The Act Party has chosen Mark Cameron to contest the Northland electorate. Photo / Supplied
The Act Party has chosen Mark Cameron to contest the Northland electorate. Photo / Supplied
Reining in "out-of-control" Government spending and debt would be one of the key priorities for Act's Northland candidate Mark Cameron - and he reckons his party has a plan to get on top of it.
"The massive debt this Government is putting on the next generation, it's $28,000 for each and every New Zealander. Toddlers will get a driver's licence before they see Labour deliver a surplus."
He didn't specify what that plan entailed.
On what needs to be done to address the chronic affordable housing shortage and inequality within Northland, Cameron said Act would replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with a law that let people build without restrictive zoning such as the metropolitan urban limit.
His party would let councils issue targeted rates to pay for infrastructure for new housing developments.
For decades, he said, councils have tied new housing developments up in red tape and under invested in infrastructure.
Cameron said people must be free to build, and councils should be encouraged to invest in infrastructure if we are to solve the housing crisis and achieve affordability.
He doesn't support moving the Ports of Auckland to Northport, citing a lack of infrastructure to move goods from Northland to the rest of New Zealand.
"Ultimately, Act would take the politics out of infrastructure. Rather than deciding where to build roads or bridges based on votes to be gained, these decisions should be based on the economic benefits. Taxpayers deserve better."
On the restructuring of local government in Northland, Cameron said it was a decision for locals, not for the Government.
He said a smarter response to the coronavirus was needed, as were tax cuts, a reduction in low-value spending, a return to 90-day trials for businesses, as well as that cutting of red tape such as the RMA.
Act has a clear Covid response plan which included alternative facilities for safe, electronically-monitored isolation with strict punishment for rule-breakers, treating different countries and travellers with different levels of caution, and adopting a technology-driven public health action.
Act's Mark Cameron intends to take a hard line against gangs in Northland as a way to deal with the methamphetamine scourge. Photo / NZME
Getting tough on gangs that deal with methamphetamine by hitting them in their pockets were among ways to deal with the scourge, he said.
"The current approach hasn't worked. Act will change the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act so that if a police search finds illegal firearms at an unlawful, gang-run operation, we'll allow them to fast-track the seizure of the gang's assets."
He's also advocating for improvement to New Zealand's mental health and addiction services by creating a separate, stand-alone agency on a national scale to empower patients to choose between a range of providers, rather than simply accepting what their DHB offers.
On Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Cameron said Act would repeal New Zealand's unscientific prohibition on the use of proven genetic engineering technologies.
An airman with the Royal New Zealand Air Force who was involved in several bombing campaigns over Europe during World War II, his grandfather has had the greatest influence in his life.
