“Today we got an announcement that the announcement wasn’t being announced, and that another announcement might come later,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“When asked about a hospitality sector suffering under her draconian restrictions, Jacinda said she wanted people to feel safe. Why doesn’t she just let people take responsibility for themselves?
“Kiwis are tired of rules that don’t make sense.
“Instead of ending our misery and letting us get on with our lives, our stage-managed Prime Minister has decided she needs to reserve those announcements for a later date and some more podium time.
“There is no longer any logical framework to the Government's response. The traffic light system was designed to manage crowd sizes in combination with vaccine passes. Now there are no vaccine passes, and crowd sizes are designed for Delta, so staying in red really just means we're choosing to carry on as normal but kneecap the event industry.
“It is clearly fatigued and I get that, but people who've been through two years of restrictions need clarity and logic from the Government. All we are getting now is life on Jacinda's whims, and people cannot afford it.
“The rest of the world is moving on and dropping restrictions. We desperately need tourists to want to come to here – why would they choose New Zealand if they face restrictions when they arrive.
“Businesses can’t plan for the future, all leading economic indicators are falling through the floor, inflation and interest rates are skyrocketing, and Jacinda’s unworkable regulations are pushing us towards recession.
“It’s time to move on. It’s time to drop gathering limits. It’s time to give tourists a reason to come there. It’s time to get on with our lives.”