“You solve so many problems for everything from health. From bad housing and education, from kids getting moved from one school to the next, to people ageing in place, to people having a sense of belonging and wanting to vote and take an interest in their community.
“Unfortunately for too many New Zealanders now, that’s not realistic, no matter how hard they work. And when someone tells you: ‘no matter how hard you work, it’s not going to, not going to count’ well, man, that’s demoralising.
“So, I would change the way we regulate land use and fund and finance infrastructure, both of which, we’re, we’re doing.”
Seymour shares his childhood memories of money growing up and the choices he made that led him to politics. His desire for job security and a passion for knowledge saw him study both engineering and philosophy at university.
Talking about his favourite philosopher - 20th century Austrian–British academic Karl Popper - it’s quickly evident why Seymour gets so frustrated with many of the post-modern and relativist theories of the Left.
“Look, this postmodern view, that we all have lived experience and we all have our view of the world and they’re equally valid...and if you criticise someone’s worldview, then, you’re attacking them; well, that doesn’t cut it in engineering,” he says.
“I mean, if you’re an electrical engineer, you get it wrong, people get, electrocuted or your signal just doesn’t arrive or isn’t properly decoded. So, the way that postmodernism has made academia sort of relativist and based on the perspective of the person, I think is nuts.
“And it’s doing huge harm because it makes it very difficult for us to talk to each other.”
Despite often being labelled right-wing or conservative, Seymour says he considered himself a liberal.
“I’m a liberal in the classical and consistent sense of it, that I believe you should be able to do what you like, as long as you’re not harming anyone else.”
He also addresses criticisms made last year by Act founder Sir Roger Douglas that the party had strayed from the pure libertarian philosophy it was supposed to champion.
“He’s always in a state of rebellion,” Seymour says of Douglas. “He has bagged every political leader of every party he’s been a member of since Norman Kirk. So I would be disappointed if he hadn’t bagged me as the current Act leader.
“He knows what he believes needs to be done and he just goes and does it. And so, very proud to be associated with him, proud to be attacked by him and totally understand why he says what he says.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more from David Seymour about his childhood, education, move into politics, and her political beliefs.
Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics - it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.
The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.
Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
