Table of Contents
ACT Party
This week we uncover more wasteful Government spending, this time on artwork, the Olympics have finished but Jacinda Ardern’s Government is still breaking records, and the Government announces its COVID roadmap… even though ACT already announced it five months ago.
In the News
Skegg Report
The Government released the Skegg report on Wednesday and it seemed awfully familiar to the ACT Party. That’s because David Seymour had already written the same document five months ago… only David’s was more comprehensive and would leave New Zealanders safer.
The Skegg report tells us the Government should reopen the border in stages, proportional to risk, using better technology, but we can’t yet due to low vaccination rates, and variants might undermine the vaccine. All of this was in ACT’s COVID 2.0 report released in March. What’s more, COVID 2.0 was released openly and transparently.
A slither of the COVID-19 Strategic Public Health Advisory Group’s advice, just three letters from the group to Ayesha Verrall, were given privately to some journalists under embargo. Check out David questioning Jacinda Ardern about the report below. You can listen to David Seymour on Newstalk ZB here.
Energy Shortages
At the beginning of June, ACT MP Simon Court wrote an opinion piece that New Zealand was staring down the barrel of an energy crisis. It’s a shame the Government didn’t have the same foresight. This Government has declared a climate emergency, waged war on energy sources it doesn’t like, and tried subsidising those it does like, but at the end of the day comes night, and there is not enough energy.
The Government may argue it is not responsible for this crisis, one thing is for sure, if it doesn’t change its thinking, it won’t be responsible for getting us out of this. The focus should be on security of supply and affordable electricity, not banning certain fuels. The Government has employed hundreds of working groups, and launched enquiries into petrol stations, supermarkets and state care. It hasn’t committed anything to energy security.
Art for art’s sake
ACT has revealed the Government has been spending up large on art. While vulnerable New Zealanders are desperate for shelter, the agency tasked with housing them is spending tens of thousands of dollars on artwork. Kainga Ora is supposed to house people, not expensive carvings. We have people living in motels and cars and tenants whose houses aren’t up to standard. Instead of them, Kainga Ora is providing a home to expensive artwork. ACT can reveal that Kainga Ora has commissioned a carving for its Takanini office that cost $30,000. It has also commissioned artwork for its Hamilton office to the tune of $5,758. Labour used to say ‘you can’t live in a consent,’ well, Jacinda, I guess you can’t live in a carving either.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has decided the best way to support the arts is with its own taxpayer-funded collection. Between 2019-2021 the Ministry spent over $45,000 on the design and installation of artwork throughout its building. The GCSB has spent $5760 on two pieces of artwork. ACT can neither confirm nor deny that it is a full-scale model of James Bond and his Aston Martin.
Alarm bells are also ringing over the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management spending $5,612 on artwork. These might seem like small amounts to Megan Woods, Carmel Sepuloni, Andrew Little and Kris Faafoi who oversee the departments splashing the cash, but this money comes from hardworking Kiwis and it all adds up.
In the House
This week David Seymour took on Jacinda Ardern in Parliament about the Skegg Report and the Government lacking transparency.
Court was awarded an Urgent Debate after the Waikato power outages.
Baillie, a former school teacher, took on the Government over education.
Around the Country
South Island Hub opens
On Thursday ACT opened our South Island Hub. A bigger party means more representation across the country. The new office is in Christchurch. We’re currently recruiting for staff to run the office and South Island based MPs Toni Severin and Chris Baillie will regularly attend to listen to constituents.
Honest Conversations Tours
The Honest Conversations Tour is coming to an end with the last event next Tuesday in Albany in Auckland. We’ve had another week of packed halls with 140 people in Rangiora on Thursday and 65 people in Culverden, for a town with a population of 426 people that’s not a bad showing.
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