Leader of the newly formed Advance NZ Party, Jami-Lee Ross has joined forces with the NZ Public Party in the hopes of taking over the Te Tai Tokerau electorate and repealing the Government’s Covid-19 Public Health Response Bill.
Hundreds of people have gathered at Auckland’s Logan Campbell Centre for the campaign launch and merger announcement of the two minor political parties today.
Mr Ross announced he was starting his own political party Advance NZ in May saying it’ll focus on the freedom and sovereignty of New Zealanders and will create a new economic plan to get Kiwis through a post Covid-19 world.
The New Zealand Public Party was formed by Billy Te Kahika who is vying for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate. He is also the co-leader of Advance NZ.
Speaking to 1 NEWS today, Mr Te Kahika said if the parties were elected into Parliament they would “immediately repeal the Covid-19 Health Response Bill”.
“We are standing very firmly on the fact that New Zealand needs to have democracy restored.
“Immediately we want to repeal the Covid-19 Health Response Bill and take it to the people as to how we would frame a law to protect the community,” he said.
The Labour Government’s position under the World Health Organisation’s newly-formed Covid-19 Law Lab is to initiate a “mass immunisation programme” before control measures to stop the virus in New Zealand are relaxed.
Mr Te Kahika says Advance NZ and The NZ Public Party oppose such measures. In May, the National Party also voted against legislation to enforce restrictions at Level 2.
“People need to be offered a choice around if they want to be vaccinated or not and the matter taken to a referendum that is entwined in the Covid-19 Health Response Bill,” he says.
The top priorities of the new alliance are to restore democracy and repeal the Covid-19 health bill, restore the economy and restore national sovereignty.
Mr Te Kahika is vying for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate and says he will take his fight for democracy to the heart of government by going head-to-head with Kelvin Davis.
“Kelvin Davis hasn’t delivered for Maori or even the Maori Tourism Sector as Minister of Tourism. Our people are just as poor, just as jobless, just as homeless as they were before and all I see when I examine Labour’s and his performance is they have done literally nothing.
“And Kelvin is the number two in the Labour Party. If Kelvin can’t deliver, it’s time for him to step aside and let real leadership with backbone serve our people.
“Te Tai Tokerau doesn’t tolerate under performing MPs. That’s why in the last 30 years Labour has lost this seat more often than it has won it,” says Mr Te Kahika.
