“Meka Whaitiri’s revelation this morning that she doesn’t trust the Prime Minister shows a divided Government unable to focus on the issues facing New Zealand,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“After Stuart Nash’s repeated infractions and resignation, and Kiri Allan going rogue in a speech at RNZ, Meka Whaitiri has this morning said she doesn’t trust Chris Hipkins.

“Asked by TVNZ this morning, ‘Do you not trust the Prime Minister?’, Meka Whaitiri replied, ‘No, I trust my family.’”

“If someone who was a Minister until a few days ago can’t trust the Prime Minister, how can New Zealanders trust him?

“The Stuart Nash, Kiri Allan and Meka Whaitiri sagas show Labour is consumed by chaotic internal politics and unable to focus on the issues facing New Zealand.

“Meka Whaitiri’s defection from Labour is ultimately a distraction from the real issues New Zealanders face, but it also highlights some of the reasons the Government is incapable of dealing with them.

“How is Hipkins expected to manage 60,000 public servants when he can’t keep track of 65 MPs?

“The ongoing waka-jumping circus featuring Whaitiri and Elizabeth Kerekere won’t make one street safer or one week’s bills more affordable, but it does show why real change is needed this election.

“The Labour, Green, and Māori parties are now consumed by identity politics, and it’s a bed they made with years of putting identity before common humanity and practical problem-solving. Who really believes any Government Chris Hipkins leads, propped up by God knows who, can address the serious challenges New Zealand faces?

“Government spending is up 60 per cent in five years, and yet the streets are more dangerous, fewer kids attend school and learn less, and hospital waiting lists are out the door and around the corner with people suffering. The Labour-Green-Māori waka-jumping circus might just give a clue as to why that is.

“ACT is relentlessly focused on changing the Government and making that change real. We show New Zealanders how we’d unite the country behind better ideas on every issue from school attendance and public safety, to making sense of the Treaty in a democratic society.

“This election there is a clear choice. There is a new Government of real change powered by ACT’s ideas and commitment to improving New Zealand, or another episode of the waka-jumping circus. If this is Labour with an absolute majority, just imagine a three or four-way coalition.

“While Labour, the Greens and the Māori Party are focussed on themselves, almost every aspect of New Zealand society continues to decline. It’s time to get the country out of the ditch.”

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