Damien Grant: Why premiership of Luxon is floundering while Wayne Brown’s sailing back into office

Wayne Brown is funny. Perhaps entertaining is a better description and Aucklanders have embraced their straight-talking mayor, his quirky explainer videos and irreverent style.

It isn’t clear he’d remember how to tie a half-windsor if the need arose and maintains a grey half-beard in the Yassir Arafat style. He’s coarse in public and vulgar in private. He’s been mayor for three years and is running effectively unopposed for re-election.

Cam Slater: Luxon Wets Himself Again as Seymour Calls to Ditch the Paris Farce

David Seymour has it spot on, as usual. The ACT leader is pushing for New Zealand to pull out of the Paris Agreement unless it is serious overhauled to allow for realistic emissions targets. He says the deal is broken, with net-zero goals that ignore science and our country’s realities. Those targets are hammering households, businesses and farmers, forcing good people off the land, gutting regions and jacking up prices for food, power and everything else we make. Seymour wants reform, a revisit of our emissions plans and a split-gas approach like Uruguay uses for methane. Fair call, I say.

JC: Will Luxon Bed With His Lefty Mates?

Prime Minister Luxon appears to find himself troubled over whether to recognise Palestine as a state. He is mulling over whether to get into bed with his lefty mates who have already done so, namely Albanese in Australia, Carney in Canada, Starmer in the UK and Macron in France. These are all weak leaders who make an art out of virtue signalling. They operate in a way that gives them a sense of moral superiority.

Mike's Minute: Luxon finally told it as it is

Has the penny dropped?

There was no shortage of headlines and news coverage yesterday out of our interview with the Prime Minister on the Reserve Bank.

In a nutshell, Luxon suggested Christian Hawkesby blew it and should have/could have moved faster on the cash rate.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Luxon isn't National's biggest problem

I'm happy to report to you that it looks like some of us want to play the old 'should Luxon be rolled' game.

In the wake of the not-so-great polls that came out yesterday, there is a column by Andrea Vance - who I am name-checking because she's good and credible, and not just some junior reporter with an opinion.

Mike's Minute: Luxon might be fighting the wrong battle with super

It is suggested Peter Dutton in Australia lost the election because of his nuclear issue and work from home policies.

I personally think he lost because they ran a hopeless campaign. But it is more than possible that he floated a couple of ideas that the voter simply could not stomach.

I am wondering if Chris Luxon is heading in a similar direction here with superannuation.

Fiona Mackenzie: Is National The Red Under The Bed?

New Zealanders who long to see our country recover from the Labour Government’s devastation (2017-2023) and once again become a beacon of innovation and achievement have been heartened by National’s current goals: getting the books back in the black, restoring international relations, and refocusing education so that children learn to read, write and do arithmetic.

Unfortunately, some recent developments suggest a continuing of Labour’s anti-democratic agenda, as epitomised by the He Puapua manifesto. And the previous National Government is not innocent either. While dyed-in-the-wool blue supporters may not want to admit it, many separatist, anti-democratic policies were put in place by former Prime Minister John Key and his Attorney-General Chris Finlayson— “a very clever lawyer”. Among the most glaring examples of apartheid policies from their nine-year tenure were:

John McLean: Honesty

One distinct oddity in our strange world is that the darkest actors are often the more honest.

So when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced (late in 2021) his intention for Russia to invade Ukraine, outsiders should have taken him at his word. And when Chlöe Swarbrick chants “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”, we should harbor no doubt that Chlöe sincerely wants to see an end to the State of Israel.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: China, Throw Down your Wall.....

China, Throw Down your Wall. Give Freedom to your people. Doing So Will Eliminate America's Trade Deficit with Your Nation and End the Tariffs.

Its easy to believe there's a world-wide Big Media frenzied conspiracy against the US, which our increasingly hysterical PM has jumped on, because its looking that way. We know why New Zealand PM Luxon is talking with the Queen of World Protectionism, The European Union's Ursula von der Leyen, and with the Big Army Boss who ended democracy in Fiji, its current PM Sitiveni Rabuka, about their freedom and free trade convictions. Its because Luxon's marketing brain is telling him, "Shift the narrative away from Treaty of Waitangi", which he has washed his hands of.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The PM Abrogates Leadership of NZ.........

The PM Abrogates Leadership of NZ: Today he hid from Parliament whilst the Most Vital (Treaty) Issue Affecting our Economic Future was Debated.

This comment is far more about economics than politics. Today ACT's Treaty Principle's Bill was debated in Parliament and the Prime Minister didn't turn up. Why? He doesn't want anything to do with it. He just wants to talk about the economy. He wants you and me to talk about the economy. Well, here's a message from an economist, not a politician.

Chris Lynch: Prime Minister says Trump’s new tariffs risk global economic fallout.....

Prime Minister says Trump’s new tariffs risk global economic fallout, but New Zealand won’t retaliate

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has criticised former US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new 10% tariffs on imported goods from New Zealand, calling them harmful to the global economy and warning of broader economic consequences.

Ele Ludemann: Don’t let these people into government

Law and order is always an election issue.

Next year the difference between a National-led government and a Labour-Green one will be stark if the Greens’ Police and Justice spokesperson has anything to do with their policy:

Lindsay Mitchell: If Luxon stays, the country blunders on.

Of late there have been countless headlines stating Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 'must go' followed by reasons why. These include - in no particular order - his poor party polling, his poor personal polling, inability to articulate clearly what he stands for, overuse of corporate speech, running the country like a business and more.

JC: A Good Week for Luxonxxx

Last week was a good one for Christopher Luxon. The prime minister was on solid ground. He was in a place where, for him, the sun does shine. He is a businessman who knows how business works. He has contacts and if he hasn’t he knows how to attract them. He knows that improving the wealth of this country is in good part through improving infrastructure. He knows where the available money to do that is and he wants some of it. He knows how to pitch for it.

Karl du Fresne: A tip for Luxon - ignore your media coaches

Commenting on Christopher Luxon’s inability to express himself clearly and honestly, Stuff columnist Janet Wilson, a former National Party communications adviser, opined recently that the prime minister errs by concentrating on “talking points” – “learning by rote to a point where he is nothing but a talking robot” – and struggling to “meaningfully engage in conversation”.

Rodney Hide: Chris Luxon is done

Chris Luxon is done. He staggers on but he no longer has the command or respect a Prime Minister needs.

He’s proved middle management at best. His policies are Jacinda’s. His social media posts appear like skits. His media interviews are train wrecks.

The man in the pub has no clue what he stands for. His team cringes at his attempts to connect. Chris Hipkins can’t believe his luck.

Damien Grant: The difference between Christopher Luxon and Andrew Bayly

My first encounter with Andrew Bayly was an interview at a café at Auckland Domestic Airport. He was then shadow to Grant Robertson as Judith Collins’ Finance spokesman and, had things worked out differently, would today be finance minister.

Things turned out differently and last Thursday our paths crossed briefly outside that same café. He was chipper and ebullient, clutching a book by Rory Stewart and just as chatty as I’ve known him to be. He knew, and I did not, that there was a cloud over his career but he gave no hint of the rain that was to fall.

Cam Slater: Is Paula Bennett Being Bought in to Knife Luxon

Word on the street is that Paula Bennett, after her stellar fundraising efforts before the election is being bought in as National Party President to replace the rather hapless Sylvia “Who” Wood.

In fairness to Paula she is a good fundraiser and wonderful at ratf**king caucus members who aren't doing what she wants them to do. Apparently the caucus are a bit worried none of them are quite good enough to knife Luxon, so they are colluding around the Bennett campaign for Party President so they have someone who can deliver the bad news to Luxon.

DTNZ: Luxon announces “major upgrade” to relationship with Viet Nam

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Vietnamese counterpart, His Excellency Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, have today announced the elevation of the New Zealand-Viet Nam relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

This upgrade was announced during the Prime Minister’s visit to Viet Nam as the two countries mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Cam Slater: There is no Luxon Faction

As Christopher Luxon tries to defend his leadership against the pissed off National caucus, he has one major problem beyond his terrible poll numbers.

There is no Luxon faction.