Youth To Politicians: Give Us A Reason To Stay
act-new-zealand
Thu Nov 03 2011 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Youth To Politicians: Give Us A Reason To Stay
Thursday, 3 November 2011, 8:59 pm
Press Release: ACT New Zealand
Youth To Politicians: Give Us A Reason To Stay
ACT New Zealand Youth Affairs Spokesman Stephen Whittington today slammed National and Labour for failing to give young people a reason to stay in New Zealand, after the Ministry of Education Civic and Citizenship Education Study showed that almost one in three Year 9 students wanted to live permanently in another country.
“I have travelled overseas and loved the experience, but 27 percent of the students surveyed don’t just want to go on an OE; they want to leave for good. This is a tragedy though sadly not a surprise; politicians are saddling youth with mountains of debt through excessive spending promises, low incomes, and unaffordable housing,” Mr Whittington said.
“Decades of short-sighted policies have created an intergenerational fraud. By refusing to raise the age of superannuation, National is making a reckless promise to retirees and leaving young people to pick up the bill. Labour is no better; their big-spending policies like interest-free student loans have seen government spending and borrowing skyrocket, again leaving future taxpayers to pick up the bill.
“Worse still, current policies mean young people can look forward to a life time of low incomes and unaffordable housing. Based on IMF data, New Zealand’s growth projections from 2006 – 2016 are a meagre 0.8 percent, with 148 countries, including Australia, ranked ahead of us. The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey shows that median house prices are 5.3 times the annual median household income, classified as 'severely unaffordable' and well above the historic affordability norm of 3.0.
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“These problems are fixable but politicians must be honest. More spending will only make things worse. ACT is committed to reducing government spending as a portion of GDP to 29 percent – what it was in 2005. ACT will reduce income and company taxes, slash bureaucracy, and overhaul the RMA as part of its plan to get the economy back on track and raise incomes.
“Both National and Labour have tried the more spending, more borrowing, more bureaucracy approach. It hasn’t worked. Young people have had enough and are leaving. By addressing the problem head on - spending less, growing the economy and raising living standards for all New Zealanders, ACT is the only party giving young people a reason to stay,” Mr Whittington said.
ENDS
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