Covid 19 Omicron Outbreak: Christopher Luxon wants Government to move on from the 'fake framework' of the traffic light system

National leader Christopher Luxon wants the Government to dismantle the traffic light system, saying the thinking behind it created a "fake framework" without logic, thanks to the removal of effectively mandatory vaccine passes.

"There is a no need for vaccine passes and vaccine mandates going forward - and that has been our issue," Luxon said, agreeing with the Government's decision to get rid of them.

Luxon said the Government had not responded to the changing threat posed by the virus, and yesterday's announcement of the eventual scrapping of vaccine passes and most mandates was not enough.

"We're stuck in a 2020 mindset in 2022. That's why we're supportive of the removal of passes and mandates," Luxon said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today a move to orange would be made "as soon as possible" - and different regions could move at different times.

She said the Government would assess moving levels in the first week of April.

The impact on the health system would be taken into account, meaning different areas could be at different levels depending on how hospitals were coping.

But National wants the whole traffic light system gone, and replaced with a smaller number of "simple" rules.

New Covid protections could be brought back if needed, Luxon said.

"We just wish [the Government] would push on now and remove the traffic light system, because it doesn't add any value," Luxon said.

"If the risk was to change, we've got a bunch of tools and a bunch of different measures that we can put into place," he said.

Luxon said that the Government's changes to the traffic light system to deemphasise the reliance on vaccines made it incoherent, given the system was designed around vaccination.

He said bespoke rules would be easier.

"We've caught ourselves up in the logic of a traffic light system - it's really predicated on these vaccine passes. The question for me is why are we still talking about things in a traffic light setting?"

He said the Government could have separate rules on masks, gathering limits and venues, or isolation distinct from the traffic light system.

"Let's operate with those [rules] so we an all understand them and get moving forward. Trying to operate with a fake framework that sort of doesn't have a logic is all a bit academic to me," Luxon said.

Luxon was speaking in Levin, north of Wellington. He said he was trying to tour parts of New Zealand outside Wellington to get a sense of issues facing Kiwis away from the capital.