North Canterbury News: September 10, 2020

ELECTION 2020
The North Canterbury News, September 10, 2020
Seymour’srole as sole MP may change soon
Act New Zealand leader David Seymour talks to Mike
Houlahan about his party, and his hopes that he will no
longer be his party’ssole MP in Parliament.
Being aone­man bandin
Parliament can haveits
advantages —beingAct New
Zealand’s sole MP meansDavid
Seymour’s allottedoffice is a
spacious room near the
Parliamentary Library, one once
usedbyRichard Seddon.
On the other hand, beingalone
MP forsix years has seenMr
Seymourcarry aheavy workload,
especiallywhen stewarding
through theEnd of LifeChoice
Act to the point where it willbe
voted on in areferendum
alongside the general election.
On current polling,that heavy
workload could bring a
parliamentaryrewardfor Mr
Seymour, as Actisseemingly on
the verge of returningmore than
asingle MP for the first timein
nineyears.
‘‘We pollfor the reasons why
people support Act and certainly
poorperformance by National is
the third or fourth most popular
reason,’’ Mr Seymour said.
The popular reasons are
speaking sense,partypolicies,
and the viewitholdsother
parties accountable. ‘‘Those are
thethings that showup, so clearly
someofthe support is becauseof
National,but less than people
might think.’’
Theother boost to Act’s
fortunes has been the End of Life
Choice debate.
While the legislation was a
Member’s Bill, Mr Seymour
LEADER PROFILE
believed his close affiliation with
the review wouldnot distract
votersfrom supporting his party.
‘‘It’sthe most popular issue
that Act has ever championed so
I’mnot too worried about being
associated with that, but
certainly Iwill vigorouslydefend
any misinformation about the
referendum. If Iamtalking about
that issue then Idon’t think that
will hurt Act, but Ialso haveto
consider Epsom.’’
Retaining Mr Seymour’s
Epsomelectorate, Act’s lifeline
into Parliament for adecade,
means he might not be as visible
aroundNew Zealandasother
party leaders.
‘‘Every vote counts,’’ he says.
‘‘And one thing for sure is that the
South Island is one of our best
sources of members.’’
Firearmsreform has been a
fraught issue in the South Island
for two reasons—the fact the
Christchurch terrorattack
perpetrator lived in Dunedin for
some time,and the extensive use
of gunsinthe south, bothfor
leisure and pest control.
Act, aparty withits originsin
economic policy, seems an
unlikely advocate forgun owners’
rights, but Mr Seymour explains
his recent alliance with the gun
lobby —Nicole McKee fromthe
Council of LicencedFirearms
Owners is rankedthird on the
party list —asafairness issue.
‘‘I personally am not afirearms
guy.Igotofirearmsclubsand I
say ‘look,I’m not agun guy, I’m a
latte guy from Parnell’,’’ Mr
Seymour said.
‘‘But what Idolikeisthe rule
of law, due process,and treating
people with basic respect and
dignity ...Idon’t think those
people were treatedwith respect
and dignity, and Idon’tthink they
are unreasonablepeople.
‘‘Most of them are salt­of­theearth
people,good people,who
are mystified. They are just as
horrified as the next personby
what happenedinChristchurch,
probably moresobecausethey
have abit of aconnectionina
sense,and they feelthey are
being punished for it.’’
Mr Seymourbelieves another
boost to Act’s fortunes has been
its rigorous questioning of the
Government’s Covid­19 response.
Mr Seymour, aforensic
questioneronthe epidemic
response committee, continued
that scrutiny whenParliament
resumed after lockdown.
7
‘‘They sawAct providing a
consistent,constructive voice,
providing criticismwhere
necessary and helpful advice
where possible,’’ he said.
‘‘Ifyou lookatthe language we
wereusinginlate April, when we
saidthat we should be emphasising
safe activitiesnot essential
activities, the Government
actually adopted that language
fourweeks later in its Budget.
‘‘Now today we talk about
public health, we talk about the
debttrap, we talk about seizing
the opportunityofbeing an
island nation on apandemic
planet, we continue tooffer that
critique.
‘‘We’venever gone after the
Government and said‘you’reall
useless’. We have acknowledged
thatthis is adifficult situation for
any government to face.’’
Unsurprisingly, Mr Seymour
believed Covid­19 —both the
health responseand the
economic recovery —would be
the dominant election issue.
‘‘Peoplefundamentally want to
knowwhat is the planfor
recovery. Idon’t think they have
seenthat fromthe Government
and they know that staying
locked up from the rest of the
world and borrowingmoney is
not asustainable solution —it’s a
comfortable solutionbut its not a
sustainablesolution.
‘‘I think the winner of this
election will be the party that can
showaclear plantorecover,
keeppeople’s jobs,and ideally
growout abit and ultimately pay
for the considerableamountof
debtthat is beingstacked up.’’
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