ACT Barking Mad
Plus: Other headlines - David Seymour directs taxpayers to subsidise insurers, and child concern complaints rise 60% after Karen Chhour's Oranga Tamariki budget cuts and more.
ACT issued a press release today to its supporters, claiming that NZ has experienced “the best quarter of economic growth in two years” . And leader David Seymour claiming that the only thing in the way of a recovery is the “mad opposition.”
But official statistics confirm that under this Coalition government policies, business liquidations are at a 10 year high, unemployment 5 year high, we are losing almost 200 Kiwis1 a day, 23,000 more people are on jobseekers, there are 30,000 less jobs, GDP per capita is now lower than March 2022 and business investment continues to fall.
Seymour however, had no qualms with his release - presenting a starkly different picture to the reality.
That ‘alternative facts’ strategy is concerning - as is the wish to lie about opposition parties and cast them as blocking success.
ACT has become increasingly masks-off and unhinged in recent days, with Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour attacking NZ’s most eminent, respected, caring and intelligent leaders - simply for their public service of clarifying the reality of ACT’s dangerous, trojan horse Regulatory Standards Bill.
Note: Dr Laking is one of the most credentialed and respected public health specialists in New Zealand with decades of service as an oncologist and medical leader. Dame Anne Salmond’s record and history speaks for itself.
As someone wiser than I noted, what’s concerning here is the normalisation of MAGA style tactics and a clear attempt to silence and intimidate critics.
But even as Kiwis might recoil from such outbursts, there is a genuine psychological reality that we risk becoming accustomed to the incendiary manner which Seymour, and his compatriots, regularly push onto the country -
I’ve never really doubted that this is all intentional but it’s still a great pity for anyone who cares about the country, and doesn’t want to see further division and strife ala America.
What can you do? Speak up about it. Share facts. Share news articles that reveal the truth. Submit on the RSB. Talk to your neighbours. Form friendships in your community. Join political parties. Donate to organisations that further causes you care about. Don’t look away.
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