Act Party leader David Seymour, who has whakapapa to Ngāti Rēhia hapū through his mother, rejects criticism from his hapū and others who accuse him of violating Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Despite his claim of Maori ancestry, he is defending his Treaty Principles Bill. His comments came as a hīkoi opposing the bill reached Parliament, Read more
A mature, thoughtful conversation about Te Tiriti o Waitangi would be timely, but the Act party should not lead it. At the last election, it was the only party to propose a referendum on this subject, and 91.6 percent of the electorate did not support them. It had no democratic mandate to enact its ideas Read more
Act Party leader and Epsom MP David Seymour has been accused of fuelling prejudice after he sent a letter to constituents warning that tenants in a new housing development could have mental health issues. Seymour stands by the letter, saying that the social housing development had a history of anti-social behaviour and he was “telling Read more
ACT party leader David Seymour says if his party helps form the next Government, beneficiaries who “keep having children” will have their financial freedom taken away. Speaking in the minor party leaders debate last Saturday Seymour said having babies while on the benefit was an “outrage” to working parents, and “the biggest driver of child poverty Read more
Families who can’t afford children shouldn’t be having them, says the ACT Party’s new deputy leader, Beth Houlbrooke. And her leader, David Seymour agrees with her, saying too many children were being born into poverty. The Spinoff (an online magazine) followed up on this story by posting a list of 25 people ACT thinks should Read more
In an article published on The Ruminator website, New Act Leader Jamie Whyte was asked whether the state should intervene if adult siblings wanted to marry each other. “Well personally, I don’t think they [the State] should. However, it’s a matter of almost no significance because it just doesn’t happen.” Whyte said that this was his are his Read more
Jail is for them, not us, is a white middle class understanding that’s well-illustrated by the case of Rick Bryant, the ageing rocker currently appealing against his jail sentence for drug dealing. I follow his case with interest. Nobody who was at university at the same time as Rick could forget him, in part because Read more
An ACT ad campaign launched at the weekend has echoes of leader Don Brash’s controversial Orewa speech in 2004. It was condemned yesterday by the Maori and Mana parties. Former ad man for ACT John Ansell has branded it “a party of cowards” after he was forced to step down over his comments about Maori. The Read more