In the party’s statement released today, David Seymour said among other things:

  • It is difficult to justify a vaccination mandate purely on the grounds that it reduces hospitalisation risk for unvaccinated people themselves and thus pressure on the health system. This effect has already reached saturation. Unless a new requirement for boosters is introduced, mandating is having negligible effect on vaccine uptake and should be dropped immediately.
  • MIQ: The personal and commercial costs of MIQ are immense. It is decimating whole industries, separating families, and denying business and travel opportunities to the whole country. The humane and rational response of the Government would be to dump MIQ now, rather than phase it out over the coming eight months. It doesn’t work, ties up valuable resources, and is unimaginably cruel. People are justified in asking why we keep doing it. Our objective must be to safely reconnect with the world. Allowing people to enter New Zealand with no greater isolation requirements than are needed for domestic cases should be done immediately.