Is it capture or is it corruption or is it both? Christopher Luxon promotes himself as a brand expert. He isn’t. He is a brand destroyer and he is actively damaging New Zealand’s brand with nearly everything he says and does. Like Trump, he is toxic. He brings out the worst in people and policy and for that reason among others (lack of empathy, integrity, values) he is intensely disliked. He is also incurious, incompetent, and incomplete. New Zealand will never improve while he is around. Fingers crossed Kiwis get rid of him and his government in 2026.
Destroying New Zealand’s brand is certainly not going to encourage his overseas investors - unless all they want is to swoop in and pick over the spoils.
They are. Look at the steady loss of NZ industries to overseas investments. Fontera selling off its brands is just the latest. We think of farmers as being the "backbone of the economy" ? Almost 180,000 hectares of farming land was purchased or leased by foreign interests between 2010 and 2021 alone. That steady loss of income is continuing. Its not just the land - the profits go overseas, the "farmer" becomes a tenant on a wage and rural economies collapse.
Luxon’s strategic ineptitude is creating many unnecessary additional challenges for New Zealand, but hey, that’s nothing new is it? That’s his modus operandi.
From my own pursuit of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) aka climate change saga for probably 10 years now, this is a great result for NZ as Zero Carbon would deliver zero to this nation other than poverty and perhaps a smug feeling of virtuosity to some.
Certainly the Government approach has been a typically cowardly one, attempting to avoid confrontation, when really the country needs to be educated into accepting, if not the reality of AGW from a science perspective, then as least an understanding of a. why whatever we do the global impact of this tiny country could only ever be minute and b. the reality of getting out of economic hard times, which will mean more fossil fuel power generation to avoid continuous rocketing prices, industry shut downs and potential black or brown outs.
This article explains some of it https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/11/the-great-rewiring-unravels/, applying equally to NZ, although it entirely misses the generally downplayed need for ongoing fossil fuel backup. The world (and even Australia) is starting to wake up to nuclear energy as the most straightforward solution even though there's some way to go before mass production skills and supporting industries emerge to reduce cost and time to construct. Unlike wind and solar this will pave way for a global transition to fusion power when this becomes available, which will represent a leap in human evolution beyond fire.
That Matthew Hooton piece might've changed my mind about the value of bipartisan compromise. It's a shame, I thought James Shaw's determination to get the National Party on board for the Zero Carbon Act was one of his finest acts, if not the finest, as a politician.
Is it capture or is it corruption or is it both? Christopher Luxon promotes himself as a brand expert. He isn’t. He is a brand destroyer and he is actively damaging New Zealand’s brand with nearly everything he says and does. Like Trump, he is toxic. He brings out the worst in people and policy and for that reason among others (lack of empathy, integrity, values) he is intensely disliked. He is also incurious, incompetent, and incomplete. New Zealand will never improve while he is around. Fingers crossed Kiwis get rid of him and his government in 2026.
Destroying New Zealand’s brand is certainly not going to encourage his overseas investors - unless all they want is to swoop in and pick over the spoils.
They are. Look at the steady loss of NZ industries to overseas investments. Fontera selling off its brands is just the latest. We think of farmers as being the "backbone of the economy" ? Almost 180,000 hectares of farming land was purchased or leased by foreign interests between 2010 and 2021 alone. That steady loss of income is continuing. Its not just the land - the profits go overseas, the "farmer" becomes a tenant on a wage and rural economies collapse.
I agree. I watched as corporations decimated American farmers, who became tenants in their own homes. So much for the OIA.
Luxon’s strategic ineptitude is creating many unnecessary additional challenges for New Zealand, but hey, that’s nothing new is it? That’s his modus operandi.
From my own pursuit of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) aka climate change saga for probably 10 years now, this is a great result for NZ as Zero Carbon would deliver zero to this nation other than poverty and perhaps a smug feeling of virtuosity to some.
Certainly the Government approach has been a typically cowardly one, attempting to avoid confrontation, when really the country needs to be educated into accepting, if not the reality of AGW from a science perspective, then as least an understanding of a. why whatever we do the global impact of this tiny country could only ever be minute and b. the reality of getting out of economic hard times, which will mean more fossil fuel power generation to avoid continuous rocketing prices, industry shut downs and potential black or brown outs.
This article explains some of it https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/11/the-great-rewiring-unravels/, applying equally to NZ, although it entirely misses the generally downplayed need for ongoing fossil fuel backup. The world (and even Australia) is starting to wake up to nuclear energy as the most straightforward solution even though there's some way to go before mass production skills and supporting industries emerge to reduce cost and time to construct. Unlike wind and solar this will pave way for a global transition to fusion power when this becomes available, which will represent a leap in human evolution beyond fire.
That Matthew Hooton piece might've changed my mind about the value of bipartisan compromise. It's a shame, I thought James Shaw's determination to get the National Party on board for the Zero Carbon Act was one of his finest acts, if not the finest, as a politician.
not good at all.