First Premier House, now the PM’s plane
Just a couple of days after the news Premier House has had virtually nothing spent on it since the early 1990s, now the benighted New Zealand Defence Force plane which occasionally takes the prime minister on international trips, has broken down ... again.
Christopher Luxon was meant to leave at 6am yesterday to attend bilateral meetings in Melbourne. He was invited by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is hosting a dinner as part of an Asean summit.
The NZDF plane broke down and so Luxon and his officials flew commercial to Australia, where he met with the Sultan of Brunei, the prime minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Thailand, the president of Indonesia and Singapore’s prime minister, as well as the leader of Timor Leste. Then he attended the dinner being hosted by Albanese in the National Gallery of Victoria.
Today he will be speaking at a trans-Tasman ANZ Bank business breakfast, then off to see one of Fonterra’s factories in Victoria.
The purpose of the trip is to make international connections and see what New Zealand needs to do to get more foreign investment from, or do more business with, the countries concerned. Jacinda Ardern used to do the same sort of thing (with some obvious differences in emphasis). They are important.
In any case, yesterday the attending press pack was going to join Luxon in Melbourne once the plane was fixed, and stuck around with other NZDF staff also waiting for the plane – which was still expected to take off. By mid-afternoon the pin was pulled. Luxon will now be flying back commercial as well.
Two days, two examples of New Zealand’s penny-wise and pound-foolish national spending culture.
When he was in opposition, Luxon said he would not travel on the plane as it was a national embarrassment. On coming to office, he has discovered that a) it’s usefully more flexible than flying commercial and b) the NZDF is actually very keen on using the plane, where possible, to ferry around leaders.
This is because the flying time is important for pilots to get their hours up, and to help retention in an armed forces crying out for people. It’s also a pride thing – if you’re in the armed forces, taking the country’s leader on foreign trips is considered important.
The planes are also not exclusively the PM’s plane, of course – in fact, far from it. The planes can be reconfigured to carry cargo, supplies. They can, and do, do all manner of other jobs. Anyone who has flown on them (disclaimer: I have been on a number of trips on the plane) will also attest, while very convenient, you aren’t travelling in the lap of luxury. Commercial economy to Sydney is more comfortable.
But the two VIP planes are 30 years old and need replacing. As with Premier House, no prime minister wants to be the one seen to spend it on themselves.
It is a result of New Zealand’s debased political culture in which affecting to be ordinary, modest and thifty is rewarded. The politics of performative pauperism blended with a big bag of No 8 wire mythmaking, where spending on even basic things is painted as extravagance. Both sides of politics are guilty of it.
This should be something some sort of bipartisan deal can be thrashed out on, but for Luxon and Labour the risk and temptation respectively of turning a new plane into a ‘nice to have’ while the Government is reining in public spending may well prove too great. Hopefully, Luxon is cut from a different cloth.