Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reprimands David Seymour and Shane Jones, after attacks on Waitangi Tribunal

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has issued a rare reprimand of his Cabinet colleagues David Seymour and Shane Jones for their attacks on the Waitangi Tribunal, saying they were “ill-considered”.

Speaking on the final leg of his overseas tour of Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, Luxon said he would be having a word to both men on his return.

“Those comments are ill-considered. I expect my ministers to exercise good judgement on communications of that nature,” Luxon said.

Seymour and Jones had made remarks critical of the Waitangi Tribunal. Seymour attacked the Tribunal after it summonsed Karen Chour, one of his MPs, to appear before it. Chour had previously refused to provide evidence for the Tribunal’s inquiry into the repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, which lays out the obligations of the children’s ministry in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi.

“Perhaps they [the Tribunal] should be wound up for their own good,” Seymour said.

Jones, speaking on the same issue, said the Tribunal had “overstepped its brief”.

Luxon said he had not had a chance to speak to either man yet.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak to them, but that message will be underscored to the ministers,” Luxon said.

“Those remarks are ill-considered. Ministers need to exercise good judgement,” he said.

The remarks from both ministers could be a breach of the Cabinet Manual, which asks that ministers refrain from criticising the judiciary.

Luxon was speaking from the Philippines, the final leg of his South East Asian tour.

Strengthening trade ties was a focus of the trip, but so too was defence and the troubling security situation in Asia.

In the Philippines, Luxon was guest of recently-elected President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos.

In a joint press conference with Marcos highlighted challenges in the South China Sea, where the Philippines is engaged in a bitter dispute with an increasingly assertive China.

“The Philippines welcomes New Zealand’s continued commitment to advocate for the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including through the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea,” he said.

New Zealand is trying to avoid picking sides in the dispute.

Luxon acknowledged “President Marcos’ leadership on the international stage with both of us focused on building international partnerships”.

New Zealand and the Philippines agreed to work more closely on matters of security.

On the domestic front, there is growing umbrage at the extent of the Government’s cuts to the public service.

Today, RNZ reported MBIE is proposing to cut one of its two senior fire engineers. The Mental Health Foundation is considering axing one in five of its staff.

The charity, which receives Government funding, has said the money it gets from the Ministry of Health has not kept up with costs.

Luxon has defended the scale of the cuts, saying he wants to pivot towards spending on frontline services.

“We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors,” he said earlier this month.

Next month, Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver the Budget. It will be the first time we see the extent of public sector trimming.

“The critical thing is the Budget and getting the balance right in that Budget, because we could carry on doing things as they are, or we could go to full austerity mode,” Luxon told the Herald.

“We want to find the balance, actually - balancing wasteful spending so that we can protect frontline services, [while providing] tax relief and growing the economy. That’s the key thing that we need to land this quarter.”