Our media just do not like Christopher Luxon.
But of all the issues they could and should be attacking him on, the nonsense over his accommodation allowance is about as petty and irrelevant as you can go.
How come there has been virtually no coverage of his party back tracking on election promises to drop the 39 percent tax rate on trusts and the so called “app tax” ?
Frankly they are such easy hits for the media one wonders if the political reporters cannot see the wood for the trees. Even the Taxpayers Union has been vociferous in its condemnation of the National Party u-turns, and deservedly so.
Back to the accommodation allowance schemozzle.
Being successful and wealthy in this country is, in the minds of the media, a sin.
Luxon owns a few properties. Good for him. He had a well publicised multi-million dollar salary when he ran Air New Zealand.
Like any prudent salary earner he decided to invest some of his income. Like thousands of other New Zealanders, and a good many MPs, he bought some houses and apartments.
He lives in Auckland so is entitled to accommodation in Wellington when he’s there to do his job.
Yes he could have lived in the apartment at Premier House. But a report in the New Zealand Herald – AFTER Luxon had been beaten into submission by the media and decided he would not claim the accommodation allowance – showed that it is not an especially salubrious place to live.
The place has 30 year old fittings and furnishings, poor insulation and windows that were not sealed. Premier House is, according to a report from its governing board, “uncomfortable” and “badly laid out.”
Most significantly the Premier House Board said it was well below current building standards and only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements.
The political media expected the Prime Minister to live there when in Wellington?
Luxon’s reluctance to not is completely understandable.
One other point to note – the place costs the same to operate whether or not the Prime Minister is in residence.
So if Premier House is unsuitable then Luxon is entitled to accommodation paid for by the taxpayer – like every other out of town MP.
That he chooses to live in a place he owns and be paid an allowance which he can pocket as the property owner might not seem morally right in these times of austerity, but it’s hardly an uncommon practice.
Is Parliamentary Services, who administer these allowances, supposed to differentiate between the rich and the not-so-rich MPs?
Last year it was revealed about twenty MPs, including Labour’s Willie Jackson and Deborah Russell, are doing precisely what Luxon was doing until he stopped.
The other great sin, according to the media, is that Luxon’s apartment across the road from Parliament is mortgage free. Therefore the Prime Minister can pocket the entire $52,000 tax free on top of his $479,000 salary – which remember is only about 20 percent of what he used to earn at Air New Zealand.
What our political reporters fail to understand is that despite being mortgage-free, Luxon is likely to have body corporate and rates payments. For a million dollar apartment, those costs will be in excess of $10,000 a year.
Because of the media hit job, the Prime Minister is now having to pay his own way to stay in Wellington to do his job.
Is that fair? Not in my book.
This backdown suggests – again – that Luxon is not a political strongman. A leader of real conviction would have gone back on attack against the media who colluded in depriving him of an allowance that he and every other out of town MP is entitled to – and claim.
Luxon had that report that the New Zealand Herald told us about two days after his backdown. He could have gone right back at them in the various ambush interviews he had to give on the subject and quote a few lines from the report like “below current building standards” and “only partially met residential tenancy requirements.”
The he could have pointed out that a mortgage free apartment does not come without significant operating costs.
But it’s too late now.
Luxon has lost. The media has won and the Prime Minister has admitted as such. On Friday afternoon he said that callers to a talkback show had influenced his decision!
Jesus wept.
When is our Prime Minister going to show some real strength and leadership on trivial nonsense like this?
And by the way, why isn’t he scrapping the 39 percent tax rate on trusts? Why is he keeping Labour’s App Tax for those who use the likes of Uber and Airbnb?
More broken promises like those and his credibility will drop even further.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
Back to the accommodation allowance schemozzle.
Being successful and wealthy in this country is, in the minds of the media, a sin.
Luxon owns a few properties. Good for him. He had a well publicised multi-million dollar salary when he ran Air New Zealand.
Like any prudent salary earner he decided to invest some of his income. Like thousands of other New Zealanders, and a good many MPs, he bought some houses and apartments.
He lives in Auckland so is entitled to accommodation in Wellington when he’s there to do his job.
Yes he could have lived in the apartment at Premier House. But a report in the New Zealand Herald – AFTER Luxon had been beaten into submission by the media and decided he would not claim the accommodation allowance – showed that it is not an especially salubrious place to live.
The place has 30 year old fittings and furnishings, poor insulation and windows that were not sealed. Premier House is, according to a report from its governing board, “uncomfortable” and “badly laid out.”
Most significantly the Premier House Board said it was well below current building standards and only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements.
The political media expected the Prime Minister to live there when in Wellington?
Luxon’s reluctance to not is completely understandable.
One other point to note – the place costs the same to operate whether or not the Prime Minister is in residence.
So if Premier House is unsuitable then Luxon is entitled to accommodation paid for by the taxpayer – like every other out of town MP.
That he chooses to live in a place he owns and be paid an allowance which he can pocket as the property owner might not seem morally right in these times of austerity, but it’s hardly an uncommon practice.
Is Parliamentary Services, who administer these allowances, supposed to differentiate between the rich and the not-so-rich MPs?
Last year it was revealed about twenty MPs, including Labour’s Willie Jackson and Deborah Russell, are doing precisely what Luxon was doing until he stopped.
The other great sin, according to the media, is that Luxon’s apartment across the road from Parliament is mortgage free. Therefore the Prime Minister can pocket the entire $52,000 tax free on top of his $479,000 salary – which remember is only about 20 percent of what he used to earn at Air New Zealand.
What our political reporters fail to understand is that despite being mortgage-free, Luxon is likely to have body corporate and rates payments. For a million dollar apartment, those costs will be in excess of $10,000 a year.
Because of the media hit job, the Prime Minister is now having to pay his own way to stay in Wellington to do his job.
Is that fair? Not in my book.
This backdown suggests – again – that Luxon is not a political strongman. A leader of real conviction would have gone back on attack against the media who colluded in depriving him of an allowance that he and every other out of town MP is entitled to – and claim.
Luxon had that report that the New Zealand Herald told us about two days after his backdown. He could have gone right back at them in the various ambush interviews he had to give on the subject and quote a few lines from the report like “below current building standards” and “only partially met residential tenancy requirements.”
The he could have pointed out that a mortgage free apartment does not come without significant operating costs.
But it’s too late now.
Luxon has lost. The media has won and the Prime Minister has admitted as such. On Friday afternoon he said that callers to a talkback show had influenced his decision!
Jesus wept.
When is our Prime Minister going to show some real strength and leadership on trivial nonsense like this?
And by the way, why isn’t he scrapping the 39 percent tax rate on trusts? Why is he keeping Labour’s App Tax for those who use the likes of Uber and Airbnb?
More broken promises like those and his credibility will drop even further.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
13 comments:
Peter,
There is no I in team Luxon . Where was his parlliamentary team , his comms team , even his coalition team. The media are trying to split and isolate their prey , Winston and David are media savy, its the media last stand game now the coalition has won .
Yes Mr Luxon falls short in public leadership, but he is still better than the last two, and combined with ACT and NZF the coalition will become formidable.
Just maybe he should dismiss all media scrums and rely on written press release only and NZ Inc would be better off . NZ owes the media nothing .
And, when is he or the government going to reign in the media and (for example) order them to stop TV News talking in faux Maori instead of English?
The person who bends with the wind like a reed is not a real leader.
No he didn't lose Peter, he probably just didn't care much about about the money or the issue. Maybe a case of don't worry about the small issues , just win the war. And he's certainly winning the war. And the tax issues will be discussed in a few weeks with the pre budget announcements.
Mr Luxon's last reported salary at Air NZ WAS $4.4 million plus bonuses, so he isn't in this for the money.
The more interesting reality is that so many Labourites were doing the same thing. Where's the media outrage about that ? Your right what are they supposed to do, pitch a tent in Parliament gardens ? What this story has done is reinforce the public's contempt for the media. Again.
The bigger story is that this is Labour's best shot ?
Much of their former policy either bonfired by the Dead Man Walking or smashed by Mr Luxon, and this is all Labour can come up with ? Three waters gone , co governance gone, the Maori health authority gone. Prime Minster Luxon has gone through Labour like the Mongol hordes. He hasn't flinched or faltered for a moment.
And he's taken the public with him . The Government's approval is up, Mr Luxon's approval is up. He's won all the battles that count, he's definitely winning the war.
And this is all Labour can come up with ?
I wonder if the Labourites have repaid the sums they claimed in this way because Mr Luxon has.
Now there's a story worth getting your teeth stuck into Peter.
"How come there has been virtually no coverage of his party back tracking on election promises to drop the 39 percent tax rate on trusts and the so called “app tax” ?"
I would have thought that was obvious. These were proposed by the previous Labour government, who were wonderful in the eyes of our MSM. Plus the MSM are crazy Lefties who think taxing people more who actually contribute to the economy is fair.
Luxon is weak and clearly a bit thick.
He is entitled to the accommodation payment BUT he must have known the MSM would make a big deal out of it. So, being weak he should have publicly rejected the payment, which is small change to him, and got the kudos of not making the tax-payer fund him.
However, he accepted the payment THEN rejected it after the MSM found out.
The worst outcome from a PR point of view. Duh!!!
If he was a strong PM he would have openly taken the payment which he was entitled to then told the MSM to politely F-off, a la Peters or Seymour.
Luxon has ended up with what he deserves. And I fear he will wimp out in NZ too but we don’t deserve that.
Firstly Peter, it is Wellington we are talking about. earthquake risks etc. The body corp. fees are more likely to be $30-$40K plus.
You are right, Luxon is showing extreme weakness. There is a straw poll doing the rounds on social media asking if Ardern should be removed from the Christchurch call job ---the last time I looked it was 95% saying yes. Will Luxon take notice of that, given he took notice of radio talk back calls?
Luxon is definitely still finding his feet and his 100 day scorecard above a 5 but less than a perfect 10. I hold out some hope when I recall how John Key grew into the role of dealing with the media (although I’ll never forgive him for his government’s broken promises regarding cutting Red Tape and bureaucracy).
Luxon missed a golden opportunity to lead from the top - publicly forgo the accomodation allowance shaming many (a number?, none?) other MPs across the political spectrum into doing the same and showing the punters that in the coming lean times we have leadership that actively thinks of and bleeds with the general public. I wonder how much his army of advisors are being paid given they missed such an easy Golden Win…
The ill advised U turns on the vocally campaigned against App Tax and money grab that is the Trust tax rate increase only serve to further weaken National’s claim to wanting to focus on cost of living and reducing the impact of the state on our day to day lives and it can’t be bolstering Coalition harmony. And for what? To give Nicola Willis breathing room dealing with recalcitrant ministry mandarins loathe to cut head office numbers and red tape? Not good optics with the supporter base regardless of how much money is thrown at emailouts and social media posts trumpeting the progress made in the first 100 days.
Oh how stealing a march on the accomodation allowance front would have acted as a balm for the inevitable scarring policy backtracking every new government faces when the election promising and partying is over and the harsh light of day is shed on the pitfalls the prior government has dug and carefully camouflaged.
Go on one of you go and ask Parliamentary services for a list of those Labour MP's that were claiming such payments for the last two terms, and publish it here. Because the list is there.
And see how many have repaid it.
Go on I dare you . Then we can talk about personal ethics and weakness.
Willie Jackson will squeal like a stuck pig. In other words his normal incomprehensible self.
Or didn't you hear him this morning on RNZ Labour Propoganda ?
FFS just grow a pair & stop running with the Hares & Hunting with the hounds. Be strong and take what you're entitled to, then tell those myriad unentitled grifters to F off. That's what'll win you public respect.
Whatever you do Luxon, don't just be another 'bloody politician'. For gods sake distinguish yourself!
I suspect we saw peak Luxon at 100 days. Downhill from now on.
If he doesn’t have media skills from pat experience he must have had bad training as a CEO.
I equate our PM - Chris Luxon, with another PM - Scott Morrison/ Australia - sadly both are members of a Religious Group, that 'preaches love not hate' and if New Zealand Citizens think things are currently bad for our PM, you only have to look at " the deep hole that Scotmo got him self into, and had big trouble climbing out of it".
And, oh dear after Scotmo left, it was interesting to find out how incapable he had been
Luxon is starting to do the same thing, me wonders when the (Roman Caucus) - that is the National Party will start 'sharpening the long knives' in preparation for the 'communal slaying of the Leader'.
If it was to happen, heaven help NZ, as there is no one soul on the Treasury benches, representing National, that has the ability to lead - sorry Judith Collins - you blew the last chance at leadership.
This Government led by Christopher Luxon just gave Labour it's biggest election hammering in 108 years. Whatever a persons political preference, that is a matter of fact. And he and his team continue to give them a hammering whilst now in office. That also seems to be a matter of fact considering the polls remain very substantially in the Government's favour.
The road back for Labour from such massive failure is first to be truthful and to accept such failure.
Mr Luxon commented well before the last election that he hadn't been inside a Church for over 6 years. So any comparison with Scott Morrison is not only untruthful it is just nonsensical. And even more nonsensical considering the Labour Party had very strong religious affiliations in it early days.
Such nonsensical denial of failure prolongs such failure . So I hope the Labourites carry on that road as long as they wish.
And with Ginny Anderson and Kieran MacAnulty Labour should bring out the knives on their own first. Failure could be a very long road for them.
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