Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister on the Government's plans for the third quarter, Andrew McKenzie's redundancy payout

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The Prime Minister is clarifying a six-figure redundancy payment to the resigning Kainga Ora CEO.

Christopher Luxon says it was not a decision made by the Government.

The public housing agency's chief executive Andrew McKenzie says he didn't sign up for an overhaul of Kainga Ora.

He's in for a payment of $365 thousand.

Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that those arrangements sit with the chair Simon Mouttar, but he calls it an under-performing organisation.

He says they're refreshing the board.

Luxon said that he doesn't know the details of the redundancy, and doesn't want to, what he wants to know is that the organisation is starting to get better.

The Prime Minister has also pledged to address law and order during the Government’s plan for the third quarter of this year, although he was often coy when asked about specific details of policies.

Luxon published his Government’s plan for the third quarter on Monday. The plan covers the period from July to the end of September and included 40 “actions” across areas like the economy and climate change, but Luxon said law and order would be his priority.

“The Government I lead is one of action and we are already making meaningful changes that will keep Kiwis safe in their homes, workplaces and communities,” Luxon said. The plan pledges the Government to giving police “tough powers to go after gangs by restricting their ability to associate and banning gang patches in public” and the power to “get guns out of the hands of criminals”.

While plans for a Government’s first 100 days in office have become fairly common features of New Zealand politics, Luxon decided his Government would adopt a 100 day plan-style approach to its entire term of Government by publishing a plan each quarter of what “actions” the Government intends to tick off over the next three months.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast, Luxon compared his progress throughout his time as Prime Minister to the many “corporate turnarounds” he has accomplished in his career, although he acknowledged the difference between a business and a country.

”I am just focused on the must-do stuff right now, that’s what you to do when you are turning stuff around… we can plant those seeds now that we can benefit from down the road.

”If we don’t do that, we are heading down a very dark road.”

Other significant pledges include to publish New Zealand’s second Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP), the first such plan published by this Government. ERPs are meant to set out how a Government meets its emissions budgets under the Zero Carbon Act.

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