ACT Party leader David Seymour has used his state of the nation address to criticise the government's changes to gun legislation, the zero carbon act and its crack-down on landlords.
David Seymour used his state of the nation address to attack the government's changes to gun legislation. Photo: RNZ / Katie Scotcher
About 75 people attended the party's 'Make Aotearoa Great Again' Waitangi Day event in Auckland this morning.
Seymour said the government is slowly eroding the rights of many New Zealanders; particularly licensed firearm owners, landlords, farmers and employers.
The changes to gun legislation, made after the Christchurch mosque shootings, "wouldn't work, couldn't work, and now haven't worked", he said.
"We are no safer today than we were on March 14 because of the government's actions."
If elected to power after this year's election, ACT would reverse the second wave of gun reform, reintroduce the e-category of military-style semi-automatic weapons and take away the responsibility of firearms licensing from the police, he said.
Seymour also told the crowd freedom of speech is a "sacred right" and criticized the government for considering the introduction of hate speech laws.
"If you're allowed to think and say whatever you like anything could go wrong, you might think the wrong thing and worse still, you might even say it. That's why they want so-called hate speech laws."
He later described the government as the sleaziest in history and said a change in power is needed to restore New Zealand's reputation as one of the world's least corrupt countries.
Last month, Seymour brushed off criticism for referencing Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" in the party's event name.