Analysis: Christopher Luxon failed to read the room and will need to do some serious reflection, writes 1News deputy political editor Maiki Sherman.
Christopher Luxon had quite the whoopsie today.
After initially failing to read the room in the morning, by this afternoon he saw the writing on the wall.
It resulted in arguably one of the quickest backtracks in recent political history.
The fact it took him so long in the first place will require some serious reflection not only for his advisors, but for the man himself.
The entire saga began after it was revealed the prime minister was claiming $52,000 in taxpayer money as an accommodation allowance for his Wellington apartment, despite owning the property mortgage-free.
Luxon has the option of living at a run-down Premier House free of charge, but he refused.
Claiming the accommodation allowance had many arguing Luxon was simply creaming it.
The PM had earlier said there was no problem with taking the supplement despite free accommodation available at Premier House.
He had multiple chances to rectify and take ownership of the situation, but he didn't.
The first was not taking the allowance in the first place. The second was not realising the mistake when the original story broke. The third time — the press conference this afternoon — could have been a charm, but again the blinkers were on.
Only in a message late this afternoon before the 6pm bulletins were set to go to air did the penny finally drop — taking a $1000 a week taxpayer allowance would not go down well with the public.
People 1News spoke to today did not take kindly to it.
There is no denying the prime minister was playing within the rules — no one is disputing that.
But to voters it was as much about the moral argument as the technicalities.
Luxon was originally defiant in his defence of the decision at the press conference and there would have been some among the public who would have supported him.
But we have a problem with tall poppy syndrome here in New Zealand.
National Party supporters in particular would likely have felt a sense of indignation at such criticism.
Supporters would hold the view that Luxon is rightfully entitled to claim the expense and any grumbling is simply sour grapes against a man who has worked hard and found success.
Unfortunately for the prime minister, not everything in politics is as black and white. It was something he came to realise in the course of two hours — the time between his press conference and the U-turn shortly after 5pm.
Luxon not only owns his Wellington apartment mortgage-free, he also has a family home in Auckland, a bach on Waiheke, and four investment properties in Auckland. He is a multimillionaire.
New Zealanders who are doing it tough under the crushing weight of the cost-of-living crisis might have felt they had every right to feel ripped off.
At every turn the prime minister has made a point to talk about the pressure everyday New Zealanders are under and is at pains to say the Government is fixated on sorting it.
He has spoken of people struggling to pay the bills, to put a meal on the table for their families, and to fill their cars with petrol to get to and from work. The irony was that those were some of the same taxpayers which Luxon happily took money from as part of his accommodation expenses.
It also came as the Government threatened in the last fortnight to cut the incomes of beneficiaries as part of tougher sanctions.
Meanwhile public service agencies across the board were being asked to find savings of between 6.5% or 7.5%. This has many concerned about the impacts on core services.
Education Minister Erica Stanford spent this week pulling up the handbrake on over a dozen school project builds citing serious cost blowout concerns.
Launching a rapid inquiry into around 350 property projects has sent hundreds of schools desperate for new buildings into a complete tailspin.
One school in Auckland, which caters to children with intellectual and physical disabilities, invited 1News into their premises, which had mushrooms growing on its walls.
The prime minister, in his State of the Nation speech in February, reiterated that the economy — and, therefore, the country — was "fragile".
To some it would have beggared belief then that he would allow himself to make such a rookie mistake by claiming the accommodation allowance.
Luxon lacked the political nous and foresight to kill the scandal at the earliest convenience.
The Opposition would have had a field day with this. Luxon needs to become more nimble on issues that may grate with voters.
Despite the backtrack, the damage has largely been done.
At a time when the Government is calling on everyone to tighten their belts — Luxon, who has enough room under his belt to fit an entire property portfolio — simply didn't apply the same rule to himself.
There has not been a single prime minister in the last 34 years who has claimed the allowance. While their circumstances all differ, there is a clear reason why: the optics of this are bad both politically and morally.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Bill English found himself in a similar situation in 2009 after claiming a housing allowance for his family home in Wellington.
In the end, English announced he would no longer receive the taxpayer-funded support and opted to repay a substantial amount. That should have been the example to follow first thing today. The National leader's office already had the playbook on this.
There are certainly issues with Premier House, which is why Luxon is staying at his private apartment.
Premier House is well-known to need a revamp, with former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern commenting that the property tended to leak. Nonetheless, she and now husband Clarke Gayford still lived in the property with their daughter Neve.
Chris Hipkins, during his time as prime minister, opted instead to remain at his Upper Hutt home, but did not claim a housing allowance as Luxon has done.
Luxon is in danger of feeding into a narrative that he would do well to avoid.
A hard lesson was learned today.
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