National Party leader Judith Collins says she did not peddle misinformation at last night's The Press leaders' debate when speaking about Covid-19 border closures in Samoa and New Zealand.
National Party leader Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Collins' weekly interview with Morning Report today began with host Susie Ferguson asking if she was "peddling misinformation" about Samoa's border closures in the debate.
"Actually, we didn't go fast and hard and early. Samoa went a month earlier than us," Collins had said.
Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern challenged that, to which Collins said: "Samoa did so go. No, it did so. And actually, don't disrespect Samoa. They did it, they kept it (Covid-19) out."
Collins told Morning Report today: "I was very clear about what happened in Samoa. They put travel restrictions in much earlier than New Zealand and by the way, we still had tourists coming into New Zealand into the third week... of March."
"By the way, they started their travel restrictions in February, so if you want to have a debate about it, you can accept the fact that I do know about this."
Full border closure in Samoa came into effect after New Zealand did the same.
As for the New Zealand border closure, which National called for two hours before it was announced, while Cabinet was making the decision, Collins said "actually Michael Woodhouse was raising these issues in Parliament around border but also raising issues around what was available around information in terms of Covid-19.
"We actually called for it [border closure] before Cabinet made the decision."
Although that was only two hours before the closure was announced, Collins said: "We're not actually party to what's going on in Cabinet. The fact that we did call for it earlier is clear that it was needed to be done.
"You don't think that's significant, that we were calling for it before the Cabinet even met about it? We were calling for it well beforehand in terms of questioning what was going on."
Morning Report host Susie Ferguson challenged Collins that in fact National had asked for the border to be reopened to Australia and China.
"You don't remember rightly... You have just got the wrong information and it's very clear that you haven't got the right information. We were very clear about saying we need to have ways forward so we can open our economy but not to do so in any way that's not safe...
"When the former leader made some comments about how we could look forward at some stage to opening the border to some certain countries, he was presuming Miss Ardern was telling us the truth about the testing that was going on at the border...
"I have not called for opening the borders. I have called for a border agency, I have called for testing to be undertaken ... no-one should be on a plane to New Zealand without a negative Covid-19 test."
The interview turned to Collins' decision on Monday during another radio interview to announce a policy to hold a review into Auckland Council.
National Party MP Denise Lee - the party's spokesperson for local government (Auckland) hadn't known about the policy and called it, in a leaked email, a "highly problematic idea", "another working group", and said bypassing her was "incredibly poor form and displays a shockingly bad example of poor culture".
Another National Party member said Collins was consistently "making up policy on the hoof" and creating division.
"For instance, I'm not the one making policy on the hoof and I think that's a derogatory term that is used by somebody that doesn't know what they are talking about... I think it's important to understand ... during the campaign, the campaign team, the leader, make decisions on issues like this.
She would not have informed a spokesperson - associate or otherwise - of the policy, she said.
"I have made that decision. The policy was decided and ready to go on the 23rd of September. I chose to hold that back for an appropriate time and that why I released it. Sometimes, that's what leaders do. I'm not someone who leads by a committee, I can make decisions and I deal with them.
"Miss Lee has already acknowledged she was wrong in what she did and she has also acknowledged that was my call. That is called leadership."
Collins said the last time she shared party polling results with caucus was a "matter for me and caucus, it's not a matter that I shared on Radio New Zealand... I'm very happy with what I'm doing. I have been all over the country with my caucus colleagues and they're very happy too.
"Just because someone has made a mistake and they have been exploited, I'm very sorry for her because she's now got a very difficult position."
Collins then spoke about a photo taken of her over the weekend of her praying.
"I have been a Christian all my life, I don't actually shy away from that. I didn't ask media to come into the chapel.
"I didn't choose to pray publicly. I was in the chapel by myself and media started coming into the chapel while I was praying. I would have thought that was a private moment."
Collins says that she's "totally re-energised" heading into the last 10 days of the election campaign.
She says she has a vision of hope and aspiration for New Zealand.
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