scholarship prizes and other forms of encouragement to students to pursue studies which will redress the balance.  7 New Zealand First recognises the importance of research and scholarship in the Tertiary Education sector. Strategic alliances between industry, the Crown Research institutes and tertiary institutions will actively be encouraged.  8 Recognising that many tertiary research projects require levels of funding too small to qualify under the existing Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) criteria, New Zealand First will ensure that a "small projects Fund" is established within FRST which will permit research applications of UP to $10,000 (at 1993 levels) from Tertiary institutions to be considered and, where appropriate, funded.  Fundinq for Training Opportunities programmes (TOPS)  1 New Zealand First will halt the discrimination against the achievers in society by removing the eligibility criteria for TOPS so that young people who have achieved better than two passes at school Certificate level will qualify under TOPS.  2 New Zealand First will ensure that any individual who has been unemployed for more than three months and who left secondary school more than five years previously, will be offered retraining under TOPS.  3 New Zealand First will accelerate the rate at which the units at levels 2 and 3 of the Qualifications Framework are developed to ensure that all students completing the initial training under TOPS will have the opportunity to further their studies at higher levels.  New Zealand First's economic developmental plan will rapidly expand the employment opportunities available to New Zealand's youth.  New Zealand First recognises that the cost of ignorance is far greater then the cost of investment in education and training, it is the key investment that New Zealand must make towards economic and social recovery.  HEALTH POLICY  "The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a State depend". (Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881)  PREAMBLE  Health may be defined as the extent of an individual's continuing physical, emotional, mental and social ability to cope with the immediate environment. The development of physical problems, emotional stress, mental strain and a sudden change in the immediate environment may contribute to a change in personal wellbeing.  The current Health system is in a state of growing crisis, the magnitude of which is not known. What is known is that one of the objectives of the Government's Health proposals is "to allow a significant reduction in Government expenditure on primary and related health care", in addition there is a $350m shortfall in budgeting for "the maintenance of status quo services" for the full health year. This means that either current budgets for the crown Health Enterprises (CHES) have only been funded until the end of November 1993, or that Government has no intention of fulfilling its promises to maintain "status quo services" beyond that date.  The following Government statement sums up its thinking on core Health and Disability support Services, ie "The core is all the health and disability support services which New Zealanders can expect to receive from the publicly funded health care system, core services may not be free to the user or immediately available, but they must be affordable, and no-one should have to wait an unreasonable time for them". NO longer is availability of service prioritised but more ominously Health care entitlements are to be determined by administrative judgements as to the "benefit of a particular service to a particular person at a particular time".  Determining the relative worth of medical procedures based on calculations of "Quality Adjusted Life Years" (QALYS) is one further indicator that the object of the Government's so-called reforms is a Health delivery and administrative system similar to that of the united States. That is cause for alarm given the incapacity of the USA system to provide adequate health care to 40% of its population and where the administrative costs are the highest in the developed world.  PHILOSOPHY  Health Policy  The importance of good health cannot be measured in mere monetary terms. New Zealand First's Fundamental principle Number Six states that "Health will cease to be a balance sheet item. Health will be a critical investment in New Zealand's human resource".  There is a general consensus of professional opinion that the present Health System is top heavy with non-medical administrators, expensive consultants and beset with undemocratic procedures.  New Zealand First is concerned to see the reputation of the Nation's Health system restored and believes that the implementation of its Economic, Employment. Tertiary Education and Training, pre-school and compulsory Education policies will assist in significant reductions to current health problems, short and long-term.  The user-pays principle being applied by Government implies that users are able to make choices as to the nature and timing of the health service they need, when principally ill health, sickness and injury by accident are rarely matters of personal choice.  Fancy freemarket jargon and social engineering procedures have no place in Health care and New Zealand First will address Hospitals, Health service institutions and Bodies by their proper titles".  POLICIES AND SOLUTIONS  1 TO address the state of growing crisis in New Zealand's Health system, New Zealand First will implement a review into an areas of Health delivery and will, immediately after consultation with the public and medical professionals, implement the review's recommendations.  2 New Zealand First wilt fund a Public Health system, and will not privatise public hospitals.  3 New Zealand First will review all medical and health charges to ensure their affordability by all New Zealanders.  4 New Zealand First will establish an investigative committee to study the financial implications of providing free dental, medical and pharmaceutical care up to school leaving age for all children.  5 New Zealand First will investigate the logistics of a return to full Plunket and Public Health Nurse systems.  6 New Zealand First will ensure that all children are screened by trained professionals at birth, one year and three years of age for developmental disorders, such as delayed motor or language development, and sight and hearing defects, if undetected, these can slow down a child's learning for life.  7 New Zealand First will take all steps to address the current waiting  lists.  8 New Zealand First is concerned about the state of existing Mental Health services and will consult with interested groups on appropriate ways to deal with the issues, whilst allowing the mentally ill to be absorbed into the wider community, mainstreaming will only occur in appropriate circumstances where professional supervision is available.  9 New Zealand First will immediately investigate the re-opening or upgrading of Kingseat, Tokanui and similar hospitals with a view to the full utilisation of the grounds, buildings and equipment  10 New Zealand First wilt recognise "alternative" health care and treatments, including osteopathy, naturopathy, chiropractics, chelation treatment, with a view to registering them as viable alternatives and eligible for ACC funding.  11 New Zealand First's review will make recommendations on the shape and format of future Health Boards and Regional Authorities, the means of ensuring the Boards are truly representative of each community and the proportion of elected to Government appointed members.  12 while private health insurance remains optional, taxation incentives will be given to those intending to carry Health insurance.  13 New Zealand First is deeply concerned about the effects of alcohol, drugs, tobacco products and substance abuse on the youth of this country, in addition to the immediate physical effects, there are the ongoing mental and emotional stresses resulting from other forms of abuse, in the Pre-school and compulsory Education policy, New Zealand First is committed to implementing courses dealing with Human values. AS part of the curriculum. New Zealand First will enlist the aid of Education Professionals, to implement specific courses dealing with the abuse of alcohol, drugs, tobacco products and substances in Primary and secondary schools.  14 New Zealand First will ensure that HIV is immediately added to the list of communicable diseases, (cf - AIDS Policy).  "Practical and effective action on AIDS"  PREAMBLE  NO country can afford to ignore AIDS. in New Zealand AIDS is a significant cause of suffering and death in mainly younger men.  New Zealand cannot afford to adopt a moral stance on this matter. But must become concerned with preventing AIDS and assisting victims to live and die with dignity and affected families to cope with this growing tragedy.  PHILOSOPHY  Government must move to ensure that people with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) are able to lead as full a life as possible, without discrimination, people who have become sick with AIDS must be treated with dignity and compassion, and all practical support be extended to them and their families.  Equally as important as support for those who are already infected with HIV, however, is the prevention of new infections. New Zealand must not ignore the difficult and sensitive issues to be faced if the spread of this disease is to be effectively combatted.  The HIV/AIDS epidemic will not be brought under control if the groups that are at greatest risk are driven underground by punitive and discriminatory treatment.  Despite having received in 1990 a comprehensive Draft National strategy from its own advisory body AIDS. the Government has failed to adopt it, making New Zealand one of only a small group of countries in the world not to have such a strategy.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will have the Draft National Strategy reviewed as a matter of urgency with a view to adoption at the earliest opportunity.  2 New Zealand First will take immediate steps to ensure that HIV is added to the list of communicable diseases.  3 New Zealand First will ensure that the secondary Education system teaches all young New Zealanders about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and how to avoid them. New Zealand First will look to the development of a curriculum which will help young New Zealanders develop the skills which are necessary to exercise individual responsibility in their sexual behaviour.  4 New Zealand First recognises that there are important preventative measures the access to which may be denied because of price and availability. A New Zealand First Government will seek expert advice on this matter and implement any appropriate recommendations.  5 New Zealand First affirms its strong commitment to take effective action against the growing problem of drug abuse in New Zealand. Recognising that our goals in this area cannot be achieved overnight and that some people will continue to inject themselves with drugs, New Zealand First supports the continued availability of the Needle and Syringe Exchange scheme. Restricting the supply of needles and syringes will not stop people using drugs but it could very easily pose a very dangerous AIDS risk in a population group where the epidemic has been largely controlled so far.  6 New Zealand First will continue to make resources available to ensure that the blood supply is kept completely safe to safeguard the interests of ail New Zealanders.  7 New Zealand First will continue to seek advice on AIDS issues from those who are best qualified and will continue to fund research that is likely to have the most direct impact on HIV/AIDS in New Zealand.  8 New Zealand First will continue to fund prevention and support initiatives from groups in the communities most directly affected by the epidemic, provided that such groups meet appropriate standards of effectiveness and accountability to the Government.  HOUSING  "Adequate housing at a reasonable cost with security of tenure."  PREAMBLE  From the late 1930s New Zealand has earned the reputation as a world leader in the housing of its people. Accordingly, New Zealand has a high level of private ownership in housing, in recent times that level of ownership has come under threat with the affordability of housing for more and more moderately incomed New Zealanders becoming a distant prospect.  in the area of rental housing the Government is progressively abandoning a once long established role and there are increasing signs of homelessness and inadequate modes of alternative accommodation for too many families.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand First believes it is an obligation of Government to assist New Zealanders who are unable to house themselves through their own means, or with the assistance of the state, to nevertheless achieve secure tenure of housing.  The present market-driven approach to housing is failing too many family units, leaving low income New Zealanders unable to escape the rent/poverty trap. This is an abrogation of government's responsibility.  wise assistance, to encourage people to take control of their future housing needs as they are able, is required, such an approach transfers hope, self esteem, a degree of wealth and a property stake in the nation back into the hands of ordinary New Zealanders.  Government involvement in housing plays a dual role in infrastructure expenditure and the achievement of economic and employment goals. in addition to new housing stock, for more modest investments improvement in substandard accommodation is a wise use of housing expenditure.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will re-organise State Housing to ensure that the Government .has a single state organisation to implement its housing policies.  2 Housing New Zealand and Housing Corp will be recombined and renamed New Zealand Housing Assistance (NZHA). Regional offices will remain and the 56 Neighbourhood units will be re-organised. NZHA will function as a State-Owned Enterprise and the SOE will be required to fulfil Governmental Housing objectives.  3 New Zealand First will establish a National Housing Authority within NZHA.  4 New Zealand First will encourage the NZHA to be active in holding mortgage portfolios.  5 NZHA will employ technical/design/advisory/inspection and specialist staff for tenancy maintenance, letting on tender the balance to private contractors-  6 NZHA will be subject to regular efficiency and procedural audits.  7 New Zealand First will initiate a building programme with the goal of building or financing additional housing.  8 New Zealand First will set the state rental home qualification criteria on an income benchmark, modified to assess gross income per person, per family unit Every effort will be made to match accommodation to family needs.  The rental waiting-list system will be on an "order of application" basis together with assessed need, except for certain chronic circumstances where a family is involuntarily homeless and without immediate family support. Branch managers will be required to make emergency provisions, subject to emergency housing availability.  9 New Zealand First will determine the base rentals and regional criteria on state housing with variations on a fixed nationwide percentage of 25% of the main income provider's salary/weekly wage.  $20 per week will be charged for each additional non-parent or caregiver adult living on the premises who is a salary/wage earner or beneficiary.  10 New Zealand First will ensure that all state tenancies will be subject to three yearly reviews. Tenants will have the opportunity to purchase their rental home (or an alternative through the state) and will be deemed to have an equity deposit equal to half of the rent paid in the review period, such tenants will have automatic rights to government or government arranged loans.  11 Homestart loans will be carried over, at no interest charge and will be subject to calls on income but not originating mortgagee sale provisions.  12 New Zealand First will require the National Housing Authority to carry out a national housing survey to establish the needs and nature of accommodation to fit today's changing life styles.  13 New Zealand First will discourage urban sprawl onto high production agricultural and horticultural land. Development within community planning concepts, inner city re-development and cluster housing concepts will be encouraged.  14 The rights and needs of Maori people to build homes on their traditional and ancestral lands will be encouraged under District scheme planning provisions.  15 New Zealand First will establish a multiple ownership review committee comprising developers, legal experts, Land Transfer Office officials, financiers and Maori representatives with a view to reporting to Government on solutions to multiple ownership of land problems.  16 New Zealand First will recognise that trusts, community and care-giving groups, and others providing emergency housing may require access to publicly provided housing at low rentals and/or finance for emergency housing purposes.  17 New Zealand First will establish refurbishing loans and community face-lift co-operative schemes on a criteria of merit.  18 New Zealand First will set a percentage of the New Zealand exotic forest stock in state ownership to be set aside for state housing purposes.  19 Large blocks of multi-unit flats unsuitable for families will be redeveloped or leased to community organisations to use as habitation units, half-way houses, refuges or short-term housing.  20 where such habitation units would be suitable for refuge purposes by increased security measures, the funding of security will be met  SMALL BUSINESS POLICY  "Recognising the contribution and potential of Small Businesses for New Zealand's wealth and employment".  PREAMBLE  Over the last few years, whilst maintaining the pretence of a "tight monetary policy", small Businesses needing modest financing for farms and businesses have paid exorbitant interest rates while corporates have been able to borrow on sometimes nothing more than rising capital values in speculative markets.  The most damaging effects of the 1987 share market crash resulted in part because some could borrow money without limit, to speculate and not produce, while those who could have given a new dimension to the productive base of this country were denied financial access.  DO not be mistaken. NEW ZEALAND FIRST believes in the market. NEW ZEALAND FIRST believes in the benefits of competition, and the value of effort. However, we must ensure that the financial institutions of this country work in favour of individual and national enterprise.  PHILOSOPHY  Over half those currently employed in this country are in businesses employing less than fifty people. These we define as small businesses. Businesses with under ten employees are responsible for the employment of over thirty percent of the Nation's workforce.  Experience overseas tells us that it is in the small business sector that we can have the greatest impact on our unacceptably high level of unemployment, we must do more for New Zealand's small businesses.  The small company environment in New Zealand is afflicted with key problems. They are:  1 The additional costs of being a small business including bureaucratic and legal requirements.  2 The availability of capital.  3 The cost of capital.  4 Management skills.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS  NEW ZEALAND FIRST Will:  1 Alter the legislation to enable easy formation of small businesses. upon the filing of essential information with respect to company membership and the location of the registered office, the company will be deemed to have been formed.  1.1 small businesses will not be required to:  a) have audited accounts  b) have an annual meeting  c) file annual returns to the Registrar of companies  d) prepare annual accounts (inland Revenue requirements already cover this)  1.2 only a balloted twenty percent of small businesses will be required, in any given year, to file statistical returns.  1.3 small businesses will have all the powers of a natural person and those powers executed by the directors without the use of a common seal.  1.4 small businesses will meet their obligations to the companies Registrar by filing changes to office holders or the location of the registered office, penalties will be imposed for default  2 Review the effect of the Accident compensation Act on small business, particularly as it relates to the filing of claims, the establishment of earnings having regard to inland Revenue returns and certification by the claimant's accountant.  3 Simplify taxation requirements to minimise their impact on the productivity of the enterprise, and alter the taxation rates to ease the incidence of taxation on small business.  4 Address the problems of access to finance for small business with particular reference to the security requirements. NEW ZEALAND FIRST will not pursue monetary policies that enable a bank risk premium of 6-9% or a real rate of interest that is between eight and eighteen times the inflation rate.  5 Establish a new Banking institution for small business, a state owned enterprise coupled with independent business expertise, to keep lending rates competitive and to improve access to funding.  6 Establish an independent Business Advisory Body that, assisted by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, will develop and maintain standards of small business education offered by local polytechnics and universities. While management education will be voluntary it will be a requirement for access to the new Banking institution.  New Zealand First I JUSTICE AND LAW REFORM  POLICY  "NO man is above the law and no man is below it..." (Theodore Roosevelt 1858-1919).  PREAMBLE  The changing face of society has led to an increased awareness of the violence that has regrettably become a way of life for many New Zealanders. Violence and abuse, along with property offences, are currently running at higher levels than ever before.  in the words of a Member of the Roper Committee, "it is not enough to simply hope that there are sufficient Government Departments or socially conscious people in society to provide all of the answers, it needs drive and commitment and dedication from a person or body accountable to the public."  PHILOSOPHY  The primary function of any Court in any nation is to help keep domestic peace, and therefore our courts constitute a necessary element in our society, it is also essential to maintain the independence of the courts, leaving no place for political dictate or influence.  A crime constitutes the intentional commission of an act which has usually been deemed socially harmful or dangerous. Particular crimes which are most heinous are murder, rape, incest and sexual abuse, in recent years, white collar crimes such as fraud and embezzlement have also increased. There should be no legitimate distinction between white collar and other crime.  A number of basic facts have emerged over time. The first, that crime is predominantly a male activity and the second that crime is predominantly an activity of the young. However, not all crimes are subject to a decline with ageing as is evidenced by the recent upsurge in fraud. The third basic fact is that unemployment and a lack of education and training has a significant impact on the crime statistics.  The sentencing of any offender is normally the function of a Judge, but the sentences to be imposed are usually fixed by Statute, often as a result of public pressure. The quality of the decision made by the Judge will reflect the adequacy of the information that the Judge has to hand when imposing the sentence.  Over the years, retribution (punishment) has acquired various meanings. The key element to retribution must be the relationship between the gravity of the crime and the severity of the punishment.  Retribution should be seen as an educational principle with the effect of providing society with an example of the values that are acceptable. Retribution should reinforce those values among those who hold them and instill them in those who don't.  Deterrence must inevitably be linked with retribution to show both the offender and society at large that certain behaviour is not acceptable. The deterrent nature of a sentence must be a direct reflection of the seriousness of the crime.  concern over prison conditions and costs has not diminished over the years. Alternatives to prison based sentencing must be carefully looked at and implemented as soon as possible. There are alternatives to crime's unseen victim, the taxpayer, continually paying as well. probation, community based sentencing and suspended sentences should be the norm wherever possible.  Reparations, the practice of providing services to the victim, either directly or indirectly, must be encouraged and restitution and compensation for victims of violence and property crimes must take precedence over fines.  Early laws made no special provision for children and youthful offenders. New Zealand has been at the forefront of legislation to ensure our young offenders are dealt with in an appropriate manner.  intermediate steps in the treatment of the young are important to ensure every attempt is made to assist and rehabilitate them without recourse to prison.  in all this, the most important consideration must be the victim and the victim's family. For too long the victim has simply been forgotten altogether or addressed as a statistic and an incidental to the 'major players (the offender and the Court).  New Zealand First believes that the victim must always come first. Any changes to our Justice system must begin with Victim's Rights.  SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will re-convene the victim's Taskforce and will ensure that all victims have the option of an advocate available to speak for them in court. The victim will have a choice of an advocate from a pool of persons specially trained to assist victims or someone of their own choice (eg, family member, kaumatua). The victim will also have the right to be heard at the time of sentencing, even if not called to give evidence for the prosecution.  2 New Zealand First will ensure that all victim's of violent crimes are offered counselling and on-going support.  3 New Zealand First will implement changes to the way fines are administered to ensure that where appropriate, all victim's receive adequate restitution.  4 New Zealand First will ensure that ACC payments are made where required, without subjecting the victim to further distress, if the offence has been proven in Court, the victim will be entitled to compensation.  5 New Zealand First will ensure that the appointment of all Judges will no longer be political. The appointment criteria will be based entirely upon the experience of the practitioner recommended for Judicial appointment, the areas of law the practitioner has specialised in, and the needs of the courts at the time a particular appointment is considered.  6 . New Zealand First will ensure that all young persons will be 'separated from adult prisoners on remand and will remain so during any subsequent prison sentence. Correctional facilities, with an education and training emphasis will be considered for all young persons where the offence warrants a custodial sentence. However, where it is deemed appropriate by the Judge, following representations by a Youth Advocate, a stipulated period of Military Training may be substituted for a custodial sentence.  7 AS an alternative to periodic detention or supervision, a young offender will be given the option of being placed on a good behaviour bond with a respected member of the young offenders extended family or other acceptable adult who is prepared to accept guardianship of the offender and ensure the offender's good behaviour. Any breach of that good behaviour bond will activate what would have been the original sentence.  8 New Zealand First will improve the Remand Facilities currently available. Remand prisoners are, in the main those who have not yet come to trial and as such there is a presumption of innocence. They need recreational facilities, the same as those already sentenced.  9 Mandatory disqualification will be changed to automatic partial disqualification if the offender has a job which requires driving or the offender cannot easily get to a place of work by using public transport. The length of the disqualification will be dependent on the amount of driving time allowed - eg, a partial disqualification for 12 months may translate to a full disqualification for 6 months.  10 where an offender has a particular skill which is not in any way related to the offence and that skill is a useful one in terms of assisting non-profit organisations, schools etc, the courts will have wider powers of sentencing that person to assist a nominated organisation. The offender will be given the opportunity to nominate an organisation from an approved list held by the Justice Department.  11 New Zealand First will instigate a review of all prisoners in the prison system to see who should, in the light of this policy, be there with a view to reducing the numbers sent to prison.  12 All prisons will be fully equipped to educate and train those inmates who have not previously had the opportunity to acquire skills. The intention is to have all prisoners either working, or training or being educated. (Refer following point for prisons as a workplace). Most prisons already have the facilities but they are not being utilised. There will be no remission for prisoners without achievement.  13 All prisoners not undergoing education or training will be expected to work from 8.30am to 4.30pm daily for a fair wage. Payment for the work will be divided as per a formula set to take into account the different circumstances of the inmates. For instance - where there is a victim and the prisoner has family members receiving a benefit, the weekly wage may be divided as follows: one quarter to the victim, one quarter to the Justice Department for "board", one quarter to DSW as a contribution towards the benefit and one quarter to a bank account for the prisoner's use on release.  14 Home leave will be a privilege, the grant of which must be carefully scrutinised in each case. Out of prison work (where the inmate works during the day and returns to the prison at night and on weekends) will only be allowed during the last 20% of a sentence or the last 2 months, whichever is the lesser. Parole will be performance based - it will not be automatic.  15 Regular testing will be undertaken to ensure all prisoners remain drug free.  16 There will be no concurrent sentencing.  17 where appropriate, an offender may be sentenced to manual labour for one third of the usual sentence. Manual labour will encompass such activities as gorse cutting and forestry preparation.  18 Anger management, counselling and therapy for offenders will be a part of the ongoing training and education in the prisons.  19 All prisoners on release will have on going supervision and assistance into employment.  20 All newly appointed Prison Officers will be expected to attend a training course (at the police college) prior to commencing work and will be expected to have continuing training during their tenure. Ail current Prison Officers, as suitable arrangements can be made, will be expected to attend the training course.  21 All Prison Officers will be given a performance based incentive. where prisoners are to be offered education and training opportunities, then officers will be graded on their performance in encouraging prisoners to take advantage of the Schemes.  22 The Arms Amendment Act 1992 will be re-examined and emphasis placed on controlling the criminal misuse of firearms.  23 The current Police structure has able-bodied policemen and women doing clerical/administrative duties when they should be on the street. New Zealand First will ensure that all non-sensitive clerical positions will be filled by civilians.  24 New Zealand First will examine the merit of having decisions as to the appropriateness of additional cultural justice resting with the presiding Judge after any application by the victim or the victim's advocate, with a right of Appeal to the Chief Justice.  25 An independent anti-corruption commission will be established to enable New Zealanders to have confidence that their institutions are working properly.  25 For information concerning the education of our young people on the alternatives to violence and crime, refer to the New Zealand First Pre-School and compulsory Education Policy and the Maori Policy (available in the manifesto).  ELECTORAL REFORM POLICY  "NO man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent." (Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865)  PREAMBLE  Distrust is an inevitable by-product of our present parliamentary democracy. The political system too often rewards venality, blind loyalty and complicity.  integrity, independence, and openess are concepts often stangled out of new backbenchers in their first days in politics.  The immature and suffocating demands of party loyalty - translated through the party whipping system have a detrimental effect in the youthful idealism that burns brightest in young MPs, and then is rudely snuffed out.  The political system we currently have in New Zealand is a system in which the party labels are becoming rapidly meaningless.  in the major issues of the day - the economy, education, foreign affairs, defence... the differences between the parties are matters of degree, not philosophy.  we have a system that bars proper public input.  Today's reality is that a small cabal in cabinet, the Executive, run this nation ... unimpeded. They answer neither to their own caucus, not to their party, nor to Parliament, and certainly not to the people except once every three years where the choice is frequently the lesser of two evils.  whilst the public believes it can have an influence on legislation through submissions and petitions to select committees, all too frequently an agenda has long been decided by faceless officials and cabinet Ministers and those public submissions end up ignored.  we have 97 MPS, including 20 Cabinet Ministers, a handful of whom make the decisions without any constraints upon their decisions whatsoever.  in addition, we have a strict party whipping system that suffocates initiative and independence.  "conscience votes' are an anachronism - formed in past generations when the public were not educated or aware enough to make these seemingly 'moral' decisions.  New Zealand desperately needs political change where politicians become servants of the people and not their masters, our present electoral system is clearly unrepresentative, our unhappy political circumstances arise from a lack of faith - a real crisis of confidence in the way we structure political power in New Zealand.  in the meantime neither our economic nor our social challenges will be met until we address the political crises which confront us.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand First stands for fifteen fundamental principles for good government in New Zealand. Five of New Zealand First's fundamental principles deal specifically with the right of all New zealanders to be government openly and honestly with the will of the people paramount.  The specific principles which apply to good government are:  To put New Zealand and New Zealanders First Open accountable Government with less Government.  Only on a vote of confidence in a government should Members of Parliament be required to vote with their party, on all other issues, a Member of Parliament's first duty is to the Electorate and the Nation.  TO ensure a better democracy all policies not contained in a Party Manifesto, where no national emergency clearly exists, will first be referred to the Electorate for a mandate.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS.  1 Electoral Reform should be determined by electors not politicians. The duty of government is to ensure the fair presentation of all views and the holding of appropriate referenda. The facilitation of electoral reform options will be controlled by independent bodies separate from political parties. Government will encourage the use of referenda whether initiated by electors or parliament.  2 Any attempt to coerce a Member of Parliament to vote against that Member's Electorate and national conscience will constitute a contempt of Parliament.  3 New Zealand First will give consideration to the appointment of an independent Speaker. (This is not a reflection on the incumbent.)  4 Select committees will be independent of political parties and must report directly to the House on their findings without recourse to any party caucus on the content of the Select committee Report.  5 New Zealand First will encourage the more representative participation by women and limit government and politicians' exercise of power.  6 An Electoral commission will be established to supervise the administration and any ongoing reforms of the Electoral System.  7 All Candidates, Political parties and Political Lobbies will be required to disclose the source of their funding.  8 Random audits of campaign expenses will be made by the Electoral commission and this will include a Report on the cost of Parliamentary services to any Member of Parliament.  9 Radio and television media commentary in the closing four days of an Election campaign will be prohibited where that comment relates to the judgement of the commentator and not the presentation of the facts and events relating to the campaign.  10 within ten days of Election Day political polls may not be carried by the media.  11 it shall not be for parliament to determine or approve a political party.  12 Parliament will not have the right to discriminate against a political party using its own money for political advertising where it fields ten candidates or more.  MAORI DEVELOPMENT  POLICY  "Where there is no vision the people perish." "Ka Awatea will be revived."  PREAMBLE  in 1993 a grim tale of worrisome statistics best New Zealand and its Maori.. infant mortality, ill health, educational failure, criminal offending, prison inmates, all reflect sadly on our country.  Almost half of Maori children leave school without an academic credential - compared to 15% of non-Maori, only one in twenty Maori children gain the top gradings at school certificate level compared to one in five European students, only one in five Maori school leavers progress to tertiary education compared to almost one in two for the total population.  Despite these grim figures, in recent years Maoridom has fought back. The cultural and lingual renaissance of the past decade has not occurred by accident but rather from necessity and it has enriched ail New Zealanders. fn the process many more New Zealanders now recognise the urgent need for Maori to make a full economic and social contribution to the future of our country. For the advancement of the Maori people will benefit all New Zealanders regardless of race, gender or economic circumstance.  PHILOSOPHY  NO nation can afford to ignore statistics which reveal nil or low performance figures, (of any of its people,) in critical areas of major economic and social performance.  NO nation can turn a blind eye to dismal statistics, social or economic, because to do so invites a worsening situation; ie. the outpouring of millions of dollars in negative funding with no return to the country, except bad publicity and a simmering people in protest.  m March of 1991 a plan for economic and social recovery with Maori Development strategies was released. Its title was "Ka Awatea" which was prepared by the Maori people and referred back to a Minister of Maori Affairs as the people's plan for action. Not one word of that report from Maori to the Minister was changed before announcement.  in essence "Ka Awatea" was and is about one people's plan for economic and social recovery and their contribution to it.  "Ka Awatea" has been paid lip service since October 1990 but it can and will be revived.  The targeted interventions put forward by this policy should serve as a model for good government in that they recognise what needs to be done and they get on with the job of doing it.  More importantly, Ka Awatea promotes New Zealand's economic development. To this end, it is not zero-sum in nature (ie benefits resulting in costs elsewhere). This policy is both efficiency and equity driven and, as such, is a pertinent example of a "balanced" policy mix.  Ka Awatea reflects the fact that well-balanced policies can be formulated. Ka Awatea's implementation resulted from the indisputable evidence of the peripheral placement of Maori people in society.  Ka Awatea looked beyond the uniform homogeneous shroud which permeates analytical thinking in New Zealand and painted an accurate picture of the sort of society we have today and the sort of society we might have if nothing is done to contain these unacceptable socio-economic disparities.  Ka Awatea is a truthful account of what confronts a Government, it attacks the problems of the past which were characterised by less than adequate research, an analysis bringing forth less than adequate prescriptions and avoids the recent tendency for prescriptions to become viewed purely as a cost and, therefore, resulting simply in possible fiscal savings.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will continue to present cost effective measures to move Maori away from dependency on the State.  2 New Zealand First will recognise that viable economic development for Maori should not be determined by Government, but rather that Government has a responsibility to create an environment which will promote Maori economic development.  3 The Ministry of Maori Development will be retained and its legislative powers of monitoring departmental delivery of services to Maori, enforced.  4 This Maori specialist agency will focus on four specific functions -policy, operations, auditing or liaison, and strategic planning.  5 The Ministry of Maori Development will focus on the four critical elements for Maori development namely: education and training, employment, health, and sound economic resource development.  6 TO assist planned outcomes a Maori Education commission. Health Promotion unit, Training unit and Economic Resource Development unit will be set up within the operations arm of the Ministry.  7 The Agency will remain streamlined, and cost efficient, avoid unnecessary bureaucratic layers, involve its clients and be committed to energy conservation and waste management.  8 Regional Development Agencies will be established consisting of small highly skilled teams ensuring accountability, focused planning and direction.  9 New Zealand First will establish a Maori Training unit which will be a regionally-based, small, highly skilled unit to monitor programmes and training providers to develop Maori business skills and management and identify and pilot small business joint venture training schemes.  10 New Zealand First will establish a Maori Youth Training programme which will access the best training providers - iwi pan-tribal groups, successful Maori urban authorities and individuals.  11 New Zealand First will establish a Health promotion programme which will promote primary, infant and Maori women's health care, work with community initiatives within the health system and provide information and education on health issues.  12 New Zealand First recognises that a strengthened Health Policy Function will provide greater influence in achieving changes in health policies for Maori.  13 New Zealand First will ensure that all children are screened by trained professionals at birth, one year and three years of age for developmental disorders, such as delayed motor or language development, and sight and hearing defects, if undetected, these can slow down a child's learning for life.  14 New Zealand First will establish an Economic Development unit to examine the innovative opportunities for business, land, employment and natural resource development, consolidate the existing economic development programme, ensure business initiatives or programmes are accountable and have the ability to co-opt successful entrepreneurs.  15 New Zealand First will establish a New Business Development programme which will be incentives-based and fully accountable with effective monitoring.  16 New Zealand First will remove the barriers to Economic Development in order to develop Government initiatives for the development of Maori Land and Maori Business, review resource management laws to ensure they contain no impediment to Maori land and business development in order to foster Maori development.  17 New Zealand First will turn negative funding to positive funding which will enable positive funding to be used to create capital for Maori organisations, fund projects to develop Maori land, train and provide long-term employment for Maori, provide loans for viable projects either employing or developing Maori resource and assist the establishment of small businesses among Maori unemployed.  18 New Zealand First will preserve and protect Maori language and culture.  19 New Zealand First will review the Maori Fisheries Legislation to ensure a more effective delivery of fishery resources to Maori.  20 The spirit of equality envisioned by the Treaty of waitangi will be observed.  21 New Zealand First will remove the economic imbalance existing for the owners of Maori Reserved Lands, eg the issue of below market rents and 21 year leases. The Reserved Land Lease Rental Report of November 1991 will be a reference point for Government action in this area.  22 New Zealand First will establish a multiple ownership review committee comprising developers, legal experts, Land Transfer Office officials, financiers and Maori representatives with a view to reporting to Government on solutions to multiple ownership of land problems.  "The Government has a duty to provide and the individual has a right to receive advice and service."  PREAMBLE  All Governments have a duty to provide for their people and every individual has a right to receive advice and service when required. That is an arrangement secured by taxation and rates.  with the majority of the Crown's service departments having been corporatised - ushering in user pays and monopoly charges it is time to review what the citizen is entitled to know and what cost, if any, access to that knowledge should incur.  At the present time the country has numerous Government Departments at! servicing different sectors of the community and often duplicating services. For example, the Ministries of women's Affairs, Youth Affairs, the Human Rights Commission, the Race Relations Conciliator and others frequently duplicate services provided by another department.  in this information age it is critical that information, necessary for wise and productive involvement of New Zealanders, be available to enhance the individual and collective decision making process. Such information should be free from political bias.  At present, an inordinate waste of time and potential productivity results from public information not easily accessed by New zealanders, individually and collectively, unnecessary calls on Government Departments for information that could be better accessed by a body established for that purpose, are an impediment to Departmental efficiency.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand First believes that all New Zealanders are equal. Accordingly, in an acknowledgement of that equality, New Zealand First sees the need to unify a range of information services separately available from departments of Government, to ensure that all New Zealanders are able to benefit, from the availability of that information, equally.  it is timely and appropriate and logistically possible to set up a Public information Bureau which will collate information from those services already separately in existence, together with information and data from regional and local public institutions and make that information available to all areas of the Country.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will establish a public information Bureau to administer and provide information services to any New Zealand Resident, or New Zealand Citizen domiciled in New Zealand or abroad, or any other legal entity.  2 information from the Public information Bureau will be deemed an individual right and defined as being the right, claim, due, freedom, interest, liberty, permission, power, prerogative, and privilege of any individual to receive that information.  3 Alt such information reasonably requested will be free.  4 Branch offices of the Bureau will be established throughout New Zealand with toll free access where such a branch is not locally available.  5 in the event of a failure to be provided with information the applicant may appeal to the Ombudsman, who will investigate whether there is any valid reason why the information requested has been withheld.  6 The current Human Rights Legislation and New Zealand First's Equal Employment Opportunities Policy will be regarded as justification for advice and service.  7 New Zealand First will fund information Officer support to deal with the information interests of the elderly in Rest Homes, and to ensure that the elderly and infirm in institutions are assisted with information concerning the oversight of their finances, rights and needs.  8 New Zealand First will appoint an Advocate-General to be instructed by the Bureau to appear in front of any court, Tribunal or statutory body to represent the Public information Bureau and/or any client of that Bureau who may be experiencing difficulties in obtaining information from a Government Department, with the exclusion of matters of a criminal or commercially sensitive nature.  9 This initiative will assist the improved operation of the Official information Act.  10 New Zealand First will support this and other initiatives designed to disseminate information as extensively as possible in the interests of public and business awareness and productivity.  EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.  "Prejudice against minorities has no place in a civilised society."  PREAMBLE  Every business is likely to be affected by the rapid changes that are taking place in the New Zealand workforce. The average age of workers is higher, the number of women in paid employment is growing and employees now come from a great variety of ethnic groups. People with disabilities are making an increasing contribution in the workforce, many more people are in part-time employment and. increasingly, workers have family responsibilities.  Success in business means managing change - not avoiding it. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is about giving people of equal ability equal opportunity, it is not about the rights of one individual competing with the rights of another. EEO recognises that the increased diversity in the modern workforce has real advantages for employers and employees alike.  international studies show that employers who have implemented EEO procedures have improved employee relations and morale, improved customer match and service, reduced absenteeism and staff turnover, and improved productivity. Employers such as these attract highly skilled people who are as concerned with quality and productivity as they are with working conditions and remuneration.  PHILOSOPHY  EEO guarantees that merit is the key factor considered when employing staff, it eliminates from employment decisions any irrelevant factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, family status and religious belief. This results in more harmonious, tolerant and creative work environments which foster the innovation and quality for which all New Zealand businesses must now actively strive.  POLICY and SOLUTIONS  New Zealand First is fully committed to establishing genuine equality of opportunity for all law abiding New zealanders irrespective of their minority group status.  New Zealand First will therefore actively encourage the development of EEO programmes in the employment sector. New Zealand First will also ensure that discriminatory treatment of minority groups remains unlawful, and ensure that appropriate remedies are available to individuals who have been unfairly discriminated against.  in summary, New Zealand First believes it is important to maximise the economic potential of all our citizens. The main consideration must always be who would make the best employee or tenant, not the colour of their skin, their gender, their age, their religion, their family status, their physical handicap, their sexual orientation or their nationality. prejudice against minorities has no place in a civilised society.  Friday, September 17 1993  ACCIDENT COMPENSATION  POLICY  "Comprehensive compensation for every New Zealander."  PREAMBLE  The Accident Compensation Act 1972. abolished the right of an injured person or the dependents of a deceased injured person, to bring an action for damages where the injury or death was the result of personal injury by accident.  The woodhouse commission (the Royal commission) contemplated a comprehensive compensation scheme for every person in New Zealand whether or not permanently resident or an earner. Both the 1972 and 1982 Acts specified state compensation. The woodhouse Commission also examined the question of the right to sue and concluded that there were many faults inherent there, although all the arguments were aimed at the question of negligence.  PHILOSOPHY  Since the end of 1972 when the original legislation was passed, the Accident Compensation Act has been amended in many ways and has at times been very lengthy and complex legislation.  with the exception of a number of sections dealing with the collection of premiums, the Accident Rehabilitation and compensation insurance Legislation came into force on 1 July 1992, repealing the original Accident compensation Act The new Act was passed "to establish an insurance-based scheme to rehabilitate and compensate in an equitable and financially affordable manner those persons who suffer personal injury".  it must be accepted that the new legislation is not delivering to New zealanders the compensation which was previously contemplated by the woodhouse commission. New Zealand First, as part of its commitment to the people of New Zealand, has been seeking input from ordinary New zealanders who are affected by the current legislation. The emerging evidence is of systemic failure.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will immediately repeal the current legislation and return to the pro-July 1992 Accident Compensation Act.  2 New Zealand First will, with the aid of the ACC consumers Network, commence a full review of Accident compensation and will ensure that the system is not changed until all the regulations have been prepared and reviewed to ensure they are workable.  3 in line with the full review of Accident compensation, New Zealand First will move toward all payments being "earnings based", where the recipient is a beneficiary or is in receipt of the Retirement Entitlement the recipient will receive payments based on the benefit or entitlement currently received.  4 New Zealand First will investigate the possibility of payments for grief counselling and assistance with funeral expenses for survivors, where the deceased died as the result of an accident, and the survivors are not currently eligible for any assistance.  5 New Zealand First will ensure that all victims of crimes will be entitled to compensation, without question, where the crime has been proven in court.  RETIREMENT ENTITLEMENT  POLICY  "A real measure of dignity and security in old age."  PREAMBLE  All New Zealanders are well aware of the chronology of events on the issue of superannuation. Those events must neither be forgotten nor be allowed to be swept under the carpet. What has happened in the past is illustrative of a betrayal of the New Zealand Electorate.  until this issue is resolved, Governments will have neither the faith, nor the respect, nor the trust of a significant portion of the New Zealand people and superannuitants will continue to lead an unsettled existence - with their livelihood hanging by a political thread.  PHILOSOPHY  unlike most other OECD countries, we in New Zealand have been unable to achieve the certainty which comes from a well thought out, sustainable, retirement income. The inability of successive governments to deliver on this most important social issue is reflected in our appalling  record.  over the past twenty years there have been no less than twelve major changes. All this has produced anxiety, fear and confusion from a client group which has more than paid its dues. The environment most superannuitants find themselves in reflects essentially governments not willing to take their time and deliver quality decisions.  The complexity of the issue demands, all the more, that effort be made to examine the type of society most New zealanders desire and a realisation that changes - good changes - cannot occur overnight.  HOW does one secure a steady income after retirement? Such decisions are influenced by government provisions for post retirement income and certainty about that income.  The importance of retirement income is not only its effect on the particular individual but its effects on the whole economy. Good Government must begin to answer some of the more difficult questions such as - do we in New Zealand want individuals to save for retirement, or do we believe that society should assume the responsibility for that provision? or should we have a mixture of government and individual responsibility, and what should that mix be?  The debate on the sustainability or otherwise of the GRI is exemplified by recent argument that the scheme indeed could be sustainable if our economic growth matched the 3% average of our OECD partners.  Further its unsustainability appears to rest on the pathetic performance of our economy of little growth, insubstantial confidence and intractable unemployment, under these economic circumstances, there is no surprise in increasing arguments against the sustainability of GRI as we currently have it.  Brandishing the current generation of superannuitants as the "selfish generation" smacks of a simplistic slogan etched with emotive and less than substantial analysis.  TOO little recognition has been paid to the fact that this so-called selfish generation faced some of the harshest tax levels in the history of this country - and paid them.  The savings pattern of this group can, therefore, be related to the clear fiscal messages propounded by successive governments - ie. society will take care of those over retirement age.  Likewise, the lack of incentives and absence of likely sanctions for not saving, provided clear signals to those coming through to retirement that national superannuation provisions of GRI subsequently were for everyone, irrespective.  so, what is the role of government? Put simply, the major contribution of government must be to stabilise expected retirement income. To do so, good government must endeavour to obtain the backing of all groups - social, political and cultural, only in so doing, can there be a credible attempt to both minimise changes, and all the negative aspects which go with such change.  Good government must also ensure that any such scheme be efficient, transparent so that all know where they stand and, above all, fair.  SOLUTIONS  Retirement Entitlement  1 The RETIREMENT ENTITLEMENT will be paid universally to all  RETIREES.  2 The starting age for the RETIREMENT ENTITLEMENT will be aged 62 years.  3 New Zealand First will pay a RETIREMENT ENTITLEMENT of 74% of the net average weekly wage in 1996. However, in the short-term, New Zealand First is asking, because of the state of the economy, retired citizens to make a sacrifice alongside that to be made by many other citizens in the interests of restoring sustainable wealth to the economy. Accordingly, New Zealand First will pay a Retirement Entitlement of 71% of the net average weekly wage over the next 3 years.  4 From 55 to 62 years, older citizens who are not able to work will receive a pre-Retirement Allowance of 65% of the weekly wage.  5 The Retirement Entitlement and Pre-Retirement Allowance will each be paid at a set rate, with no distinction for married or single persons.  6 The Retirement Entitlement will be removed from social welfare and will be administered by the senior citizens commission to be established.  7 The Retirement Entitlement WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO A  SURCHARGE.  8 New Zealand First will introduce legislation requiring at least a 75% parliamentary vote before changes to the above provisions can be made.  NOTE: Gross Superannuation payments are currently calculated as around 69.8% of the net average weekly wage.  Medical and Welfare Needs  9 Those receiving the Retirement Entitlement will be eligible for the minimum Health care charges and prescription charges applying at any given time.  Housing  10 New Zealand First will initiate the establishment of Government assisted retirement housing schemes for those whose means exclude them from private schemes.  11 Residents of such housing schemes will be subjected to means testing and will pay rentals relating to their means, in this way, those who have modest investments will not be excluded from eligibility.  12 The purpose of such a housing scheme will be to enable the elderly to retain their independence in a secure and affordable environment.  13 Retirement housing schemes will be administered by the senior citizens commission in partnership with local authorities.  Care  13 Because New Zealand First is concerned about the varying standards, high costs, and accessibility of Rest Home schemes at present. New Zealand First will ensure that part of the commission's operation will be to oversee and to make recommendations about New Zealand's Rest Home system.  14 New Zealand First will also consider funding extra social worker support to deal with the interests of the elderly in Rest Homes, and to ensure that the elderly and infirm in institutions are assisted with the legal oversight of their finances, rights and needs.  15 New Zealand First will formulate policies for the Commission to engage the employment of recipients of the unemployment benefit in senior citizens care and rest home care, and by this means convert current negative funding in unemployment benefits to positive outcomes.  16 Legislation would be introduced to ensure the care and protection, by the Senior Citizens Commission, of the elderly and infirm confined to Rest Homes.  SOCIAL WELFARE  POLICY  "The State must be an umbrella to meet genuine and deserving need whilst assisting recipients to become independent from the State."  PREAMBLE  The burden of welfare payments is an immense cost on Government expenditure directly, and indirectly disguises a range of unseen costs such as increasing societal breakdown, ill-health, suicide and crime. Predictions that there are young people who will always be on welfare and older people, unable to re-enter the workforce or made redundant, have no hope of escaping welfarism, are daily becoming a reality for far too many New zealanders.  The record of recent governments and current social assistance policies do nothing to instill confidence that there is a change coming in the State's approach to welfare policy. A failure to discern genuine and deserving short or long term need from short or long term potential beneficiary independence; and the role of government in its achievement is imposing severe and unnecessary costs upon the state.  in searching for social equity, account must be taken of the characteristics of various groups on welfare. For too many in our society. the future is tomorrow, a daily struggle simply to survive. The present levels of welfare and social assistance payments, and the failure of governments to provide innovative alternatives and incentives to escape welfarism, are a disincentive for many recipients to seek a change for their future. Hence, welfare in New Zealand has become simply "more of the same", even when it is less.  PHILOSOPHY  An innovative social welfare policy is not about making "the system more efficient" but about making people more efficient. Recent claims of systemic efficiency in fact cloak a retreat of the state from policies leading to long term personal and social independence, in that sense wise social policy is concerned, wherever possible, to make investments now that will remove the need for long term assistance, it is the achieving of that objective which creates an efficient social welfare system.  The number of long term beneficiaries can with vision and humanity be reduced, in that sense the State must be an umbrella to meet genuine and deserving need whilst assisting recipients to become independent from the State.  Good government must ensure that assistance is efficient, transparent and subjectively understood, so all know where they stand and, above all. fair. in following this approach the stigma of welfarism can be removed, and the desire of the great majority of recipients for personal independence, fulfilled.  POLICY AND SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First recognises many different family structures in modem society and is committed to the concept of the wider family arrangement as the keystone of society.  2 New Zealand First will pilot programmes throughout New Zealand that offer parental welfare recipients.  a) Guaranteed access to publicly funded community service work where they cannot find work in the private sector.  b) income ten percent in excess of their current earnings.  c) guaranteed child care with minimum payments scaled to earnings.  d) guaranteed health care with minimum payments scaled to earnings.  3 Only in exceptional circumstances will any person under the age of 18 years be eligible to receive an unemployment benefit as New Zealand First will raise the minimum compulsory education leaving age to 18. only where students between 15 and 18 obtain appropriate work, and are guaranteed continual upgrading training by the employer, will the student be permitted to leave school before the minimum compulsory education leaving age. The responsibility for agreeing to an emergency unemployment benefit being paid to someone under 18 will lie with the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Youth Affairs.  4 New Zealand First will review the current six-month Unemployment Benefit stand down period with a view to abolishing it, except in cases of proven misconduct, or where work is available privately or publicly, or the applicant has failed to display a desire to work.  5 New Zealand First will implement policies to ensure that Beneficiaries who obtain genuine temporary work placements do not receive, net of tax, a lesser weekly income than they would have received if they remained on the benefit.  a) Where such unemployed beneficiaries unreasonably refuse work offered then they will be making an economic decision at no cost to the tax payer, ie where work is offered and declined the unemployment benefit will not be available.  6 New Zealand First will extend the current provisions relating to the "major repairs advances system" to allow low interest loans for the purpose of building one or two rooms on to a house to cater for disabled or elderly family members no longer able to live on their own. Any such loan will be secured as a Crown Charge on the property and will, except under exceptional circumstances, be repayable when the property is sold.  7 New Zealand First will immediately review the current assistance being given to such organisations as women's Refuges and Rape Crisis centres and will ensure that in future a fairer proportion of lottery grant monies, related to need, is allocated to such organisations and topped up by the Government as required.  8 New Zealand First recognises the current substantial underfunding of many community based welfare organisations and will implement policies to address such underfunding.  9 New Zealand First will establish a homemaking rebate for a spouse whether male or female who chooses to remain at home caring for the family, where such a spouse can prove that were it not for the rebate they would, of economic necessity, need to work outside the home.  10 New Zealand First will establish a tax rebate where caregivers take responsibility for disabled family members in either the caregiver's or the disabled family member's home.  11 New Zealand First will maintain the current House Help for caregiver families under stress at the current weekly payment for up to any 28 day period or any two three week periods, or three two week periods in any one year.  12 New Zealand First will immediately commence a review of Child support. At present there are far too many "second" families relegated to the poverty line as a result of the strict formulae and rigid stance taken by the inland Revenue Department. The review will be conducted by an independent body.  13 it will be a term of the review to investigate whether all Child support payments to be made by "second family" parents should be based on the current net income formula only, after a proportion of all other reasonable "second family" expenses have been deducted.  14 it will be a term of the review to investigate the fairness of such a  proportionate Child support payment having in mind that it is . child Support that is paramount.  15 The maintenance and administration of the aims and intentions of child support will be placed under the commissioner for children. Any appeal against a decision of the commissioner may be made, in the first instance, to the Family Court.  16 New Zealand First will change the PAYE tax rates and invalid and widows benefit, child care, teenage family care and family rates to provide further assistance to those on very low incomes.  TAXATION POLICY  "The marvel of history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their government." (W E Borah 1865-1940)  PREAMBLE  Taxation is a necessary evil, without which a Government cannot function. Notwithstanding that fact, it is unnecessary for the current level of taxation to be as harsh as it is and impacting, with GST, unfairly on the moderately incomed.  New Zealand First believes that if every person and every business paid the taxation they are obliged by Law to pay, the tax burden on individuals would be less burdensome than it is now.  PHILOSOPHY  New Zealand's PAYE is generally accepted as an efficient and fair system of recovering taxation levies against persons in employment, in New Zealand today all PAYE earners pay their fair share of taxation.  Businesses pay tax on a provisional tax scheme. This system is generally honestly followed by small business on the advice of accountants who prepare returns in accordance with long accepted principles of accounting practice.  in the last decade, "creative accounting" has become a common practice, though not one supported by the law. AS a result there is now in New Zealand a significant taxation advice industry. This industry advises some businesses on how to defeat the orderly collection of taxation and is creating imbalances in the equitable sharing of the tax burden. Any avoidance of the revenue in this manner, by a taxpayer, creates a further burden on other tax payers.  in Auckland alone, there are in excess of 200 specialist tax lawyers and in excess of 250 specialist tax accountants, many of whom are engaged in assisting business activities which operate against the revenue and its laws. However, as a general observation, if the income of these tax practitioners is estimated at between $100-150,000 per annum, their combined income is between $45-70.5 million dollars. Taking a conservative 60% overhead figure against the estimated income of $100,000, ie the lowest combination, this industry earns in fees per annum in Auckland alone, in excess of $100 million dollars.  (This is not a comment on Lawyers or Accountants, but the Law and inadequate enforcement procedures.)  The fact that there is such a thriving industry of this magnitude in New Zealand alone demonstrates:  (a) The large number of tax payers who have sufficient taxation concerns warranting the employment of high paid experts; and  (b» Treasury's estimate of 0.5 billion dollars in tax evasion or avoidance per annum is unrealistically low.  Avoidance and evasion of the revenue continues unabated in our society to the detriment of elderly beneficiaries, welfare payments, education and health in New Zealand.  POLICY AMD SOLUTIONS  1 New Zealand First will change the PAYE tax rates to provide further assistance to those on very low incomes. The tax rates for PAYE will otherwise remain unchanged.  2 New Zealand First will introduce a new taxation enforcement regime aimed not at increasing taxation, but ensuring that it is paid.  3 An independent anti-corruption commission will be established to enable New zealanders to have confidence that their institutions are working properly.  4 New Zealand First will establish an Employment Rebate; This will be in two parts.  (a» A special rebate to ensure that industries providing jobs are not penalised by a high wages bill. This rebate will be calculated on an individual basis to ensure fair dealings with existing industries and to ensure that the tax laws do not create a situation which requires employers to artificially reduce their staff.  (b) A special rebate calculated on an individual basis to assist all industries that increase their permanent staff numbers by expansion for two years this will be equivalent to new verified PAYE reductions.  5 New Zealand First will establish a New industry. Expansion and Modernisation Rebate; this will require IRQ approval as a one off rebate, it will be designed to cover the situation where a tax payer invests in new technology which enhances the earning capacity, but does not result in an increase in employment.  it will be possible for industries to qualify for both the employment rebate and this rebate if such is necessary to ensure that an industry expanding its operation is not unfairly levied for its tax obligations.  6 New Zealand First will establish a Technology and Research  Rebate; This is a one off special rebate negotiated on a one off basis with the IRD to ensure that companies that are investing heavily into new research and technology are not penalised by the taxation system, thereby enabling New Zealand to head to the fore front of technology development.  7 New Zealand First will establish special Government policy  Rebates; This category of rebate will be announced from time to time by the Government to encourage the economy in accordance with policy, eg. to encourage specific industry investment and more specifically to encourage the growth in employment by the establishment of new industries.  8 New Zealand First will establish a New Export Market Discovery Rebate. The target of $45 billion in exports over the next 10 years can only be achieved if encouragement is offered to those companies actively seeking new export markets. An inland Revenue Department approved one-off rebate will be offered to ensure that such activities which are in the interest of the Nation as a whole are financially supported.  9 TO ensure the integrity of this system. New Zealand First will ensure that any tax payer who has gross receipts greater than $50,000 per annum who misleads or falsifies the gross receipts of a business, including any professional adviser who knowingly, aids and abets such a tax payer to mislead or falsify such gross receipts shall face substantial fines or imprisonment  Small businesses will be able to complete the necessary returns without the need for extra accountancy work above the basic systems used by good business practice, industry groups will be encouraged and will be able as an industry group to negotiate with the IRD in respect of the general industry rebate.  10 New Zealand First will impose Tariffs if:  (a) the Country of origin imposes tariffs on New Zealand goods;  (b) the country of origin is involved in unacceptable labour practices and policies, such that they are not competing fairly with New Zealand industry.  the nature of goods is such that tariff revenue is acceptable as a revenue gathering mechanism, eg tobacco and alcohol.  11 New Zealand First will abolish the SURTAX on superannuation.  12 in addition to New Zealand-First's policy for the retired, which is defined in a separate policy document, specified industries will be approved for a "retired investment rebate". These will be funds that are invested in industry that assists New Zealand Development. Furthermore, a new industry development bank will be launched by the Government to invest in new industry and technology in New Zealand.  13 where there is an imbalance between the demand for graduates with certain Qualifications (ie science and technology) and the supply, New Zealand First will vary its taxation policy to enable appropriate businesses to invest in training by offering scholarship prizes and other forms of encouragement to students to pursue studies which will redress the balance.