Mike's Minute: Luxon finally told it as it is

Has the penny dropped? 

There was no shortage of headlines and news coverage yesterday out of our interview with the Prime Minister on the Reserve Bank. 

In a nutshell, Luxon suggested Christian Hawkesby blew it and should have/could have moved faster on the cash rate. 

This is news, but not because the Prime Minister is right. We all know he is right. 

But there is a convention whereby because the Reserve Bank is independent you don’t bag them, especially if you are a politician, far less the most influential politician. 

But here is why Luxon was right and deserves recognition for what he said: there comes a time when you've got to say what you've got to say. 

You can't dance around convention without becoming convention's victim. 

There is too much of that. People who can't have a go at judges is another example. 

By tiptoeing around the truth, we invite complacency and accountability becomes woefully lacking. 

The cold, hard politics are at play as well. Christian Hawkesby and his gang of monetary committee wonks aren't up for re-election next year. 

Believe me, if Luxon wanders the countryside telling us he wished the cash rate was lowered faster, he's not getting any sympathy. 

The extreme of course is Trump, where you call for sackings and, occasionally, actually do some sacking. We don’t need to be that unhinged. 

But it is unfairly restrictive for a government to cut spending, cut red tape, change rules and laws, trim jobs, cap councils, upend the RMA, and get the fast track going. Or in other words, work their butts off pulling every lever they can to fire the joint up. 

But in the meantime, the old dump de dos on the terrace can't see a contraction when it smacks them in the face and they stall the economy through ineptitude. 

Also, quite apart from anything, we like strong leadership. We like people telling it like it is. 

If Luxon has had a weakness it might just be he has been a bit corporate, a bit beige, a bit polite and a bit nice. 

Hopefully yesterday was the start of something new and more strident and with it a few more people are held to open, public account. 

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