Acting New Zealand Prime Minister David Seymour has described the death of American conservative commentator Charlie Kirk as a “tragic reminder of the importance of free speech.”

Kirk was shot dead while giving a rally in the United States.

Seymour said the news was “absolutely tragic” and carried a deeper significance because of Kirk’s advocacy for open debate.

“There’s an additional layer to this that a person who, as I understand it, was going around trying to promote free speech has now been subject to violence and actually death for his views,” Seymour said.

He said the incident highlighted the dangers of dismissing free speech as harmful.

“When people say, oh, speech is violence and speech makes people unsafe and all that rubbish, I think an actual tragic event like that shows just how silly those views are,” Seymour said.

“Our thoughts are with his family, obviously, but also by the sounds of the guy, I think what he would want is to have the point made that people have the right to speak freely. And if you have to commit violence to shut down their speech, maybe you’re not a very good debater.”

When asked if he personally felt safe in New Zealand given his own conservative views, Seymour said he did not live in fear.

“There’s always a danger that some nut is going to do something. But that actually applies to all of us. Rational people generally aren’t going to attack someone like me, so it doesn’t worry me. Otherwise, you just live your life in fear, and that’s the other way that you lose,” he said.

Seymour added it was “very sad to see what’s happened in the United States.”