“Four weeks since Chris Hipkins last fronted on the COVID-19 response, he couldn’t tell New Zealanders anything new
about how the Government will confront the imminent landfall of Omicron,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“There are two possible explanations for why he can’t say anything now but will reveal all tomorrow. Either the
Government is exhausted and has given up fighting COVID, or it is busy fighting itself.
“Hipkins’ press conference was filled with suggestions of opening up, cut short by the need to wait for Cabinet. When
asked what the plan was, Hipkins said he’d ‘have a little bit to say about that tomorrow,’ among other vagaries.
“The Government needs to start governing in the public interest, giving New Zealanders clarity about how it will deal
with an imminent crisis. People need to understand what the Government’s intentions are. They need to know things such
as:Whether schools will stay openWho will have to isolate for how long if infectedWhether the border will remain closed if Omicron is raging within the border anywayHow it will supplement insufficient hospital capacity
“New Zealanders who pay for Government have the right to know what its plans are for their basic freedoms and their
immediate futures. If the Government can’t unite itself behind a plan, what hope do we have?”