David Seymour defends coalition’s stability, hails productivity ahead of election

Act leader David Seymour has defended the three-party coalition Government as election year kicks off, insisting it is stable and productive despite public spats that have led it to be coined a “coalition of chaos”.

Appearing on Newstalk ZB this morning to reflect on 2025 and explore the year ahead, the Deputy Prime Minister was asked whether he remained confident the three governing parties could hold the three-party coalition together before the general election.

Cracks in the coalition have been seen throughout its term; late last year, New Zealand First revealed it would campaign to repeal Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill at the polls and would vote against the recently struck free trade agreement with India.

Yet Seymour suggested the coalition’s dynamic was more a product of healthy debate and constructive dialogue, describing the setbacks as an inevitable part of politics and praising his partners for working through their differences to deliver results.

“It feels like we’re starting to get to a place – not just in coalition government, but in society – where actually some people do have different views, they’re allowed to express them, and, you know, the sun will still come up tomorrow,” he told host Andrew Dickens.

“In fact, it will be brighter if we’re able to express ourselves and work through our challenges together.”

National leader Christopher Luxon, Act leader David Seymour and NZ First leader Winston Peters sign their coalition agreement in November 2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Seymour said that, under the coalition’s direction, Parliament had passed more legislation in two years than any of its predecessors in a full three-year term.

“I recognise there’ll be some people who say, ‘Oh, is that actually a good thing?’ and ‘I didn’t like the laws’.

“Sure, we can debate all of that, but I just make the point that if we have been fighting like cats in a sack, it hasn’t stopped us being very productive, in terms of preparing laws and getting them through Parliament.

“And actually, I would say the truth is that we’ve worked very well together, because the challenges that the country faces have demanded it.”

It was “in nobody’s interest to have instability”, Seymour added, vowing to continue work on cutting red tape and reducing government expenditure.

“At the end of the day, we have a productivity problem in New Zealand. People talk about a cost-of-living crisis and that’s real. But when you really get down to it, it’s because our economy doesn’t produce the kind of wealth that people want to consume,” he said.

“This is a great country. We haven’t really felt like that for a while, but it is. It’s one of the greatest societies that’s ever existed, and we should start celebrating that more.”

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