Winston Peters says today's announcement the country will move to Level 1 at midnight should put to bed "ill-informed speculation" of Government division around the Covid-19 Alert Levels.
The New Zealand First leader publicly spoke about his desire to move to Alert Level 1, telling Newstalk ZB on May 27 the country had been in lockdown "for far too long", and last week saying he had "always believed we’re ready now" to move to Alert Level 1.
Mr Peters today said his party had been a "constructive partner in every decision the coalition has made throughout the Covid-19 crisis".
"The coalition Government always had the goal of beating the virus to give the economy its best chance of recovering from the disruption the country faced and the burden that all New Zealanders shared to successfully fight off Covid-19."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media last month there were "different opinions, particularly expressed by the likes of members of NZ First, around the pace of moving into Level 1".
"I'm open to the fact we have different views around the Cabinet table."
A leaked Cabinet paper released by National last week had official advice stating Level 1 should be based on "having eliminated chains of transmissions and there having been no new cases from community transmission for at least 28 days".
National last week said New Zealand should be at Level 1 immediately.
"Businesses are haemorrhaging. They need certainty today, not having to wait until next week," Mr Muller said.
Ms Ardern replied that Mr Muller "does a disservice when he explains that the decision-making process is as simplistic as he describes - it is not".
National also said small businesses were a victim of "coalition dysfunction" after a disagreement over the Covid-19 response to commercial rent saw negotiations between Labour and NZ First stretch out across months.
The NZ First leader has been openly disagreeing with his coalition partner lately, as his own party experiences dismal showings in polls.
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