Policies
Often the more liberal views of the Young Nationals have been at odds with those of the wider party. The shift in party opinion in areas such as the nuclear ships debate, economic reform, liquor law reform, and anti-discrimination laws has often been influenced by the Young Nationals.
Voluntary Student Membership
Recently the Young Nationals have been at the forefront of lobbying the New Zealand Government to adopt and pass legislation that would move tertiary Students’ Associations to a system of voluntary membership. Currently, Student Union membership is compulsory in New Zealand for most university students. They believe that students deserve the same choices as all other New Zealanders as students are the only group who are forced to join a union. As a result of this policy, the Young Nationals, in conjunction with ACT on Campus, Free Me and other New Zealanders, were successful in winning select committee and subsequently government support to pass a private member's Bill by ACT MP Heather Roy to introduce voluntary membership to student associations in tertiary institutions. The Bill was successfully passed into law in September 2011, and will take effect in 2012.
Alcohol Reform
The Young Nationals, in conjunction with other New Zealand political party youth wings, support the current purchase age for alcohol of 18 years. They argue that the two biggest problems with the current law are the lack of emphasis on individual responsibility, and the ineffective attempts to enforce moderate drinking, and that raising the age, both at off-licences and at bars, will not solve the problem that New Zealand society faces around the issue of binge drinking. At the National Party Conference 2010 the Young Nationals successfully passed a remit, led by 2010 National Policy Chair Edward Greig, for the continuation of a drinking age of 18.
Driving Age
The Young Nationals do not support increasing the driving age and believe that it unjustly impacts on young people, without dealing with the real causes of poor driver skill levels. They believe that increasing driver training requirements as well as tougher testing will raise the levels of driver competence across all age brackets, and that raising the driving age does nothing to reduce the lack of driver skills.
Read more about this topic: New Zealand Young Nationals
Famous quotes containing the word policies:
“To deny the need for comprehensive child care policies is to deny a reality—that there’s been a revolution in American life. Grandma doesn’t live next door anymore, Mom doesn’t work just because she’d like a few bucks for the sugar bowl.”
—Editorial, The New York Times (September 6, 1983)
“We urgently need a debate about the best ways of supporting families in modern America, without blinders that prevent us from seeing the full extent of dependence and interdependence in American life. As long as we pretend that only poor or abnormal families need outside assistance, we will shortchange poor families, overcompensate rich ones, and fail to come up with effective policies for helping families in the middle.”
—Stephanie Coontz (20th century)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)