Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during his days as chief executive of Air New Zealand. Photo / Greg Bowker
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during his days as chief executive of Air New Zealand. Photo / Greg Bowker
Opinion by Liam Dann
Liam Dann, Business Editor at Large for New Zealand’s Herald, works as a writer, columnist, radio commentator and as a presenter and producer of videos and podcasts.
It is time for Christopher Luxon to call time on the negativity coming from his Government. In fact, it is time for him to remind everyone that it is his Government.
That’s the way business leaders navigate tough times – with realism but unabashed positivity.
I was impressed withthe business-like way the Prime Minister laid out his 36-point action plan and talked about quarterly targets.
I agree with Green Party leader Chloe Swarbrick that New Zealand isn’t a company and the Prime Minister is not a CEO.
He is saying that right now the management of this country could benefit from more discipline around delivery and accountability.
Business is quite good at that stuff. It makes sense for Luxon to lean into it because that is what he is good at. It’s also what he won a mandate to do.
Of course, Luxon needs to learn to navigate the political intricacies of government.
But his business success is the reason he was quickly elevated through the ranks of the National Party and a big part of why National won power (although Labour self-destructing didn’t hurt).
I agree with some of the things on that 36-point to-do list. I disagree with others (for example, I’ve argued that we should put tax cuts on hold until we can afford them).
But what I wholeheartedly agree on is that New Zealand governments need to get better at getting things done.
Where Luxon is struggling right now – in my view – is in being dragged into political game-playing, at which he is not a master.
One of Luxon’s great strengths as a CEO was his positivity. He is at his most charismatic when he is upbeat and focused on selling visionary goals.
The inspirational aspect of corporate leadership is often forgotten in discussions of a business-style approach.
Of course, business leaders aren’t shy of grumbling about government, but when it comes to their own organisations they strive to run things with a relentlessly positive approach.
They have to make hard and unpopular decisions but seldom dwell on them.
Crucially, a new CEO never wastes time blaming their predecessor for the state of things. It is considered poor form to do so.
New CEOs rule lines and move on. They play the hand they’re dealt, they are solution-focused and interested only in future performance.
In politics, there is strategic value in undermining the last lot, given the opposition will be back to try to win power again in three years.
Perhaps there are also gains to be made from arguing things are worse than expected – as this Government certainly has.
But I think this gloomy approach is in danger of backfiring on Luxon and his Government as the country navigates a difficult recessionary period.
Pre-election, Luxon talked about New Zealand needing to get its mojo back. I’ll admit, at the time, I poked fun at the turn of phrase – but he had a point.
In the first 100 days, we’ve seen little of the inspiring leadership we’ll need to find that mojo.
Luxon and his team will argue that the groundwork is being laid.
But the message has been lost beneath the fire and brimstone rhetoric of minor coalition party leader Winston Peters.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is a tough seasoned political campaigner. Photo / Mark Mitchell
And any popular appeal has been undermined by the fiscal austerity being trumpeted by National’s other coalition partner Act.
The official opposition, Labour, is largely impotent while it regroups and reformulates what it stands for.
So it seems Luxon’s popularity is being eroded by his coalition partners.
Recent polls have him dipping in the preferred prime minister stakes.
BusinessDesk reports that a poll last month, for corporate clients by Talbot Mills, showed Luxon dropping three percentage points to 24 per cent as preferred prime minister, just one point ahead of Chris Hipkins, on 23 per cent.
Last month’s Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll showed his favourability down 16 points to put his net favourability at -5 per cent, well behind Hipkins on +2 per cent.
That poll showed Act leader David Seymour rose 6 points to -8 per cent and Peters rose 10 points to -22 per cent.
Those numbers serve as a reminder that, despite grabbing more headlines in the first 100 days, neither of these guys has any kind of broad appeal.
Even right-wing political commentator Richard Prebble has described Luxon’s start as the “worst honeymoon of any elected leader”.
One prominent business leader I talked to last week – clearly facing pressure from the economic downturn – bemoaned the negative approach we’ve seen in the past few months.
He recalled Luxon’s election night speech which was business-like in the best way. It addressed the challenges the country faces but talked about building consensus.
“It’s what unites us that matters most to me and that will always be the ethos of a government that I lead,” he said.
That hasn’t been the ethos delivered by Seymour or Peters.
It was always going to be tough going for Luxon. Peters and Seymour are tough seasoned political campaigners.
They also have the advantage of only having to appeal to their base – typically just 6 and 10 per cent of the public respectively.
Luxon needs to grab the leadership spotlight back.
It’s the nature of MMP that minor parts get outsized policy influence. The only way to neutralise that is for a prime minister to be popular and unafraid of returning to the polls.
Luxon is at his most charismatic when he displays the relentless positivity of a CEO.
That’s not easy in the political cauldron. He should try to stay out of it. If he plays his own game he’ll rise above it.
