By ROB OLSEN

IT MIGHT not be the closest a political party has got to Godliness but new kids on the block, the Residents Action Movement, have come up with 10 Commandments to cure most social ills.
The party - RAM for short - which first saw the light of day in the 2007 Auckland local body elections, has entered the arena for this year's general election.
RAM has selected 40-year old father of two Grant Brookes (pictured) to contest the Wellington Central seat being vacated by Labour's Marian Hobbs.
Brookes, 40, is a hospital nurse and also the national delegate for the New Zealand Nurses' Organisation, representing 1500 nurses and health workers on the union's national delegates committee.
At number two on the party list he is the co-leader of RAM' s candidates group and the industrial relations spokesperson.
Although RAM is new to Wellington, it has been active as a people's movement in greater Auckland since 2003. In 2007, RAM won more than 100,000 votes in Auckland's local body elections. It is New Zealand's fastest-growing party, gaining more than 3000 members since establishing itself nationwide in February this year, says Brookes.
The large number of votes for the party in last year's October local body elections gave members the confidence to "take it nationally", he says.
Brookes has many years of experience in campaigns for social justice and peace, and has been involved at grass roots level in those areas during the past 20 years.
"I was involved in the movement to stop student fees and debt ... that mushroomed into social justice causes, and [moved] from being a participant to an active organiser," says Brookes.
RAM's policies revolve around five issues: Ecology, humanity, democracy, cooperation and equity. At the top of the list is the abolition of GST on food. "There's a lot of talk about tax cuts but no-one, with the exception of the Maori Party, supports scrapping GST on food. That [GST] affects people struggling to pay bills and getting rid of GST on food will help them the most," says Brookes.
That policy is behind the PeopIe's Procession to Parliament calling on politicians to support scrapping the tax on food.
The procession is a two-week tour of North Island towns and cities to publicise and gather signatures for a petition to remove GST from food. It began in Kaitaia on September 20 and arrived in Wellington on October 1. The petition will be presented on the steps of Parliament on October 3.
Though he has no accurate figures on what the cost to tax revenue would be (possibly around $2 billion), Brookes says it would cost a fraction of what Labour has introduced and what National is promising in their tax cut packages.
RAM also believes the majority of people have been marginalised by politicians for decades, says Brookes. "They have worshipped market forces and not done the right thing by the people - both National and Labour.
"We don't see the difference between the two ... they are two denominations of the same political faith in the market.
"The issues for us are the people and the planet. People are threatened right now by the chaos of the market and the profit-driven pollution of the planet is threatening to end life as we know it."
If there is one key message it is that RAM is a people's movement standing for Parliament.
"We want to involve people in making change for themselves and to represent their concerns by standing in an election," says Brookes.

RAM's 10 Commandments:
. Removing GST on food
. A $2000 baby bonus for every mum
. Lift the minimum wage to $15 an hour
. A three per cent state loan for first-home buyers
. Free tertiary education plus a student living allowance
. Free lunches to schools in poor areas
. Free and frequent public transport in the main centres
. Offer cheap solar panels to home owners
. Restore the free right to strike to workers
. Enshrine the Treaty of Waitangi in one new constitution to guarantee the mutual rights of Maori and non-Maori.