ACT plans to ‘make Aotearoa great again’

ACT leader David Seymour has slammed police’s handling of the gun buy-back scheme and accused the government of being part of a culture of ‘‘sleaze’’ in Wellington, in a Waitangi Day speech to the party faithful.

The crowd of about 100 people at his policy launch in Auckland’s Mt Eden was largely made up of middle age and elderly supporters. His speech was dubbed Seymour’s State of the Nation Address and the party’s Trump-like campaign theme of ‘‘Let’s Make Aotearoa Great Again’’ was printed on free T-shirts being given away.

Seymour kicked off his speech targeting an issue close to his heart – free speech. But it wasn’t long before he started talking tough on firearms.

‘‘This election will decide whether we fix it or things get worse. The Government can legislate a register before the election, but they cannot implement one. ACT in government would insist on reversing the second tranche firearms laws, reintroducing the E-category and getting the woeful police out of firearms licensing and administration.’’

Seymour claimed the trust in the police was at an all-time low among firearm owners because of the rushed legislation.

‘‘The buyback failed. It didn’t just fail to get three quarters of the prohibited firearms; it got the least powerful firearms from the most honest people. Incidentally, they took the money and spent it on more firearms. Firearm retailers just had their best Christmas period since Jesus was a boy.’’

The Government was also the target of his criticism in a postspeech stand-up. ‘‘You’ve got to admit the concentration of sleaze going on right now is unprecedented,’’ Seymour said.

He highlighted the fact NZ First and National were currently embroiled in scandals over political donations and said question marks raised over the ties between lobbyists and the government were of concern.

He also criticised Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones’ and the muchmaligned Provincial Growth Fund.

‘‘In March last year, ACT broke the story about Shane Jones helping to get $4.6 million through the Provincial Growth Fund for an organisation he once chaired. Of course, Jacinda Ardern looked the other way.

‘‘But what NZ First’s slush fund really means is that you don’t get rich by creating products people want to buy at prices they can afford. No. Instead, you either need connections in the Beehive, or they need to come to Wellington and beg for largesse.’’

Seymour also talked about the out-of-control cost of housing in New Zealand and said addressing it was a priority for the party which would seek to scrap the Resource Management Act if it was in power.

He also touched on the government’s proposed hate speech laws which he said would have a chilling effect on free speech.

‘‘This election will decide whether we fix it or things get worse.’’

David Seymour