Our Policy

OUR POLICY - AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE

Farming is the backbone of New Zealand. We stand with our farmers and rural New Zealand.

In our policy: 

1. We will veto any new taxes on farming to keep food affordable, support our rural economy, and support work to improve emissions efficiency.
2. We will focus on improving environmental outcomes through locally targeted actions rather than regulation.
3. Methane is a short-lived gas, so we will promote adopting a more accurate measurement methodology, based on the latest science.
4. We will refocus spending and research on adapting to a changing climate. We will repeal and replace the Climate Change Response Act 2002.
5. We will stop carbon credits for forestry in order to reduce carbon farming and associated rural job losses, and protect food-producing land.
6. We will require climate research that informs policy decisions to apply the scientific method, to ensure decisions are robust and evidence based.

You can read our full policy wording here.

Please contact Party Leader, Matt King on matt.king@democracynz.org for any queries.

As a Party founded on farming, freedom, and family, we stand with our farming and rural communities.

We have made our position clear since last year - we do not support the climate hysteria that punishes our farmers and rural communities. Farming is the backbone of our economy.  

DemocracyNZ was, in fact, the first party to openly say that we will scrap the unsustainable Zero Carbon Act, and are strongly against the farming tax. We are driven by doing what’s right, not by polls.

Our policies will include an environmental framework that enshrines property rights, and is focused on outcomes rather than restrictions.

We are not afraid to discuss our position on unworkable regulation, such as He Waka Eke Noa. National’s policy says all the right things, but we do not believe in virtue-signalling interventions on sectors like our ag sector - we are already world leaders.

DemocracyNZ believes in less Government intrusion in our lives, and to truly stand with our farming and rural sector - we need bold policy that supports the sector to thrive, not just a whitewash over broken policy.

We will be announcing our farming policy over the coming months before the election, which we believe is fit-for-purpose and helps Kiwis get ahead. We look forward to sharing it.

OUR POLICY - SAFE COMMUNITIES

Keeping our communities safe is of utmost importance. Community is the foundation of a strong economy. In our policy: 

1. We will prioritise and better resource frontline policing.
2. We will ensure there is increased funding for organised crime units to reduce crime levels.
3. We will reinstate three strikes legislation so that repeat offenders are dealt with seriously.
4. We will review and improve firearms legislation, so it’s sensible, safe and fair.
5. We will push for the Coward Punch Bill, introduced in the House by Matt King, to become law.
6. We will require full public disclosure of any criminal convictions of all political candidates in local and central government.

You can read our full policy wording here.

Please contact Party Leader, Matt King on matt.king@democracynz.org for any queries.

Watch Matt King's Coward Punch Bill reading from 2020 here:

OUR POLICY - THE BILL OF RIGHTS

The Bill of Rights is one of our six core policy pillars. In our Bill of Rights policy, we will: 

1. Require that the Bill of Rights is upheld as a firm condition of any coalition agreement 

2. Amend legislation to prevent future Governments from breaching New Zealanders' basic rights.  

3. Repeal recent legislation that breaches New Zealanders’ basic rights. 

4. Legislate to make it illegal for employers to mandate vaccinations

5. End race-based discriminatory policies, and support everyone being treated equally.

You can read our full policy wording here.

Please contact Party Leader, Matt King on matt.king@democracynz.org for any queries on our Bill of Rights policy.

Our position on the Bill of Rights

DemocracyNZ was formed during the era of some of the worst COVID-19 policies, including the “illegal and immoral” vaccination mandates (they are in fact, Justice Cooke’s words in the Yardley case), and in the aftermath of the Parliamentary protest.

We saw the historical parallels, and recognised the huge danger the country was in if its elected representatives choose to trample basic human rights, especially in a situation of a supposed “emergency” where those very rights are most crucial.

All the parties currently in the Beehive did this, and they have therefore shown themselves untrustworthy. We saw that the Bill of Rights in itself was not strong enough to restrain governmental overreach, if the elected representatives were prepared to vote for legislative overreach.

There are inherent weaknesses to the system of democratic government in New Zealand, in particular, the paucity of effective checks and balances to restrain whomever has a majority in the Beehive.

DemocracyNZ will be that restrainer for the next parliamentary term, and beyond, and we will fight for your freedom, your human rights - and that of your loved ones.

We need to take a careful look at our constitutional provisions, and find ways to plug the holes in our leaky democracy.  This is not simple, or amenable to eye-catching slogans.

The issue of “entrenchment” has become a hot topic of discussion. As Party Leader, Matt King has gone around the country, speaking to growing numbers of Kiwis about the exciting alternative that DemocracyNZ represents, he has spoken of entrenching the Bill of Rights. He used this term in the plain English sense of solidifying, protecting and preserving the Bill of Rights.

The Five Waters debacle brought the technical legal term of “entrenchment” into the public eye, where Nanaia Mahuta tried (and failed) to tie future Governments’ hands by slipping a parliamentary entrenchment clause (requiring a larger parliamentary majority for subsequent amendment) into the legislation.

As part of our policy development, we have looked into whether formally entrenching the Bill of Rights should form part of our policy, and concluded that it shouldn’t. The reason for this is because the weaknesses in the Bill of Rights would not be solved by formally entrenching the Act — this would simply make it more difficult to amend it.

Future governments could easily still use any pretext they like to pass legislation containing “justified limitations” to the Bill of Rights, even if it is formally entrenched (if we simply say we will entrench the Bill of Rights). The intent of DemocracyNZ has been to strengthen our ability to repeal or object to any legislation that breaches our basic human rights. Therefore, preserving and protecting the Bill of Rights, which is a bottom line of DemocracyNZ, achieves our objective of protecting the basic human rights of all Kiwis.

Our commitment to uphold the Bill of Rights is unchanged, and this will be a non-negotiable bottom line for us in forming a coalition with any other party.  It is that straightforward.

DemocracyNZ has always, and will always, fight for your freedom, for your human rights - and that of your loved ones.

OUR POLICY - HEALTH

The healthcare system in New Zealand is in a sad and sorry state – as evidenced by unacceptably long wait times in public hospital emergency rooms. The system has been degraded over time by under-investment and is facing increasing challenges.

These include an aging population, increasing medication costs, and an escalating number of lifestyle diseases due to a lack of focus on disease prevention. This means the general health of our population is at risk.

Government policies during the pandemic, like extended lockdowns, firing experienced unvaccinated health workers, COVID-19 vaccinations, and postponing surgeries, have increased stress on our already strained health system.

We will start correcting several decades of mismanagement by putting in place measures to prevent failed policies continuing to further harm people’s health.

Addressing the root causes of disease and better resourcing primary care can significantly improve our population’s health. We will seek to refocus our healthcare system around healthcare and not disease management with a purely pharmaceutical lens.

Acute medical and surgical care will remain a priority. 

You can read our full policy wording here.

The Therapeutics Products Bill (TPB) is deeply concerning, and DemocracyNZ is strongly opposed to it.

This Bill will limit access Kiwis have to natural health remedies, and give more control to big pharma. The TPB has more sections than the Crimes Act 1961 - the legislation that deals with most criminal offending in this country. This Bill is yet another example of Government overreach.

We believe in Kiwis having the right to choose, and this Bill only makes access to health remedies more difficult and more expensive. DemocracyNZ has stood against this draconian piece of legislation since it was announced, and will continue to strongly oppose it.

For any queries, please contact Diana Burgess - DemocracyNZ Candidate for Whangārei on diana.burgess@democracynz.org

OUR POLICY - EDUCATION

We need to refocus education on getting the basics right in our schools – reading, writing, and maths. Alongside this, key technical and life skills need to be offered that children need in modern workplaces.

Students need to be prepared for employment, not unemployment. Therefore, high schools need to have more involvement with tertiary providers, so both professional and trade skills can be offered.

We also need to ensure that parents, caregivers, and the community play a key role in education and are to be consulted on the curriculum. 

Tertiary education, such as polytechnics, need to be decentralised - and local governance councils need to be re-established to oversee their governance and operation. 

The Government’s recent reforms aren’t working, with courses being dropped and staff laid off. We need to better involve local business leaders in the initial formation of polytech governance councils, and in developing tailored polytech programmes.  

Education spending needs to be targeted at programmes that are delivering results, and dedicated funding is needed for teacher aides and ongoing teacher training.

We also want to support parents and caregivers to exercise their choice to educate their children at home, or to send their child to integrated or charter schools.

You can read our full policy wording here: DemocracyNZ - our education policy.

OUR POLICY - The economy

The Government needs to be part of the solution to fix our economy, not part of the problem.

New Zealand is home to great people and a beautiful natural landscape, but it’s becoming increasingly unaffordable for people to live and do business here. We’re seeing many Kiwis pack up and leave our shores as a result of this. Reckless government spending and the Labour Government’s failure to keep up with the demand for new housing, have contributed to high inflation. Kiwis are struggling to be able to access the basics of life – including affording housing, food, and other essentials. 

Severe COVID lockdown rules, along with rising inflation, and over regulation by Government, have also made it tough for businesses to keep operating. 

Reckless Government spending needs to be controlled, and tight economic restraints need to be put in place to significantly reduce inflation. Regressive policies which limit agriculture, manufacturing, and energy production hurt these sectors and will increase the cost of living for Kiwis. We need to focus on growing exports, ensure energy remains affordable, and increase home building, so more Kiwis can own their own home. 

We need less Government regulation, not more, and we will focus on supporting business growth. Investing in core infrastructure is also a priority to keep our country moving.

You can read our full policy wording here.

Politics is about people, and policy changes lives. Our Party values have driven our policy development.

Our bottom lines are simple. 

• Uphold the New Zealand Bill of Rights - ensure our basic human rights are respected. We do not support mandates and require all jobs to be reinstated. 
  
• We take race out of everything – it’s about need.
• We protect private property rights.
• We believe in education and not indoctrination.
• We believe in evidence over ideology.
• We believe in less Government intrusion in our lives.

Some of our other Party positions are as follows:

1. We are a sovereign nation and won’t be controlled by overseas influence (e.g., the WEF, WHO, UN).
2. We say no to a cashless society.
3. We oppose co-governance (Five Waters, He Puapua, centralisation and over regulation).
4. We believe in free speech - ensure a fair, balanced and democratic media.