The Bewildering World of Christopher Luxon - bashing the "bottomfeeders". Again.
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He's done it before; “bashing the bottomfeeders”. In March 2022, whilst in Opposition, his motor-mouth ran off without engaging his brain. During an interview with Kerre McIvor on NewstalkZB, Luxon said:
“I've got to be honest to all of your listeners. This is a fantastic country. This is the best country on planet Earth, but we have to determine we want to realise our maximum potential economically, socially and environmentally, and we want to be a place everyone can flourish. And if you want to have a go and you want to make something of yourself, we don't just do bottom feeding and just focus on the bottom, we focus on people who want to be positive and ambitious and aspirational and confident, right?”
Days later, challenged by no-nonsense John Campbell, he was forced to defend his diatribe and walk back his prejudiced rhetoric:
“The bottom line is it's not just simply work harder, pull yourself up by your boot straps, get on with it, that's not good enough. We actually have to get clear about the rungs of social mobility and what's actually happening there. Things like education have really been diminished. We're not really helping people who are stuck in poverty for generations. That's not cool. That's not acceptable. That's not good enough to just write a whole bunch of people off and say that's your lot in life, slightly better than misery and subsistence. That's not on. So, we have to think really deeply how we solve those problems.”
Fast forward three years, and the Leader of the Opposition is now Prime Minister.
Has Landlord Luxon changed his ‘spots’ since engaging with John Campbell and insisting that “the bottom line is it's not just simply work harder, pull yourself up by your boot straps, get on with it, that's not good enough. We actually have to get clear about the rungs of social mobility and what's actually happening there. Things like education have really been diminished. We're not really helping people who are stuck in poverty for generations. That's not cool. That's not acceptable.”?
Judge for yourself. On 26 March, our PM/Landlord Luxon made this eyebrow-raising post on Twitter/X/Muskrat's Ego:
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“If you can work, you should. 18 and 19-year-olds who don't study or work and can't support themselves, need to be supported by their parents or guardians, not by the taxpayer. So that's what we're doing to help young people avoid spending a life on the benefit.” - C Luxon, PM
It was a crass statement copied-pasted word-for-word on LinkedIn and Facebook - so it couldn't be glossed over as yet another Luxon ‘gaff’. This was pre-meditated and most likely crafted by Ninth Floor's media spin-doctors.
His comment was little more than weak blame-gaming to justify the government's outrageous decision to hold the parents of 18 and 19 year olds liable for their adult “children's” welfare support.
This, from the man who attempted to use a $50,000 ministerial housing allowance to pay for his accommodation. That accommodation was his own, mortgage-free apartment in central Wellington.
“I’m entitled to the entitlements” will be a statement joining others like “Don't you know who I am?” in the Great Marble Hall of Privilege.
Aside from the question of why 18 and 19 year olds are now suddenly considered dependent “children” - when they can vote; be elected to Parliament; get married; enter contracts; be tried as adults in Courts; play senior rugby without parental consent, and enter the Police College - how long will it be until the age limit is extended even further? Why not 20? 21?
Why have any age limit at all? Why not lay down expectations that responsibility for welfare rests with immediate family of any unemployed person?
Make no mistake, this measure is another desperate attempt by an inept Finance Minister, Nicola ‘Noboats' Willis, to balance her benighted Budget. Like stealing $12.8 billion from low-paid women by scrapping thirtythree equal-pay agreements. Or halving government Kiwisaver contribution to $260, down from $520.
It is a common practice for rightwing governments to shift blame onto those who have lost their jobs during economic downturns. We saw this during the Global Financial Crisis when then-Minister Paula Bennett demonised beneficiaries as the US-sparked recession impacted on their lives.
The same minister flirted with the notion of coercing solo-mothers onto contraception.
The rationale is simple: make an overt suggestion from the pulpit of Ministerial Power that losing your job during a global recession is the fault of the worker - and it shifts focus onto individuals, away from government policies.
Never mind that no unemployed or solo-parent has ever had the power to control global economic forces. Welfare recipients certainly had no influence with this government's Executive or the Reserve Bank to determine monetary policy.
But they sure are paying the price:
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The growing number of unemployed is commensurate with the steady reduction of listed job vacancies:
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(Image courtesy of The Spinoff)
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But this has not always been the case.
Remember 2022? When our borders were closed due to Covid19? And remember the hysterical, shrill, cries of desperation from employers panicking over the scarcity of workers to hire?
Headlines like these were almost a daily occurrence:
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Well, if we have surplus of labour (ie, unemployed people desperately seeking paid work), and a scarcity of vacancies - then why not close the borders to migrant workers again? Surely this would correct the supply-and-demand problem of unemployed/scarce jobs? (The pandemic proved that beyond any shred of doubt.)
That would motivate employers to hire local workers. More unemployed moving into paid jobs means less welfare paid out from government coffers. And more taxes to collect.
Win/win/win.
But Landlord Luxon and Noboats Willis would never countenance such a radical step. Way too imaginative for conservative dullards.
It might reduce unemployment. And who would they scapegoat then?
Landlord Luxon and Noboats Willis are determined to deflect media and public attention from their destructive economic policies which have needlessly exacerbated our current recession. They need to deflect attention from savage cuts to services, whilst hosing away billions in tax cuts; landlords tax breaks; scrapping tobacco levies, etc.
This has been Standard Operating Procedure for right wing governments, bereft of common sense, for decades. (And they still continue to get away with it, whilst still holding themselves up to the electorate as Prudent Fiscal Managers.)
As one social media observer put it:
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Of course it’s easy for Luxon to blame young adults. They don't have the means to fight back.
But they can vote. And I hope they vote with a vengeance.
Meanwhile…
So... the government that is pro-business is not engendering business confidence?!
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It seems that this much-vaunted pro-business government is not so good at it after all. Who would've thought?
Or is this also the fault of 18 and 19 year olds as well, Mr Luxon?
The thing about 18 and 19 year olds is this, Mr Luxon: you’ve just added them to a rather lengthy and growing list of voters you and your inept government have alienated.
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References
TVNZ: Christopher Luxon explains his 'bottom feeding' comments
X/Twitter: Luxon
LinkedIn: Luxon
Facebook: Luxon
NZ Herald: 'Rude' MP tweets apology over drunken night out
NZ Herald: Welfare reforms to add pressure to unwilling workers
Stuff: Forced sterilisation 'a step too far'
Wikipedia: Dead Cat Strategy
Stuff: 'Every sector is screaming out for more workers'
RNZ: 500 job applications in 12 months - a jobseeker's struggle
Spinoff: One position, 1,200 applications - A snapshot of New Zealand’s job market right now
RNZ: In 2025, rising unemployment and a brain drain
Bluesky: Mike Riversdale
RNZ: Business confidence drops three months in a row
Hat-Tip
Bluesky: Vasemaca - Luxon - “If you can work you should”
Previous related blogposts
Explosive: Chris Luxon threatens New Zealanders with The Big Fiscal Stick
Coalition Circus of Chaos - Verbal gymnasts; an inept Ringmaster, and a helluva lot of clowns
The Bewildering World of Chris Luxon - Entitlement
The Bewildering World of Christopher Luxon - Don't you know who I am, Bottomfeeders!
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Acknowledgement: Rod Emmerson
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Have your own thought”
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=fs=
Well done Luxon, your failure to lead along with your failure to prioritise dealing with New Zealand’s long-standing systemic problems over your political wants has now baked-in the nation’s inevitable decline. You had your chance, you promised the world…and then, wait for it….you delivered nothing. Zilch, nada, crickets. Absolutely nothing. Now we’re all watching the nation’s aspirational population - the ones required to secure the future - book tickets on an airline you used to masquerade as a CEO in.
Yeah-right, you clean ripped New Zealand’s tax payers on that gig too didn’t you? But hey, you’re ok Jack, right? Tough shit for those bottom feeders aye, bloody losers. Argh, deep breath in, praise be, under his eye.
All as planned so that we continue to be a low waged economy in thrall of big business. This also continues to exacerbate problems in health, education and grow the prison count. While the gap grows between the sorted and those in poverty this COC couldnt care less.