So Chris Luxon hates public transport users as well as renters and bottom feeders?

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This is a weird way to look like you care about poor people, put the boot into their public transport…

Public transport ultimately ‘can’t be subsidised or underwritten’ – Christopher Luxon

When asked if the cut-price, subsidised fares were something he would like to see extended further, National’s Christopher Luxon said he believed services should not have to be propped up by taxpayers.

“There’s a need for us to continue to drive mode shift, I get it, but you’ve got to build good quality public transport options that people choose to use.”

While it had been a helpful to help people right now with the “cost of living crisis”, it needed to be revisited, Luxon said.

“But ultimately, public transport needs to stand on its own feet. It can’t be subsidised or underwritten … it has to be able to build on its own case,” he told reporters.

…so Luxon doesn’t like renters, bottom feeders or bus users?

It’s a fascinating strategy, just shit on groups your base don’t like and threaten their funding.

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At least you can’t confuse it as kindness.

Hilariously, Luxon is already walking these comments back…

…the more Luxon talks, the more he has to walk back the day after talking.

It’s like he’s having the conversation with himself that he should have had before he said anything.

This is the political equivalence of one hand clapping.

To date all Luxon has promised is no minimum wage increase, no Winter energy payment, no benefit increases, no Fair Pay Agreements and tax cuts that give a pittance to everyone and just under $20 000 for him?

The shine is coming off this new BMW quick.

We know what Luxon stands against, but increasingly it looks like all he stands for are First Class travellers on Air National.

When he says ‘White Elephant’ public transport, does he mean Air NZ? How many times have we had to bail that public transport out over the years?

So dumb.

 

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51 COMMENTS

  1. t does seem like a duff call from Luxon. Understandable to question the Autrhoritarian nature of transport bureaucracies like AT – but I think there are worse things to support. The only damage from free public tran sport is that people respect it less when it is free and services eventually run down. NHS GP services in Briraib are an example of that.

    • Very understandable to question AT who are out of control.

      And spot on free PT, I’ve seen it in action when most of Auckland’s rail service has no platform gates and operated on an unofficial honesty system. A lot of problems.

    • if it’s free it won’t be respected..untried rightist assertion.
      GPs in the UK are fucked by the deliberate underfunding by successive govts of exactly the type fester is proposing

  2. This from the dingbat who hired a black Mercedes to travel a few metres up Bowen Street ? Oops, two limos, a second separate Mercedes for his legless lady deputy. Needs to get his feet on the ground.

  3. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed is he?

    No subsidy on public transport equals no public transport. I guess he’s never used it, as in buses, trains, ferries apart from a 100% tax payer funded BMW.

    In fact in this governments existence, Jacinda’s seemingly off the cuff hurried move to halve PT fares was one of her best.

    Christopher is likely to implode during the election at this rate, as per that other National Party chap who led them for 53 days, name eludes me, the guy before Judith. There’s been so many!

  4. “But ultimately, public transport needs to stand on its own feet. It can’t be subsidised or underwritten … it has to be able to build on its own case,” he told reporters.

    So that means in Auckland. AT will longer receive the $272m subsidy ratepayers pay to a private company to run the bus network and the additional $172m the company gets in ticket payments too then? Ay baldy?

    And then the Government subsidy for wages and then the subsidy the Auckland ratepayers stump up for buying buses for the network and private companies!

    What a moron!

    • I can’t wait for lexi’s ‘new’ Public Transport announcement.

      A Policy outlining his preferred mode for ‘Public Transport’.

      It’s called Walking for the poor!

      ‘They’ can walk for freedom! They can walk for whanau! They can walk for their health!
      They can walk to the bene shop!

      He believes this is a wholesome Natz party policy called ‘Let’s Walk Our Way Out of Poverty!’

      It comes with tax cuts for earners and capital gainers wealth earners over $150k

  5. Luxon is interested in the top feeders the ones who donated 1.8 million to his party coffers for him to put up expensive billboards cause top feeder do not like the direction we as a country are heading.

  6. Luxon really cant see what it is to walk a mile in other people’s shoes. He says something he thinks is reasonable (within the context of his own experience) and then is constantly surprised when people react to it. To sum it up, Luxon doesnt want to be seen as a bad guy but he is so far away from real people that he doesnt and wont ever ‘get it’. A vote for National is a vote for Luxon’s future, not for NZ’s future.

  7. Still, someone has to pay for it Martyn:
    “Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has confirmed it’s not just Auckland Transport running out of money – the council is also running out of money to fund services. AT has said it is running out of money to operate the city’s buses, trains and services”

    “Each extra 0.5 per cent in inflation will add $15 million to the council’s running costs and each 0.5 per cent rise in interest costs will add $60m.” Oh dear, todays rate rise iss another 6o mil deeper in the hole Goff’s been digging.

    There is uncertainty over funding for the $1.4b Eastern Busway, the $4.4b City Rail Link is facing a “significant” price increase and AT has no money to co-ordinate infrastructure with Kāinga Ora housing developments.

    “We are in the middle of a perfect storm. We don’t have sufficient funds at the moment to keep the public transport operating as it is,” AT’s investment planning manager told the regional transport committee two weeks ago.

    Now what?

  8. It’s not just the Auckland council that are broke: “Kiwis households are paying more than $3,000 extra on essentials than they were 12 months ago, and policies implemented by the Government and Reserve Bank are contributing to the problem.

    “The rising cost of living for Kiwis, shows New Zealand has the second-highest inflation rate among our major trading partners, besides the USA, and this is plausibly the result of excessive government stimulus.

    New Zealand has the highest inflation in 30 years because too many dollars are chasing too few goods.

    The Government has misdiagnosed the economic issues behind the pandemic. It has tried to solve a supply-side crisis with a demand-side solution.”
    Three thousand a year extra for the typical household:
    Transport $1,042
    Food $478
    Housing $424
    Interest $262
    Rates $164
    Other $632
    https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/reports/research-note-6/

    • “Too many dollars chasing too few goods”. I would question that when it comes to diary and meat and some other primary goods. Sure transportation of those goods would go up ( though not as drastically with the fuel exercise cut) but is it also because they get better prices globally so locals can just get stuffed? I am not that a supply issue

  9. Yes Chris Luxon seems to have a habit of making statements then significantly modifying them soon after. He did that with “wasteful government spend”. When challenged he actually defended the big ticket items as “good spend” and then had a go at 50 mil, or something close, for cameras on fishing boats as inflationary.

    Its not like people can’t change their comments but he seems to say one thing for a sound bite and them modify through another channel soon after

  10. Sweet Baby Cheeses.
    Every time I dare look at our political scene and see what’s on offer, I realise there is no hope. No. Hope.

    Lux ‘bottom feeder’ Luthor is increasingly making Judith look measured and sensible. Bloody hell……..!!!!!

  11. Still he’ll be against Poor man’s Gordon Brown with a significant recession to deal with and gang violence spiraling out of control. He is odds on for 2023.

  12. Public transport ultimately ‘can’t be subsidised or underwritten’ – if only they took their own advice for Air New Zealand and all their corporate welfare.

  13. ” There’s a need for us to continue to drive mode shift ”
    ??????
    Is this Shyster Key’s re run of ” step change ” ?

    About as bad as # lets do absolutely nothing.

    Same old shit with 1 ply toilet paper.

  14. Look, clearly Luxon is a dick. PT is subsidised and has been for some time. And, what everyone else above is saying.
    I doubt that CL knows anything about the Waka Kotahi “farebox recovery policy” but here it is and here is the latest statistic:
    The National farebox recovery policy which was introduced in 2010, included a target to achieve a national farebox recovery ratio of no less than 50% over the course of the next two National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) cycles – that is, to the end of the 2015-18 NLTP. This means the initial target has not applied since mid-2018.
    As at Feb 2021 the AT PT farebox recovery was 23.85% I.e. tax payers (local and national) contributed 76.15% of average Aucklander’s PT fares.

    • the thing is would public transport need to be subsidised less if it was nationalised…

      maybe our resident nat cheer leaders can ask fester that.

  15. Most lefties think everything should be free but haven’t worked out someone pays. If AT is free all rate payers pay for it whether they use it or not. Rates go up or the pot holes don’t get fixed. If Auckland can’t pay for it NZ does so tax goes up. If everyone is happy with that it’s cool but don’t think it’s a freebie. Councils and the government have money. Yours.

    • tired lazy and wrong assertion nv as you know very well…we all pay through taxes for any and all public services…what you mean is rightards want lollies but they don’t want to pay for them…example the ‘low tax’ welfare queen states in the US who are constantly bailed out by the federal govt….
      well we don’t have a federal govt to do that for us, so pay nowt in get nowt out would be the rule…try driving on a road only you thought was worth paying for.

  16. We remember in 2005 when Don Brash on the back of playing the race card at Orewa, he mobilised the right wing anti-Maori NATZ voters by increasing their poll results from 23% to 26% and nearly made it to Govt. He promoted increasing wage and salary in NZ to match Australia. When Key become PM, he immediately borrowed $2billion and gave the rich a tax break and invited the property speculators to play musical houses and made a killing. Luxon is following the same pattern as his hero Key to create his “hill-billy economy”.

    • Your beloved Labour has already invited the property speculators to play musical houses and helped them make a killing. What do you say to that? Aren’t they the party supposed to help the poor?

      • What I would say to that SK is Luxon should stop wanking on about how tough it is for everyone when he has no intention of doing anything about it. Agree the stimulus has made house prices worse but Luxon will do all he can to stop them coming down, which at least they are now.

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