Nats intend new powers of search

Police Minister Paula Bennett appears to want to trample over the rights of some New Zealanders by giving police new powers to search the cars and houses of the most serious criminal gang members at any time to ensure they do not have firearms.

The policy will be well received by traditional National voters but will have libertarians up in arms.

Announcing the policy yesterday, Mrs Bennett said a re-elected National Government would double the number of drug dog teams and introduce them in domestic airports, ferries and mail centres to clamp down on trafficking. Penalties for manufacturing and distributing synthetic cannabis would increase from a maximum of two years’ imprisonment to eight years.

Also, if gang members on a benefit could not justify expensive assets, they could have their benefit cancelled or be declined a benefit.

A new charge of "wilful contamination" would be introduced for people who contaminated rental properties.

Compulsory police vetting would be introduced for anyone working at ports, mail centres or airport baggage centres — including contractors.

The policy would cost $82 million over four years.

The Green Party

The Green Party wants to put a levy on nitrate pollution, starting with intensive dairying, leader James Shaw announced on Saturday.

A moratorium would be placed on new dairy conversions, Crown Irrigation Investments would be wound up and subsidies for large irrigation projects would stop.

The $136.5 million  raised from the nitrate levy in its first year would fund a package of support measures farmers could use to reduce their impact on the environment. These include:

• Extending the Sustainable Farming Fund with an extra $20 million every year.

• Creating a Transformational Farming Fund of about $70 million a year.

• Increasing funding for the Landcare Trust to $16 millon over three years.

• Rewarding tree planting by farmers and landowners.

• Allowing accelerated depreciation on dairy farm equipment.

• Supporting organic farming by introducing national standards and new funding of $5 million a year.

New Zealand First

After decades of neglect, Prime Minister Bill English and the National Party have discovered  Northland exists, says New Zealand First leader and Northland MP Winston Peters.

"With this miraculous discovery and the announcement of a big election bribe for Whangarei Boys’ High School, Northlanders should strike while the iron is hot and compile a wish list for Mr English to consider. But Northland better get it in before election day.

"But they shouldn’t be holding their breaths over any follow-through."

There was major concern because in the Northland by-election two years ago, National made all sorts of promises over new roads, bridges and ultra-fast broadband and could not follow through with them, he said.