Laying groundwork for tough choices

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon cast something of a shadow over the country with his weekend “state of the nation” speech where he described New Zealand as fragile, laying the blame for that on the former Labour government.

In what often seemed like an election campaign speech, he said through the previous “broken and distracted” Labour government, New Zealanders had been “badly let down”.

His prime example of this was funding shortfalls for transport projects inherited from Labour adding up to more than $200 billion.

“If you saved $20,000 every hour, day and night, seven days a week it would take over 1000 years to save that $200bn,” he said.

Luxon told a rapturous audience of supporters it was only through a strong economy that “we can end the cost of living crisis, lift incomes and give the 44,500 New Zealanders who left the country last year a reason to stay in New Zealand”.

That would mean a return to the orthodoxy of a tight budget, careful stewardship of public money and a determined focus to keep or return the books to surplus, he said.

This emphasis was popular with the audience who chanted “back on track”, the party’s mantra through the election campaign.

The Government would target those who had been on welfare for many years, he also said.

Luxon promised to make some tough choices and came back several times to the issue of welfare dependency, pointing to the fact there are an extra 70,000 people on a Jobseeker unemployment benefit than there were in 2017.

There was a veiled threat when he said the Government would do everything it could to help people into work, but adding “if they don’t play ball, the free ride is over”.

He would not apologise for making tough choices to support young people off welfare and into work, because the current expectation for them of 24 years languishing on welfare meant no hope, no opportunity and no dignity from work.

“All Kiwis of course have the right to support when times are tough,” he said. “But with the right comes responsibility to look for a job or to train for new opportunities.”

Some commentators noted the absence of any mention of National’s coalition partners Act and NZ First as a sign that Luxon wanted to put his brand firmly on the new Government which he intended to lead.

The fact that he failed to mention climate change, the Treaty of Waitangi or poverty was also seen as significant.

This is going to be the Luxon Government — one that presents itself as being realistic and not afraid to make the hard decisions and changes.