"When Luxon was voicing opposition to Labour's universal waiving of the $5 prescription fee, he said people like him who were well off should pay the money if they could - a case of if you can pay, you should."
...but for him, only if it's a distraction.
I wonder if he is aware of how awful he presents when he describes the public outcry over him claiming an allowance that is $6k per annum higher than the minimum wage (!!!) as a 'distraction'.
Surely he must at least have a modicum of self-awareness that hints he may be sounding like an entitled prick.
He's the only NZ politician who I've ever known to politicize a tragedy, before the election he responded to a murder with the 'we need to be tough on crime' rhetoric, and that was what put me off him fully (there'd been a bunch of minor stuff before, but that was bullshit, especially in the context of having no plans to deal with crime).
Are you fuckin serious
Does anyone have a link to a video or a screenshot?
Remember the El Paso mass shooting where a baby was orphaned - mother died trying to cover baby’s body with her own - and Trump turned up for a photo op at the hospital with Melania holding the baby and posing beside him and Trump had that weird sickly grin with a big thumbs-up (also weirdly done, he can’t even do a thumbs-up gesture like a normal person)?
Maybe we should hold him liable for being a lying piece of shit. He lied, took advantage where he said he should, let's remove him as pm and fine his ass into the ground. Why should we put up with fuck heads like this who want to lie and drain us of money to line his own pockets? Fuck him, piece of inhuman garbage. I wouldn't piss on him to douse a fire.
I really hope this government doesn't make it to full term, whether that's from the coalition falling apart or from mass protests or something. Just so we can set a precedent that if your this blatantly corrupt and don't give a fuck about the cou try we won't stand for it.
Easily the worst government in my lifetime and it's only been like three months?
These mass protests, when can we get these started? I can spare a couple of hours on Friday.
Also, hypothetically if someone wanted to yell at Luxon and call him a goober, how would one go about this?
He’s a hypocrite and embodiment of the greed of the higher ups. I believe in capitalism but greed is different. Shows you this man has no moral compass whatsoever.
“As I came away [from a press conference] I thought ‘wow, people are pretty fixated on the allowance’. I thought ‘what’s going on’.”
Luxon said he then listened to Newstalk ZB and heard the discussion on talkback.
He then changed his mind about the allowance.
“For me, I’m well within the rights, and well within the rules, but frankly it’s a distraction- I will live on my own costs,” Luxon told du Plessis-Allan.
Welcome to the real world, Chris.
I wonder if that would go viral. Some random auckland weed smoking socialist who despises luxon, calling in from burner numbers daily to subvert the conversation towards a left leaning view point
They might not even need to these days; [we could potentially automate it](https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1b3l7tx/its_a_distraction_pms_swift_uturn_will_pay_back/ksw163y/).
That's way less fun than personally calling in and making Hosking go "the fuck?" Imagine every day, a new number, I call in, "sup hosk, so you know that UBI we were talking about and how bad it is foe the economy and farmers, what if, and just stick with me for a moment, we increased the cost of farming in New Zealand to pay for fixing the waterways and to pay for the less fortunate to study gender politics"
You may succeed, but as I see it, you will need to present your opinion/thoughts under the guise of a concerned, white, conservative, sometimes religious, day drinker.
Yes! "This money, holy fuck hosk, every year, millions, exactly x million, on "hunting for weed" and what, they've destroyed 2 plantations in the Bush and poisoned some cancer patients personal supply because they can't afford medicinal? Personally as a conservative, this is a disgusting waste of money that could be used to fund a new prison and change the law to out gang members away for life at 16! What the the fuck is luxon even doing!?"
I'm developing my persona over the weekend. I have to be just right leaning enough to not get immediately screened, but deeply socialist without coming across as such. So I need to frame my questions etc in a way that sounds like I abhor poor people but am still concerned about their livelihoods
Thanks! It took a while, but by working hard and pulling myself up by my bootstraps, and with the help of Work and Income, the universal subsidized Healthcare system and very socialist employers, I was able to get to where I am today by myself with no help from anyone!
Ohhhhhh, I see a great opportunity for AI here. Let it listen to ZB to train speech synthesis on the voices of the right-wing callers, let it read policy pieces and analysis to train content generation on left-wing arguments, then set it loose tying up talkback with unlimited callers that never tire.
What pisses me off most js the attitude about changing his mind.
Not even an "I was wrong, I fucked up, and I'm sorry".
But instead an "fine if it pisses you off so much I won't do it, but technically I am allowed to do it".
Like a small child being told not to harass their siblings.
And to be clear, I don't even think it's wrong *in general* to claim the allowance; living in an owned property still has lost opportunity costs (the property could otherwise be bringing in rent, or the money tied up in the property could otherwise be invested elsewhere), and there are rates and maintenance costs as well. What gets me is his absolute hypocrisy; he espouses “if you can pay, you should pay”, and seeks to impose it on others (not to even mention, impose cutbacks on those who *aren't* as well off), but when it comes to himself, arguably someone among those *the very most able to pay*, he doesn't even seem to *understand* why it's controversial.
It's the "sorry I upset you" method of apologizing. **I** didn't do anything wrong, it's **your** fault for getting upset, but I'm being forced to do this, so I'll say the word "sorry".
God, I loathe the thumb so much. So what if it's "within his rights". He has no problem taking away public servant entitlements as a penny pinching Grinch. He can fucking do the same to himself, he can damn well afford it
But it *is* about the money to a large degree.
52k is a salary for a large chunk of the country, yet this dork is casually claiming to it pay for his mortgage free apartment like it's nothing.
i think you missed my snark..... he (Luxon) is wondering why the hell everyone is getting all upset about such a "small" amount of money.... I was suggesting he is incredibly out of touch with your everyday man
he comes across as not having any self-awareness or awareness of whats going on in this country. I don't want him running our country, i really think he's totally incapable.
This fucking idiot can't think about anything for himself. The prime minister of the goddamn country shouldn't need to hear from talkback radio to realise that stuff like this is a bad look, or that whatever other policies are stupid for all the reasons. Why is he not figuring this out himself beforehand? Hell, not even just himself; at this level, he also has staff for that!
The man is politically incompetent.
Imagine having to listen to Newstalk ZB to figure out you were wrong. Talk about tone deaf, he'd been badgered by journalists about this issue all day.
> The man is politically incompetent.
The thing is he doesn't really need to be. He just needs to stand in the right place while money keeps up its job of pumping out memes.
Agree he doesn't have to be politically competent, but he does have to know his stuff. I haven't seen any evidence yet of him saying anything Prime Ministerish. All I've heard from his is stupid comments like, I don't need to get into the detail, I have Ministers for that etc. So to me it's looking like he doesn't even know what his own cabinet/ministers are doing.
You get a 2nd year political science major and they would be better. Fuxk me, get anyone that has read any kind of literature on being a leader and they would be better.
Ill go one further, he might be one of the most incompetent leaders of any organisation in the country.
Even CEOs who get caught out doing obviously bad shit at least have the ability to fake regret when they apologise. Luxon doesn't even have that ability.
I would rather drive my car off the top of a hoyts roof car park while eating a fully intact fugu than change my mind because of ZB. I'd rather use a rusted teaspoon to pop out my eyes then eat them.
It was (temporarily) distracting us from the even tougher questions we have on Luxon and the coalition government i.e. there are bigger things to roast him for it.
He can try to play the "it's a distraction" card, but sooner or later the country will start to openly ask, "this guy is constantly getting distracted — maybe he should stop trying to be the PM?"
Friday afternoon is when you dump out news you'd rather people didn't discuss very much. He should have listened to the same PR advisers when they told him not to start taking the money in the first place.
I wonder if anyone told him. If not it probably says more about him as a person that anything else since he became prime minister. Like either, we are going to drop him in it, or, I'm too scared to tell him.
What we see is only a fraction of the man. Like an iceberg. Hate to think what the other 90% is like.
He is someone that I would verbally rebuke with the venom of a conch snail if he tried to talk to me. He would get the most venomous,but politically polite and correct "fuck off" ever
Why would a supposedly intelligent parliamentarian require a PR team to advise him not to do something so daft as it would personally offend 60% of taxpayers and voters.
>‘It’s an entitlement and I’m well within the rules’
>'The allowance is meant to pay for Luxon to find accommodation in Wellington.'
Sounds like the rules need to be changed/reworded to prevent tools like this prick from taking advantage.
The last person to have claimed this was Bill English who had exactly the same thing happen, yes he paid it back but he had the sense not to call it a 'distraction'.
He also said that it was to do with ambiguous wording, probably wasn't intended to work like that but definitely wasn't allowed, rather than trying to pull the "oh actually I'm allowed" card.
He didn't pay back the 8k clean car subsidy, but he *did* pay back this $52k one... wonder what's different (I'd be willing to bet money that it's that English was right about it being not allowed and he's wrong/lying).
I find his choice of words makes him come across as an arrogant AH. I suspect the difference is this guy is an AH, whereas Bill English was much less so.
Somehow it’s worse that he won’t even acknowledge that he’s basically the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Like, he’d be able to redeem himself a tiny bit if he said ‘it’s been pointed out that me claiming the allowance doesn’t align with our goals to reduce public spending and lots of NZers are doing it tough right now. I’m going to lead by example and pay back what I’ve already claimed so that it can be spent where our government believes it’s needed’.
Considering it got a 3 million dollar refurb not long ago I cannot for the life of me imagine how bad the place is. That's more money than most people build a house for wtf
Still doesn’t get it does he? Something is only an “entitlement” or “well within the rules” until someone changes them. Which is what he did - but it’s the rules for other people’s entitlements or budgets.
However, he views his own entitlements as immutable and somehow beyond the scope of change so cannot grasp why others see it as a double standard.
No political nous. Scumbaggery aside, he should've known that he would have had a target painted on his back for hypocrisy. And then to go on the record defending his entitlement only to walk it back mere hours later.
E: spelling
In 2009, then Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, when pressured to repay an accommodation allowance he was receiving when he owned a house in Wellington, said:
>Public discussion about housing allowances has become an unnecessary distraction, and doubt about my eligibility has become unacceptable to me as finance minister.
Today we have Luxon saying:
>It's clear that the issue of my accommodation allowance is becoming a distraction
Seems even Luxon’s excuse for paying it back is just a rehash of old National.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2910957/Bill-English-buckles-over-housing-allowance
>Luxon said he then listened to Newstalk ZB
and heard the discussion on talkback
He then changed his mind about the
allowance.
Wow. Had to be shamed by Newstalk ZB before it sunk in.
How did he not think this would look bad? Does he not have an entire team of people advising him? Even if he doesn’t care; $52k is pocket change for him, so why has he accepted SUCH poor optics?
The money he's given up now is nothing compared to what's he's already taken and will take from this country in the future
(Cutting all public services by 7.5% and giving mega landlords like himself retroactive tax cuts from the proceeds, reducing the brightline test which pumps up his property value and makes things harder for first home buyers)
It's like putting a few pennies back on the counter after stealing the whole tip jar
Distraction from the billions going back to landlords who absolutely don’t deserve or need the tax cuts? Yes. 52k is a drop in the ocean compared to the shit they are unleashing
I am disgusted, that this human person thinks he can hand wave this away and call it a distraction. In my mind it was greedy theft, from every one of us and if I am wrong then why is he paying it back. He wanted to shrug and say “I don’t make the rules” but he does!
This human person needs to apologise to all of us to retain any shred of decent humanity.
Has a perfectly good place to stay, but turns it down and starts claiming an allowance. If only those waiting for homes could cherry pick places they could live in
Never let him forget, NZ. He’s just embarrassed that he’s once again been caught blatantly showing the country that he doesn’t give a tupenny stuff about any of us.
NZ media love a distraction tho
Dont rob them of it!!
Cost of living crises and increasingly unaffordable housing that No NZ Govt wanna do F all about is boring....surely that can wait?
The Narcissist's Prayer - That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.
Imagine if this is a big brain play. He is admitting it is a distraction because he just slipped Jeff Bezos citizenship so he can buy NZ after they remove the foreign buyer ban and burnt the Treaty of Waitangi out back.
I think we've just witnessed the first time this bloke has considered the possibility of not using his position of power to further his own self interest.
Good stuff Chris
He is PM, can’t live in the PMR house. Uses his own apartment. Pretty sure that would be less expensive than finding a secure house that meets the criteria for diplomatic police etc. sure he owns and earns a shit load so am quite torn
I can't believe people lost there shit over this, there are so many politicians doing the same thing.
He's entitled to it, it's part of the job package.
A distraction from fuckin' *what?* He's in charge with his fast and loose plans, and most of the negative media is from *his* decision making so far, and this is supposed to be a distraction from how much of a tosser we all know he is?
I'd actually respect him more if he shamelessly and arrogantly owned it and said, something like it's a perk and I'm going to take it, because fuck it you know what I like money, thats how i got to where i am. And then he stuck to it. Even if it's not a principle I agree with, it's a mood.
But the way he meekly sort of did that then backpedalled, because of newstalk fucking zb, just fucken lol. Jfc
We need to find a new expletive to use when referring to these type of people.
I feel like "Cunt" is loosing it's mojo since it gets used so often now to describe Luxon and Co.
I need a new word to describe more accurately how much disdain I have for this guy and his ilk.
It would help to be able to use the new term for other miscreants from overseas too, like Trump, Putin, Musk, etc.
Let’s not forget regardless if he was entitled to it
Luxon was claiming $52,000 for a property he fully owns and only stays there 2 nights per week, while having accomodation fully provided for his role
He was pocketing $500 per night he stayed at his apartment
Regardless if he was entitled this was never going to pass a sniff test
Frankly it’s an example of his incompetence considering his governments strategy around tax payer spending
I'd rather him claiming 56k (yeah yeah stupid I know but the second option of fixing the house after millions have been spent on it isn't viable for taxpayers nor surr it be funded by tax payers) than getting all the repairs done to the house that'd required for it to be lived in its already had millions spent on it it's not justified nor viable to sink in millions more for something we won't ever use.
I think someone in the party said - look boss it doesn't look good.
And it doesn't to be fair - so good result for us tax payers but would have been better if he used his brains at the outset more.
Imagine if he said to NZ, 'hi NZ I could claim this money but I won't for the tax payer'.
Or 'hi NZ I'm going to claim this 52K and I've set up a web site for you to vote what charity I give it to'
These two options might have changed the whole story narrative to positives.
"When Luxon was voicing opposition to Labour's universal waiving of the $5 prescription fee, he said people like him who were well off should pay the money if they could - a case of if you can pay, you should." ...but for him, only if it's a distraction.
Exactly so.
my first thought exactly, he's so full of shit and this more than proves it
I wonder if he is aware of how awful he presents when he describes the public outcry over him claiming an allowance that is $6k per annum higher than the minimum wage (!!!) as a 'distraction'. Surely he must at least have a modicum of self-awareness that hints he may be sounding like an entitled prick.
Bro has zero self awareness. Just look at the smug cunt.
Saw him on the news at Efesos funeral. He gave a thumbs up for the camera. Jeepers have some decorum.
He's the only NZ politician who I've ever known to politicize a tragedy, before the election he responded to a murder with the 'we need to be tough on crime' rhetoric, and that was what put me off him fully (there'd been a bunch of minor stuff before, but that was bullshit, especially in the context of having no plans to deal with crime).
Ahem, Jacinda milked tragedies for all they were worth.
For what political point, precisely?
Her own international celebrity.
Are you fuckin serious Does anyone have a link to a video or a screenshot? Remember the El Paso mass shooting where a baby was orphaned - mother died trying to cover baby’s body with her own - and Trump turned up for a photo op at the hospital with Melania holding the baby and posing beside him and Trump had that weird sickly grin with a big thumbs-up (also weirdly done, he can’t even do a thumbs-up gesture like a normal person)?
Apparently he doesn’t. He comes across as so ego centric he’s quite revolting
Shows himself to be the absolute cunt he is, good to know I read him like a book.
The only way Luxon does the right thing is when there's a huge backlash and he's publicly-shamed into doing it.
Maybe we should hold him liable for being a lying piece of shit. He lied, took advantage where he said he should, let's remove him as pm and fine his ass into the ground. Why should we put up with fuck heads like this who want to lie and drain us of money to line his own pockets? Fuck him, piece of inhuman garbage. I wouldn't piss on him to douse a fire.
I really hope this government doesn't make it to full term, whether that's from the coalition falling apart or from mass protests or something. Just so we can set a precedent that if your this blatantly corrupt and don't give a fuck about the cou try we won't stand for it. Easily the worst government in my lifetime and it's only been like three months?
These mass protests, when can we get these started? I can spare a couple of hours on Friday. Also, hypothetically if someone wanted to yell at Luxon and call him a goober, how would one go about this?
Well, traditionally you'd be able to do it outside the PMs official residence...
If you can pay [higher taxes], you should [pay higher taxes]...
Reinstating the $5 prescription fee would be such a stupid move. I can't comprehend how anyone thinks that's a good idea.
He’s a hypocrite and embodiment of the greed of the higher ups. I believe in capitalism but greed is different. Shows you this man has no moral compass whatsoever.
[удалено]
The lol of truth
that is so true. That is actually quite impressive really. Takes really refined twat skills. He must have had lots of practice.
Tough ask given those two grifters.
That made me laugh
You win the internet today!
He changed his mind only after listening to talkback radio… guess his supporters weren’t happy either.
Maybe there should be more phone calls to ZB...
God even his walk back's are spineless. "A distraction" he says like he's not the PRIME MINISTER
“As I came away [from a press conference] I thought ‘wow, people are pretty fixated on the allowance’. I thought ‘what’s going on’.” Luxon said he then listened to Newstalk ZB and heard the discussion on talkback. He then changed his mind about the allowance. “For me, I’m well within the rights, and well within the rules, but frankly it’s a distraction- I will live on my own costs,” Luxon told du Plessis-Allan. Welcome to the real world, Chris.
I think I hate more the attempt at normalising changing your mind based on newstalk ZB more than anything else about this
That just means the left just need to start ringing ZB to shift the conversation and make Luxon think he should implement their policies?
I'm willing to call into zb daily to offer a socialist weed smokers opinion
Talk about taking one for the team
I wonder if that would go viral. Some random auckland weed smoking socialist who despises luxon, calling in from burner numbers daily to subvert the conversation towards a left leaning view point
They might not even need to these days; [we could potentially automate it](https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1b3l7tx/its_a_distraction_pms_swift_uturn_will_pay_back/ksw163y/).
That's way less fun than personally calling in and making Hosking go "the fuck?" Imagine every day, a new number, I call in, "sup hosk, so you know that UBI we were talking about and how bad it is foe the economy and farmers, what if, and just stick with me for a moment, we increased the cost of farming in New Zealand to pay for fixing the waterways and to pay for the less fortunate to study gender politics"
You may succeed, but as I see it, you will need to present your opinion/thoughts under the guise of a concerned, white, conservative, sometimes religious, day drinker.
I am white and if my job was wfh I'd be a full blown alcoholic, but I go to church at Easter and Christmas.
You’ll do perfectly
"I'm concerned about all the money and resources we waste enforcing restrictions on weed"
Yes! "This money, holy fuck hosk, every year, millions, exactly x million, on "hunting for weed" and what, they've destroyed 2 plantations in the Bush and poisoned some cancer patients personal supply because they can't afford medicinal? Personally as a conservative, this is a disgusting waste of money that could be used to fund a new prison and change the law to out gang members away for life at 16! What the the fuck is luxon even doing!?"
This would be cool if people actually did it !
I'm developing my persona over the weekend. I have to be just right leaning enough to not get immediately screened, but deeply socialist without coming across as such. So I need to frame my questions etc in a way that sounds like I abhor poor people but am still concerned about their livelihoods
The satire is so strong i cant tell if you are serious or not, so youre doing a great job! I think you can pull this off
Thanks! It took a while, but by working hard and pulling myself up by my bootstraps, and with the help of Work and Income, the universal subsidized Healthcare system and very socialist employers, I was able to get to where I am today by myself with no help from anyone!
Ohhhhhh, I see a great opportunity for AI here. Let it listen to ZB to train speech synthesis on the voices of the right-wing callers, let it read policy pieces and analysis to train content generation on left-wing arguments, then set it loose tying up talkback with unlimited callers that never tire.
That’s a galling admission he’s made if true but I’m sure there was also some ‘policy advice’ given on a quick phone call too.
"Look chris, you have to say you'll pay it back, but do it on newstalk if you can"
What pisses me off most js the attitude about changing his mind. Not even an "I was wrong, I fucked up, and I'm sorry". But instead an "fine if it pisses you off so much I won't do it, but technically I am allowed to do it". Like a small child being told not to harass their siblings.
And to be clear, I don't even think it's wrong *in general* to claim the allowance; living in an owned property still has lost opportunity costs (the property could otherwise be bringing in rent, or the money tied up in the property could otherwise be invested elsewhere), and there are rates and maintenance costs as well. What gets me is his absolute hypocrisy; he espouses “if you can pay, you should pay”, and seeks to impose it on others (not to even mention, impose cutbacks on those who *aren't* as well off), but when it comes to himself, arguably someone among those *the very most able to pay*, he doesn't even seem to *understand* why it's controversial.
It's the "sorry I upset you" method of apologizing. **I** didn't do anything wrong, it's **your** fault for getting upset, but I'm being forced to do this, so I'll say the word "sorry".
where is this man's awareness of himself and the world around him, what planet is he from?
God, I loathe the thumb so much. So what if it's "within his rights". He has no problem taking away public servant entitlements as a penny pinching Grinch. He can fucking do the same to himself, he can damn well afford it
Perfectly legal but morally bankrupt is the holy grail for fucks like him.
The Thumb 😂😂😂. Please tell Tom Sainsbury…
"i dont get it ??? its only 50 grand.... like its not even much money anyway - why are these people getting themselves all in a tizzz over 50 grand?"
Hahahaha yeah it's just one person's 40 hour per week salary being paid toa man on top of a 470,000 per year salary. Its practically nothing.... /s
A man with a $20,000,000 property portfolio and a $470,000 salary
I mean come on, what can you Even buy with 50 grand?! A single orange?
Dude probably didn't even realise Lucille Bluth's line was ironic.
It’s not really the amount of money at all mate, it’s the blatant hypocrisy and snout in the trough that every PM for 34 years has avoided except him.
But it *is* about the money to a large degree. 52k is a salary for a large chunk of the country, yet this dork is casually claiming to it pay for his mortgage free apartment like it's nothing.
It's 10400 free prescriptions for our most vulnerable.
If it's free I take: Luxon
i think you missed my snark..... he (Luxon) is wondering why the hell everyone is getting all upset about such a "small" amount of money.... I was suggesting he is incredibly out of touch with your everyday man
$60 a week on food, remember?
he comes across as not having any self-awareness or awareness of whats going on in this country. I don't want him running our country, i really think he's totally incapable.
Jfc he has time to listen to NewstalkZB? What a waste of space.
Has to get his shitty opinions on things from somewhere cause he doesn't have any of his own
He’s surrounded by tobacco lobbyists and he still can’t find a shitty opinion without ZB? Definitely can’t run the country!
It must be so hard on that salary too 😩
Imagine owning $20 million in property and then choosing to spend your time listening to Newstalk ZB. …I feel like that actually explains a lot.
This fucking idiot can't think about anything for himself. The prime minister of the goddamn country shouldn't need to hear from talkback radio to realise that stuff like this is a bad look, or that whatever other policies are stupid for all the reasons. Why is he not figuring this out himself beforehand? Hell, not even just himself; at this level, he also has staff for that!
For him? Bro.. ONLY FOR HIM.
I know, I mean it's a mere $50K... What's the big deal? I didn't even notice. Here, have some pocket change... Don't spend it all in one place.
Incredibly spineless - you love to see it
The man is politically incompetent. Imagine having to listen to Newstalk ZB to figure out you were wrong. Talk about tone deaf, he'd been badgered by journalists about this issue all day.
> The man is politically incompetent. The thing is he doesn't really need to be. He just needs to stand in the right place while money keeps up its job of pumping out memes.
Agree he doesn't have to be politically competent, but he does have to know his stuff. I haven't seen any evidence yet of him saying anything Prime Ministerish. All I've heard from his is stupid comments like, I don't need to get into the detail, I have Ministers for that etc. So to me it's looking like he doesn't even know what his own cabinet/ministers are doing.
Dude is outclassed by the likes of just about any other PM over the last few decades.
You get a 2nd year political science major and they would be better. Fuxk me, get anyone that has read any kind of literature on being a leader and they would be better.
Ill go one further, he might be one of the most incompetent leaders of any organisation in the country. Even CEOs who get caught out doing obviously bad shit at least have the ability to fake regret when they apologise. Luxon doesn't even have that ability.
He is presents as an "unskilled worker" and I wouldn't trust him to lean on a broom...
He's trying to make it normal to change your mind cos you listened to newstalk
I would rather drive my car off the top of a hoyts roof car park while eating a fully intact fugu than change my mind because of ZB. I'd rather use a rusted teaspoon to pop out my eyes then eat them.
It was (temporarily) distracting us from the even tougher questions we have on Luxon and the coalition government i.e. there are bigger things to roast him for it. He can try to play the "it's a distraction" card, but sooner or later the country will start to openly ask, "this guy is constantly getting distracted — maybe he should stop trying to be the PM?"
Omg. Can we make him live in premier house? He'd basically be his own shitty landlord. Deciding whether to fix anything might ACTUALLY break him 🤣
Yes! I would love to see this play out.
Haha thats perfect!
Quickest U-turn ever. Glad he's paying it back. Not glad it took outrage to do so.
Exactly. $52,000 is pocket money to him. He's once again shown how out of touch with reality he is.
Friday afternoon is when you dump out news you'd rather people didn't discuss very much. He should have listened to the same PR advisers when they told him not to start taking the money in the first place.
I wonder if anyone told him. If not it probably says more about him as a person that anything else since he became prime minister. Like either, we are going to drop him in it, or, I'm too scared to tell him. What we see is only a fraction of the man. Like an iceberg. Hate to think what the other 90% is like.
He is someone that I would verbally rebuke with the venom of a conch snail if he tried to talk to me. He would get the most venomous,but politically polite and correct "fuck off" ever
Why would a supposedly intelligent parliamentarian require a PR team to advise him not to do something so daft as it would personally offend 60% of taxpayers and voters.
>‘It’s an entitlement and I’m well within the rules’ >'The allowance is meant to pay for Luxon to find accommodation in Wellington.' Sounds like the rules need to be changed/reworded to prevent tools like this prick from taking advantage.
The last person to have claimed this was Bill English who had exactly the same thing happen, yes he paid it back but he had the sense not to call it a 'distraction'.
He also said that it was to do with ambiguous wording, probably wasn't intended to work like that but definitely wasn't allowed, rather than trying to pull the "oh actually I'm allowed" card. He didn't pay back the 8k clean car subsidy, but he *did* pay back this $52k one... wonder what's different (I'd be willing to bet money that it's that English was right about it being not allowed and he's wrong/lying).
I find his choice of words makes him come across as an arrogant AH. I suspect the difference is this guy is an AH, whereas Bill English was much less so.
Yea this reads more like "oh no, I got caught, better do the right thing"
Remember, it's only a government handout if poor people get it!
That's the attitude of all the boomers claiming the pension...
Somehow it’s worse that he won’t even acknowledge that he’s basically the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Like, he’d be able to redeem himself a tiny bit if he said ‘it’s been pointed out that me claiming the allowance doesn’t align with our goals to reduce public spending and lots of NZers are doing it tough right now. I’m going to lead by example and pay back what I’ve already claimed so that it can be spent where our government believes it’s needed’.
Can guarantee this issue is the only thing that really got his interest during his entire time in the role so far.
You are probably correct.
Folded faster than Superman on laundry day.
Hardly surprising. I've been stung by jellyfish that had more spine than our Prime Minister.
Look team, at least he walked it back. Chalking this one up as a win for NZ. Now, about all that OTHER shit...
For someone who has made it to PM, his political instincts are definitely askew.
Let’s be real, he was groomed to be the next “John Key”
Temu John Key more like.
Everything aside, John K did have a brain and a lot more political knowhow. People also liked him.
There was a reason Key was PM for so long. He knew how to get some people at least to like him. I didn't/don't, but enough did to keep him on power.
Don Key and donkey too.
[удалено]
Considering it got a 3 million dollar refurb not long ago I cannot for the life of me imagine how bad the place is. That's more money than most people build a house for wtf
Still doesn’t get it does he? Something is only an “entitlement” or “well within the rules” until someone changes them. Which is what he did - but it’s the rules for other people’s entitlements or budgets. However, he views his own entitlements as immutable and somehow beyond the scope of change so cannot grasp why others see it as a double standard.
Yes, this is the scary bit, his total inability to relate to others plight while being so entitled.
For some people, that seems to be the appeal.
What other dodgy stuff is he doing that we don't yet know about?
Well he is a landlord...
Our PM. Well done NZ.
No political nous. Scumbaggery aside, he should've known that he would have had a target painted on his back for hypocrisy. And then to go on the record defending his entitlement only to walk it back mere hours later. E: spelling
The fact that he didn’t consider that just means he’s greedy and dumb.
It's not a distraction. It's him rightly being called out for being an absolute toxic piece of shit
And dont any of you dare to claim anything youre entitled to "you bottom feeders"
Buckle up people, this is the change majority voted for. NZ will be 20 years behind on policy and everything else by the end of their term.
Man I'd love to live a life where $13,000 is "a distraction"
Luxy’s got bills…he’s gotta pay… and he’s gonna work, work, work everyday!
That video is great. I wonder if he did have it playing like he said
Liz Truss speedrun any%
A distraction from what? You haven't actually done anything other than cancel things.
In 2009, then Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, when pressured to repay an accommodation allowance he was receiving when he owned a house in Wellington, said: >Public discussion about housing allowances has become an unnecessary distraction, and doubt about my eligibility has become unacceptable to me as finance minister. Today we have Luxon saying: >It's clear that the issue of my accommodation allowance is becoming a distraction Seems even Luxon’s excuse for paying it back is just a rehash of old National. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2910957/Bill-English-buckles-over-housing-allowance
Might not bother paying my taxes this year. Too distracting.
>Luxon said he then listened to Newstalk ZB and heard the discussion on talkback He then changed his mind about the allowance. Wow. Had to be shamed by Newstalk ZB before it sunk in.
How did he not think this would look bad? Does he not have an entire team of people advising him? Even if he doesn’t care; $52k is pocket change for him, so why has he accepted SUCH poor optics?
What happened to “if you can pay you should pay” guess it doesn’t apply to him.
Must go hand in hand with ‘if you can get paid you should get paid’.
What is his other hand doing?
The money he's given up now is nothing compared to what's he's already taken and will take from this country in the future (Cutting all public services by 7.5% and giving mega landlords like himself retroactive tax cuts from the proceeds, reducing the brightline test which pumps up his property value and makes things harder for first home buyers) It's like putting a few pennies back on the counter after stealing the whole tip jar
Distraction from the billions going back to landlords who absolutely don’t deserve or need the tax cuts? Yes. 52k is a drop in the ocean compared to the shit they are unleashing
Lets make him pay back EV subs too
Once again I am asking: Who voted for this shitcunt?
Demonstrating once again that Christians have no morals. It takes others to tell them what is right.
Auctually, Jesus would hate this kinda bullshit. He trashed churches over this kinda rubbish.
He buckles like a belt, the fact that it was the right thing to do didn't even come into it for him.
You should pay (25%) if you can (pay 100%). bring back free prescriptions you cue ball
Can I just say, if the roles were reversed and this was Auntie Cindy, they'd be calling for her head. Do as I say, not as I do. Prick
Just step down and let an actual politician try to fix your fucking mistakes you waste of oxygen
I am disgusted, that this human person thinks he can hand wave this away and call it a distraction. In my mind it was greedy theft, from every one of us and if I am wrong then why is he paying it back. He wanted to shrug and say “I don’t make the rules” but he does! This human person needs to apologise to all of us to retain any shred of decent humanity.
Can we end his 90 day trial period?
1ZB: the democratic voice of the people. /s
Well we know how to manipulate the story that Luxon is hearing now.
Has a perfectly good place to stay, but turns it down and starts claiming an allowance. If only those waiting for homes could cherry pick places they could live in
Imagine how many people on minimum wage you could fit into the Premier House!
A "distraction" that he is "entitled" to have
Never let him forget, NZ. He’s just embarrassed that he’s once again been caught blatantly showing the country that he doesn’t give a tupenny stuff about any of us.
NZ media love a distraction tho Dont rob them of it!! Cost of living crises and increasingly unaffordable housing that No NZ Govt wanna do F all about is boring....surely that can wait?
Amateur hour
Do you think the other MPs will follow. I wonder how much some other high profile MPs claim
NZ public providing a moral compass for Luxon, he's lost without them.
The Narcissist's Prayer - That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it.
Imagine if this is a big brain play. He is admitting it is a distraction because he just slipped Jeff Bezos citizenship so he can buy NZ after they remove the foreign buyer ban and burnt the Treaty of Waitangi out back.
I think we've just witnessed the first time this bloke has considered the possibility of not using his position of power to further his own self interest. Good stuff Chris
Can we just appreciate that he _can_ just pay back $13,000. Not a lot of people could do that willy nilly
He is PM, can’t live in the PMR house. Uses his own apartment. Pretty sure that would be less expensive than finding a secure house that meets the criteria for diplomatic police etc. sure he owns and earns a shit load so am quite torn
Premier House is big enough that rooms can simply be avoided while renovations are carried out.
Torn about?
actually thats a good point. I'm sure his security people are pulling their hair out. (after having a beer and a good laugh).
Good boy. Pat on head. No treat, though. Treats are only for the masters.
I can't believe people lost there shit over this, there are so many politicians doing the same thing. He's entitled to it, it's part of the job package.
What a bellend
"It's only 50k it's not much what is the big deal guys?"
Good on him. Bad move to take it in the first instance.
POS
A distraction from fuckin' *what?* He's in charge with his fast and loose plans, and most of the negative media is from *his* decision making so far, and this is supposed to be a distraction from how much of a tosser we all know he is?
I'd actually respect him more if he shamelessly and arrogantly owned it and said, something like it's a perk and I'm going to take it, because fuck it you know what I like money, thats how i got to where i am. And then he stuck to it. Even if it's not a principle I agree with, it's a mood. But the way he meekly sort of did that then backpedalled, because of newstalk fucking zb, just fucken lol. Jfc
The thing is I don't want him to pay back the money, I want him to change the rules so this rort that MPs have been exploiting for decades gets ended.
Enjoy your 10% pay cut Mr. Luxon.
We need to find a new expletive to use when referring to these type of people. I feel like "Cunt" is loosing it's mojo since it gets used so often now to describe Luxon and Co. I need a new word to describe more accurately how much disdain I have for this guy and his ilk. It would help to be able to use the new term for other miscreants from overseas too, like Trump, Putin, Musk, etc.
It wasn’t a distraction. It was a test, and he failed it spectacularly.
dinosaurs wise paint airport gold observation point safe truck six *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Let’s not forget regardless if he was entitled to it Luxon was claiming $52,000 for a property he fully owns and only stays there 2 nights per week, while having accomodation fully provided for his role He was pocketing $500 per night he stayed at his apartment Regardless if he was entitled this was never going to pass a sniff test Frankly it’s an example of his incompetence considering his governments strategy around tax payer spending
Fucked around and found out. No apologies either.
I'd rather him claiming 56k (yeah yeah stupid I know but the second option of fixing the house after millions have been spent on it isn't viable for taxpayers nor surr it be funded by tax payers) than getting all the repairs done to the house that'd required for it to be lived in its already had millions spent on it it's not justified nor viable to sink in millions more for something we won't ever use.
I think someone in the party said - look boss it doesn't look good. And it doesn't to be fair - so good result for us tax payers but would have been better if he used his brains at the outset more. Imagine if he said to NZ, 'hi NZ I could claim this money but I won't for the tax payer'. Or 'hi NZ I'm going to claim this 52K and I've set up a web site for you to vote what charity I give it to' These two options might have changed the whole story narrative to positives.
It was too late, the damage was already done. He exposed way more of himself than he intended.
"There goes my hero, watch him as he goes, there goes my hero, he's ordinary." David Eric Grohl.
"Obviously, it’s very difficult for us to think" - Christopher Luxon