2020 election: law enforcement leader David Seymour says Kiwis are told ‘two massive falsehoods’ about the Covid-19 response

Law enforcement leader David Seymour says the government is presenting “two massive falsehoods” about the Covid-19 response “to cover up the fact that we were lucky.”

“The simple truth is that they were making it up as they went along,” he told followers in Christchurch.

Seymour said it was “nauseating” that we were constantly being told we were “hard and early.”

“We were the 63rd country to have a case and the prime minister wanted an international commemoration of our tragedy in this city a week before we finally decided to close.”

And he also questioned whether New Zealand really had gold standard contact tracing.

“Let’s see the facts,” he said.

“The PPE wasn’t ready or available. The people we really should have been testing, the ones on the front line, weren’t being tested at all.

“The closure was initially legally illiterate, driving us past struggling local stores, mingling with larger crowds in supermarkets.

“Entrepreneurs who tried to help found themselves rejected by a government that knew better and an application that didn’t work.”

Although she offered Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern some credit for her leadership during the crisis, she said: “In fact, she is good at a disaster; I would go so far as to call her Prime Minister of Disasters.”

And he delivered a thinly veiled critique of National, which he called “the traditional alternative,” for not reversing a single Labor policy while he was in power.

Although he said the Nationals were “undoubtedly better day-to-day stewards” than Labor.

“I’m not sure if it’s because they are good or if it’s impossible to be worse,” he said.

Seymour said the last nation-led government introduced “some good things” like the Three Strikes Act, 90-day testing and charter schools.

“But all those ideas were from Act. So let me put it this way: if you’re going to see a concert or a show, do you want to see the original act or some copycat cover band?”

He said the Act did not exist just to gain power, but to “hold everyone accountable.”

“Time and time again, Act stood alone against all other parties. The vote was 119 to 1 on numerous occasions, as one party stood initially against the insanity of ‘political correctness’ and’ conventional wisdom. ‘”.

And it was the only party that was honest about the government debt and had noticed the Act meetings were getting younger, he said.

“I think even school-age children are worried that they will graduate from high school before they see the government balance the books.

“And they are right, because if we don’t change course, they will pay the bill.”

Seymour also used the rally to review the Act’s policies and introduce eight of his candidates, and the latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll placed them at 7 percent, earning them nine seats in Parliament.