Worldlog Tjedan 12 – 2014

Kako je općinska izborna kampanja zabavna! Još tri dan čekanja i saznaćemo rezultate općinskih izbora. Uzbudljivo. Naša stranka je u izbornoj utrci u 12 općina u Nizozemskoj i ja se svakako nadam da ćemo na kraju biti zastupljeni u svih 12 općina.

U utorak sam bila u Amsterdamu, gdje smo počeli sa sadnjom šume protesta. Sadnja stabala zajedno s djecom iz osnovne škole! Svugdje u glavnom gradu Nizozemske raste otpor protiv masivne sječe stabala. I to s pravom, jer su stabla upravo u gradovima od vitalnog značaja. Zeleni grad troši manje energije, ima dovoljno hladovine za vrijme ljetnih dana i osigurava suhe noge tijekom jake kiše. Djeca koja žive u zelenom području se igraju više vani i imaju manji rizik da razvoje prekomjernu tjelesnu težinu i dijabetes. Stoga, Stranka za Životinje kaže: ne sjeći, već saditi!

U srijedu je bio Nacionalni Dan Sadnje Stabala. U ovoj akciji sudjeluju mnoge škole a učenici ovih škola sade na taj dan stabla. Diljem zemlje je čak 115.000 djece posadilo 200.000 stabala i grmova, to jeste 80 nogometnih igrališta! Ja sam također pomogla ove godine. Zajedno s čelnikom stranke u Arnhemu, Leo de Groot, i saborskim zastupnikom Luuk van der Veer (Gelderland) sam započela sadnju stabala u Elstu. Prije sadnje, bila je organizirana rasprava za mlade u kojoj je uzelo učešće 650 djece koji su debatovali sa raznim državnim i lokalnim političarima. Djeca su izabrala Stranku za Životinje kao pobjednika debate. Znakoviti čimbenik koji nam daje nadu za budućnost je taj da današnja djeca100% biraju stranu životinja, prirode i okoliša. Čast mi je da su djeca Stranku za ŽIvotinje proglasila kao najzeleniju stranku.

Nagrada je bila voćka jabuke koju sam tada odmah s djecom zasadila. Rasprava za mlade je bila usredotočena na pitanje da li briga o prirodi spada pod općinsku odgovornost i da li obrazovanje o prirodi treba postati obavezan školski predmet. Djeca su se skoro jednoglasno složila da bi barem jedanput tjedno trebali imati predavanje o prirodi. Djeca smatraju vrlo važnim da vlada i općine investiraju u prirodu jednostavno, jer ljudi i životinje ne mogu živjeti bez prirode.

Prošli tjedan je bio tjedan nagrada a meni je pripala Powervrouwen Awards 2014 (nagrada za moćne žene) u kategoriji “politika”. Ova nagrada je dodjeljena od strane slušatelja radijske postaje Sky Radio. Divno je bilo primiti ovu nagradu. 50 godina nakon “Power to the People”, sada”Power to the Planet” dobija priznanje slušatelja Sky Radia. Očito se danas radi o drugačijem načinu razmišljanja nego prije. Uz pomoć slušatelja Sky Radia, Stranka za Životinje može postati vrlo velika!

U četvrtak sam bila nazočna prilikom akcije u Rotterdamu koja je održana da bi se skrenula pozornost na jednu od najzagađenijih ulica u Nizozemskoj. U ovoj ulici ima previše prometa.

U četvrtak se zbilo jedno veoma interesantno veče gdje je čelni čovjek naše stranke u Hagu predstavio vrlo dobar plan za zapošljavanje. Plan se zove PROHEF i njega naša stranka vrlo rado želi provesti. Ja sam isto obrazložila moju ideju kojom se daje novi podstijek zapošljavanju u Nizozemskoj.

PROHEF je sustav u kojem općine putem budžet-neutralane subvencije privremeno neutarlišu učinke jednog djela poreza na plaće . Na taj način poduzetnici mogu s manje rizika i troškova uzeti osoblje. Da bi se nadoknadio gubitak vladinih prihoda od poreza na plaće može se uvesti porez na postignute rezultate od tvrtke; nešto slično načinu na koji je organiziran PDV. Međutim ovo nije “porez na potrošnju” već naknadan porez za proizvođače, u zamjenu za niže troškove rada. Mislimo da PROHEF može biti učinkovit u uspješnom rješavanju visoke nezaposlenost u Nizozemskoj. Ovo će svakako biti nastavljeno!

Pozdrav,

Marianne

We really enjoy campaigning. It will be another few days before we know the result of the local elections, it’s exciting. We participate in 12 municipalities in the Netherlands and we hope that we will at least be represented in all 12 municipalities.

On Tuesday, I was in Amsterdam where we started planting a protest wood. We planted the trees together with children from a primary school! Everywhere in the capital the protest against the massive felling of trees is growing. And justifiably, because the trees in the city are of vital importance. A green city consumes less energy, is cool on summer days and keeps your feet dry when it rains hard. Children who live in a green area play more outside and run less risk of developing overweight and diabetes. That’s why the Party for the Animals says: stop felling and start planting!

Last Wednesday it was national Tree Planting Day. It’s a day that many primary schools join in with and have their pupils plant trees. All over the country as many as 115,000 children planted 200,000 trees and shrubs, which equals 80 football fields. This year I was also there to help. Together with the leading candidate in Arnhem Leo de Groot and member of the Provincial Council Luuk van der Veer (Gelderland) I went to plant trees in Elst. Before we started planting the trees, there was a youth debate with 650 children and national and local politicians. The children chose the Party for the Animals as winner of the debate. It is hopeful for the future that the children of today go 100% for animals, nature and the environment. I find it an honour that almost all children that were there called the Party for the Animals as greenest party.

The prize was an apple tree, which I then planted together with the children. The debate addressed questions such as should nature be a municipal task and should education on nature be a compulsory subject at school. The children almost unanimously agreed that lessons on nature should be given at least once a week. They also found it very important that the government and all municipalities make investments in nature because humans and animals cannot live without nature.

It was a week of awards since I also won the Power Women Award 2014 in the category ‘Politics’, presented by the listeners of the Sky Radio station. It is wonderful to have received this Power Women Award. It is 50 years after ‘Power to the People’ and ‘Power to the Planet’ has now gained acknowledgement by the listeners of Sky Radio. Clearly a different way of thinking. The Party for the Animals might grow very strong with the help of the Sky Radio listeners.

On Thursday I was also present at a protest in Rotterdam where attention was asked for the second most polluted street of the Netherlands. There is too much traffic racing through that street. On Thursday night, our leading candidate in The Hague organised an interesting night to present a very good employment plan named PROHEF, which our Party would like to have implemented. There, I elaborated on our ideas to boost the employment in the Netherlands.

PROHEF is a system whereby municipalities advance withholding taxes through budget neutral subsidies. It enables entrepreneurs to take on staff with less risk and costs. To compensate the lower government income for the loss of the withholding taxes, a levy may be implemented on the booked result, this is slightly comparable to how the VAT system works. However, this is not a ‘consumer tax’ but a ‘producer tax’ that is paid in arrears, in exchange for lower wage costs. We think that PROHEF will be very successful to solve the high employment in the Netherlands. Will surely be continued!

Greetings,

Marianne