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Mike Hosking Leaders Breakfast: David Seymour

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 8 Oct 2020, 9:23AM

Mike Hosking Leaders Breakfast: David Seymour

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 8 Oct 2020, 9:23AM

Used to being a one-man show in Parliament, the Act leader is expected to lead a number of largely unknown candidates next term, with recent polling putting Act on 8 per cent (10 MPs).

"We are taking each day as it comes," Seymour said of that position. "If Act can play a role in holding all of them to account out there, that is a real positive."

Hosking asked about Act Party's candidate list, and whether any people set to enter Parliament could be trusted to perform.

Seymour said there was a strong vetting process, and they would be great MPs. The general public didn't yet know some of them, he said, but that was to be expected given they weren't yet MPs: "Nobody knew who Margaret Thatcher was."

Act didn't have bottom lines in any post-election negotiations. Even large parties couldn't guarantee their policy would survive negotiations, he said.

"If you vote for Act, then you are getting a push towards a more aggressive, more Taiwan-esque approach to health...you are getting a more aggressive approach to debt...there are other issues around the RMA, charter schools...firearm laws."

Seymour said he had worked with five National leaders, and they were all good day-to-day managers, and keen to stay in power. Act was different because it pushed new thinking.

"That is Act's role - to bring ideas to the table, to drive change."

What did the last Government do that he was impressed with? Abortion law reform, Seymour said. However, he ruled out any governing agreement with Labour, and insisted a National-Act coalition would happen, "by a whisker".

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