September 14, 2021
Seymour vax attack a disgrace
National Party deputy leader Shane Reti says putting extra effort into vaccinating Māori and Pasifika is the right thing to do.
ACT leader David Seymour last week sparked outrage by telling his supporters to jump the queue by using a priority code for Māori, which he said was unacceptable racial bias.
But Dr Reti says if New Zealand wants to have options for a post-pandemic future, the 15 percent of New Zealanders who are Māori need to be vaccinated.
He says resources should be allocated on need, and Māori have the most need on most health indicators.
‘I think David’s behaviour was disgraceful. It’s enough to hold a view and make persuasive arguments for that view, I understand that. That’s what happens in a democracy in politics. David took a step further and actually took actions to break and destroy a programme that was seeking to improve the vaccination rates for Māori, that’s disgraceful,” Dr Reti says.