The Prime Minister was right although I’m not sure it was wise to say it out loud.
Look at how we cowered behind Ardern’s couture as the country was assailed by overseas germs, the enthusiasm for protectionism, our embrace of welfare, state education, government health and the regulation of everything from dental therapists to practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine. (Oddly, non-Chinese herbal medicine remains unregulated?)
Was this the real Christopher Luxon? A glint of steel. A flash of iron. A twinge of malice. How many more analogies can I wrangle into this paragraph? No need because no sooner had Luxon lifted his toga to reveal the gladius underneath than he recanted.
Was this the real Christopher Luxon? A glint of steel. A flash of iron. A twinge of malice. How many more analogies can I wrangle into this paragraph? No need because no sooner had Luxon lifted his toga to reveal the gladius underneath than he recanted.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon holds a post-cabinet
press conference. Photo: Alex Cairns
Sorry. He said Sorry. “I got that wrong” he told the press gallery. “I didn’t want to cause any offense.” Luxon reverted to his inoffensive bloodless persona that isn’t winning him credibility or popularity. This is a shame. He’d have done better to ignore his advisors and brazen it out.
He followed this performance with more Prime Ministerial eloquence by announcing a referendum on MMP. I am writing this on Thursday evening. I expect he will have been made to walk this back by the time you read this. On the day Minister Bishop and Mayor Brown were announcing the positive news of the opening of the City Rail Link the headlines were on Luxon’s latest linguistic ill-discipline.
Luxon no longer has the authority to manage his coalition nor, it seems, the party. He is in office but not in control, spending his remaining time on the 9th floor responding to the consequences of his mistakes. He is a decent person. This is painful to watch.
Now. Ok. I lack the skills to run a lemonade stand so I have no right to be sanctimonious. Ultimately the Prime Minister should be judged by his economic performance; so, let’s take an objective look at the only metric that really matters. Economics.
Luxon doubles down on MMP referendum call at public meeting
Brace yourself, dear reader. This gets ugly.
Last week the employment figures were released. Unemployment now exceeds the grim levels of the Covid lockdown. Compound this with inflation running at an annualised rate of 6% and the Reserve Bank is about to drop an anvil on the economy to prevent inflation running amok.
Normally we have inflationary pressures and low unemployment; because if the economy is running hot prices are rising and firms are employing anyone with a pulse. Thanks to nearly three decades of fiscal irresponsibility, from 2008 onwards, we have growing unemployment, a sluggish economy, high inflation and escalating sovereign debt.
Good times.
Last month the OCR was tweaked upward. The next adjustment is in September, and another in late October. The Reserve Bank will continue squeezing the economy by ratcheting the cost of borrowing northwards as we close in on election day.
If you are looking for granular detail consider the ANZ Truckometer. Heavy truck mileage has responded to higher fuel costs with falling usage since last December but with a small lift in June. However the data for light traffic, cars and the like, has shown consistent slippage and is now lower than it was a year ago.
We are driving less because fewer of us are in jobs. This is why your commute to work is faster than it was last year.
For those in the National caucus; this is as good as it gets. It is only the economic Armageddon of the alternative that is keeping voters in line.
Had spending and debt been brought under control we could have absorbed a fuel price shock. Had fiscal management been prudent, corporate taxes reduced and the regulatory state wound back, we’d have better employment numbers. But we don’t.
There have been achievements that are worth celebrating. Success in law and order, education, the fast-track legislation, reduced hospital waiting times thanks to outsourcing and progress on trade. But on the macro-stuff this government’s record is poor and swapping the captain isn’t going to matter unless the trajectory is changed.
National is considering its options. They can still win with Luxon but it will be an ugly and negative campaign. Look at their current advertising, which focuses on the hydra of parties coalescing around a second Hipkins Premiership; forcing voters to grudge vote National because the alternative is frightening. This is no way to govern.
Politicians do not take advice from columnists. Nor should they. We are attention seeking clowns craving relevance so I will not offer any; other than to echo the Prime Minister. Someone needs to be the adult and take responsibility for the untenable predicament that the party finds itself......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
Sorry. He said Sorry. “I got that wrong” he told the press gallery. “I didn’t want to cause any offense.” Luxon reverted to his inoffensive bloodless persona that isn’t winning him credibility or popularity. This is a shame. He’d have done better to ignore his advisors and brazen it out.
He followed this performance with more Prime Ministerial eloquence by announcing a referendum on MMP. I am writing this on Thursday evening. I expect he will have been made to walk this back by the time you read this. On the day Minister Bishop and Mayor Brown were announcing the positive news of the opening of the City Rail Link the headlines were on Luxon’s latest linguistic ill-discipline.
Luxon no longer has the authority to manage his coalition nor, it seems, the party. He is in office but not in control, spending his remaining time on the 9th floor responding to the consequences of his mistakes. He is a decent person. This is painful to watch.
Now. Ok. I lack the skills to run a lemonade stand so I have no right to be sanctimonious. Ultimately the Prime Minister should be judged by his economic performance; so, let’s take an objective look at the only metric that really matters. Economics.
Luxon doubles down on MMP referendum call at public meeting
Brace yourself, dear reader. This gets ugly.
Last week the employment figures were released. Unemployment now exceeds the grim levels of the Covid lockdown. Compound this with inflation running at an annualised rate of 6% and the Reserve Bank is about to drop an anvil on the economy to prevent inflation running amok.
Normally we have inflationary pressures and low unemployment; because if the economy is running hot prices are rising and firms are employing anyone with a pulse. Thanks to nearly three decades of fiscal irresponsibility, from 2008 onwards, we have growing unemployment, a sluggish economy, high inflation and escalating sovereign debt.
Good times.
Last month the OCR was tweaked upward. The next adjustment is in September, and another in late October. The Reserve Bank will continue squeezing the economy by ratcheting the cost of borrowing northwards as we close in on election day.
If you are looking for granular detail consider the ANZ Truckometer. Heavy truck mileage has responded to higher fuel costs with falling usage since last December but with a small lift in June. However the data for light traffic, cars and the like, has shown consistent slippage and is now lower than it was a year ago.
We are driving less because fewer of us are in jobs. This is why your commute to work is faster than it was last year.
For those in the National caucus; this is as good as it gets. It is only the economic Armageddon of the alternative that is keeping voters in line.
Had spending and debt been brought under control we could have absorbed a fuel price shock. Had fiscal management been prudent, corporate taxes reduced and the regulatory state wound back, we’d have better employment numbers. But we don’t.
There have been achievements that are worth celebrating. Success in law and order, education, the fast-track legislation, reduced hospital waiting times thanks to outsourcing and progress on trade. But on the macro-stuff this government’s record is poor and swapping the captain isn’t going to matter unless the trajectory is changed.
National is considering its options. They can still win with Luxon but it will be an ugly and negative campaign. Look at their current advertising, which focuses on the hydra of parties coalescing around a second Hipkins Premiership; forcing voters to grudge vote National because the alternative is frightening. This is no way to govern.
Politicians do not take advice from columnists. Nor should they. We are attention seeking clowns craving relevance so I will not offer any; other than to echo the Prime Minister. Someone needs to be the adult and take responsibility for the untenable predicament that the party finds itself......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
5 comments:
The irony is this Nat government symbolizes an incredibly close parent child relation with business = big business that is. Small business can go jump in Lake Rotorua. It
= handed Fletchers $60 million last month
= handed big movie studios $1 billion in the budget
= handed Fonterra $3 million in public grants
= handed the big banks lower capital requirements
= passed retrospective legislation to help Fonterra stop environmental action
= tried passing retrospective legislation to stop the class action suit against ANZ and ASB
= outsourced its econ advice to big business via the NZ Initiative
= gave the big supermarkets the contestable markets non reform they lobbied for in order to prevent competition
= gave lobbyists swipe card access to Parliament with names kep secret
Yes, Luxon has fully adopted big business. He's the sugar daddy. Unless you have a market cap of Unilever size, his gov't aint into you. It disowned small business in NZ and threw it into an orphanage.
Luxon hasn't got a clue who the real Chris Luxon is
It is interesting, that articles like this and like minded ones in NZ print MSM, this also includes likes of Spin Off & radio and those who "rant' via their podcast or social media posts - Luxon & The Coalition Govt are 'failing us'.
Well we as a Nation could not wait to get rid of Labour, review the polls prior that election that got our current Govt in power, the "howls" about Ardern must have made "her minders" tell her to walk the plank, because with 'you' as PM we ain't going to win.
And to sweeten that "deal" she got a Royal Honour, which if you missed it, was presented at Buck Pal, not at NZ Govt House - odd that, ya think.
Oh and her move to Aussie - odd that she has decided to place herself "close", and for what purpose?????
Now - "Luxon" must go.
Yup but who is going to replace him and Act & NZ First - no one wants Chippy back and if you think that TOP is NZ's "One Nation" sorry - but they are a marmalade party, concocted in a 'kitchen' and presented as being "the potential".
Sorry - the we lass that fronts, has no clue about politics and has to rely on those who "hide in shadows" telling her what to do & say.
From what I have ascertained, their are "noted" people, with "clout" sitting behind that bamboo curtain, directing the navigation of this group.
If one wants to spend quality time on past political parties - Google will help with that, the myriad minor parties of the past is amazing, some "gained traction" others came and went.
Why - well NZ has always been a 2 x political party Nation (look at any media news they always talk about Labour vs National) and our historical voting has been for either one or the other and when we get 'sick' of the lot in power vote for the other.
With the minor runners, they get those who can not make up their mind, or those who waste their vote, unless you are a geriatric and you vote for Winnie.
The NZ economy is irrelevant - it can always be fixed.
Dividing the nation by race will take generations to remedy.
Why can't Luxon stop concentrating on the economy, and fix what he promised 2.5 years ago ?
Is he too scared to upset the radical people who are driving a wedge between us - the people who are never going to vote for him or National ?
The sooner Luxon leaves the better off NZ will be.
May be premature to celebrate fast track.
It may end in tears in some circumstances.
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