Act Leader David Seymour says Government needs to butt-out of Spark streaming saga

Act Leader David Seymour said Deputy PM Winston Peters and the Government need to stop getting involved in the Spark streaming saga. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government should butt-out of the Spark streaming saga and is grandstanding on something entirely outside its control, according to Act Party Leader David Seymour.

This comes as Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has again waded into the situation, warning Spark this afternoon it "better be" on top of the streaming of other World Cup games.

The All Blacks' first World Cup bout on Sunday night was affected for some fans, with images of the game flickering, pixelating, blurring and buffering, or losing signal altogether.

Peters – who was standing in for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at her weekly post-cabinet press conference – said Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi had spoken to Spark about the streaming issues.

"We have been given a whole lot of information that is new, plus significant assurances as to the future," he said.

But he did not elaborate on what that new information was when pressed.

"It stands to reason that the information we did have was that they hadn't done enough to make sure it was fool-proof."

He again called the coverage a "disaster" and said, "we do hope that Spark is on top of it and I suggest that they better be".

Spark had blamed its US-based streaming partner for the issues – Peters appeared to question that, telling reporters: "We're going to find out whether that's a fact or not."

But Seymour said Peters and the Government need to stop getting involved.

"Spark is a private company. There is nothing the Government can or should do to make its technology work," he said.

"To grandstand on something entirely outside his control is an indulgence in distraction and an insult to the voter."

He said the Government wading into matters concerning private businesses is exactly why business confidence is so low.

Seymour accused the Government of threatening private business as it has no way of helping with the technological aspect of a streaming service.

"If the Acting Prime Minister wanted to use the window of the Prime Minister's absence to solve some real problems, he could restore business confidence by ruling out more random shock therapy for businesspeople."