Plane sailing: Luxon pitches to fix things

Plane sailing: Luxon pitches to fix things
At his State of the Nation speech, Christopher Luxon promised a tax rebate for families using early childhood education services. (Image: Dileepa Fonseka/BusinessDesk)
Dileepa Fonseka
The best line of National party leader Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation event didn’t belong to him, but to his co-leader Nicola Willis, who described Luxon as the man “who made the planes run on time at Air New Zealand”. The line simultaneously captures what everyone is feeling about air travel right now and Luxon’s Wayne Brown-esque pitch to voters: everything is broken, and I have the skills to fix it. His pitch is not a unique one. Benito Mussolini was famously credited as the man who “mad...

More Opinion

ComCom dithering over Manawa deal
Markets

Paul Ridley-Smith: ComCom dithering over Manawa deal

Negative messaging over straightforward deal left shareholders guessing.

Budget 2025: Clip rumoured for KiwiSaver’s wings
Opinion

David Chaplin: Budget 2025: Clip rumoured for KiwiSaver’s wings

Axeing the member tax credit or bringing in means testing are among the possible changes.

Frantic property flipping a worry
Opinion

Maria Slade: Frantic property flipping a worry

What's to stop the practice driving up prices and disadvantaging genuine homeowners?

Maria Slade 19 May 2025
Holy NZ financial markets Batman
Opinion

Simon Robertson: Holy NZ financial markets Batman

Every stock exchange and investment firm deserves a hero. 

Simon Robertson 17 May 2025