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Screengrab: Q&A, addition design: Tina Tiller
Screengrab: Q&A, addition design: Tina Tiller

PoliticsApril 27, 2022

What Christopher Luxon should have said

Screengrab: Q&A, addition design: Tina Tiller
Screengrab: Q&A, addition design: Tina Tiller

The leader of the opposition didn’t do as badly on Q&A as everyone says, argues Liam Hehir, but he could’ve been better.

Opponents of the National Party were pretty smug over Christopher Luxon finding the going tough in his interview with Jack Tame on Q&A last weekend. I’m not sure who would have expected anything different, however. Tame is a tough interviewer despite his cheery and friendly manner.

The intense partisans of Twitter are convinced that Tame took Luxon to the woodshed. Overall, however, he really didn’t do so badly. He was certainly no worse than Jacinda Ardern has been whenever she has been grilled by Tame. Which is not to say that it went swimmingly for the leader of the opposition.

Tame challenged Luxon to justify his view that government waste is exacerbating inflation. He struggled to parry the (mistaken) assumption that all spending is equally inflationary. Luxon should have been faster to make the point that good spending helps the economy to produce more goods and services whereas wasteful spending increases demand without assisting production.

When the government spends $51 million to not build a bridge, that’s inflationary. Spending money on a new hospital that increases the provision of necessary services does not have the same effect. Luxon never made that point succinctly enough. The best he managed was a riposte to Tame for not considering $100 million to be a lot of money.

But in any event, it’s not clear that having to contend with Tame’s doggedness on those types of questions really hurts an interviewee. Economic issues are complicated, and economists disagree about cause and effect all the time. With respect to both politician and interviewer, uncommitted voters are unlikely to be fully persuaded by the arguments of either.

The same probably cannot be said for questions over National’s promise to abolish the 39% income tax rate for top earners.

The economic case for the rate was never particularly strong. It was introduced for little economic reason and was principally a bone thrown by Labour to those of its supporters disappointed that the party had not been radical enough. As many people predicted, it hasn’t raised a lot of revenue, but it has provided an incentive for those on top incomes to restructure their affairs in ways than minimise the incidence of tax.

As the IRD notes, the policy has simply failed to do what it was supposed to do.

Where Luxon found it hard, and where Tame made the most of his upper hand, was how abolition of the rate would benefit the leader of the opposition personally. Because the prime minister earns a very good salary, abolition of the 39% rate would see whoever holds the role keeping about $18,000 more a year.

Luxon was immediately put on the defensive. Like most New Zealanders, he probably cringes when discussing personal finances. Nevertheless, Tame pushed and Luxon conceded he would benefit, despite not needing it, because high earners pay the greater part of the income tax in this country.

Personally, I think that National should tweak its proposal so that taxpayers can choose to opt-in to the 39% rate. It would be a bit of a novelty for the New Zealand tax system and a few tweaks to the Tax Administration Act 1994 would be needed. There’s no reason in principle as to why those who don’t feel they need tax relief should be forced to take it, however. And Luxon could announce that he will continue to pay at the higher rate.

That would give him an immediate response to bad faith accusations of seeking self-enrichment while preserving the overall intent of the policy. He could also turn the tables on political opponents and interviewers by asking them to make the same pledge. It would be a simple, confident response to a loaded question that he is going to be asked again and again.

That’s not the only way to handle it. Perhaps all he needs is a suite of good, pithy rejoinders. But whatever it is, it’s got to be confident and decisive. All the other stuff Luxon and Tame tangled over are details. People accept that details are uncertain and usually up for debate. Arguments about details rarely deliver an election result.

But people do care about fairness. National should know this. Its policy of tying tax rates to inflation will only deliver modest initial benefits to most voters but is popular nonetheless because it strikes voters as the fair thing to do.

Until Luxon can respond with confidence on that question, he is going to find himself playing defence on this issue time and time again. And not just against Jack Tame. The prime minister and others in the punditry will be asking the same questions.

He could do with some better answers next time.

Keep going!
Screenshot: Henry Cooke on Twitter
Screenshot: Henry Cooke on Twitter

PoliticsApril 22, 2022

Who are the swaying Kiwi Brothers?

Screenshot: Henry Cooke on Twitter
Screenshot: Henry Cooke on Twitter

Who are these mysterious dancing kiwifruit? Why do they sway so mournfully? A connoisseur of Japanese mascots explains.

The big button that says “viral content” was slammed with vigour this week as Stuff reporter Henry Cooke reported video footage of the New Zealand trade mission in Japan, and while bilateral trade engagements rarely scrape the popular consciousness, this particular video captured the unlikely sight of two human-sized kiwifruit slowly dancing to a wistful classical composition.

Because visual non sequitur travels well as a meme, the footage soon spread across social media and drew a range of comments from “this rules” to “this sucks”, but most often “this is weird”. People who have never seen a David Lynch film described the scene as “something out of a David Lynch film”. But the scene made perfect sense to those who closely follow the world of Japanese mascots and their relationship with everything from sports teams to consumer products and government organisations. So, please allow me to introduce the Kiwi Brothers, the breakout stars of Zespri branded fruits in Japan.

Who are the Kiwi Brothers? (キウイブラザーズ)

The straight answer is that Gurin (Green) and Gorudo (Gold) are the official mascots for the Zespri corporation in Japan and other East Asian markets including Singapore and South Korea. The better answer is that they are two brothers who work hard to develop their delicious flavour, vivifying colour and astounding nutritional value for the benefit of all fruit lovers – offering advice on how to bring their fruit to full ripeness with the help of their friends Banana, Apple and Orange.

In the commercial below we see the two Kiwi Brothers’ deep commitment to a healthy lifestyle: Running 10km daily, lifting weights at the gym, coming face-to-face with a Bigfoot while tramping, standing on reflexology pads at the public baths, shedding weight in a hot sauna, all for the good of their honoured customers.

When the Kiwi Brothers debuted in 2016 they were an instant hit with TV viewers and shoppers alike, drawing demand not only for kiwifruit but also for their own likeness. Kiwifruit demand premium prices in Japan and made an eye-watering NZ$580 million last year, while a casual search on eBay shows that stuffed toys of the Kiwi Brothers can go for over NZ$200 a pair.

Mascots in general enjoy a privileged place in Japanese pop culture for a number of complex historical and cultural reasons, including a tradition for the personification of nature which is not dissimilar to Māori culture: as a simple example, mountains are often recognised as ancestors. Within the modern world of commerce, mascots offer a way to represent a brand without the product needing to be present. The Kiwi Brothers then offer the best of both worlds by bringing a natural object to life, and remaining in the public eye before and after the lucrative kiwifruit season has passed.

Why do they sway with such melancholy?

In a world where content is king, context is often the pauper, so explaining exactly how these fuzzy superstars came to slowly shuffle in front of the prime minister of New Zealand takes some unravelling. Firstly, the event being filmed was officially hosted by Zespri rather than the government of Japan directly, so the presence of mascots as a part of corporate branding can be expected. Secondly, it’s not odd to host an international delegation with a recital of classical music, nor is it odd that a Japanese composition should be played.

The full context then, is that the trio of violin, piano and shakuhachi (traditional flute) played a range of music both eastern and western at the event, including more upbeat numbers that might suit the Kiwi Brothers. The video just so happens to capture a performance of Kōjō no Tsuki, which is a very well-known tune in Japan, expressing the classical aesthetic quality of “mono no aware”, which might be understood as “a reflection on the passage of time” or more expansively as “an appreciation for the transitory nature of all things”. Gurin and Gorudo simply honour this famous composition in their movements, swaying as a falling leaf might in the wistful airs of autumn, knowing that in time all things shall and must pass.

OK, maybe that doesn’t make anything clearer. But the video does highlight the friendly coexistence of east and west, the modern and the classical, the sacred and the vitamin-rich, and that’s something we should all appreciate rather than dismiss.

But wait there's more!