Yeah, Nah, National Don’t Deserve A Second Term

Written By: - Date published: 3:34 pm, March 27th, 2025 - 23 comments
Categories: Christopher Luxon, grant robertson, jacinda ardern, national, national/act government, same old national, trade - Tags: , , ,

This is an excerpt from the Mountain Tui substack post: No, You Don’t Deserve A Second Term

Last week, Matthew Hooton wrote an op-ed, published in NZME, that essentially says that if Luxon secures a trade deal with India, that alone, would mean Luxon deserved a second term in government.

Hooton said Luxon displayed “seriousness and depth” in New Dehli. He praised Luxon for ‘doubling down’ on the India trade agreement – ignoring the fact that Luxon doubles down on everything his government wants. (school lunches, failed boot camps, health privatisation, citizens’ arrest, rolling back climate protections, homelessness – you name it, Luxon’s doubled down)

By the way, this is the same Hooton who is clear Luxon has always been an “imbecile”, said he “never thought he was any good”, and this month told a right wing podcast, that Luxon just “wasn’t very intelligent”, “lacks self awareness”, “thought he’d inspire New Zealand like Obama” and over-estimates himself at every turn.

“Anyone”, Hooton says, would be “better” than Luxon.

But apparently now, Hooton’s had a change of heart. He claims Luxon’s potential of striking a trade deal in India and his performance there is enough to wipe all that away – and could be enough for voters to give Luxon a second term.

My first thought on this was, is Grenon’s NZME potential deal affecting Hooton’s calculations?1

(Update: Yesterday afternoon Grenon backed down on his 50% support shareholder claims but Grenon is still trying to strong arm the Board to resign.)

My second thought was, if Hooton’s premise is any potential trade deal in India should secure Luxon a second term, what about his and his cohort’s damning criticism of Jacinda Ardern?

Did she not secure a genuinely resounding, hard to secure, and historic trade deal with the EU?

A truly amazing achievement, reminding me of another: how Grant Robertson obtained an increase in NZ’s global credit rating – securing lower credit costs for our country and undeniable, global recognition of our economic credentials.

Contrast that with Luxon’s empty talk, while councils around the country get credit ratings cuts precipitated by central government policy.

Yet after the EU deal we saw many headlines leading with National attack lines: ”National gives EU free trade agreement a six out of 10’“ – wrote RNZ, our national broadcaster.

What are the right’s standards?

Did Ardern deserve the right wing, Murdoch, corporate driven, Hoskin shill, beat down at every turn? The more I see, the more I feel she was not done right by many.

On Luxon’s potential Indian trade deal, I watched a few minutes of a speech he gave to a nodding and approving Modi.

It was full of exuberant and sincere sounding praise for Modi and his government – a style typical of Luxon in schmooze mode and his tone as sincere as when he promised NZ he genuinely cared about cancer victims in 2023. And then didn’t lift a finger or contribute one cent on fulfilling that cancer drugs promise until a very public backlash.

i.e Luxon can do sincere.

It just doesn’t mean he means it.

Last year I wrote: “Luxon’s Business Acumen” where Luxon schmoozed with Philipine President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, son of dictator, Marcos Senior.

Critics of the regime wanted Luxon to raise Marcos Senior’s human rights record and his son’s defence of it at the time.2 Jacinda Ardern had done this years earlier. But of course Luxon refused to.

He was too busy playing Big Business, Important Man.

Same as in India.

Modi’s government has been in a public battle with Canada over the last years after the Canadian government confirmed it had credible evidence Modi was aware of the assassination plot resulting in the murder of a prominent Sikh Indian dissident in Canada. The Canadian was not the only Sikh activist who died – other similar activists were murdered in Britain and Pakistan. But the spat widened after Canada refused to back down, communicating it had intelligence that diplomats were involved.

Trudeau: “These are credible allegations”.

Canada’s message was clear amidst all of this – it was not acceptable to murder Canadians on Canadian soil, the rule of law was important, and Canada would not stand for that. Trudeau didn’t try to brush it under the carpet, and Canadian officials noted Indian officials did not deny the allegations in closed door meetings, although publicly it was vehemently denied.

Affirming the inter-country relationship, Trudeau’s message was nevertheless clear: not on his watch.

Earlier this month, Modi pointed to “anti-India” activity in New Zealand, and expressed his concerns to Luxon:

“In this context, we have shared our concerns about anti-India activities by some illegal elements in New Zealand”

“We are confident that we will continue to receive the support of the New Zealand government in taking action against these illegal elements.”

I can imagine Luxon smiling and nodding while spurting generalities at that point.

And this week, despite pleas for support from our government, Auckland doctor Sapna Samant had her Indian citizenship revoked for criticising it’s government’s treatment of Sikhs, Muslims and other minorities.

This is all to say that Hooton’s description of “depth and seriousness” is a matter of your-mileage-may-vary.

As I watched Luxon praise with flattery and follow Modi’s lead to appease a potential trade partner, my only thought was “dignity”.

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Yes, material benefits can accrue individually, and the role of leaders is always to cultivate relationships and further a country’s well-being, but we should never forget our ethics, morals and values too.

To my mind, there is really no left or right. There is only the values that one rises and falls on.

Luxon allowed Nicola Willis’s officials to cancel a South Korean trade deal with our sixth largest trade partner, and a critical security partner, 26 minutes before3 she publicly announced the ferry cancellation Kiwis. That was despite MFAT telling National that we needed to be “careful and deliberate” in our communications, and to uphold the principles of dignity and respect.

Willis didn’t do so – because this government’s arrogance, and its insistence on PR above reality, knows no bounds.

But here, Luxon, in trying to prove to the world and himself that he is as good as he tells us on the label, bows down for himself.

Can Luxon secure a second term? Anything can happen – look at the US. Look at our media.

Does he, or anyone in his party, deserve one?

My own answer, over a long period of assesssment, is “never”.

23 comments on “Yeah, Nah, National Don’t Deserve A Second Term ”

  1. Drowsy M. Kram 1
    27 March 2025 at 4:51 pm

    Can Luxon secure a second term?

    Wreckers Lux, Willis and co. didn't deserve a first term, imho. We know which way the polls have been bouncing, but who knows how they will bounce 'going forward'.

    If Lux survives/revives ‘our’ CoC govt's fortunes, then he will go into the 2026 election absolutely committed to keeping NZF in play – in contrast to 2023 election campaign.

    Election 2023: National did not commit a strategic blunder on NZ First – Chris Bishop [23 Oct 2023]
    In response to a suggestion that National might need to form a coalition with NZ First and have ACT as the support partner, Bishop responded: "Let's just wait and see how people vote."

    If NZF looks like dropping below 5%, National may even toss Peters an electorate seat bone (like the ACT party, when it needed MMP life support), as without an electorate seat the NZF vote would be a small but potentially significant net wasted vote for the right.

    Reply
  2. SPC 2
    27 March 2025 at 4:53 pm

    Luxon is supported by the only two other men in the land that have a higher opinion of themselves than the PM does of himself.

    And they are changing roles soon.

    Will this be wind in the sails, or reason to note that WP has an alternative to form coalitions with, unlike Seymour who has no one to ACT's right to cling onto to say afloat in government.

    WP attacked National in 1996 and then formed a coalition with them after the election, lest we forget.

    Reply
  3. Kat 3
    27 March 2025 at 8:10 pm

    Cannot believe that any person with a functioning brain would take anything Matthew Hooten says as anything other than Machiavellian mischief……..

    Reply
  4. Bearded Git 4
    27 March 2025 at 9:36 pm

    This is excellent. It means the National Party grandees have hauled Hooton into a smoke-filled room and told Hooton that Luxon is their man so "back off".

    It means they will not roll him before the election.

    Now we just need Hipkins to grow some cahones (Wealth Tax or Land Tax) or be replaced by a leader who is not electorally damaged and the Left will triumph.

    Reply
  5. Christopher Randal 5
    27 March 2025 at 9:54 pm

    Hooton is one of these self important clowns who likes to have a bob each way. His opinions are unimportant and illogical and are obviously written by somebody who is not classed as a "bottom feeder"

    Reply
  6. roblogic 6
    27 March 2025 at 10:54 pm

    There are 2 versions of Hooton, the one with a social conscience doesn't come out very often.

    The Dirty Politics right wing shill is usually in the driver's seat

    Reply
    • tc 6.1
      27 March 2025 at 11:11 pm

      Grannys version of balance.

      Write one progressive piece every so often unless its an election cycle.

      Reply
    • PsyclingLeft.Always 6.2
      28 March 2025 at 10:25 am

      Hooten has a social conscience? Really? If ever (I personally dont believe it) IMO, there would be some kind of devious angle to it. To the advantage of, and for…Hooten.

      Reply
  7. thinker 7
    28 March 2025 at 7:53 am

    Right now the polls look good for the left, and they could be. But, closer to the election, voters will want to see three things:

    1. Professional politicians in all of the potential left coalition parties.

    2. A cohesion between the 3 parties.

    3. A strategy, not just rhetoric, of how the left will turn things around for the average voter. You can't run a country just by pointing out the faults of the other lot

    Hopkins needs to preach that plan until people go into voting booths with a left wing party in their minds.

    The only thing I remember about the Deputy Labour leader lately is when she took a couple of weeks off to do a tv spot. What's going on there?

    On the TV last night, Luxon called the green politician 'insane'. That was outside the debating chamber, to a reporter. Surely 'insane' is a clinical term that makes it worse than calling someone a 'loser'. Maybe not a clinical term, but it is defensible. Greens, get off the pot and push back some.

    Reply
    • Patricia Bremner 7.1
      28 March 2025 at 8:41 am

      Thinker, If you sincerely want information, go to Labour's Face book page you will see all the plans speeches meetings and fund raisers Cheers.

      Reply
      • thinker 7.1.1
        28 March 2025 at 9:02 am

        Thanks,PB.

        I'm sure I can. But, that's kind of my point.

        If voters have to go to the party's website, most won't bother.

        One thing Luxon did well was to summon up his inner "Rawleighs Man". He didn't say, check out our website, he made sure people got told what his party would do for them (much of which they didn't do) and left them feeling like a vote for the right would do them some good. There must be loads of voters kicking themselves for being so trusting, but that’s after the CoC got into government…

        Heaven forbid all politicians behave like Luxon, but politicians who tell voters to check it out for themselves are usually disappointed come polling day, IMHO.

        Reply
        • Patricia Bremner 7.1.1.1
          28 March 2025 at 8:10 pm

          Well I have found the right get published, the left not so much. So I support people who do research and keep me up with the play. However, on their Face book page each person speaks to their role and ambitions. Cheers.

          Reply
    • Obtrectator 7.2
      28 March 2025 at 5:03 pm

      Not sure about the "professional politicians" remark. If you mean politicians with a professional attitude to their duties (including not going off on one on the spur of the moment, but taking some time to reflect and assess first), then yes. But in the sense of politicians who've seldom if ever done anything else in their lives, then no – I distrust the type, especially younger ones.

      Reply
  8. Patricia Bremner 8
    28 March 2025 at 8:25 am

    We can't afford another term of CoC, as they have caused social division, damage to our path to a sustainable future, with a half baked fast track scheme.
    One of the outcomes the effluent water into the Shotover River.

    Further, our "Hail Fellow well met" PM is as shallow as a puddle, reminding me of a jumping jack fire cracker, firing off in all directions with small explosions of pointless energy.

    On he goes, having fired 12000 kiwis causing a rise in unemployment, which in turn lowered the tax take, and shrinking circulating capital by underfunding and cutting Government ventures, or even cancelling them entirely.

    Then causing the lowering of the credit rating of Councils because Government shifted the restructure of infrastructure for water from their books to Council books, when Councils have less borrowing rights and pay more interest which will be paid by rate payers through their rates rising steeply..

    Then there is the GDP. After taking a deep dive into a recession and loss, the celebration of a miniscule movement up again is laughable.

    The number of businesses falling over daily, the growth in child poverty and mental health stress has put the underfunded Health system in the spotlight with some really exposed lack of readily available clinicians causing egregious errors.

    Not to forget Smoke Free and Gun control!!

    "Isn't it wonderful" he says, with no sensibility at all.

    He stands by bills which remove Treaty promises or change Regulations as suits ideology not safety, and now Moody's bill to prevent voters ability to fight corporations for compensation in court when they are breaking emissions targets or causing harm.

    Many of their Ministers are failing badly in their roles. Willis cancelling the Ferries project, and now interfering in the role of the RBNZ to change banking settings for money for housing loans to begin the housing Ponzi again, and the lunches debacle are just three examples. Plus others you may recall.

    Do they deserve another term? No!! We can't afford them.

    Reply
    • gsays 8.1
      28 March 2025 at 11:00 am

      I don't mean to be snarky but I want to know what I will be voting for.

      What I've heard from Labour/Hipkins is closer to the status quo than the radical change we do need.

      Housing is one of the main reforms needed. Make landlording beyond one property untenable. Give the young and poor the vision, the hope that they could own their own home.

      This alone would help make the fundamental changes that are needed to address inequality, falling education results and the third world health conditions we see in our community today.

      Highly unlikely with a party that has a lot of landlords as MPs.

      Reply
      • Patricia Bremner 8.1.1
        28 March 2025 at 12:11 pm

        Gsays, yes I get what you are saying, but requiring perfection from the opposition is a pointless exercise in semantics imo. Look and engage on Labour/Greens/Te Pati Maori Face book pages. Join the one most aligned to your beliefs. Start working towards the change you want to see. Regarding home ownership, one plus a small wellington base would be usual for many and National and act have the highest house ownership, and joint ownership by Maori can register trusts or part interests in more properties. Conflating evidence does not help.

        Reply
      • Mountain Tui 8.1.2
        29 March 2025 at 10:22 am

        Gsays

        Have you seen the policy differences? An old one but might be useful: https://mountaintui.substack.com/p/do-you-know-what-the-coalition-government

        Reply
  9. PsyclingLeft.Always 9
    28 March 2025 at 10:33 am

    Mountain Tui…another great post. Luxon (also Hooten : ) succinctly encapsulated ….

    Luxon can do sincere.

    It just doesn’t mean he means it.

    Reply

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