Acting Prime Minister David Seymour said existing iwi participation agreements will be abolished under the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act, describing them as “fundamentally undemocratic.”

The ACT leader made the comments in a sit-down interview with Chris Lynch Media in Christchurch, days after Environment Canterbury scrapped consideration of a Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreement with Ngāi Tahu from its agenda following criticism from Federated Farmers.

Seymour said he had history with the agreements, which were introduced in 2016 through a deal between National and the Māori Party.

“Now we’re replacing the RMA. I’m determined to get rid of them, not just any future ones, but the existing ones, because they’re fundamentally undemocratic.”

“They say that some people have a greater purchase on the future of this country when it comes to urban planning in their area than others.”

He said New Zealanders should focus on what they have in common rather than their differences.

Seymour said the real problem with local democracy was not elected members but officials.

“It’s the unelected bureaucracy you should be worried about. Those guys have too much power in councils. The people you can vote for aren’t actually in charge.”

Asked whether National’s poll slide reflected voter frustration that promised changes had not arrived, Seymour pointed to the Government’s record, listing the abolition of the Māori Health Authority, the end of co-governed Three Waters representation, changes to the history curriculum, the removal of race-based criteria from bowel screening and diabetes medication, and the repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

He also defended the failed Treaty Principles Bill.

“We lost the vote, but we didn’t lose the argument. In the long term, New Zealanders are equal, and we will win that argument sooner or later.”

On Christchurch, Seymour said the city stood apart from the rest of the country.

“Christchurch is booming. Even just the way people walk around. You compare that with Wellington and even Auckland at the moment. Property prices are going up here. They’re going down in Auckland.”

He said residents’ main concern was continuity, with the election 114 days away.

Seymour predicted the election would be “very” close, saying voters accepted the Government had done the right thing but were not yet feeling it.

“There’s a lot of background frustration because the government’s done basically the right thing, but not gone far enough, and people are going to have to weigh that up.”

He dismissed a Green Party policy announced on Friday to make union membership the default for new employees, saying union membership had fallen from a peak of about 56 percent of the workforce in 1970 to under 20 percent.

“People are voting with their feet in the opposite direction. My question is, what problem are they solving?”

He suggested the policy was aimed at wedging Labour voters and union donations away from Labour.

Seymour was also asked about Chris Lynch Media’s reporting on colonoscopy waiting lists at Christchurch Hospital, where more than 10,000 people are waiting and surveillance patients are an average of five months overdue. He said it was the first he had heard of the issue and he would raise it with Health Minister Simeon Brown at Cabinet on Monday.

“If we’re not at least doing the most critical people, then that’s a real failing.”

Asked the final question, who would win a boxing match between new ACT recruit Paul Henry and Michael Laws, Seymour did not hesitate.

“I don’t know what either of them are like at boxing, but if it was in terms of just intellects, wit, and being a great bloke, it’d be Henry by a mile.”