Can Christopher Luxon be more than Nicola Willis' press sec?

Friday, 27 March 2026

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OPINION: Nicola Willis is having a very good crisis. You may think the Government should be doing more or less or something different, but it is hard to watch her talk about it without getting the sense she is across the issue, concerned about it without panicking, and thinking through several ways the crisis could go from here. She is unafraid to be nuanced - to explain that just because she is preparing for some very bad scenarios, that does not mean those scenarios are likely. She is happy to say that the US/Israel invasion of Iran and its fallout are hurting Kiwis. She has very slowly let the temperature turn up on her response - showing that she is taking the emerging problem seriously without prompting undue panic.

It's hard to say the same for her boss. Christopher Luxon attended Willis' press conference to announce the financial support package on Tuesday, but ended up acting more like a press secretary than a leader - deciding whose questions got answered in which order. The problem was almost every question was for Willis, who was across the detail and keen to engage, not Luxon. At one point Luxon himself interjected to take a question on fuel tax cuts from Willis, so we could all hear this:

'Can I talk to that? I mean because I think that's the, that's the lesson I'm trying - we're trying to articulate really strongly which is you know I can understand the appeal and we see those ideas floated, but that is incredibly untargeted. You know wealthy people get the benefit of that, uh and actually lower middle-income working New Zealanders uh who desperately need more assistance and more help.'

Compare this to an answer from Willis on whether she would consider extra help for those who lose their job as a result of the crisis, as John Key did in 2008:

'We're dealing with today's crisis not yesterday's crisis, and we're taking a targeted response to what we are seeing. As I've shared with you previously, the Treasury is continuing to forecast growth in the New Zealand economy, uh, and so the measures that you're referring to are not measures that I've been advised we should be considering at this time.'

This is just one press conference, and most of us would squirm if we had to read a transcript of how we actually spoke. It is reasonable for the prime minister to want to leave a mark on such big moments from the Government - but he hasn't quite worked out how to best add value when doing so.

Indeed, Luxon continually struggles to find the right gear. He seemed perturbed in the House on Tuesday and Wednesday when Chris Hipkins laid out a perfectly reasonable line of questions on how exactly the National Fuel Plan - published two years ago - might work in practice. Luxon appears determined to use almost every opportunity granted to attack Labour over the Covid-19 response.

Now, it's absolutely fair enough for the current Government to note that it inherited fiscal constraints, and that the Covid-19 spend was not always well-targeted. But there is a way to do this that doesn't read as petty point scoring or constantly relitigating the past, which is how it almost always comes across from Luxon. It is hard, looking back, to imagine Jacinda Ardern continually using Covid-19 press conferences to complain that the health system she inherited from Bill English was in a bad state.

It shouldn't be too much to ask that the Prime Minister stops looking forward to November 7 or back to 2020 - and gets serious about April and May.

Scared of the theatrette?

In case you haven't noticed, the Government seems to be holding all of its press conferences on fuel in places other than the places press conferences usually are held - the Beehive theatrette, which has a superb audio setup so that everyone can hear everyone else clearly. Instead we have been in the vast and echoey Beehive banquet hall - the site of Luxon's first presser as National leader. Are the ghosts of Covid-19 really that strong?

Question-time psycho-drama of the week: Marsden Point

NZ First MPs have been incredibly keen to tie Labour to the fuel crisis by repeating over and over again the party closed New Zealand's only oil refinery at Marsden Point- or at least 'approved' of this happening.

The truth is a bit more complex, as the House has traversed many times in recent weeks. The refinery did close while Labour was in Government - but it was a private sector decision. Megan Woods did take a paper to Cabinet considering the matter, and Cabinet chose not to intervene.

This issue almost saw Winston Peters kicked out of the House this week as he fought repeatedly for the right of MPs to say Labour 'approved' of the closure. Chris Hipkins suggested by that logic the current Government approved of Watties and McCain factories closing. Expect more of this.

Reading material

The Parliamentary Library maintains a small stand outside of the Copperfields cafe in Parliament where they recommend reading material for MPs and staffers - usually dry economy bulletins or descriptions of electorates. This week they were a bit more pointed. Titles included: Crude Awakenings, Oil Supply Security, Oil Demand Restraint Options for New Zealand, and Saving Oil in a Hurry. Not exactly holiday fare.

Quote of the week

'It's going through a kind of coalition seance' - Shane Jones explains what has happened with the contactless payments ban, later explaining a 'seance' meant 'you sit there and go nowhere'.

Number of the week

Three- the number of times Energy Minister Simon Watts said 'EV Vehicle' (Electric Vehicle Vehicle) at a press conference on Monday.

Comings and goings

ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden announced she would be standing down at the election on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Cabinet minister said she wanted to do more with life before potentially returning to politics. She is not quite the youngest Cabinet minister ever - both she and Phil Goff entered the Cabinet at 31, but Goff was 8 days younger.

All eyes are now on who ACT will put up for the Tamaki seat it won off National in 2023.

Meanwhile Labour has made two somewhat high-profile selections this week. Veteran campaigner and former John McDonnell staffer Max Harris is the party’s candidate in the utterly unwinnable Tamaki. Failed Auckland mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni- who Chris Hipkins was at pains to point out did not have the Labour endorsement for mayor - is the new candidate in the much more winnable Tāmaki Makaurau.

The week ahead

Parliament is sitting next week and the fuel crisis ain't going anywhere. Nicola Willis is holding a presser at around noon today explaining what the National Fuel Plan might look like in practice - she may need to pass some legislation next week to give it real teeth.

Until next time!