Seymour thanks South
LAST month’s national election is still fresh in the memory, but Act New Zealand leader David Seymour is already thinking about the 2023 election.
The MP for Epsom was in Invercargill yesterday as part of his ‘‘Thank You Tour’’, which will visit about 15 towns and cities across the country.
Mr Seymour said the party had strong support in Southland, gaining about 13% of the party vote in the electorate.
He would like to increase the presence of Act in the region, he said.
‘‘We had so many people giving up so much for democracy.
‘‘This tour is to thank the ones who helped us — from word to mouth to donations . . . We wanted to thank them all.’’
Mr Seymour addressed about 50 people who gathered at Speight’s Ale House in Invercargill to hear the plans of the party for the next three years.
It included the setting up of a southern base in the region.
He said Act was thinking about implementing a mobile presence for people who had problems connecting with Act MPs.
During the meeting, Mr Seymour also spoke about the potential closure of the Tiwai smelter next year.
He said he had a solution which he described as ‘‘ready to go’’.
‘‘It is simple. It is to legislate [consent] for a second power line so that Transpower would be forced to be back to the table [for negotiations].’’
With this strategy, Rio Tinto — the owner of New Zealand Aluminium Smelter — would have the right to build a new power line, but would not do so.
It would invoke the prudent discount policy in the Electricity Code which states if an electricity customer has a realistic option of building its own transmission solution, Transpower must offer it a discount, he said.
He promised the crowd he would continue to advocate for this solution.
Mr Seymour also was pleased with the results of the the End of Life Choice Act, which he drafted in 2015 and had support of 65.2% of the voters in the referendum at the election.
‘‘I’m very proud that my name is on the Bill but it was a team effort. And the team was the team of New Zealand. We decided to be a more compassionate place.
‘‘It makes me really proud to be a Kiwi.’’