David Seymour at his state of the nation address at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland today. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
ACT leader David Seymour says the coalition has a lot of work ahead if it is to catch up on what he is calling the "lost decades" of previous administrations.
Seymour delivered his annual state of the nation speech at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland on Sunday morning.
He began by quoting lyrics from American rapper Eminem's track 'Lose Yourself' before likening the new government to a midwife of a "reborn New Zealand".
"I've long said that our country has a long term political cycle. Periods of golden weather, like the '60s and early '70s, and the '90s and early 2000s, are followed by growing frustration, like the early '80s and early 2020s.
"Each time there is a rebirth... One day our new government will be judged. It could be viewed as midwife to another reborn New Zealand, stronger and freer again. Or, it could turn out to be spectator to ongoing decline until another government takes us somewhere else entirely."
Seymour was critical of the decision makers of the past two decades (former prime ministers John Key, Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern) saying they had denied problems, governed without values and made bad policy.
"Over the last quarter of a century, the Clark, Key, and Ardern governments have all eroded the simple idea that you are the person that makes the difference in your own life.
"There's been a cultural shift towards the idea that if there is a problem to be solved, or if life is to get better, the people in Wellington will do it for us."
Seymour said past policy had created more cost and worse results; stating ACT ministers were wasting no time repealing fair pay agreements, firearms laws and freshwater regulations, among other policies.
But Labour's Willie Jackson said he did not know what Seymour was talking about.
"You're talking about two great [Labour] prime ministers in my view, both of them have been lauded, particularly Jacinda, around the world. So I don't know what planet David Seymour's coming from at the moment."
On foreign affairs, Seymour said New Zealand's backyard was was contested space and the government needed to be "much braver in a more dangerous world".
"Since the GFC [global financial crisis], fewer and fewer countries practise democracy, and those that do practise it less sincerely. The underlying narrative of the last 30 years - that the good guys always win - is fading to uncertainty."
He also set out his rationale for the Treaty Principles Bill; arguing efforts to honour the treaty are incompatible with the democratic value of equal citizenship under the law.
"We are not people who have to look at our family tree to find out how we fit in. We're all New Zealanders with the same basic rights and with that platform constitutionally we can get stuck in to tackling the real problems and challenges that New Zealanders face."
Seymour's proposed legislation has drawn criticism from Māori leaders who have warned their communities will mobilise if the government attempts to change the treaty.
He told critics to engage in dialogue during today's speech, despite passing up the opportunity to attend a national hui at Tūrangawewae and annual Rātana celebrations this year.
"Don't say, or even hint, that there will be violence if you don't get your way. These arguments pave the road to division. Take those arguments off the table and try dialogue like adults," Seymour said.
"Leaders in Māoridom who have the ear of the young need to ask themselves: are they dealing with the issues responsibly, or simply inciting baseless racial resentment? It is an important question."
Labour MP Willie Jackson. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
However, Jackson, who is Labour's spokesperson for Māori development, has refuted Seymour's rationale for the Treaty Principles Bill.
During his state of the nation speech, Seymour argued efforts to honour the treaty were incompatible with the democratic value of equal citizenship under the law.
Jackson again said Seymour did not know what he was talking about.
"Every former prime minister whether it was Jim Bolger or Helen Clark and ministers like Doug Graham and Andrew Little and Chris Finlayson - you know all of them say Māori have a special set of rights.
"But apparently Seymour knows better than all of them, he wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about."
Jackson said Seymour was attempting to deny New Zealand's history.
Seymour finished his speech by thanking ACT supporters, promising progress on "shifting the values in government and delivering real change" and criticising the media for alleged bias in reporting.