Candidate Survey: Fourteenth Response

From Gavin Middleton, ACT candidate for Rongotai:

If you could ensure the passage of one act on one issue in the next Parliament, what would it be?

An "Individual Sovereignty Act", recognising that people are the rightful owners of their own lives and have the capacity to make choices for themselves which must be respected by government.

What three other electoral candidates or sitting MPs do you think are most similar to you in their political views?

Rodney Hide (ACT, Epsom)
Michael Collins (ACT, Hutt South)
Bernard Darnton (Libertarianz)

MMP is about coalitions: What sitting MP who is NOT in your party do you think is most similar to you in their political views?

Tariana Turia (Maori Party).

Tariana believes in giving Maori sovereignty and choice over their own destinies, and I believe in giving choice and control over their lives to every individual (Maori and non-Maori alike).

Do you support or oppose:

...raising the drinking age?

Oppose.

I supported lowering the drinking age in 1999 (as a 19 year old), and I think it was the right choice. Why should people who have so many of the other adult rights and responsibilities not be able to enjoy a cold beer after work? The solution to "antisocial" drinkers is to resource the police so they can enforce current rules, not to punish responsible drinkers by driving them back into the "speakeasies of the street".

...legalising marijuana (or pharmaceuticals based on it) for medical use?

Support.

It's cruel to deny people in pain access to any medicine that can help them.

...decriminalising or legalising marijuana for recreational use?

Support.

Telling people to "just say no" is unrealistic, but also denies the opportunity to explain the risks that some substances present. A real "harm minimisation" drug policy requires education, and continuing to criminalise cannabis users means that meaningful drug education cannot be provided.

Many other harmful substances, including tobacco, alcohol and fatty foods, remain legal. Society assumes that individuals can consume these things responsibly, and I believe that cannabis and other substances (like nos, nitrous oxide,) are no different.

...allowing same-sex couples to adopt children?

Support.

What parents do in the bedroom is their own business. The most important factor when raising children is creating an atmosphere of love and support, and while some same-sex couples may provide an unsafe environment (for example, violence or neglect), the same dangers are present in any home.

...amending the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry?

Support. I believe that commitment in relationships, and especially marriage, is something which should be celebrated.

I don't believe that a loving relationship between two men or two women is in any way inferior to a loving relationship between a man and a woman. I do not believe that marriages founded on love could ever be undermined by recognising the equally committed relationships of others.

...allowing voluntary euthanasia or physician assisted suicide?

Support.

I believe that we have a right to choose to end our lives with dignity, rather than face debilitating or painful illness.

...state funding of integrated schools?

I support state funding following children to the school they attend. It's more important for kids to go to the school that best meets their needs than worrying about who's paying the teacher.

...the retention of sedition as a crime in the Crimes Act?

Oppose.

I believe that attempting to restrict speech only risks giving those viewpoints an underground appeal.

...the retention of blasphemous libel as a crime in the Crimes Act?

Oppose.

...further restrictions on hate speech?

Oppose.

I would prefer that racists and bigots declared their views openly, so they can be seen for what they are and exposed to the light of reason.

...the use of indefinite detention without trial for those subject to a security risk certificate?

Oppose.

We are not a free country while Government can imprison people indefinitely without trial, no matter what they may be under suspicion of.

...restoring the death penalty for serious crime?

Oppose. I simply don't trust government or government agencies to take human life.

...Georgina Beyer's Human Rights (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill?

Oppose.

...Gordon Copeland's New Zealand Bill of Rights (Private Property Rights) Amendment Bill?

Support.

...entrenching the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act as supreme law?

I would support a written constitution if it was based on individual liberty and freedom from government. The Bill of Rights Act, however, is too broad, too vague and too open to interpretation to be entrenched as a cornerstone of our constitution.

...New Zealand's participation in the International Criminal Court?

Oppose.

...lowering MMP's threshold from the present 5%?

Support. Politics is about the contest of ideas, and I believe that having more political parties represented would lead to more debate and better decision making.

Finally,

With the benefit of hindsight, how should the government have handled the Ahmed Zaoui case?

I believe that if Zaoui was considered a security risk, he should never have been allowed to leave the airport, but should have been turned back at our border.

As usual, Gavin's views are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of ACT.