Act Party leader David Seymour showed off 'Big Pinky' and spoke to the media in Ellerslie.
Video / NZ Herald
Act Party leader David Seymour has unveiled a bright-pink campaign bus he calls “Big Pinky” - and revealed a donor will supply him a piloted plane to help get around 75 campaign stops.
This afternoon Seymour, candidates, supporters and media took the bus - loaned by a supporter - from the Auckland Showgrounds to a political panel at St Paul’s College in Ponsonby.
“We are a little bit concerned that we are actually going to attract as many Barbie fans as Act fans,” Seymour said of the bright pink branding. “But increasingly there’s a cross-over. We think that this bus will be more than Ken-ough.”
A second, smaller bus will be used for South Island stops - a vehicle nicknamed Little Pinky.
Seymour wanted to call the campaign plane Flying Pinky, but said civil aviation laws prevented the same pink branding.
He used his media stand-up to criticise National as much as Labour.
“As you see the National Party over the past week move closer and closer towards Labour policies, whether it is fees-free, free school lunches, building EV charging stations…the need for a party like Act…becomes more and more important.”
Across one side of the bus are the faces of 20 Act Party candidates - reflecting the party’s high polling and hopes for a big contingent next Parliament - with Seymour and deputy leader Brooke van Velden super-sized on the other.
Act's campaign tour includes 75 stops. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
That possibility brings more scrutiny - today Newsroom revealed its Taupō candidate, Zane Cozens, 19 on the party’s list, was censured by the Real Estate Authority after a 2013 complaint he put undue pressure on a woman to sell her home.
Seymour defended Cozens’ “impeccable” character.
“Yes, there is an incident that he regrets. But there’s two sides to every story, I might add. If you look at the file, he was not guilty of any kind of malice. He certainly made a mistake.
“I think, frankly, if a person who has sold literally hundreds if not thousands of houses in a 20-year career hadn’t had a few disputes or mistakes along the way, that would actually be more unusual.”
He was confident there weren’t skeletons in his candidates’ closets.
“I am confident that we have great people, great New Zealanders from all walks of life, who share our values that you should be able to make a difference in your own life. That is what New Zealand’s future needs.
“We are very happy to have a debate on the issues. But if people want to go down rabbit holes, then we are not going to stop them.”
This week Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said, in his opinion, Seymour is “the most dangerous man that we’ve ever seen in New Zealand politics”, whose rhetoric and divisive politics were Donald Trump-like: “He doesn’t believe Māori have any rights that are derived from the Treaty.”
Asked about those comments, Seymour said, “I just wish I was as powerful in reality as I am in Willie Jackson’s mind”.
What is his message to centrist voters who might be nervous about the influence Act would have in a National-led Government?
“The influence Act would have in a government with National is to get rid of government waste and excessive red tape and regulation, to make sure that the streets are safe…and chart a path as a country that is a modern, multi-ethnic, liberal democratic state with one person and one vote, and a place for all, regardless of who your ancestors were.
“If anyone is afraid of that, then they must have some strange aspirations.”
The bus has been loaned by a supporter. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Act candidates on board the bus included Antonia Modkova, a 32-year-old in-house lawyer for a technology company who wants to “reduce red tape regulation on businesses, encourage overseas investment, and help ease the cost of living crisis”.
Modkova is number 12 on the list, meaning she is likely to be an MP after the October 14 election. It will be a busy time - she’s expecting her second child on October 25.
“There will be lots of things to celebrate, hopefully,” said the candidate for Panmure-Ōtāhuhu, who has a better excuse than most to avoid the motion-sickness of a long campaign bus journey.
“I definitely wouldn’t be the first person to have to juggle those sorts of family commitments in Parliament, I’ve heard it is an extremely family-friendly place. And my family is supportive as well.”
