ℙ𝕄’𝕤 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕝𝕖

𝕐𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕥 𝕒 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 ℙ𝕄 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕣 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖.

P

rime Minister Christopher Luxon says he understands the “frustration” of the Dunedin Hospital cost blow-out, but says the project must be delivered to budget.

“Our focus is on making sure we get it back within the envelope of the $1.9b [budget],” he said.

At times he appeared terse during questions about the cost of upgrades to Premier House, and a current sale of his Wellington apartment. file: Johnny HD

He took media questions at a housing development in Auckland this afternoon, the press conference was in place of his usual post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoons. 

At times he appeared terse during questions about the cost of upgrades to Premier House, and a current sale of his Wellington apartment.

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Shortly before taking questions he ran through the Government’s quarter four plan, which would focus on reform work to allow more efficient building of modern, reliable infrastructure.

He spoke after Government signalled its intent to make major changes to building consent processes, announced yesterday by Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. Luxon was this afternoon at Elementum housing development, in Long Bay.

Asked about the Dunedin Hospital budget blow-out ‒ the project was expected to run over budget to $3 billion, prompting the Government to go back to Health NZ to instruct it to deliver to original costings ‒ Luxon said an overspend would risk investment in other hospitals.

“Rest assured we are committed to building a new hospital, but it has to be within the budget frame,” he said. “You cannot have a situation, as we have inherited ... where we have cost blow-outs. We have limited amounts of money, monies we cannot invest in other regional hospitals.”

‘I don’t know what the point of the questioning is’

Luxon’s office also confirmed today that the prime minister has officially moved into Premier House, after refurbishment work at the official residence. Luxon this afternoon said it had undergone “basic elemental maintenance”.

Following reporting that Luxon had sold his Wellington apartment that he had been living in while in the capital, a reporter asked if he should have paid a capital gains tax on it. National is opposed to capital gains taxes, while Labour has floated the idea once more.

“Uh, no, we don’t have capital gains tax in New Zealand,” Luxon responded.

Asked if he’d made a good sale in a tight property market, Luxon said, “Sorry, off what?” before clarifying the sale was “still progressing”.

“I don’t know what the point of the questioning is,” he said, also appearing irritated following questions about the cost of the upgrades at Premier House, which he said included carpets being replaced for the first time in 34 years.

“If you’d like to know the detail, feel free to talk to ministerial services who manage government property.”

Premier House has received at least $95,000 worth of upgrades since Luxon took office, including new paint, bedding, kitchen appliances, and Sky.

As part of its building consent reform work the Government is considering allowing councils to group together to deliver building control functions, establishing a smaller number of Building Consent Authorities and setting up a single point of contact for builders to submit plans to, with building inspections contracted out to existing BCAs or private consenting providers to create competition and encourage specialisation.

It also plans to look at liability settings across the whole building system.

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Luxon says the Government’s final quarter action plan will focus on infrastructure delivery, including passing the Fast-track Approvals Bill, passing the first Resource Management Amendment Bill, and introducing the second amendment bill for the Resource Management Act.

He also promised further action on law and order, and delivering better public services.

“By the end of this year, we plan to introduce legislation to enable stronger consequences for serious youth offending, begin the phased rollout of free breast cancer screening for women to age 74, and release the final curriculum for English and maths for use in primary schools in 2025.

“Kiwis can head into the summer break confident that they have a Government focused on action and delivery to make their and their family’s lives better.”

Luxon claimed success in delivering 39 of the 40 action points in its third quarter plan, which was focused on law and order. That included four pieces of legislation including the gang patch ban, the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill, the Corrections Amendment Bill, and the Courts (Remote Participation) Bill.

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