OPINION
It appears that Christopher Luxon is going to sell us all out to Maori radicals and agitators. It is very hard not to come to that conclusion, after his dancing on the head of a pin over support for David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. It would seem that he has now wedgied himself:
Finally it came without any implicit ifs, buts and maybes attached: a firm statement from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon that National will not support Act’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill into law.
The one line in Act’s coalition agreement committing National to allow it to get to select committee has caused Luxon headaches ever since it was signed and he has finally made it clear that National will not support it beyond that point – even if there is a massive groundswell of public support for it.
He even set his expected date of death for the fraught bill which has not even yet been born: he hopes it will be done and dusted by the end of the year.
While Luxon has consistently said he does not support a referendum, he has repeatedly, and perhaps inadvertently, left a small question mark hanging about whether he might be persuaded to support the bill beyond that point.
He has clearly now decided that avoiding pre-emptively ruling out supporting the bill to spare himself any angst from Act leader David Seymour is simply not worth it. The angst on display at Waitangi as Luxon is trying to build trust among iwi was evidence of that.
So when he was asked if National would consider supporting it if there was overwhelming public support for it in submissions or the select committee, he again said a firm no. Asked if National would consider it if the referendum element was removed, again, a firm no.
NZ Herald
Christopher Luxon is wetter than an otter’s pocket, and it appears that he is going to sell us all out to Maori radicals and agitators.
He’s now wedged himself rather badly, stuck between NZ First and Act, who are going to squeeze his nuts on this issue, especially when polls start coming out showing that this policy initiative is popular.
I can imagine Don Brash and Hobson’s Pledge are salivating about running a Citizens Initiated Referendum on this issue in the lead-up to the next election. Don Brash told me as much in my interview with him on RCR yesterday. Imagine a billboard on the way to Auckland Airport on the route Luxon takes explaining to all and sundry that it looks like Luxon will sell us all out.
If Luxon keeps on being squishy on this issue then he is ensuring that Act and NZ First are going to profit from that, especially Act.
Imagine the outrage amongst his MPs where a robust campaign on this issue may cost some MPs their seats. Act has already shown a willingness to do this, both in Epsom and in Tamaki. They will identify electorates that look like Epsom and Tamaki, older, wealthier and with a decent-sized Asian population. Seats like Upper Harbour, East Coast Bays, North Shore, Pakuranga, and the Prime Minister’s own electorate of Botany.
Labour are crewed in campaigning on this and if Luxon continues to oppose it then he will rightly be labelled as Labour-Lite.
You do have to wonder though just precisely what sort of game Luxon is playing here, allowing something to only get as far as the first stage is kind of pointless, and in the process he insults his coalition partner.
Is Luxon going to sell us out? It sure looks like it.
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