CONSERVATIVE POLICIES WISH LIST

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We are an educational web directory and blog helping to promote other conservative organisations in their endeavours. We are not a political party and try to be fair and balanced in representing the featured political parties covered here. Having said that and based on the viewpoints of others we have produced a wish list of policies that could be taken up by any of the political parties. Should any party produce a policy (anywhere on the political spectrum) that meets these objectives we would be only to pleased to make them known.

It should be noted that there is a general election coming up in 2017 and so you have an opportunity to explore these matters in deciding how to vote.

FAMILY FIRST have come up with a wishlist of policies they would like a political party to adopt.

 1. PROMOTING MARRIAGE AND FAMILIES

• Strengthen marriage
  * Develop policies that encourage a cultural shift towards a lifelong exclusive commitment expressed in marriage.
  * Family relationship centres
  * pre-marriage and marriage counselling
  * amending welfare and tax systems to eliminate disincentives to marriage and marriage penalties
  *protect marriage in law as one man – one woman. Uphold marriage as the national community ideal.
  *abandon the concept of no fault divorce, and place the weight of the law on the side of spouses seeking to defend their marriage
  *establish joint custody following divorce, not just shared responsibility.

• Parenting
  * recognise that parents have primary responsibility for nurture, raising and educating of children, and governments should respect and support the exercise of parental responsibilities
  * Provide greater flexibility for parents to choose the best child care arrangements for them. Particularly favour arrangements that encourage parents to spend time with their children. End discrimination against stay-home parents
  *Create incentives and subsidies for lower income parents to attend parenting programs.
  * Amend section 59 to decriminalise parents who use light smacking for correction of children

• Ministry of Families
  *replace the offices of Children’s Commissioner and Families Commission with a Ministry of Families with a specific Minister in Cabinet to advocate, research, and oversee family-based policies and the impact of legislation on families

• CYFS / Child abuse 

* Establish a non-political commission of enquiry to understand the causes of family breakdown, family violence and child abuse in NZ

* Establish an independent CYF complaints authority so parents have an avenue to appeal the intervention of CYF and to safeguard against abuse of state power
* Sentencing for those who abuse and kill our children to be substantially toughened to provide both a deterrent and a clear message of our community’s disgust with the actions of people who abuse children
* Presume child abuse when under-age girls are pregnant or infected with STD’s – it is logical to investigate the circumstances

• Family economics
  * increase access to affordable housing for families
  * welfare payments to include vouchers which limit spending on alcohol, tobacco, gambling and other expenses which detract from the needs of the children
  * Optional income tax splitting – similar to business partnership
  · Equate childcare allowance/s of grandparent raising grandchildren with that of caregiver
  *Stricter regulations on ‘loan sharks’ including capped interest rates and registration
  * ‘Sinking lid’ policy on community-based gaming machines and the availability and liscencing of alcohol outlets

• Aged Care
  * promote the dignity of our Elders – investigation of ‘elder abuse’
  * tax breaks / support for those who care for elderly or infirm relatives at home.

• Sex Education
  * provide support and resources for parents to be primary educators of their child’s sex education
  * age-appropriate sex education which is values based, investing equal amounts into abstinence and comprehensive sex education

2. PROMOTING LIFE

• Abortion
  * Amend the law to protect the unborn children from conception (18,000 abortions per year represents the worst of child abuse)
  * Parental notification automatically of teenage pregnancy and abortion except in exceptional circumstances approved by the court
  * Promote married couple adoption

• Stem Cell Research
  * Promote adult stem cell research, not embryonic stem cell research

• Euthanasia
  *Oppose euthanasia – increase resourcing of hospices and palliative care

3. PROMOTING COMMUNITY VALUES AND STANDARDS

• Prostitution
  * amend Prostitution Reform Act to prosecute the buyer
  * provision of resources and incentives to help prostitutes out of the industry
  * criminalise the act of pimping and brothel keeping
• Pornography
  * reduce the availability of pornography which undermines relationships, dehumanises women especially, and destabilises marriages and families
  * Introduce ISP filtering of pornography so that children do not stumble across, deliberately access, internet porn at home, school or public libraries.
  * Immediate increased resourcing in monitoring and prosecution of child pornography
  * Substantially toughen penalties for possession, distribution and production of child pornography

• Standards and Censorship
  * Standards should be developed according to a family perspective, not an individual rights perspective
  * Develop and enforce higher standards for TV, film, radio and advertising content including levels of violence, sexual content and objectionable language.
  * Extend representation on the BSA, ASA and Censorship Board with regular changing of board members after limited terms of office to avoid desensitization or lack of accountability
  *Amend Crimes Act to clearly define ‘indecent acts’
  * Stricter controls on the sexualisation of children through marketing and media

TELL FAMILY FIRST WHAT YOU THINK OF OUR POLICY PRIORITIES

Email admin@familyfirst.org.nz