The Alliance Party of New Zealand says the news that New Zealanders will have to wait years for Telecom and Vodafone to be made to bring down excessive mobile charges is a travesty.
Communications and IT Spokesperson Richard Mitchell says its time to put the call through to the mobile giants that the game is up.
“We know what the problem is – so let’s fix it.”
He says the Commerce Commission has proposed forcing the cost of mobile calls down to bring New Zealand into line with the rest of the world but is acting like a “toothless tiger.”
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The Alliance Party of New Zealand says the Government’s 1.95% funding increase for Early Childhood Education is a bad joke.
Alliance Party Education Spokesperson Richard Mitchell says while any extra funding is useful, the amount provided by the National Government will fail to ensure all of New Zealand’s children get the best start in life.
“This is the end result of National’s unaffordable and irresponsible tax cuts – the slow death of New Zealand’s public education system due to lack of resources.”
Mr Mitchell says there always appears to be money to build new prisons, but not enough to give all children the support to fully develop their potential.
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The Alliance Party says Disabilities Minister Paula Bennett abandoning her post shows the lack of commitment of the National Government to disabled New Zealanders.
Alliance Disabilities Spokesperson Chris Ford says that Bennett asking to be “relieved” of her portfolio shows that disability issues are at the bottom of the heap as far as National is concerned.
Mr Ford says the claim that Ms Bennett was concentrating on employment issues was nonsense, as the National Government had no plan to deal with unemployment, and the only job she would now have to do is read the paper for the latest closures and cuts.
“Ms Bennett has done little in her time as Minister of Disability Issues. Ms Bennett’s main commitment is to advancing her own career, and obviously disability issues weren’t part of her plan for self-promotion.”
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The Alliance Party says big power companies should be required to install electricity “smart meters” that would help consumers, rather than introducing “dumb meters” to boost their own profits.
Alliance Party energy spokesperson Ian Tinkler says new technology like smart meters had the potential to help New Zealand manage our use of electricity to benefit everyone.
He says high-tech smart meters would mean people would pay less for power, and power use would be more efficient.
“Smart meters can be set so appliances like driers and dishwasher switch on when overall demand is low.”
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The Alliance says it is wrong that underfunded state schools are taking on debt collectors to retrieve “donations”.
Alliance education spokesperson Richard Mitchell says underfunding of schools is having a negative impact on the education of the children.
He says that Minister of Education Anne Tolley should not seek to blame schools for their inability to function on the inadequate resources they are given.
“The Minister claims to be appalled at the situation, so why does she not do something about the cause and not the symptoms of the problem – and the cause is underfunding.”
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The Alliance Party of New Zealand says the National Government’s funding freeze on polytechnic’s is an “ignorant policy that will lead to an ignorant society.”
Education Minister Anne Tolley says there is no more money to fund extra places in polytechnics during the recession.
Alliance Party education spokesperson Richard Mitchell, who is a IT graduate from Otago Polytech, says the National Government is a disaster for education.
“Polytechnics are providing the kind of technical, skill based and industry-focussed education that is vital for the New Zealand society and economy, as well as for the intrinsic benefits of an educated people.”
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Alliance Party Co-Leader Kay Murray says if the best shot from the National Government’s Minister of Corrections Judith Collins to deal with the breakdown of society is to pack prisoners into metal boxes meant for transporting goods, then New Zealand has been brought to a new low.
“The idea seems to belong to the days when convicts from the slums were sent out to the colonies in prison ships, and perhaps that’s where the National Party wants to take us back to.”
Ms Collins comment that double-bunking would have benefits for some prisoners, including preventing them from self-harming, was absurd.
“Don’t worry about self-harming – what about prisoners harming each other? Have we not learned from tragic incidents like that of Liam Ashley, the young man murdered when put in a prison van with a hardened criminal in 2006?”
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The Alliance Party of New Zealand says Revenue Minister Peter Dunne’s proposed changes to the student loan repayment scheme by National would be tightening the screws on students even more.
Students who work over the holidays to save for the following year could be forced to make loan repayments.
Alliance Party Tertiary Education Spokesperson Richard Mitchell says students make very little money during the year, and holiday jobs pay for basic living expenses for the following year.
He says comments by Revenue Minister Peter Dunne complaints that managing student loans was “cumbersome” and difficult to maintain for the Government were crass.
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The Alliance Party of New Zealand has described funding cuts to Adult Community Education (ACE) as “social vandalism” by the National Party.
Alliance Party education spokesperson Richard Mitchell says the decision to attack such a basic and positive part of New Zealand life such as adult and community education shows the type of Government they are: mean, small-minded and anti-social.
“We get upset at tagging and other anti-social activities, yet this action of the National Government is just as harmful to our communities.”
“We are now seeing the end result of last election’s tax cut competition between National and Labour, tax cuts which benefited the most well off and which have starved funding for the most basic of community services.”
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Alliance Party co-leader Kay Murray says the Alliance Party is one hundred percent behind Unite Union’s campaign to raise the minimum wage.
The Unite campaign kicked off on Thursday 11 June with a petition for a Citizen’s Initiated Referendum asking for an immediate rise to $15 an hour followed by annual increases until the minimum wage is brought up to 66% of the average total hourly earnings.
This would bring it into line with national superannuation which is currently set at 66% of the average wage. Unite hopes to collect enough signatures to call for a national referendum on this.
Ms Murray says the Alliance has long argued that the minimum wage is too low, with the minimum wage in Australia is $17.50 being an example of this.
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