PAGE

ONE

New Zealand was founded on the idea of a fair deal,
the concept that peoples from different backgrounds
could come together and work out their differences
without resorting to warfare and hatred.

The idea of that deal was to allow everyone in this
country the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

That deal hasnt always been honoured but it is at the
very core of what we as a nation are all about, fairness
and opportunity.

This land of egalitarianism and opportunities has seen
Kiwis achieve some remarkable things in the past
century and a half.

A scientist from Nelson became the first person to split
the atom

A beekeeper from Auckland conquered the highest
mountain in the world

A girl from a tough background in Rotorua became the
greatest opera diva of her generation


PAGE TWO

Writers, artists, sportspeople, thinkers, inventors
people from every walk of life in New Zealand have
proved time and time again that given the opportunity
Kiwis can be the best in the world.

We have led the way in womans rights, social welfare,
anti-nuclear activism and gay rights..we have much
to be proud of.

The opportunities that allowed us to do that were also
based on the notion that each generation would pass
on to the next a better country than they were born
into.

A country with better education, healthcare and
economic openings.

A country that was fairer, more egalitarian more
civilisedin short, a country that offered ever greater
opportunity.

But something has gone terribly wrong with that idea
the current generation..the baby boomers .. may be
the first to leave behind a New Zealand of shrinking
opportunities, less fairness and more inequality than
they were born into.
PAGE THREE


We are in the process of flicking an intergenerational
hospital pass to our children and grandchildren


Were leaving them loaded with debt for their
education while we ask them to pay for our
retirement.

Were pricing them out of the housing market so we
can make tax free capital gains.

Were importing cheap unskilled labour to cut them
out of entering the job market..and turning the country
into a low wage, treadmill economy.

And when they dont conquer the massive hurdles we
put in their way we make them jump through hoops
for welfare payments while calling them lazy dope
heads.






PAGE FOUR

Were screwing the environment they will have to live
in, by tolerating farming practices that degrade our
waterways..paying lip service only to the idea of
climate change and the solutions needed to overcome
or adapt to it, while pandering to industry sector
groups without regard to the sustainability of their
businesses.

We are criminalising and locking up ever growing
numbers of men and women who dont even get a
chance in this shrinking world of opportunity and we
are standing by as the gap between the haves and the
have nots widens.

You dont need me to tell you how wrong all this is,
you hear about it every day when you read our suicide
statistics, homeless numbers, real estate ads and crime
stories.

And what is our political establishment doing..pretty
well nothing. Stuck in outdated left versus right
political ideology with a tax & targeted welfare regime
that is obsolete, they trade insults and argue at the
margins as New Zealand, the land of opportunity, slips
away.



PAGE FIVE


They fight, not to restore the fairness of our society but
to perpetuate their own political power in some vain
belief that an ideology is whats needed to get this
country back on track.

Lets be very clear TOP doesnt care who leads the next
government.

Those who campaign to change from blue to red or
right to left are like a bunch of kids screaming DADs
burnt the dinnerlets get the dog to cook.

What New Zealand desperately needs are ideas to
restore Opportunities..policies that arent designed
to get a party into power but to fix the problems we
have, reduce inequality and take us forward into a
world where our children again have more opportunity
than we did.

If we dont, well end up with a select few owning
million dollar houses in a ten-cent economy.

We know what those policies are


PAGE SIX

Fair tax reform to close the 11 billion dollar property
loophole and deliver income tax cuts to every worker.

A UBI to end witch hunt welfare, underwrite human
dignity, and ensure that when any of us are at our
most vulnerable, our society is backing us.

Tenancy reform to give renters real rights so they can
build secure homes without the Mission Impossible of
property ownership

Real action on cleaning up our waterways and having
polluters pay, while encouraging best environmental
practice from all industries

A democracy reset to give us all clear constitutional
rights, curb the power of cabinet and recognise the
Treaty of Waitangi.

Real commitment to confront and deal with the
challenges of climate change and make the country
resilient to its inevitable assault


PAGE SEVEN


A justice policy that wages war on prisons not
prisoners

Education reform that recognises schools should lie at
the centre of communities, and that the role of
education is to prepare New Zealanders for a world of
ever-increasing automation and diminishing income
from mundane work

And health policies that stop us literally killing
ourselves, be it through suicide or every increasing
consumption of deadly foodstuffs.

None of these policies are rocket science, they are
based on expert evidence-based analysis of what New
Zealand needs and can achieve with the resources we
have available right now.

The only thing lacking has been a political
establishment with the will to see, and courage to
embrace the way forward.




PAGE EIGHT

We are all here today as part of the TOP movement to
make a change not a change of government but a
real change of direction and focusto make a real
change in the lives of all New Zealanders to restore
Opportunities for future generations.

Weve come a hell of a long way since November,
thousands have put up their hands to join TOP
hundreds have volunteered and we have awesome
candidates standing across the country.

It hasnt been easy were the new kids on the block
so we dont get the sort of coverage or funding the old
establishment parties have access to.

But we have one huge advantage, we are free of the
hatred of old tribal politics, we know what we stand for
and we can work with anyone who is genuinely
prepared to implement policies that restore
opportunities to New Zealanders.

I want to thank all of you for putting your hands up and
having the courage to be part of a real change for good
in New Zealand.


PAGE NINE


For having the courage to leave behind the class
warfare and name-calling that has dominated politics
for so long.

For having the brains to know that more of the same-
old-same-old isnt going to cut it for future generations

And most of all, believing that good ideas and genuine
dialogue will beat self-interest and political game
playing any day of the week.

We have already moved the policy debate in this
country without a single vote being cast for TOP.

Acceptance of the need for cannabis reform is now
widespread, our tenancy reforms have been lauded for
their foresight, the UBI is now an accepted part of this
countrys welfare debate.
But there is a long way to go.

I know we will be in Parliament after September the
23rdjust how much we can change the direction of
this country will be up to voters.


PAGE TEN

You are the people that will help them make the right
decision, to restore the values this country was
founded on and give equal and growing opportunities
for everyone no matter what their gender, age, social
status or ethnicity.

You can do that by sharing our ideas, reaching out to
the good in every Kiwis heart and making sure every
New Zealander makes the decision to

CARE, THINK, VOTE and TICK TOP