Any pretence that both the ACT Party and David Seymour had for being classic liberals has been shattered by just one public statement:
Act leader David Seymour said waiting that long was unacceptable, given the risk of another community outbreak.
He said the Government should use the powers afforded to it under the Covid-19 Act to tell unvaccinated frontline MIQ staff if they haven’t got the jab by this Sunday, “don’t come in on Monday”.
“Stop pussyfooting about and take the necessary steps to protect New Zealanders and the economy from another outbreak of Covid-19,” he said of Ardern.
NZ Herald
So, just in case you missed it, David Seymour wants to sack people from their jobs if they don’t take a vaccine that is still listed as a trial until 2023.
People aren’t sacked for refusing any other vaccine, and indeed it is specifically mentioned in the NZ Bill of Rights Act that a) you have the right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation and b) it is within your rights to refuse to undergo medical treatment.
Moreover employment law states that an employer cannot terminate an employee’s employment on the sole basis that the employee has refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the employer could conduct a restructure process which changes the requirements of the role to include vaccination; which could ultimately lead to the employee’s redundancy.
However, the employer is required to undergo a fair and reasonable process which would include a considerable consultation process which would allow the affected employees to provide their feedback on the matter.
Yet, David Seymour, abandoning his classical liberal principles, wants employees sacked immediately for refusing an experimental ‘vaccine’.
This is the same David Seymour who loudly proclaimed “my body, my choice” when it came to pushing his euthanasia hobby horse, and the same argument he used in voting for liberalisation of abortion laws.
All of a sudden David Seymour has declared himself a collectivist rather than an individualist. The rights of the wider community are more important than individual freedoms.
What a sad fall for David Seymour. At least the socialists in charge are consistent in stridently removing our freedoms. Who knew David Seymour was a closet fascist, or at the very least has fascist tendencies?
He’s no libertarian, and if you think that the ACT Party is going to stand up for individual freedoms, like gun ownership, after this flagrant abandoning of principles then I’ve got a bridge I can sell you.
Principles cannot and should not ever be traded away for cheap political stunts to try to embarrass a Government. This is just a stunt, from a man seeking a headline, but in doing so he has destroyed his principles.