Outgoing National MP Michael Woodhouse claims being male cost him his position, the number of gang members on home detention sentences increases and the passengers stranded in a broken cable car are finally rescued. Video / NZ Herald / AP
An Act candidate has resigned after her historical comments comparing Covid-19 vaccine mandates to Nazi concentration camps came to light.
Another candidate has apologised and renounced online comments which suggested drownings were connected to the effect of the vaccine, but he has been kept on as a candidate.
Act leader David Seymour is also facing questions regarding two other former candidates and says he is likely to check why one stepped away from the party.
Seymour told the Herald the party’s Rangitata candidate Elaine Naidu Franz, 29th on the list, had offered to stand down after 1 News brought her previous comments to Seymour’s attention today.
“I think those comments are unacceptable and I’m glad that she’s chosen to step down voluntarily. It’s for the best for everybody.
Elaine Naidu Franz has withdrawn as an Act Party candidate after historical comments about vaccine mandates came to light.
“In the time that we examined this candidate, they hadn’t shown any inkling of being someone that would make a comment like that, so we’re a bit surprised - we’re just glad they’ve stepped down.”
He said her comments were made almost two years ago.
Act’s Waikato candidate Darren Gilchrist, 48th on the list, had apologised to Seymour over comments he’d made which included linking deaths caused by drowning to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Seymour said Gilchrist had disavowed those comments, saying they were made during a time of high tension in New Zealand concerning vaccination.
Seymour also referenced another former candidate, Anto Coates, who Seymour said had left the party for personal reasons.
Examination of Coates’ online presence found he had produced parody songs about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her actions during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a lyric about Ardern “throwing you in the Gulag” - a reference to the system of camps and prisons that housed the political prisoners and criminals of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the mid-1950s.
This afternoon, Seymour was questioned about another former candidate Scott Boness, who was 41st on the party list and intending to contest the Auckland Central electorate, according to a July Newsroom article.
Seymour said he was not aware of anything problematic relating to Boness’ departure.
Asked whether he would check again, Seymour replied: “Probably now, yeah.”
Act Party leader David Seymour is having to respond to questions about the views of some of his candidates. Photo / Paul Taylor
The party leader was still confident in Act’s candidate vetting process. He said it was impossible to check a candidate’s entire online history, and noted how it was likely old online comments resurfacing would be a growing problem for New Zealand politics.
“At some point, as a society, we have to deal with that,” he said.
Seymour said some people who had applied to be candidates were rejected due to historical comments they’d made. He couldn’t say whether those comments had been primarily Covid-related.
Act’s vetting process included asking candidates to check whether anything they’d done or said in the past could embarrass the party.
He wasn’t aware of any existing candidates on the party’s list that had identified comments relating to Covid-19 that could embarrass the party, but couldn’t rule it out.
“Look, you never say never. I think we’ve made a very good effort at vetting our candidates.”
‘Propped up by anti-vaxxers’ - Rival parties hit out at Act
Rival political parties have used the news of Franz’s resignation to criticise Act for the kind of supporters it attracted.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, responding to a question from Seymour in the House today, claimed Act was being “propped up by a bunch of anti-vaxxers”.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said today’s revelations were consistent with what she believed were Act’s intentions.
“[It’s] a little bit typical, I think, of where the Act Party actually wants to land a lot, looking into the fringes, so I’m not too surprised.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was also unsurprised by the news, claiming such beliefs were common among Act’s supporters.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
