Act Party leader David Seymour speaks with a staffer at Bakers Delight during a walkabout in Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Adam Pearse
Act Party leader David Seymour speaks with a staffer at Bakers Delight during a walkabout in Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Adam Pearse
If David Seymour is trying to prove New Zealand’s economy is grinding to a halt and crime is rampant, Remuera is evidently not the best place to visit.
The Act Party leader invited journalists along with him on one of his regular walkabouts yesterday in the affluent Auckland suburb, which is in his Epsom electorate.
While handing out his contact details, Seymour quizzed locals and those working along a small stretch of Remuera Rd whether business was slowing and crime was rising - something his party claims Labour has allowed under its time in Government.
The first stop was Liquorland. Bottle stores have been one of the more common businesses that have been victim to the spike in ram raids and aggravated robberies in recent years.
However, a staffer tells Seymour they haven’t been hit yet. The reason, the staffer reckons, was a decision to stop selling cigarettes, which was done in part to make the store less of a target.
Pamela from custom curtain and blinds shop, Living At Home, says she’d just been “reading one of your directives”, as Seymour entered the store.
Seymour, preferring to call his emails to supporters “communications”, asks Pamela whether his assessment that people were browsing but “not putting their hands in their pockets” was correct. Pamela didn’t think so, saying business had been fairly good of late.
Act Party leader David Seymour talks with an elderly couple enjoying the sunshine while the politician is on a walkabout in Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Adam Pearse
The party leader took a different approach upon entering a Barfoot & Thompson branch, this time asking for any advice the real estate staffers might have for a politician.
A man, half-Lebanese, admits he is perhaps not the best person to ask.
“They get rid of politicians [in Lebanon] if we don’t like them,” he says with a laugh.
A female staffer tells Seymour business was “going really well” but that many were waiting for the election, anticipating house listings to increase.
As the area’s local MP since 2014, Seymour cut a popular and recognisable figure. His striking pink tie stood out on the streets bathed in cloudless sunshine where many people knew him by name and say they will vote for him.
He’d clearly worked on his one-liners ahead of time, joking with staffers that he wouldn’t take up their time because Act campaigned on freeing businesses from government regulation.
Seymour visited another realtor, Ray White,one of four real estate companies within metres of each other on Remuera Rd. According to OneRoof, the suburb’s median sales price was $1.73 million, higher than the current national average of about $950,000.
The entry to Ray White in Remuera, Auckland looked more akin to a hotel lobby rather than a real estate business. Photo / Adam Pearse
He next ventures into Browns Eatery, where he comes across former All Blacks coach John Hart.
“I thought you’d be in France,” Seymour says.
Hart says he intends to go over once the World Cup reaches the quarterfinal stage.
“I just hope we’ll still be in the Cup [by then],” Seymour responded, showing little faith the All Blacks will beat Italy and Uruguay to finish in the top two of their group.
Hart says he’s confident New Zealand will make the quarters. With the World Cup final not long after election day, Seymour says his fingers are crossed for a “double celebration”.
As he leaves, he stops to talk to the McKenzie family, which includes a 1-year-old miniature Maltese named Daisy.
“Is she registered to vote,” Seymour jokes after parents John and Alexandra inform him they’re Act supporters.
The McKenzie family with 1-year-old miniature Maltese, Daisy, at Browns Eatery in Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Adam Pearse
By the time he gets to fashion store, Yvonne Bennetti, Seymour’s slightly changed his tune by saying he’d heard a few months ago that people weren’t “putting their hands in their pockets” but that maybe things had changed.
A staffer tells him business isn’t too bad.
A worker at the Hedgerow gifts and homewares store says businesses are getting on fine.
“I think the village is doing quite well compared to other retailers.”
Seymour repeats his joke about not wasting her time. It earns a smile from the staffer.
At Bakers Delight, the woman behind the counter tells Seymour she thinks people will vote on issues including the high cost of living and crime.
Trying to be relatable, Seymour says he recently filled up the car and the price per litre was $3.47, which instantly made him not very relatable as it indicated he didn’t use 91, which costs about $3 per litre.
The Herald was later told Seymour had been filling up someone else’s car. His Holden takes 91.
For all his jokes about not wanting to stop business, Seymour is too involved in his chat to notice a potential customer come in and then leave because Seymour is in his way.
He’s then stopped by a retired couple on the street. The wife is a big Act supporter: “I like you, you’re my man”.
A retired couple stop and speak with Act Party leader David Seymour during his walkabout. Photo / Adam Pearse
The husband says it’s important for politicians to have good relationships with other parties to run the country. Seymour agrees but seemingly forgets to mention he has “ruled out” working with Winston Peters when that may be out of his hands.
The wife brings up Peters, saying she supports a change in government but is wary of the NZ First leader.
“I don’t know about Winston Peters,” she says. “I don’t know either,” Seymour replies.
She likens Peters to former American president Donald Trump. Seymour notes the scary thing about Trump is that he sometimes does deliver on his promises.
She ends the conversation by devoting her undying support to him: ”You will always get our support no matter what”.
In the Total Care Hair salon, Seymour makes the classic mistake of prematurely complimenting a woman’s haircut.
“It hasn’t been done yet,” she responds.
Thrown only for a second, Seymour recovers well: “Well, imagine how good it’s going to look when it’s done!”
The woman is a weekly visitor to the hairdressers, suggesting the cost of living pressures aren’t biting her too hard.
A dog appears from the back room. Seymour continues his earlier joke by saying, “we’re actually quite keen to get them to vote as well”, meaning canines join Nelson Mandela and Kate Sheppard on the list of individuals Seymour thinks would be Act voters.
Act Party leader David Seymour takes a photo in a salon while on a walkabout. Photo / Adam Pearse
His final visit is to the Thirsty Liquor. Two yellow bollards guard the front door, put in after a ram raid last year.
The staffer behind the counter, an Asian man, confesses he speaks limited English so asks Seymour to talk clearly and slowly.
Upon Seymour explaining he’s a local politician, the staffer breathes a sigh of relief and says “so I didn’t do anything wrong”, one eye on the TV camera pointed at him.
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.
