David Seymour skydives to highlight plight of struggling tourism operators

September 24, 2020

The ACT leader says the country needed to think about how it could re-open its borders safely.

ACT leader David Seymour took to the skies above Twizel in the Mackenzie District today to draw attention to the plight of tourism operators amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the country’s closed borders. 

Seymour went tandem skydiving with Mt Cook Sky Dive from Pukaki Airport, saying to deputy leader Brooke van Velden she’d take over the party leadership if he didn’t make it back. 

”If you get a call, good luck, you’re going to make a great leader,” Seymour said. 

Before taking to the skies, his tandem partner joked that his skydive with Seymour would be the second he'd done. 

He later clarified it was the second he'd done today, and that he'd had many years of experience. 

Seymour could then be heard laughing as he landed on his bottom, before asking someone call van Velden to say he was still around. 

“Sorry to all my political enemies - I survived,” he joked.  

“It’s a lot colder up there than you realise. It was a bit of a surprise … it happens much quicker than you expect.

“But elections are like that too!” 

Seymour added: “We’ve got to let more tourists in to do more of this. That was unbelievable, what a great crew here!”  

When asked about ACT’s border policy if he were in Government, he said it was unfortunate to see that operators like Mt Cook Sky Dive were quieter than usual. 

“Our objective has got to be to safely re-connect with the world one step at a time by asking what we can do not what we can’t,” he said.

Seymour reiterated his party’s policy of allowing for private isolation facilities to help with capacity at managed isolation facilities. 

He also said seasonal workers, especially those from countries without Covid-19, should also be able to come to New Zealand to help the horticulture industry. 

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