“The Prime Minister has admitted New Zealand’s worst kept secret, we’re not waiting for vaccination rates to get up, we’ve been waiting for the Government to get its vaccine passports sorted," says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“December 2 will now be the Freedom Day that ACT’s been calling for since October 5th. If the Government had listened to ACT, businesses would have had clarity. This is a massive victory for New Zealanders, but with many complications from the Government. The greatest complication is the lack of preparedness for vaccine passports.
“That’s why it’s hairdressers but not hospo this Thursday, they need to test the vaccine pass. We have been waiting for a Government that is not prepared, rather than Aucklanders to get vaccinated.
“Nothing stopped the Prime Minister from announcing December 2 as Freedom Day last week, or last month. No new information has come to pass, people have kept getting vaccinated. Here's the real problem. The Government needs a stage managed series of announcements to sustain it's PR driven COVID response..
“I’ve been through a few torturous choreographed performances myself, but this drip feed of announcements is agonising. The Government should just tell us what will happen and when."