Luxon Sorry for Calling Businesses Children, Immediately Declares Them His Equal

Christopher Luxon told a Rotorua Business Chamber audience last week that some businesses had a “parent-child mentality,” too often turning to government instead of standing on their own. Labour’s Barbara Edmonds called it a patronising lecture, noting businesses had asked for an economy that works, not a scolding. On Monday, Luxon apologised, telling Morning Report he was “sorry if my comments did not appropriately recognise the challenges they are facing.”

Having withdrawn the parent, Luxon moved quickly to reinstate the equal. “I believe very strongly that government, business, community leaders actually are equal in our society,” he said, days after suggesting a meaningful part of that society needed to grow up. The apology and the promotion arrived close enough together that business owners could be forgiven for not knowing which version of the relationship they were currently in.

Luxon maintains his original point still stands, that government and business need to work together, which is true of relationships between equals and also true of relationships between a parent and a child. The distinction between those two arrangements, it turns out, is not something the Prime Minister is prepared to hold for more than a week at a time.