“Neither the Prime Minister nor the Deputy Prime Minister can be trusted on the issue of Alert Level 1 and Kiwis are paying the price,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Jacinda Ardern appears to hold two different positions on a move to Level 1 and Winston Peters has breached Cabinet rules by telling New Zealanders what his boss said privately.

“The Prime Minister said on Monday that New Zealand would be at Level 2 for another month. She appears to be saying something different inside Cabinet, privately expressing the view that we should be moving more quickly.

“Ardern needs to come clean and tell New Zealanders what her real position on Level 1 is and when we will move.

“ACT has consistently called for greater clarity about how the Government is making its decisions. New Zealanders deserve to know when the remaining restrictions on their lives will be lifted.

“Peters made Ardern Prime Minister but he’s now desperate. He’s gone from Parliament on current polling and has resorted to going behind his boss’ back. New Zealanders can’t trust him.

“The upshot is that neither Ardern nor Peters can be trusted to give it to us straight and Kiwis are paying the price.

“With so few Covid-19 cases, it’s time to apply some common sense and get back to normal.

“We’ve had just seven new Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks. There is no public health justification to wait another month before easing restrictions

“New Zealanders can’t wait another month. Businesses and workers are unable to operate at full capacity. Businesses are going to the wall and workers are being laid off. The economic pain is real.

“There is no good public health reason for the Government’s continued delay in easing restrictions on the economy.

“For the good of our economic wellbeing, the Government needs to allow New Zealanders to get back to their normal lives as soon as possible.”