Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has responded to criticism she was “politicising” yesterday’s Covid-19 press conference by criticising other parties’ policies, saying she’s both managing a pandemic and campaigning.
Ardern told TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning she ended up being asked about other parties’ policies by reporters after announcing that Auckland would move down to Alert Level 1.
“So the suggestion is that in answering those questions, that the questions were too political,” she said.
“I note one of the sources of criticism is the Opposition. I think it’s just a nature of the fact that we’re both managing a pandemic, but we are also in a campaign period.”
At yesterday's presss conference Ardern said New Zealand was in the good economic position it was in because the country went “hard and early” in response to the pandemic.
When Ardern was asked about National’s housing policy yesterday after her briefing, she said: “I think it would take us back away from delivering housing for first-home buyers, away from increasing public housing numbers.
“To suggest that as an answer to the housing troubles that New Zealand has experienced that we should sell off state houses I think is absolutely wrong.”
She also criticised other parties’ Covid-19 border policies.
“Some of the proposals I've seen around borders, frankly, I think would be risky," Ardern said in response to another question.
She said she took questions from reporters "as I always do [at Covid-19 press conferences]".
National leader Judith Collins took to Twitter yesterday to say: “Hey, how’s it okay for Ms Ardern to use her 1pm Covid spot to criticise National’s Housing policy & to misrepresent National’s border policy? Hats anyone? Which one today?”
ACT leader David Seymour also criticised Ardern.
“Rather than politicising Covid, we need to reunite our country and get our way of life back,” he said.
SHARE ME