Tax cuts, improving the Employment Relations Act, and reviewing sentences for crime against children are just a few of the many policies that National is developing to make way for a prosperous, safe and successful society. Policies which have been announced focus on New Zealand’s economy, education and the environment. For the economy, our plan is to implement ongoing tax cuts, and oversee a sensible approach to government spending. We also wish to boost investment in our over-stretched infrastructure and remove bureaucracy.

Our education policy includes a commitment to setting national standards in reading, writing and numeracy, and assessing all primary and intermediate school children against these standards. It is important that all results are reported to parents. Where this has been tried, such as in Glen Taylor Primary in Glen Innes, spectacular results in children’s literacy and numeracy have been achieved.

To sustain the development of our environment, National’s policy also covers the reduction of net carbon emissions by 50% from 1990 levels by 2050, establishing a cap and trade system to reduce emissions, fast-tracking renewable energy projects, allocating carbon credits for tree planting, and increasing investment in research and development. National’s ‘Bluegreen Vision’ for New Zealand (see www.bluegreens.org.nz) includes reforming the Resource Management Act to reduce costs and delays, cleaning up our rivers, lakes and air, encouraging community involvement in conservation, and increasing fines for biosecurity breaches.

More of these policies as well as discussion documents on Law and Order will be announced by the end of the year, covering where National stands and how our party intends to create a secure, free and ambitious country.

An 11 year old boy attempted to have his parents disciplined after learning at school about the new child discipline regulations. The boy dialed 111 to report that he was being assaulted by his parents. However, when Howick-Otara family violence coordinator Sergeant Brett Woodmass went to assess the situation, he discovered that “…his parents intervened with reasonable force” (Eastern Courier, Friday 3rd August, 2007), in order to discipline the boy when he was engaged in “offensive and obstructive behaviour”. This just shows that the changes to the Crimes Amendment Act that were implemented earlier on this year are not completely understood.

Thank goodness that Sergeant Woodmass used his common sense.