Christopher Luxon, New Zealand Prime Minister 2023

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#3490140 12-May-2026 14:51

GV27:

I feel like I'd feel a lot better if we started with a firm commitment and long-term plan for Pharmac from all parties concerned.

It is the best money we spend on anything and it costs us a fraction of the value and actual quality of life improvements we get for it.

Ditto ACC. Both have flaws but we are infinitely better off having them vs. the prospect of not having either.

I'd like to see Labour-National consensus on a few fundamentals - kiwisaver and superannuation, pharmac, health funding, employment law, education funding, infrastructure funding, electricity market reform and climate policy. These things are too important to be subject to changes with the government. Look at Polytechs for example. The pile of cash that was burned centralising and then decentralising them must be horrific.

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#3490147 12-May-2026 15:23

MikeAqua:

I'd like to see Labour-National consensus on a few fundamentals - kiwisaver and superannuation, pharmac, health funding, employment law, education funding, infrastructure funding, electricity market reform and climate policy. These things are too important to be subject to changes with the government. Look at Polytechs for example. The pile of cash that was burned centralising and then decentralising them must be horrific.

100%. The social contract has to have certainty and it feels like we don't have much at all at the moment.

Kiwisaver, I think, needs a slide rule over it. It's not really fit for purpose in its current guise and the mucking around with the Kickstarter contribution is an example of something that generates a lot of attention, but isn't going to shift the dial in terms of making it a proper savings scheme. I see a lot of comments acting like there'd be no consequences in locking people's income away for 40 years+ so they don't retire in poverty, but scant consideration to the fact they're already in poverty now. Likewise, and it doesn't get much attention, the fees on Kiwisaver as a product are just way too high - high enough to make a material difference to your retirement if/when you actually get there.

Climate policy is a difficult one. I'm not sure anyone (Greens included) has been entirely honest about how viable something like tourism would be in the event the Climate Apocalypse actually works up a head of steam. Flying hours in a high-emitting jet to the bottom of the world is an extravagance now, I'm not sure we can justify making wholesale changes to our standards of living in the name of a climate emergency and then flying planeloads of people here.

I'm also not sure how many Kiwis would feel if we ended up becoming such an expensive destination that no one who lives here themselves could afford to travel, and Queenstown / Taupo are already heading that way post-Covid. There was a fair bit of animosity towards some of these places when the borders shut under lockdown when they suddenly needed support from domestic travelers to stay afloat.

A bit more honesty with the electorate and a few less partisan potshots would probably greatly encourage the public to build some awareness around these issues. Right now we have high disingenuous barbs flying on some serious issues, thrown by people who manage to get access to the levers of power and then firmly uphold the status quo and gaslight the electorate into thinking that's the only sensible course of action.

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#3490151 12-May-2026 15:42

GV27:

Climate policy is a difficult one. I'm not sure anyone (Greens included) has been entirely honest about how viable something like tourism would be in the event the Climate Apocalypse actually works up a head of steam.

The Green Party is just being realistic about it. We might like to frown on people who want to fly in a jet from Auckland to Wellington while demanding we build out the trains to make them a viable alternative, but trying to mandate that nobody fly in or out of New Zealand is just not going to happen. Like, how else are you going to do it? There are maybe half a dozen ocean liners left in the whole world.

We certainly can discourage rich toffs from generating 1000x the emissions by flying in a private jet instead of a commercial airliner. Or at least, if not discourage, then claw back some money to help pay for offsets by taxing them per landing (something that is in the Green Budget).

In any case, there actually is a whole policy on tourism. I don't have the details off the top of my head but IIRC it focuses mainly on what we can do within NZ to reduce the impact of tourists while they are here, rather than trying to ban aircraft. Plenty of things we can (but aren't) tackling before we get down to airliners being our only remaining source of emissions.

I would almost go so far as to say that if we got to that point, it was mission accomplished anyway. Modern airliners are very efficient. Not because the airlines have some wonderful environmental conscience, it's just that jet fuel is their biggest operational expense so putting on winglets to save 2% on the fuel bill is like a billion dollar annual saving.

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#3490339 13-May-2026 07:05

I mean I'd argue swapping a one high flight for a ten hour train ride isn't going to unlock huge productivity gains in any form, but it becomes very hard to justify taxing your citizens at the level you'd need to rebuild our rail network when you're also pushing yourself as a far-flung tourism destination. Particularly if we're talking lifestyle-altering levels of emissions capping and an aggressive ETS for locals.

In other news, this may be an election that no one wants to win. Where have we heard that before?

https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/138484/westpac-nz-says-higher-living-costs-due-middle-east-conflict-reduce-spending-and

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#3490349 13-May-2026 08:42

GV27:

I mean I'd argue swapping a one high flight for a ten hour train ride isn't going to unlock huge productivity gains in any form, but it becomes very hard to justify taxing your citizens at the level you'd need to rebuild our rail network when you're also pushing yourself as a far-flung tourism destination. Particularly if we're talking lifestyle-altering levels of emissions capping and an aggressive ETS for locals.

In other news, this may be an election that no one wants to win. Where have we heard that before?

https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/138484/westpac-nz-says-higher-living-costs-due-middle-east-conflict-reduce-spending-and

Yeah... as I said, the Green Party are realistic about it. Air travel isn't going away unless civilisation collapses.

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#3490445 13-May-2026 11:15

MikeAqua:

GV27:

I feel like I'd feel a lot better if we started with a firm commitment and long-term plan for Pharmac from all parties concerned.

It is the best money we spend on anything and it costs us a fraction of the value and actual quality of life improvements we get for it.

Ditto ACC. Both have flaws but we are infinitely better off having them vs. the prospect of not having either.

I'd like to see Labour-National consensus on a few fundamentals - kiwisaver and superannuation, pharmac, health funding, employment law, education funding, infrastructure funding, electricity market reform and climate policy. These things are too important to be subject to changes with the government. Look at Polytechs for example. The pile of cash that was burned centralising and then decentralising them must be horrific.

Universities used to get a guaranteed 3 year funding, this allowed them to plan longer term.

Now its sort of annually, a funding system that punishes if they do not get enough students, claw backs for students who do not complete, etc etc etc

Apparently its called "accountability" where the now spend more money on accountants, management, etc etc etc than they used to. The highest paid staff are in management, not in academia, the supposed reason for existence.

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#3490446 13-May-2026 11:22

GV27:

I mean I'd argue swapping a one high flight for a ten hour train ride isn't going to unlock huge productivity gains in any form, but it becomes very hard to justify taxing your citizens at the level you'd need to rebuild our rail network when you're also pushing yourself as a far-flung tourism destination. Particularly if we're talking lifestyle-altering levels of emissions capping and an aggressive ETS for locals.

In other news, this may be an election that no one wants to win. Where have we heard that before?

https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/138484/westpac-nz-says-higher-living-costs-due-middle-east-conflict-reduce-spending-and

Rail rebuild would remove large trucks from our roads, make it fully electric would remove significant pollution.

Large trucks do NOT pay their share of road taxes based on the damage they cause. Then there is all the rubber ending up in the waterways, number of accidents, etc.

I guess we could delay it to the point where is becomes critical, about the same time as many other countries reach the same conclusion, then we can bid against those wealthier countries for critical supplies and cost us a lot more money.

Sounds remarkably like the Cook strait ferries...

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#3490578 13-May-2026 14:11

sir1963:

Large trucks do NOT pay their share of road taxes based on the damage they cause. Then there is all the rubber ending up in the waterways, number of accidents, etc.

Well we all are going to love the goals that relaxing the trucking regulations -again- will achieve!!!

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/593533/government-shouldn-t-wait-to-loosen-heavy-vehicle-restrictions-transporting-nz-says

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Handle9

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#3490615 13-May-2026 16:43

sir1963:

GV27:

I mean I'd argue swapping a one high flight for a ten hour train ride isn't going to unlock huge productivity gains in any form, but it becomes very hard to justify taxing your citizens at the level you'd need to rebuild our rail network when you're also pushing yourself as a far-flung tourism destination. Particularly if we're talking lifestyle-altering levels of emissions capping and an aggressive ETS for locals.

In other news, this may be an election that no one wants to win. Where have we heard that before?

https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/138484/westpac-nz-says-higher-living-costs-due-middle-east-conflict-reduce-spending-and

Rail rebuild would remove large trucks from our roads, make it fully electric would remove significant pollution.

Large trucks do NOT pay their share of road taxes based on the damage they cause. Then there is all the rubber ending up in the waterways, number of accidents, etc.

I guess we could delay it to the point where is becomes critical, about the same time as many other countries reach the same conclusion, then we can bid against those wealthier countries for critical supplies and cost us a lot more money.

Sounds remarkably like the Cook strait ferries...

What is the problem you are trying to solve with electrifying intercity rail? Instead of somewhat subsidising freight with trucks and roads you’d be massively subsidising freight with intercity electric rail to the tune of billions of dollars without solving a significant problem.

Like lots of ideas that sound good it doesn’t really make much sense when compared to more mundane infrastructure investments. There isn’t a significant traffic problem with large trucks in NZ and there isn’t a particularly significant pollution problem.

Mass transit within cities like Auckland actually solves a problem in a scalable way. I’m totally unconvinced that intercity electric rail does that in NZ.

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#3490650 13-May-2026 19:26

Handle9:

What is the problem you are trying to solve with electrifying intercity rail? Instead of somewhat subsidising freight with trucks and roads you’d be massively subsidising freight with intercity electric rail to the tune of billions of dollars without solving a significant problem.

Like lots of ideas that sound good it doesn’t really make much sense when compared to more mundane infrastructure investments. There isn’t a significant traffic problem with large trucks in NZ and there isn’t a particularly significant pollution problem.

Mass transit within cities like Auckland actually solves a problem in a scalable way. I’m totally unconvinced that intercity electric rail does that in NZ.

Intercity electric rail doesn't stop when there's a diesel crisis, for one thing.

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#3490660 13-May-2026 21:02

SaltyNZ:

Intercity electric rail doesn't stop when there's a diesel crisis, for one thing.

For passengers, it also doesn't get any quicker. And you still need depots and delivery services from depots if you're going to be hauling freight, which our existing network can only do to a very limited number of places. There's not really many more that would be viable. And if the 'solution' is to make trucking so expensive no one can afford it just to make rail stack-up, then you're going to drive a wave of inflation throughout the rest of the economy to make it happen.

I like trains, and I would love to be able to catch a train to Taupo, the Bay of Islands or the Coromandel - but those branch lines don't exist and no one seems in hurry to build/reinstate them.

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#3490668 13-May-2026 21:18

GV27:

SaltyNZ:

Intercity electric rail doesn't stop when there's a diesel crisis, for one thing.

For passengers, it also doesn't get any quicker. And you still need depots and delivery services from depots if you're going to be hauling freight, which our existing network can only do to a very limited number of places. There's not really many more that would be viable. And if the 'solution' is to make trucking so expensive no one can afford it just to make rail stack-up, then you're going to drive a wave of inflation throughout the rest of the economy to make it happen.

I like trains, and I would love to be able to catch a train to Taupo, the Bay of Islands or the Coromandel - but those branch lines don't exist and no one seems in hurry to build/reinstate them.

Trains are by far my favourite way to travel. I’d rather spend 4 hours on a train than an hour in the air.

The issue is New Zealand is a big country without many people so they only make sense on certain routes.

The missed opportunity in rail is in Auckland in particular. If Labour had gotten on and built the original light rail proposal down Dominion Road we’d probably be having conversations about which one to build next. Unfortunately it became such a bloated mess that it’s probably killed rail projects for another 10 years.

SaltyNZ

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#3490672 13-May-2026 21:47

Handle9:

The missed opportunity in rail is in Auckland in particular. If Labour had gotten on and built the original light rail proposal down Dominion Road we’d probably be having conversations about which one to build next. Unfortunately it became such a bloated mess that it’s probably killed rail projects for another 10 years.

Yep. :-/

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#3490933 14-May-2026 15:56

Luxon, the CEO, failing since Air NZ days:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/companies/energy/gas-reserves-fall-faster-than-expected-as-pohokura-maui-wind-down/DLRJSZRQLRHAHGAXPP2XMIK4UA/

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#3490982 14-May-2026 19:34

https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/14/luxon-shines-his-little-light-through-global-storms-and-political-gloom/

This PM has created for himself a protective force field of optimism, encouraging him to ignore the signs of political gravity and to Talk. Things. Up.

Since the leadership downer, one poll has nudged National up by a micro movement. Luxon’s had a summit in Singapore, Zoom calls with the great and good, and received lobbed-up questions from his mate Mike Hosking, just waiting to be hit. In the background, his political advisers have got him calling out what they see as two threats, New Zealand First and the media.

Like PMs before him, Luxon is buoyed by his time on the global stage and unwilling to accept the doomers’ predictions from the polls.

Unlike some, he exhibits a level of self-belief, a certainty of his abilities that seems to quickly override any impact of personal political trauma.

Unfortunately for Luxon, his optimism doesn't seem to be reflecting back at him - not from the general electorate, at any rate.

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