Christopher Luxon, New Zealand Prime Minister 2023

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#3461909 16-Feb-2026 15:01

It's going to be an interesting election, that's for sure - has Luxon figured out yet that he can't keep blaming Labour for everything going wrong with the economy? He's had 3 years (so far) to "sort it out".

elpenguino

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#3461915 16-Feb-2026 15:15

SaltyNZ:

It's an election year, and National have been watching the polls tipping towards the Labour bloc because despite their efforts the economy has not improved and people are getting a bit sick of Luxon and Willis blaming Labour for it. They're panicking a bit. Having a review of RBNZ now will remind people how angry they were at Labour post-COVID, and give National an independent confirmation they can repeat ad infinitum about how it really was Labour that broke everything.

Yes, the Labour covid financial response broke stuff and made people angry but it's worth bearing in mind what could have happened under a right wing government.

I guess Labour could have let companies fail and thousands end up unemployed and bankrupt - would that have been a better option?

We can see what National has done to shock the economy into recession by sacking some government workers and killing funding left right and centre. Imagine that many times worse.

Maybe what happened wasn't so bad after all.

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sen8or

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#3461938 16-Feb-2026 16:43

You can hypothesize what could have happened if Labour had done things differently, if they didn't have the lockdowns or if they did, not for so long, if they didn't introduce vaccine passes which restricted movements and cost people their jobs etc but

1 - its a moot point, they did. they chose the path that they believed served the country best, with the information they had to hand and based on scientific modelling.

2 - scientific modelling is basically an educated guess (I realise thats an extreme dumbing down), but all models are prone to errors with unknown variables and other factors that influence actual vs predicted outcomes.

3 - Even if we accept that what they did was necessary and was the best thing for the country at the time, the consequence of that action doesn't change, there is still the same level of damage done to the economy. The horse has already bolted, it can't go back in the stable.

We just need to sort out what the best way forward for the country is, and which party is likely to plan a way forward and execute that plan. Is that a National lead Govt or a Labour lead Govt. In truth, probably neither in the short term.

If we call Covid a once in a century shock, its simply not feasible to expect anyone to be able to recover a country in such a short timeframe as a single 3 year term Govt. Are there any signs of life in the economy? Perhaps some "Green Shoots" as my boss likes to call them, but they seem fairly few and far between, I certainly wouldn't any Govt to rest on their laurels and claim that things are back on track.

Do we spend our way out of the position we find ourselves in or do we save our way out? That I think will be the major point of difference between voting a labour/green/TPM Govt or a National/Act (NZF) Govt

elpenguino

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#3461963 16-Feb-2026 20:00

sen8or:

Do we spend our way out of the position we find ourselves in or do we save our way out? That I think will be the major point of difference between voting a labour/green/TPM Govt or a National/Act (NZF) Govt

If you want more debt, vote National and co. Look at the figures (presented per capita) when National have been in power.

Tax and spend is such a catchy sound bite from the meme factory. Yet what do we have Luxon and co doing? Applying new taxes (cough, cough its a levy, dumbo) increasing national debt and setting up a bunch of reports to be written about roads, retail crime and everything else.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

GV27

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#3461967 16-Feb-2026 20:18

You're right, better go for the party that blew the debt out from under $5K NZD per capita to close to $15K if you really care about debt management.

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#3461971 16-Feb-2026 20:58

GV27: You're right, better go for the party that blew the debt out from under $5K NZD per capita to close to $15K if you really care about debt management.

Oh dear… it’s amazing how a global pandemic where the world was fully shut down was scrubbed from people’s minds. Debt was on its way down until that event… it’s even evident on that graph.

The current government isn’t dealing with anything like that. Instead, they’re doing things like borrowing $12bn for a tax cut amongst other things when that money could have gone to better things.

Socialism is fine for the rich, right?

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#3462046 16-Feb-2026 22:15

michaelmurfy:

The current government isn’t dealing with anything like that. Instead, they’re doing things like borrowing $12bn for a tax cut amongst other things when that money could have gone to better things.

Also making sure wealthy landlords and tobacco companies are looked after (sarcasm). Gotta take care of their rich mates to make sure they get their votes!

But somehow there's not enough money to give schoolkids decent lunches, instead of the budget-priced crap that gets served up to them almost daily now 🙄

Let's not forget: removing the Maori translation from the name of the school lunches programme. Because doing things like that are just so important:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/586775/opposition-finds-change-to-school-lunch-scheme-s-name-hard-to-swallow

Yep, that's bringing prices down all over the show! 🤡

GV27

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#3462064 17-Feb-2026 06:30

michaelmurfy:

The current government isn’t dealing with anything like that. Instead, they’re doing things like borrowing $12bn for a tax cut amongst other things when that money could have gone to better things.

Yes, COVID happened. No, it's not a shield from any accountability for the spending decisions that were made because it might make some people's favourite political parties look bad.

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#3462072 17-Feb-2026 07:40

GV27:

michaelmurfy:

The current government isn’t dealing with anything like that. Instead, they’re doing things like borrowing $12bn for a tax cut amongst other things when that money could have gone to better things.

Yes, COVID happened. No, it's not a shield from any accountability for the spending decisions that were made because it might make some people's favourite political parties look bad.

I will rephrase that...

"Yes, COVID happened. Unfortunately it required decisions to be quickly made to ensure people didn't die, business didn't close and the country didn't end up in a ditch. But sure, now the big storm is passed, let's make it political. We will never know how the other political party would have responded then, but we know how they want to make waves now. ~~No, it's not a shield from any accountability for the spending decisions that were made because it might make some people's favourite political parties look bad~~."

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#3462113 17-Feb-2026 09:45

elpenguino:

We can see what National has done to shock the economy into recession by sacking some government workers and killing funding left right and centre. Imagine that many times worse.

Maybe what happened wasn't so bad after all.

Yes, that's exactly my opinion of the COVID response. No economy was getting out of COVID unscathed one way or the other, and I think this way at least the pain was deferred until after the crisis had passed.

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#3462117 17-Feb-2026 09:55

michaelmurfy:

GV27: You're right, better go for the party that blew the debt out from under $5K NZD per capita to close to $15K if you really care about debt management.

Oh dear… it’s amazing how a global pandemic where the world was fully shut down was scrubbed from people’s minds. Debt was on its way down until that event… it’s even evident on that graph.

The current government isn’t dealing with anything like that. Instead, they’re doing things like borrowing $12bn for a tax cut amongst other things when that money could have gone to better things.

Socialism is fine for the rich, right?

Imagine if instead of vowing to pass a specific law to enable us to spend $2.7B on walking energy technology backwards 20 years to increase our reliance on a declining limited resource at volatile pricing we don't control instead of just buying solar panels and batteries for every house in the country. Imagine if instead of borrowing $12bn for tax cuts to landlords we kept the funds specifically earmarked for electrifying industries dependent on those fossil resources and the other ones specifically for building resilience to increasingly violent weather.

We could be creating jobs, gaining energy independence and future-proofing the country.

But instead, we have this lot. And also more and more people want to vote for Winston Peters, who is looking at Trump for inspiration.

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#3462248 17-Feb-2026 14:38

Ah, right. I would be more comfortable if the entire board wasn't so biased. How can there be "independent advice" here?

Members of Gas Security Fund panel named | Beehive.govt.nz

The $200m Gas Security Fund opened for applications on 12 January 2026. It was created to unlock opportunities to improve gas supply and storage by focusing on activities that have short- to long-term benefits, including from existing sites, in response to declining gas production.

“The panel members’ direct commercial and technical oil and gas expertise, and experience of New Zealand’s complex gas exploration and market conditions, means they will be able to provide valuable independent advice,”

Andy Knight

Mr Knight is the former chief executive of The Gas Industry Co, one of the gas sector’s co-regulators. He is chair of Taranaki Iwi Holdings Management and a director of the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) as well as of related iwi entities and private investments. He was previously a director of Powerco, CEO of New Zealand Oil & Gas and has held executive roles with Vector Limited, the NGC Holdings Limited Group of Companies, The Australian Gas Light Company and Fletcher Challenge Energy.

Tim Allan

Mr Allan is a resources industry professional, with more than 30 years’ international experience. Most recently he was the exploration stakeholder lead and senior exploration geophysicist (Australasia) for OMV. His experience covers the full spectrum of oil and gas exploration, appraisal, development and production operations, in a wide range of land and marine environments.

John Pagani

Mr Pagani is the external relations manager for the Gas Industry Company. He has been involved in the energy sector since 2012 and was previously general manager corporate services at New Zealand Oil & Gas. Mr Pagani has worked with boards and management of energy firms and industry associations in New Zealand and Australia.

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#3462252 17-Feb-2026 14:53

It sounds eerily like the orange buffoon's cabinet...except that's mostly made up of former Fox News hosts, who (of course) have (huge) conflicts of interest as well.

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#3462256 17-Feb-2026 15:01

Can only assume Dr. Gassy McGasface was unavailable to serve on this distinguished board of neutral experts.

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#3462261 17-Feb-2026 15:30

Oh, it's ok though.

The country's first National Infrastructure Plan has landed, laying out an 'affordable' plan to tackle the country's infrastructure woes.

The 226-page report discusses "formidable challenges" to New Zealand's roads, water pipes, power lines, hospitals, schools and courts.

It said building and maintaining infrastructure was becoming more expensive as climate change was making the natural hazard risks more severe.

So don't worry everyone, Luxon has it under control. Electrifying the economy is right up there at 10th place in the priority list, and decarbonising energy is so important it doesn't even need to be mentioned!

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