ACT’s Week in Action

This week ACT fought for democracy and won, ACT TV was back for a second season, we went into bat for the South Island, and we released our Three Waters Policy. 

IN THE NEWS Democracy Wins!

ACT welcomed the resumption of Parliament this week. It was always a double standard for Government workers to be in the Beehive, and the Prime Minister and Ashley Bloomfield to hold in-person press conferences while refusing to allow a socially distanced Parliament. The Government argued that it’s dangerous for people to be on the Parliamentary grounds. Has Ashley Bloomfield advised journalists that the in-person press conferences he does most days are too dangerous? Transparency and accountability are needed now more than ever.

The Younger Generation

The COVID pandemic is having an enormous impact on our younger generation. This week in the NZ Herald, Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden outlines the challenges faced by young New Zealanders. You can read the full article here. 

South Island

The South Island has been completely let down by slow contact tracing efforts, leaving it locked down for far longer than it needed to be. Sixteen days on from the South Island going into lockdown there are still 22 people waiting for a second test. So this is our future; 22 people who are isolating, who’ve had a negative day five test can keep a million people locked down.

The Government’s response was so unprepared, we have to wait under lockdown until the outbreak would likely have died out anyway. What happens to the South Island in these days matters because it is a window into the future of the whole country’s strategy. Can the Government test, trace, and isolate an outbreak faster than it would have died out anyway?

You can read more from ACT in the Otago Daily Times here. 

MIQ escapee proves podium of truth just a PR exercise

David was on the AM Show this morning talking about Jacinda Ardern’s decision to keep under wraps that a man had escaped from MIQ and posed a risk to the community.

Ardern stood at the podium at 1 pm Thursday and neglected to tell New Zealanders that a man with Delta was on the run from MIQ. 

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has protested that she found out minutes before the press conference, why did she not delay her arrival and get the facts, as she has so often has? She had no intention of telling the public in any event.

Robertson has described the escape as ‘relatively low risk,’ but this only shows further hypocrisy. It seems Delta is ‘relatively low risk’ when the Government is in trouble.  On the other hand, the South Island remains in lockdown because the Prime Minister says “there’s just no margin for error with Delta”.

Three Waters

ACT has released our Three Waters Policy as we respond to the Government’s proposal to move control of water assets away from local communities and into centralised bodies. It is critical that New Zealanders have access to safe drinking water and high-quality infrastructure for storm and wastewater. Currently, the system is not up to scratch, but the Government’s proposed reforms simply miss the mark.

ACT’s Water Infrastructure Plan would:

• Provide for councils to enter into voluntary “shared services” agreements, gaining the benefits of scale, while retaining local ownership and control.
• Establish long term 30-year Central Government-Local Government Partnership agreements to plan water infrastructure upgrades tailored to specific regions
• Establish Public-Private Partnerships (through our proposed Nation Building Agency) to attract investment from financial entities such as KiwiSaver funds, ACC, iwi investment funds, etc
• Expand the exemption from domestic supply for a single dwelling to also include all small water suppliers supplying fewer than 30 endpoint users.

Simply shifting water assets from one government body to another is a recipe for more bureaucracy and less local input, not an enduring solution to upgrade water infrastructure in New Zealand. More details on our policy can be found here.

Give us a Clue

In case you missed it, David was on TVNZ’s Give Us A Clue this week. You can catch the episode on TVNZ on Demand.

IN THE HOUSE 

David Seymour questioned the Prime Minister in Parliament three times this week, covering a range of issues. Below are his questions to Ardern about why the South Island remains in Level 3.

He also used his debate spot to question the Government’s entire response to Delta.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA  ACT TV

ACT TV was back for a second week, along with members of the ACT Caucus, we had special guest stars – Professor Des Gorman and Economist Cameron Bagrie. All of the the episodes can be found on ACT’s YouTube and Facebook pages.   

Please share so others can discover The BFD.