Luxons 2023 Election Pledges Were A Unforgivable Con
Luxons 2023 Election Pledges Were A Unforgivable Con
𝘓𝘶𝘹𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳-𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘸𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.
𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: Bruce Alpine
hristopher Luxon’s 2023 pledge card was a con. He swore he’d lower inflation, deliver tax relief, grow the economy and crush the cost-of-living crisis.
Election '23, Luxon swore he’d lower inflation, deliver tax relief, grow the economy and crush the cost-of-living crisis. Supplied by: Bruce Alpine
Two-and-a-half years later the record is unforgivable: his government’s deliberate austerity and stubborn low-wage policy have deliberately prolonged a per-capita recession, spiked unemployment to decade highs, and left hard-working Kiwi families financially gutted while the rich got their tax cuts.
Luxon’s signature crime was $11 billion in savage spending cuts — $5,000 ripped from every household — to fund tax breaks and chase a phantom surplus by 2026/27.
Treasury’s own HYEFU 2025 and updates show the opposite: deficits ballooning to $13–17 billion, no surplus before 2028/29, and core Crown debt heading for 47% of GDP.
The “savings” murdered demand when the economy needed oxygen.
Real GDP growth crawled at 0.4–1.7% in 2025, forecasts for 2026 slashed again.
Real GDP per capita is still below 2022 levels.
This is not bad luck — it is policy sabotage.
Unemployment has exploded from ~3.5–4% at the election to 5.3% in the March 2026 quarter — a nine-year high.
Over 32,000 more Kiwis are jobless, with forecasts of 76,000 extra on Jobseeker by 2027.
Youth employment has cratered.
Wage growth is stuck at a pathetic 2.0%, while non-tradable costs — rent, power, insurance, groceries — keep hammering families.
Household living expenses rose another 2.1% in the year to March 2026 even as CPI sat around 3.1%.
Essentials are outrunning pay packets.
Then there is Luxon’s persistence low-wage policy — the cynical kicker that is actively crippling hard-working families.
For the third year running the government has hiked the minimum wage by a miserly 2% (to $23.95 an hour from April 2026).
That is not a raise; it is a real-terms pay cut.
Low-paid workers are now $1,702 a year worse off in real dollars, according to the government’s own forecasts.
The coalition agreement locked in “moderate increases” that deliberately lag inflation and productivity.
No fair-pay agreements, weakened worker protections, and a labour market flooded with insecure jobs.
This is not accidental — it is a conscious choice to keep wages suppressed so businesses stay cheap and profits flow upward.
Hard-working families are working longer, harder, and still going backwards.
The 2024 tax cuts were a cruel joke for the bottom half.
They were paid for by gutting public services, sacking public servants, and starving health and education.
Middle and low-income households got pennies while watching their real incomes evaporate in higher rents, power bills and supermarket prices.
The tax-cut sugar hit cannot hide the austerity hangover.
Infrastructure? Mostly glossy plans and pothole patches.
Gang numbers have surged and now outnumber cops, jacking up insurance and business costs that get passed straight to consumers.
School standards exposed the mess but delivered zero lift.
Violent crime victims are down slightly, but the “law and order” brand is hollow theatre.
By May 2026 the verdict is brutal and beyond spin: Luxon’s “fix the basics” has shattered the basics for ordinary New Zealanders.
Inflation is lower — Reserve Bank work, not his.
Growth is missing.
Jobs are scarcer.
Wages are deliberately kept low.
Services are leaner.
Household budgets are under siege.
This government chose ideology over people, surplus-chasing over recovery, and a low-wage economy over dignity for working families.
New Zealanders did not vote for this self-inflicted misery.
With the November 7th election coming, they have every right to deliver the only verdict that counts: failure.
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