Act leader David Seymour chose Te Anau as the location to unveil his party’s tourism policy this evening, saying the industry cannot be fixed by “picking winners”.

“The Government’s approach has been to pick winners with its Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme. While recipients are no doubt grateful for the money received, the effect of it is minor and seemingly concentrated on well recognised operators, simply so politicians can have their photos taken as they hand over a cheque,” he told around 60 people at the Te Anau Club.

“What the tourism industry needs is tourists, and certainty of getting them. The best thing the Government can do for the industry is to set clear rules of the game so that New Zealand can safely reconnect with the rest of the world.

“We should start by asking what can be done rather than imposing blanket restrictions on people entering the country. ACT’s approach reflects a change of attitude. We should allow practices that are safe and allow businesses to demonstrate that they can be safe, rather than imposing a Government monopoly.”

Mr Seymour said there were opportunities for high value tourism operators to bring in and isolate tourists for the required quarantine period before allowing them to travel more widely.

“We need to think outside the box and ACT has the plan so we can do this sensibly and safely.”

His policy announcement included lifting restrictions that he said were holding tourism back and cutting tax to bolster the sector.

He said the Department of Conservation (DOC) needed a mandate to encourage private sector tourism on the conversation estate, not restrict it. 

“Leases could fund conservation projects, for example, but presently we are not getting full value out of the DOC estate and DOC is not getting full value out of tourism.”

ACT launches it's tourism policy in Te Anau. Photo: The Southland App.

He said tourism also needed a flexible labour market, but the current Government’s Employment laws would make it harder for the industry to employ people. 

“ACT would have a three-year moratorium on increasing the minimum wage and bring back 90-day trials for all businesses.”

The policy also includes cutting GST from 15% to 10% for 12 months in order to boost domestic spending and make New Zealand an even more attractive holiday destination for Australians when the border opens.

ACT also proposed abolishing the $35 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, and returning the proceeds to tourism business, on the basis of their GST receipts in 2019. Councils would also be banned from using the rating system to impose a Hotel Bed Tax.

At the borders, Act would advocate for single multi-disciplinary, public and private sector Epidemic Response Unit, modelled on Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre.

“Government as a referee, not a player in the game, setting standards and enforcing them but allowing the private sector to meet them. We should use the private sector to supplement the MIQ system like we do with health care – you should be able to ‘go private’ for your isolation period,” Mr Seymour said.

High-value foreign tourists would be allowed through this system and essential staff could pay extra for hotel rooms with home-office setups so they could work through their two-week period.

Mr Seymour said the dangers of Covid could be managed with a risk-weighted approach. 

“We should treat tourists from countries without Covid and with high quality public health systems (e.g. Taiwan) differently from how we treat those from Covid-ridden countries or those with poor public health. For instance, there might be shorter quarantine times for better tested and lower risk tourists.”

Earlier today Mr Seymour unveiled his party's rural policy in Mossburn.