Speaker warns MPs after PM’s wife raised in debate over discounted Tesla

Labour leader Chris Hipkins’ push to highlight conflicting statements made by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has led to him being warned against asking questions about Luxon’s wife.

Going head-to-head in Question Time today, Hipkins went after Luxon over seemingly conflicting statements he’d made regarding learning te reo Māori, using Defence Force planes for international travel and the Clean Car Discount.

On the latter, Hipkins asked Luxon whether he would pay back the discount his family received through the scheme when buying a Tesla, given his Government had repealed the discount and Luxon personally had been critical of it.

Luxon said his wife Amanda owned the car and as such, Hipkins’ questions related to the “affairs of my wife”.

Hipkins went on to repeat previous statements made by Luxon that the car was his.

In response, Luxon reiterated the Tesla was owned by his wife and proceeded to tell Hipkins he wouldn’t bring his partner into House debate as she was not a public official.

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins tried to highlight changes in Luxon's positions in several areas during Question Time. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Luxon was backed up by Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee and despite Hipkins saying it was Luxon who had first mentioned his wife, Brownlee wouldn’t allow further questions relating to Amanda Luxon.

Brownlee reminded MPs it was custom for those who weren’t public officials, such as family members, should not be brought into debate in the House.

Hipkins earlier today said he believed Luxon was a hypocrite for backing down on a promise not to use the Defence Force’s Boeing 757s as PM, owing to their record of breakdowns, but now was taking one to Australia tomorrow to meet with Australia PM Anthony Albanese.

He was also critical of Luxon following revelations the former Opposition leader had used taxpayer funding to pay for his te reo Māori lessons, as his new Government sought to remove financial bonuses for public servants who learn te reo if it wasn’t necessary for their job.

It comes after confirmation the 757 intended to take Luxon across the ditch was in working order, following Luxon yesterday stating it had experienced maintenance failures and could force another plane to be taken to Sydney.

A spokesman for Luxon confirmed the issue with the plane had been resolved and would be taking the PM and a media contingent over to Australia for the day trip tomorrow.

Luxon had last night requested that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) investigate long-term solutions for his and his ministers’ international travel, following the latest in a long line of failures within the fleet.

Luxon was also batting off claims his position on using the ageing Boeing 757s has changed, despite vowing earlier this year to never fly on them.

Luxon yesterday announced he would fly to Sydney tomorrow to meet Albanese and said he intended to take one of the Defence Force’s 757s, which allowed members of the media to fly with him.

The plane had recently experienced maintenance failures and as of yesterday it was unknown whether the problem would be fixed in time. While the type of failure hadn’t been specified, it was understood it was the same issue that stopped Foreign Minister Winston Peters from using it to fly to Fiji over the weekend.

However, it has just been confirmed the plane was ready for use.

Luxon this morning said he and Defence Minister Judith Collins had last night requested the Defence Force come back with “long-term options for proper travel”, having yesterday deemed the plane’s failures “incredibly embarrassing” for New Zealand.

“We want to be out and about in the world as we’ve talked about and it’s important that we can actually get around and actually do what we need to do,” he said.

“We want to spend a lot of time in southeast Asia and northeast Asia, we want to spend a lot of time in Australia, we want a stronger relationship with the US and we need to be able to move around the world to be able to do that.”

He said the answer wouldn’t necessarily be buying new planes, as leasing or relying on commercial flights could be appropriate.

Luxon said he expected to receive a list of options from the Defence Force within the first three months of next year.

The Defence Force's two Boeing 757s might be out of action when the Prime Minister intends to fly to Australia this week. Photo / NZME

In July, Luxon - as Opposition leader - vowed not to use the “ancient aircraft” to travel internationally if elected, following revelations former PM Chris Hipkins had to take two planes while flying to China, in case the first broke down.

Luxon said at the time he would pursue commercial or chartered options if he was PM.

Hipkins, as Labour leader, said today that Luxon’s willingness to use the 757s was hypocritical.

“Again, that’s another example of Christopher Luxon setting a different standard for other people compared to the one that he sets for himself,” Hipkins said.

“We fly on the Defence Force plane for these trips because it’s actually very efficient, it’s very effective, it means that a large number of people can fly relatively cheaply and relatively conveniently.

“[Luxon] was very critical when I did that and yet now he’s proposing to do the same thing himself.”

Asked if he supported a more reliable and sustainable solution to allow travel for Prime Ministers and ministers, Hipkins cited his Government’s record replacing other planes in the Defence Force’s fleet and noted the 757s were due to be placed before the end of the decade.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.