The story is that the Mainland Dinner will be held in Christchurch next month and if you have a few thousand dollars spare, you can go along.
Dinner at Chris Luxon’s table will cost you $10,000. Dinner at a minister’s table - a senior minister’s table - will cost you $8000. And then just a dinner with, you know, normal punters, normal civilians, will cost you $5000.
Now, we only know about this because Maureen Pugh shared a copy of the invitation on Facebook - not her first mistake. Newstalk ZB saw it, then it was deleted, but by then it was too late, and cue the outrage.
Now, I’m not outraged by this at all, because this has been going on since at least John Key’s time. Jacinda did it as well and I don’t think it’s any different from every other example we have in our democracy of cash for access.
This is how power has always worked. If you have money, you get access to people in power. Money for lobbyists, who then secure you meetings with ministers. Money for donations that mean candidates make time for you. Money for tables at the Mainland Dinner.
In fact - and this is my personal opinion - I quite enjoy reading about these dinners because they give me a real-time market valuation of a political leader. Luxon is selling his table for $10,000 in 2026. Four years ago, in 2022, he was selling it for $15,000. So he’s running at a discount at the moment, isn’t he?
Jacinda was selling tickets to a conference where ticket-holders could have access to her for $1800. That was five years ago. So she was more valuable at $1800 in 2021 than Luxon is right now - or than he was a year later - if you break it down and look at the cost a seat.
John Key - now, if you want to hear about a baller - sold a table at a dinner for $100,000. That’s real market political valuation, isn’t it?
Now, this is why I think this is valuable. It tells us how much voters and stakeholders:
A) like various leaders,
B) want to be seen with them, and -
C) rate the chances of those leaders being elected and therefore being useful.
So make of that what you will when you look at the numbers. But if you are outraged by this, you’re going to be outraged forever because cash for access will probably never change.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show. This article was sourced from Newstalk ZB.
8 comments:
Of course one should be outraged. But then lawyers charge $ in six minute intervals, consultants charge for every second of advice (plus want taxi chits and free meals), Maori want koha, etc. Everything gets monetized as people think that History has screwed them over and that they are uniquely special. The good citizens doing the work others can't be bothered doing are the ones being extorted....
Your maths doesn’t stack up - how is $1800 for access to ardern more valuable than 10k for access to luxon?
I think luxon is the winner in that one.
I'll bite. The 10K is for a table of maximum 7 people so $1400 (odd) per person.......
I give advice to people for free. He could pay me to attend.
Better check your story and post an apology! The cost you quote is per table, NOT per person.
Those who have that sort of money to waste on uselessness could not give a rat's a**e what we - including HdPA - think of it.
Heather, you have it back to front. MPs are now so unpopular that they are paying the punters to have dinner with them.
MSM is clearly deliberately misleading the public, & trying to paint Luxon as some greedy rich guy.
It’s $10k per table of 7, so $1428 pp, which is cheaper than what Ardern charged in 2019.
The pollies & the rich have been doing this stuff for years. The media are a pack of nefarious, ideological, cognitively challenged you-know-whats
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