ACT's Brooke van Velden

This week the Supreme Court determined that the voting age of 18 is inconsistent with the right in s19 of the Bill of Rights to be free from discrimination on the basis of age.

News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to Brooke about the ACT party's stance on lowering the voting age, which for general elections, needs a 75% supermajority to become law. 

They also discussed National's pledge to send serious youth offenders to military 'boot camps' if their party wins the next election.

This week, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to ACT Party Leader David Seymour about ACT’s opposition to the passing of the fair pay agreements bill, that will set up a legal framework for collective bargaining across entire industries.

They also discussed the government’s response to Iran and ACT’s decision to block a unified parliamentary message condemning Iranian authorities until another MP took over the motion from Golriz Ghahraman.

It was announced yesterday that the Ministry of Education will step in to fund Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, which recently lost its Creative New Zealand funding.

In a statement, Creative New Zealand clarified that they support Shakespeare being in schools but that they can't meet the demand for funding.

For our weekly catchup with ACT party deputy leader Brooke van Velden, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins asked Brooke why ACT is against Creative New Zealand's decision, and if the party would support more funding for creative projects. 

A recently announced He Waka Eke Noa proposal would see the government work with the agricultural sector to reduce its emissions.

This would put a price on agricultural emissions, a scheme advertised as a world-first which garnered international media headlines.

For his weekly catchup with ACT party deputy leader Brooke van Velden, Casper asked her why ACT is critical of the proposal and what they think could have been done better.