The Bewildering World of Chris Luxon - Entitlement
"I'm entitled to the entitlements."
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Writing for Newsroom on a Friday mid-morning, veteran investigative journalist, Marc Daalder’s story on Chris Luxon’s ministerial allowances exploded onto the nation’s political stage:
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The Prime Minister will receive a $52,000 top-up to his $471,000 salary to cover his accommodation expenses since he is not living in Premier House.
A spokesperson for Christopher Luxon confirmed he will claim the optional accommodation payment, despite living in an apartment in Wellington that he owns mortgage-free. - Luxon claims $52k accommodation payment to live in own apartment - Marc Daalder, Newsroom, 1 March 2024
In a now-infamous ‘presser’ with journalists in Queenstown, at 4.40pm, Mr Luxon was adamant that he had done nothing illegal and was fully entitled to the accommodation allowance he was taking.
In fact, throughout the thirteen minute forty-two second ‘presser’, the word entitled/entitlements was uttered thirteen times (nearly fourteen, but he cut himself off, mid-word), with this piece summing up his attitude:
“I’m entitled to the entiltlements…”
Mr Luxon’s outrageous actions and feeble attempts to justify himself quickly caught the attention of the international media. Our neighbour across the ditch had headlines echoing our own:
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By 5.30pm, Mr Luxon had relented to growing clamour from the public and ongoing media interest. He announced he would no longer claim his entitled entitlement, even though he was fully entitled to be entitled, and would repay what he had already received ($13,000):
“It’s clear that the issue of my accommodation allowance is becoming a distraction. As such, I have decided today that I will no longer claim the allowance and will repay anything I have received since I became Prime Minister.”
Mr Luxon is not the first politician to misrepresent public anger as a “distraction”.
His predecessor, Bill English, who also claimed the accommodation entitlement in 2009, despite having a family home in Wellington, also deflected responsibility using the same catch-phrase:
“Public discussion about housing allowances has become an unnecessary distraction, and doubt about my eligibility has become unacceptable to me as finance minister.”
“Distraction” is one of those handy catchphrases and words employed by politicians when enduring a public backlash. Like the phrase, “spending more time with my family”, it is a useful euphemism to cloak something indefensible and/or embarrassing.
Worse still were the pious utterances by Mr Luxon and his National Party cronies pontificating on fiscal rectitude:
"The days of taxpayers being treated like a bottomless ATM are over." - Chris Luxon, Twitter, 20 February 2024
And;
"The New Zealand taxpayer is not a free ATM card" - Tama Potaka, National Govt Minister, 1 March 2024
And this bit of ‘tough lovin' by the Big Guy’;
"If you’re a young person on a benefit who is able to work, National will do everything it can to help you into a job. But if you don’t play ball you’ll face sanctions – the free ride will be over and personal responsibility will be back." - Chris Luxon, 5 March 2023
The public are not fools (generally speaking) and unless you were Mike Hosking, could recognise unbridled self-entitlement and naked hypocrisy when they saw it.
A few brave souls - notably fellow National MPs and acolytes - did raise their heads above the parapets to endorse Mr Luxon’s decision to take the accommodation allowance - regardless of the fact he quite simply did not need it. (Some in the media may simply have been playing “Devil’s Advocate” - though Satan himself would’ve hit back, “Hey, keep me out of this! This is your sh*t, mortals!”)
Their support for Mr Luxon was based purely on a legalistic premise, which is correct. The Prime Minister broke no laws.
The problem is that the accommodation supplement is not targeted according to need.
Right-wing politicians are vocal in insisting that state assistance (aka benefits, entitlements, supplements) should be targeted to recipients based on perceived need, and surrounded with strict criteria:
“ACT believes when creating good public policy you should do detailed work about what the problem is you’re actually trying to solve, not just throw around taxpayer’s money so people think you’re kind. Some real work needs to be done here to find out how many lunches are going to waste and why.” - ACT Party website
From the National Party:
"They should do away with the universal policy and target it to those in genuine need. There are limited resources in education, areas where there is genuine shortage. This is not small change, this is a lot of money and takes resources from other areas." - Paul Goldsmith, 17 July 2021
And from the former Air New Zealand CEO himself:
"I don't think it makes a lot of sense that someone like me gets the benefit of that [free medicine prescriptions].
I think targeting it to people with community services cards, for example, targeting to people with super gold cards would actually be the way in which we would go about doing that.
I think if I can pay, I should pay". - Chris Luxon, 19 May 2023
So…
If it’s good enough to take food out of kids' mouths (in case they don’t really need it) and instead, have “targetted assistance”…
If it’s good enough to remove free medical prescriptions from sick people (unless you’re a superannuitant*) and have “targetted assistance”…
(*Memo to Party strategists: superannuitants vote with Old Testament vengeance - do not antagonise them!)
Perhaps it's high time taxpayer-funded assistance to Members of Parliament was determined on the basis of need, rather than universal entitlement.
Targetted assistance for MPs could be determined by a governmental agency - one noted for its strong ethos of compassionate humanitarianism. I’m thinking WINZ.
(*SNORT!* Good luck with that!)
But that will never happen of course. Not with a Prime Minister who has shown ‘prior form’ when it comes to self-entitlement:
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Targeted allowances for MPs will never happen with this government. As fellow blogger Nick Rockel explained with brutal clarity:
“This position does seem familiar. We had a good government, one of the best and now we have the opposite. A government that looks out of touch, borderline corrupt, and disinterested in improving the lives of most. I wonder how many “monkeys” see what they’ve done?”
The question still remains: if it’s good enough to “target” which children are fed at schools - why aren’t MPs being targeted?
If privilege and entitlement has become so embedded in our society that a multi-millionaire with seven mortgage-free houses can shamelessly claim *ENTITLEMENT* to taxpayers' money for accommodation he already has, whilst children are denied meals and other New Zealanders are denied free medical prescriptions - something is seriously wrong in this country.
The question is, how long will it take for New Zealanders to say, “No more. This is simply not right”?
Not long I hope.
#NationalNotFitToGovern
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Acknowledgement
Many thanks to my partner - now fiancée! - for proofreading my work!
References
Newsroom: Luxon claims $52k accommodation payment to live in own apartment
RNZ: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks from Queenstown
Illawarra Mercury: NZ PM Luxon U-Turns over $52k accommodation handout
RNZ: PM Christopher Luxon says he will pay back his accommodation allowance
Newsroom: Luxon to repay $1000 per week he claimed to live in own apartment
Stuff media: Bill English buckles over housing allowance
Twitter/X/Musk’s Ego: Chris Luxon - Taxpayers and ATM
Newshub: New Zealand taxpayers won't bear cost of saving Newshub - Government minister Tama Potaka
Scoop: Speech - Christopher Luxon - State of the Nation,
Stuff media: Mike Hosking's political leanings - in his own words
ACT Party: Free lunch farce
NZ Herald: Lunch in schools - National says 'poorly targeted', schools missing out
Newshub: Budget 2023 - Christopher Luxon clarifies National's stance on $5 prescription fee
NZ Herald: Christopher Luxon heckled to repay $8k Tesla subsidy as Government ditches ‘ute tax’
NZ Herald: Christopher Luxon under fire for using public funds to learn te reo Māori
Twitter/X: Chris Luxon - Repeal ute tax
Nick's Kōrero: Ain't This Position Familiar?
Additional
The Spinoff: The rich stay rich by pretending to be poor
Other Blogs
Nick’s Kōrero: Luxon's Entitlement
Nick’s Kōrero: Ain't This Position Familiar?
No Right Turn: The Prime Hypocrite
Previous related blogposts
Chris Luxon threatens New Zealanders with The Big Fiscal Stick
The Bewildering World of Christopher Luxon - Health reforms
The Bewildering World of Christopher Luxon - Don't you know who I am, Bottomfeeders!
The Bewildering World of Christopher Luxon - Leadership, Labour vs National
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Acknowledgement: Emma Cook
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= fs =
Who could not see this type of behavior as inevitable. At least he is simple enough not to hide his attitude as other PMs have done.
Well said Frank. Luxton really is the worst and Seymour of course would be the greatest beneficiary in the country. As for Winnie he has the biggest grifter in NZ politics on his team.