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12:25 pm, October 27th, 2025 - 12 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, Christopher Luxon, local government -
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Poor old Christopher Luxon cannot get a break.
Here he is wanting to impress people that he is just a good old kiwi like the rest of us but he keeps getting hit by news that he is attempting to maximise her personal wealth at the expense of public institutions.
He said before the last election that under his leadership the culture of treating taxpayers like an ATM would end.
But his obvious instinct to maximise his personal wealth and privilege keeps popping up and ruins any carefully crafted PR spin job that tries to make him more relatable and likeable.
This instinct was there from the start ofhis leadership.
On day one of his reign as leader to deliver him to the steps of Parliament so he could appear all powerful the National Party hired a black limousine to drive him from his apartment across the road and onto Parliament’s forecourt, a total of 200 metres. One wonders why he could not have walked. Nicola Willis was also delivered by Black Mercedes. Obviously the visuals of being ferried around in expensive cars is more important to National than the climate and health benefits of walking.
He who used to run an airline on the campaign trail in 2017 said that he would not use the Airforce planes to travel internationally and then, yes you guessed it, made a feature of their use and even recently bought a couple of new Airbus planes to underline how hypocritical and deceptive his statements were.
Vehicles or airplanes, he sure prefers the upper end of the market.
He who is wealthy and sorted and who used to own seven properties changed the Bright Line Test rules with retrospective effect so that he could sell some of them without having to pay capital gains tax.
He purchased his Wellington apartment in 2020 for $795,000 and then sold it for $975,000. Under the Bright Line Test applicable at the time if he sold he would have to pay up to an estimated $70,000 in tax.
Thanks to his Government’s policy change he paid no tax on the profit.
Who can forget when he signed up to claim $52,000 of Taxpayer’s money a year to live in his own apartment. He said publicly that he took the accommodation allowance because he was entitled to although he did begrudgingly pay the money back.
His latest effort is to contest Auckland Council Valuation of his Waiheke mansion so that he can pay less rates, $8,100 a year in fact.
This is cleptocracy on a Trumpian scale.
And it looks like he may have removed this land from the LINZ system which is no mean feat.
At a time where ordinary workers are being offered effectivepay cuts Luxon’s efforts to increase his already substantial wealth will jar.
Not if I can possibly help it!
https://yeehawtheboys.substack.com/archive
The wealthy got there or stay there via relentless pursuit of their own financial benefit. There are worse things a person could choose to focus their attention on, but it's insane to put one of them in charge of running the country. They aren't going to suddenly stop relentlessly pursuing their own financial gain and instead have a road-to-Damascus conversion to focusing on the public good, after all. I don't blame John Key or Christopher Luxon for being awful, awful prime ministers, I blame the people who voted for them knowing that they relentlessly pursue their own gain. It's like Caligula making his horse a senator – no point in blaming the horse.
While we are wading in on Mr Thumb, don't forget his antics around the electric vehicle rebate.
Akin to Pullya Benefit, he removed the opportunity for cash back to both the public and car dealers once his family has benefitted.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxon-heckled-to-repay-8k-tesla-subsidy-as-government-ditches-ute-tax/QRJCMFLID5HNXF25TCKD7JDSFE/
Taxpayers cannot be treated like an ATM because taxation doesn't finance the governments expenditure, taxation only allows the government to delete its currency again after it has first been spent.
Reducing the governments spending doesn't save taxpayers anything for the reason that reducing government spending also reduces our income.
https://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/can-taxes-and-bonds-finance-government-spending/
I don’t care for Luxon’s lifestyle or wealth. I care about the fact that he’s trying to make it acceptable and make people believe it’s the right thing. I care about his divisive policies that pitch Kiwis against each other believing that it’s a zero-sum game, us vs them, with only winners & losers. I care that middle NZ appears to kick down and trample on lower NZ while the wealthy & sorted elite gets richer every day without lifting a finger. Similarly, I care that lower NZ appears to give middle NZ the finger for treating them as lazy puppets and taking away hope for a better future here in NZ while the elite is laughing all the way to the bank. I care about Luxon making it all about the economy, economic growth, and efficiency over people. So, think about that for a moment.
Well said.
Sparing a thought for Luxon means I have to think about him, which I really don't want to do.
"will reinforce a strong impression that he is more concerned with personal wealth than the collective good."
Truly a "r/NoShitSherlock" comment.
Luxon didn't get where he is today without knowing that every 'little' sum counts.
IMO Luxury Luxon does seem to have an otherworldly aspect (I was going to put ethereal….but that maybe only applies to his mind : )