Policy

Being the more open minded and liberal wing of the party, Young Nats have always played an important role in the policy formation process within the party. Past examples where the Young Nats have lead the debate and challenged party opinion has been in such areas as the nuclear ships debate, economic reform, and anti-discrimination laws.

In recent years, we have campaigned to keep the purchase age for alcohol at 18, and to oppose legislation banning the use of BZP. See below for a list of campaigns the Young Nats are undertaking and our position on current issues.

Alcohol Reform:
We support the current purchase age for alcohol at 18, as raising the purchase age will not provide the silver bullet to solve the many problems associated with alcohol abuse. The two biggest problems with the current law are the lack of emphasis on individual responsibility, and the ineffective attempts to enforce “moderate drinking”.

We wish to emphasise that the problems and harms associated with alcohol are not caused by all young people, or even by a small minority of young people, but by a small minority of people of all ages. Alcohol abuse and the problematic behaviour associated with it may be clearly linked to a broader culture of irresponsibility. Until the issue of individual responsibility is addressed at a much broader level, we are unlikely to see improvements in New Zealand’s drinking culture.
Submission:
Links:

Minimum Youth Wage:
We believe that the minimum wage for youth should be set lower than the general minimum wage. This reflects the skill level and experience that young people have when looking for their first jobs.

It is vital that young people are able to get a foot on the employment ladder, and a standard minimum wage would prevent this. Taking away the opportunity to become employed by pricing young people out of the job market is disadvantaging the lower skilled and preventing them from gaining experience.

We support the ‘Starting Out Wage’ introduced by the National Government to come into effect on 1 April 2013. Click here for more information.