Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will no longer claim a $52,000 accommodation allowance for living in the Wellington apartment he owns.
Video / Newstalk ZB
His U-turn came mere hours after he told reporters in Queenstown he was entitled to claim the money. Earlier today, it was revealed he was claiming an 11 per cent top up to his own $471,000 salary in the form of a $52,000 optional accommodation allowance.
The allowance is in place to pay for Luxon, and other MPs based outside of Wellington, to find accommodation in the capital. However, few prime ministers have claimed it, with Luxon being the first in at least 34 years.
The news that Luxon, already one of New Zealand’s wealthiest Prime Ministers, was the first in decades to claim the allowance came at an awkward time for the Government, which is asking ministries to find savings of between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent - with some exclusions.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan this evening, Luxon said he was now going to return all the money he had received since becoming Prime Minister.
“As I came away [from a press conference] I thought ‘Wow, people are pretty fixated on the allowance’. I thought ‘what’s going on’.”
Luxon said he then listened to Newstalk ZB and heard the discussion on talkback.
He then changed his mind about the allowance.
“For me, I’m well within the rights, and well within the rules, but frankly it’s a distraction- I will live on my own costs,” Luxon told du Plessis-Allan.
Luxon said it would cost “millions and millions” of dollars to bring Premier House up to spec for him to live in.
“We’re trying to find a way to avoid spending millions and millions at Premier House. Obviously, it’s very difficult for us to think about how we spend that money, but we’re working through that.
“We know the house has long-standing maintenance and repair issues - It’s a 160-year-old house,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister earlier said Luxon was “claiming an accommodation allowance on his Wellington apartment in accordance with the rules”.
Earlier: ‘It’s an entitlement and I’m well within the rules’
Prior to his backdonw, Luxon said he was “entitled” to claim the $52,000 optional allowance, while he leads a Government demanding the public service find savings of up to 7.5 per cent from their budgets.
Out-of-towners like Dame Jacinda Ardern have opted to live in the Prime Minister’s official residence, Premier House, for free. Other Prime Ministers like Chris Hipkins and Sir Bill English were already based in Wellington.
English claimed an allowance but decided to pay it back after it was revealed he claimed nearly $1000 a week to live in his family home, which was officially deemed a ministerial residence.
Luxon said he wanted to live in Premier House “as quick as I can” but couldn’t because of “maintenance issues”.
“It’s an entitlement and I’m well within the rules,” he told journalists. “I’m entitled to the entitlements that everyone else has.”
Labour blasts ‘absolutely hypocritical’ Luxon
Labour leader Hipkins said he did not think Luxon should take the allowance, given he could live in Premier House for free.
“Christopher Luxon is treating hard-working Kiwis like a bottomless ATM. He needs to apply his own tough love standard to himself,” he said.
“Christopher Luxon has access to a free house. The prime ministerial residence is available for free to every prime minister, and it’s a residence that’s been good enough for every prime minister up to Christopher Luxon.
“I think it’s absolutely hypocritical for Christopher Luxon to be saying that every other New Zealander needs to stomach cuts while he’s claiming $52,000 a year. That’s $1000 a week allowance to live in his own house mortgage-free.”
Hipkins, however, didn’t go as far as to say Luxon should pay back what allowance he had claimed.
“If he wants to live in his own apartment, I think that’s fine, but he shouldn’t be asking the taxpayers to subsidise that when there is a free house just down the road that he could move into today.”
Hipkins said Premier House was safe and “certainly liveable”, while acknowledging it hadn’t seen any work since the 1990s and had certain “structural issues”.
Prime Ministers have frequently complained about the condition of Premier House. Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson also described the upstairs living quarters as resembling a 1980s motel.
Ardern stayed at the residence with her family when in Wellington.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis campaigned on cutting public spending. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The previous government commissioned a report into the work needed on Premier House, which has been received and the Government is currently considering its options.
“As has been reported, the Premier House Board Report suggests Premier House requires a significant amount of work so the Prime Minister is considering that before making any decisions around residing there,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.
Figures released this week show Andrew Bayly, Gerry Brownlee, Judith Collins, Simon Court, Barbara Kuriger, Melissa Lee, Mark Mitchell, Deborah Russell, Jenny Salesa, Stuart Smith, Jan Tinetti, Louise Upston, Arena Williams and Duncan Webb all claimed the allowance last year despite owning property in the capital.
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 NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
