Prime Minister says he’s taking key ministers linked to failed coup at their word, sure Penk acted alone
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he’s taking Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop at their word, after the senior MPs assured him they had nothing to do with Chris Penk’s attempt to roll him as National leader.
And he promised Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast there would “100%” be no further attempts on his leadership ahead of the election on November 7.
Stanford and Bishop had both assured Luxon publicly and privately that he had their full confidence and Penk had acted alone, he said, adding the pair were “outstanding ministers” and key players in his team.
“I want them to keep playing”.
Penk had been “completely reasonable” when Luxon had sacked him as Defence Minister.
“He understood it’s untenable … it was a very positive conversation,” Luxon said, though he had not asked Penk for the reasoning behind his actions.
Asked if the coup attempt was a reflection on his leadership, Luxon said it was “a reflection on mistakes that I’ve made”.
“I need to be better at communicating where we’re going … what our policies are, the record that we’ve already had in Government. I’ve got to step that up. That’s on me,” he said.
“As a leader, you’ve kind of got to admit, ‘Look, I’m grossly imperfect. Under pressure, we all make mistakes, and when I make them, I should call it out and say so’.”
He had particularly struggled in providing 3-6 second soundbites to media.
“How do you get it all together and project personality as well as context as well as the policy and the content? And so if you’ve got advice on how I can do that better, I’ll keep working at it.”
Erica Stanford yesterday rejected rumours she had been involved in the Penk-led plot, saying she had always backed Luxon “100%” and had no interest in leading National or the country.
The other rumoured challenger for National’s leadership, Bishop, has also pledged loyalty to Luxon, who says he has the full support of his caucus.
Penk was sacked as Defence Minister last Wednesday and announced he would not stand again in his Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate. A replacement candidate has not yet been announced for Penk’s electorate after Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith ruled out standing in the safe National seat.
Meanwhile, questions continue over the place of the Opportunity Party in a future Government, after multiple polls predict the party will reach Parliament.
The latest Herald-Motu Research Poll of Polls suggests Opportunity could play kingmaker for both the left and right - a concern for National after Luxon ruled out working with the party due to its tax policies.
The poll of polls did not include a new Talbot-Mills corporate poll, which had National down two points and out of Government unless it did a deal with Opportunity.
Act’s leader David Seymour last week confirmed his party could work with Opportunity, provided they gave up their land tax and universal basic income policies.
The tax package was defended by leader Qiulae Wong on TVNZ’s Q+A on Sunday, after she admitted the party had not modelled its impact on “wealth flight”. Kiwis returning to New Zealand could also be left worse off but should look at the “bigger picture”, Wong said.
Parties continue to release new policy proposals, with Act proposing to remove “good employer” requirements from the public service and Opportunity pledging to clean up political lobbying and cap donations.
And Te Pāti Māori has announced it will only campaign on winning the Māori seats – rather than the party vote - as it launched its official campaign in Gisborne on Sunday.