Raw Politics: Number’s up for Luxon, and Hipkins

This week, Raw Politics discusses Christopher Luxon the wannabe details man, Chris Hipkins the nowhere man and David Seymour the man with 91 highly paid new staff.
Newsroom political editor Laura Walters, senior political reporter Marc Daalder and co-editor Tim Murphy first assess the Prime Minister’s repeated instances of misusing, misquoting or misunderstanding numbers, facts and comparisons.
Does he try too hard to prove he’s across his brief or does he just do that old thing the media used to be criticised for of ‘beating up’ the story he wants to convey. Putting the best or worst spin on things by embellishing with some ambiguous facts.
Luxon can indulge his broad brush on policy assertions too, this week telling local government leaders to pull their heads in and stop spending on fantasy or frivolous projects. Trouble is, councils have many duties and services that ratepayers expect of them beyond Luxon’s essentials of roads, rubbish and water.
The panel then looks at the Labour Party 10 months on from its electoral hiding. The red side is being careful not to bark at every passing car, but its caution is leaving a void that a coalition that has been fast, and at times loose, is continuing to exploit.
Will Chris Hipkins seek to reinvent himself or is he biding his time for party unity, going through the motions until the time is right in the cycle for a change of leader?
Our reader question asks how many staff will work in David Seymour’s new regulation ministry. And the answer is not the 30 or so indicated by the Act leader, not twice that number but three times that at 91. And news they are on salaries considerably above the ‘wasteful’ public service median kind of checkmated Seymour’s attempt to justify his grand pet project.
Finally, the panelists recommend something to read, listen to or watch on the weekend ahead:
Raw Politics will be available on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your favourite shows every Friday, and you can watch it on YouTube above.