Christopher Luxon, New Zealand Prime Minister 2023

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Forums › Politics › Christopher Luxon, New Zealand Prime Minister 2023

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#3463264 20-Feb-2026 10:03

sen8or:

Lets hope we don't get to that level of blind fanaticism (en mass). There are (and have been for some time) pockets of fanboys / fangirls over various politicians who saw their chosen person through some fairly thick rose tinted glasses.

Yeah, well, I am a member of the Green Party so clearly I agree with far more of their policies than not, but even I don't agree 100% with all of them. National had some very good ministers, but threw them away in favour of this lot. In elections past I would have been disappointed. If they win again this time I will be horrified, and it may well be a toss-up as to whether I remain here and carry on the fight or return to Australia taking my family with me.

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#3463278 20-Feb-2026 10:18

SaltyNZ:

sen8or:

Lets hope we don't get to that level of blind fanaticism (en mass). There are (and have been for some time) pockets of fanboys / fangirls over various politicians who saw their chosen person through some fairly thick rose tinted glasses.

Yeah, well, I am a member of the Green Party so clearly I agree with far more of their policies than not, but even I don't agree 100% with all of them. National had some very good ministers, but threw them away in favour of this lot. In elections past I would have been disappointed. If they win again this time I will be horrified, and it may well be a toss-up as to whether I remain here and carry on the fight or return to Australia taking my family with me.

Unfortunately Australia is no guarantee of anything either. Misogyny drove two female leaders away there, just as it drove away Ardern and Clinton and Harris. Some people just can't cope with the idea of a woman in charge.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#3463280 20-Feb-2026 10:26

Rikkitic:

Unfortunately Australia is no guarantee of anything either. Misogyny drove two female leaders away there, just as it drove away Ardern and Clinton and Harris. Some people just can't cope with the idea of a woman in charge.

Yes, that would definitely factor into the decision. As would the fact that my wife is a New Zealand citizen and so would have to go through the normal several years of rigmarole before accessing lots of public services. But if they're both nearly equally politically terrible then at least Australia is better off economically. I dunno, it's all very disappointing.

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sen8or

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#3463305 20-Feb-2026 11:34

I think the whole world political landscape has changed over the last few years / decade and not for the better.

Worldwide, inflation has driven cost of living up and most countries are all struggling with unaffordable food, housing and medical care. Where politicians used to be able to use facts and logic to debate political differences its now an us vs them mentality and whoever shouts the loudest wins.

I also have doubts that the grass really is any greener on the other side of the Tasman, with the exception of better weather (for the most part along the eastern seaboard), I don't think cost of living is any better, wages may be higher but so to is real-estate and prices for food and groceries is all over the place (as for the cost of a doz beer, thats near criminal in aussie).

There is no easy solution and there will be pain while we work to make things better

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#3463323 20-Feb-2026 13:00

sen8or:

I also have doubts that the grass really is any greener on the other side of the Tasman, with the exception of better weather (for the most part along the eastern seaboard), I don't think cost of living is any better, wages may be higher but so to is real-estate and prices for food and groceries is all over the place (as for the cost of a doz beer, thats near criminal in aussie).

There is no easy solution and there will be pain while we work to make things better

On real estate, a friend of mine and his family are homeless (close enough too) on the gold Coast when their landlord sold their 3 bedroom duplex. Going to rental open homes with 80-100 families ends up in a unfair bidding war. Demand for housing is much worse than NZ. They have had to be taken in by his aunty so himself, his partner and there 2 children living with another family of 4 in a 4 bed house.

Greener pastures indeed.

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ezbee

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#3463407 20-Feb-2026 21:46

On LNG it might get interesting if the Ai boom continues.
Apparently Ai companies have booked up all the 'Gas Turbine' production and pretty upset they can't get more quickly.
Plus everything to plumb them up for power generation.
Along with GPU, SSD, CPU, Spinning Rust, long term shortages.

May end up in a bidding war with far deeper pockets.

A dollar late and a dollar short.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-gas-turbines/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nilsrokke/2026/02/10/we-thought-gas-turbines-were-done-then-ai-came-along/

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#3463459 21-Feb-2026 12:54

ezbee:

On LNG it might get interesting if the Ai boom continues.
Apparently Ai companies have booked up all the 'Gas Turbine' production and pretty upset they can't get more quickly.
Plus everything to plumb them up for power generation.
Along with GPU, SSD, CPU, Spinning Rust, long term shortages.

May end up in a bidding war with far deeper pockets.

A dollar late and a dollar short.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-gas-turbines/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nilsrokke/2026/02/10/we-thought-gas-turbines-were-done-then-ai-came-along/

Yep burning down the planet so we can generate more fake pictures of naked women with three hands, seven fingers and one leg on backwards. What a time to be alive.

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#3463759 23-Feb-2026 13:04

I find it interesting Luxon now is fighting rough sleep, instead of the causes of rough sleep.

Priorities...

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#3463776 23-Feb-2026 15:36

freitasm:

I find it interesting Luxon now is fighting rough sleep, instead of the causes of rough sleep.

Priorities...

Priorities for National - money first

Priority for ACT - money.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#3463789 23-Feb-2026 17:13

rb99:

Priorities for National - money first

Priority for ACT - money.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/companies/construction/matthew-horncastle-eyes-williams-corporation-ipo-and-future-in-politics/KYFVDU3UUZHERJFNIPNHVHPBCI/

This guy could be perfect for the National Party, or maybe even ACT.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chch/comments/1rc0mfk/housing_developer_matthew_horncastle_floats/

“I do not want to run, but if the Government keeps getting bigger and keeps taking on debt and no adult steps in to implement what I believe are rational, sensible values, I will do it. And I’ll win.”

Confident, isn't he? 🙄

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#3463813 23-Feb-2026 17:54

quickymart:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/companies/construction/matthew-horncastle-eyes-williams-corporation-ipo-and-future-in-politics/KYFVDU3UUZHERJFNIPNHVHPBCI/

This guy could be perfect for the National Party, or maybe even ACT.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chch/comments/1rc0mfk/housing_developer_matthew_horncastle_floats/

“I do not want to run, but if the Government keeps getting bigger and keeps taking on debt and no adult steps in to implement what I believe are rational, sensible values, I will do it. And I’ll win.”

Confident, isn't he? 🙄

Some weapons-grade reckons there...

His feed ranges from comparing the political left to Adolf Hitler and questioning whether the moon landing happened, to arguing mRNA products shouldn't be called vaccines.
In 2022 he came under fire on social media for saying women should use their “youth and beauty to get the best possible man”. He blamed the backlash on “being attacked by the left”.

...

I am babysitting Alexander for an hour while Hannah is out. I put on the original 1967 Jungle Book so I could distract him and complete my Friday duties.
Original Disney is very good.

...

I am a laissez faire capitalist libertarian. I believe the state is there to stop people being violent, not to distribute wealth.

...

I see no difference in values between Adolf Hitler and the political left.

...

I am not convinced the moon landing was real

The baby is 4 months old, by the way. He can't look after his own 4-month-old son for an hour without resorting to the TV.

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#3463834 23-Feb-2026 20:08

Coalition must've been pretty spooked by Hipkins' speech today. They're attacking it with incredible ferocity. I mean, they're giving back-handed compliments to the Green and TPM parties, even!

"Instead, his speech read like a lump of jelly filled with platitudes and sentiment but no concrete plans."

She referenced policy ideas from the Greens and Te Pāti Māori who had "laid out their plans", saying "policy loves a vacuum".

Seymour also having a normal one.

Seymour said Hipkins did not present any plan to pay for any promise, "underneath the smooth words there are no solutions, just new problems".

"Hipkins' examples of affordable policies included 'free' GP visits and a new Auckland harbour crossing without tolls on the existing bridge. But he can't make the cost of those policies disappear. Someone has to pay, he just hopes Kiwis won't ask who."

Well, ackshully Dave, the GP visits are paid for by a CGT that will not be on the family home or business as you already well know because the Labour Party have announced it multiple times - and in fact I listened to Hipkins' speech today and he even said it once again then, too, and not tolling an existing route when building a new one with a toll is SOP for New Zealand. I'd like to see you try to toll the existing crossing: good transport policy (by pushing people onto PT) or otherwise it would be the end of the ACT Party as a going concern as the drivers all nuke you from orbit. (So yeah, really, I'd like to see you try!)

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#3463859 23-Feb-2026 22:45

https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/19/how-national-could-be-wiped-out-by-nationalist-right-who-will-be-first-to-jump/

...once a mainstream conservative party opens the door even slightly to far-right rhetoric, it rarely regains control.

These movements do not reward compromise. They exploit it. Give them airtime, validate their fabricated grievances, or flirt with their talking points, and they will abandon you the moment a more radical option presents itself.

Interesting opinion piece on how National is possibly going to get eaten up by its coalition partners at the next election. Bit surprised to see Nigel Farage all pally with Winston in the photos, I didn't think their political ideologies would make them "birds of a feather".

sen8or

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#3463869 24-Feb-2026 08:13

SaltyNZ:

Well, ackshully Dave, the GP visits are paid for by a CGT that will not be on the family home or business as you already well know because the Labour Party have announced it multiple times - and in fact I listened to Hipkins' speech today and he even said it once again then, too, and not tolling an existing route when building a new one with a toll is SOP for New Zealand. I'd like to see you try to toll the existing crossing: good transport policy (by pushing people onto PT) or otherwise it would be the end of the ACT Party as a going concern as the drivers all nuke you from orbit. (So yeah, really, I'd like to see you try!)

The free Dr's visits will be an interesting debate point. Much like Key's "show me the money" moment against Goff(?), Hipkins will have to have his facts and research points well at hand with this one. Our GPs are already stretched with appointments sometimes weeks away to see someone, where are all the extra GPs going to come from, what about the extra health infrastructure behind it all? Whats the costing of that looking like when its all added up? Does the CGT still cover it? x3 GP visits per year @ $75 per visit with a population of 5 odd million is $ 1.1bio. Obviously not everyone will use all 3 all the time, but its still potentially 15mio GP visits paid by the Govt. Whats the volume of GP visits now?

Don't get me wrong, if I get a few free GP visits in a year, I'll happily take them, but I don't "need" free GP visits so its hardly a vote winner. Equally, I'm hardly likely to ever be caught in a CGT, probably like 70-80% or more of the population but I wouldn't vote for one as there may be unintened / unforseen consequences of such a tax that could negatively impact the wider population.

SaltyNZ

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#3463882 24-Feb-2026 09:09

sen8or:

The free Dr's visits will be an interesting debate point. Much like Key's "show me the money" moment against Goff(?), Hipkins will have to have his facts and research points well at hand with this one. Our GPs are already stretched with appointments sometimes weeks away to see someone, where are all the extra GPs going to come from, what about the extra health infrastructure behind it all? Whats the costing of that looking like when its all added up? Does the CGT still cover it? x3 GP visits per year @ $75 per visit with a population of 5 odd million is $ 1.1bio. Obviously not everyone will use all 3 all the time, but its still potentially 15mio GP visits paid by the Govt. Whats the volume of GP visits now?

Don't get me wrong, if I get a few free GP visits in a year, I'll happily take them, but I don't "need" free GP visits so its hardly a vote winner. Equally, I'm hardly likely to ever be caught in a CGT, probably like 70-80% or more of the population but I wouldn't vote for one as there may be unintened / unforseen consequences of such a tax that could negatively impact the wider population.

The 'where are the GPs going to come from?' question is completely valid and no, not really addressed by the CGT. I believe the 3 free visits policy is a way to introduce the CGT in a face-saving manner for Labour. Once it is in, it's done, and no more discussion needs to be had. With the family home and business both excluded, the biggest panic button that the coalition can (truthfully) push doesn't work. That right there negates the vast majority of the unintended consequences. That hasn't stopped them from lying about it, but it is a lie and is easily proven to be so.

Personally I would have had it apply to everything but with a long introduction (10+ years) so that it does not unreasonably impact little old ladies who spent their entire lives believing that their house should be their entire nest-egg. With it applying to everything you can then reduce other taxes, especially regressive ones like GST. But then again I also would have had it apply to cash-alike transactions such as borrowing against the increased paper value of an asset. If you're going to use it like a realised capital gain, then it's a realised capital gain. Anyway, I am not a tax expert so nobody has to worry about that.

Any party that wants to repeal it again later will then have to answer the question 'how are you going to pay for my 3 free GP visits?'

But back to the lack of GPs; that is something that will have to be handled by broader health reforms and increased funding. Someone will point out in reply that more funding does not necessarily equate to better outcomes. I accept that. You have to have a clear plan on how you're going to spend it. But it is 100% clear that less funding never equates to better outcomes. Do you feel that your health is better looked after now that the coalition has gutted the system?

I don't think the 3 free visits will make a huge difference to the number of people visiting the GP. People aren't just going to go to the GP because they've got a random hour to kill and they're bored. Most people, most of the time, aren't sick enough to go the GP 3 times a year, so they won't. It will make more difference to the most vulnerable, and those are the people we should be supporting.

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