“ACT welcomes the Government’s backdowns on COVID-19 powers, the Traveller Declaration Form and defunding of Shakespeare, while they’re backing down on policy they should keep going,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Labour has held on to COVID powers for far too long, while the rest of the world moved on they clung to them as a reminder of when they were ahead in the polls. Even now they refuse to relinquish the framework itself and strict isolation rules stay in place.

“The fact the Government even had to backflip on funding a much-loved secondary school Shakespeare Festival because it wasn’t “relevant for a decolonising Aotearoa” is extraordinary in itself.

“But why stop there? Some other things Labour should scrap are:

• The jobs tax as part of their income insurance scheme
• ‘Fair Pay’ agreements, aka compulsory unionism
• The undemocratic Three Waters reforms
• The co-government agenda
• The farm emissions tax

“By getting rid of these unnecessary policies now they’ll be saving ACT a job, because otherwise we’ll get rid of them when we form part of the next Government.

“New Zealanders are rejecting Labour’s policies. This was evident in the swing against Labour in the recent local body elections and is evident in the polls that consistently show more Kiwis think the country is heading in the wrong direction.

“Almost every policy it attempts ends in some sort of failure or retreat. Labour should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on policies that are doomed to fail and nip them in the bud now.”

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