Wednesday, December 04, 2013

ACT's opportunity

Casting around for something meaningful to say about John Banks and the prospects of ACT in the future, I came across this on Scoop:

ACT on Campus thanks John Banks, looks to future


ACT on Campus thanks John Banks, looks to future

ACT on Campus President Taylor Warwood today thanked John Banks for his contribution to ACT in the past two years.
"John Banks has worked tirelessly in and out of parliament to achieve valuable goals. He has successfully overseen the introduction of Partnership Schools legislation, and has a voting record we in ACT on Campus can be proud of," said Mr Warwood.
"In particular, we thank him for his support of marriage equality, keeping the drinking age 18, and opposing the testing of party pills on animals.
"John is a politician of true integrity who cares about New Zealand. It will be sad to see him go.
"However, ACT is more than just John Banks. The party now has an exciting opportunity to rejuvenate itself, and we will welcome attention being refocused onto ACT's many potential candidates.
"ACT on Campus will play an active role in the selection of candidates and we welcome other young liberal kiwis to join us in this process."

Whoever wrote that, take a bow. It's honest, it identifies concretes instead of employing woolly platitudes and most importantly, reaffirms ACT's liberal credentials.

With the advent of the Conservative Party, ACT no longer needs to cast its net in that direction.

I really do see Bank's retirement as an opportunity, but like ACT on Campus, would  like to sincerely thank him for his animal welfare advocacy.


2 comments:

Brendan McNeill said...

ACT was never a natural act for John.

He is a man for whom I have a great deal of respect, a conviction politician who made courageous stands in parliament and a great contribution earlier in his career.

Unfortunately like many gifted boxers he went one round too many. I wish him well in retirement, what ever shape or form that may take.

Anonymous said...

I agree Lindsay. The Cons have set the line in the sand, not just in name, but through policy. The opportunity now for a liberal party is huge.