Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's 'parent-child mentality' description of NZ businesses 'valid' in some cases - Seymour
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is facing criticism from the Labour Party for describing local business owners as having a 'parent-child mentality' regarding government support. Deputy PM David Seymour defended the comments, suggesting they were aimed at a specific subset of businesses rather than all entrepreneurs.
Why it matters
The debate reflects broader tensions regarding government economic policy and the relationship between the state and the private sector.
The prime minister's office is defending comments Christopher Luxon made to Rotorua businesspeople that New Zealand businesses had a "parent-child mentality" and looked too often to the government for help.
Labour has accused the prime minister of being "out of touch" and "telling struggling business owners to grow up, instead of taking responsibility for a weak economy under his watch".
But ACT party leader and deputy prime minister David Seymour has been more sympathetic in his assessment, telling RNZ Luxon has possibly got "two groups of people mixed up here".
"It's important to differentiate that there are some people who call themselves businesspeople and yet always have their hand out to the government, and there are a whole lot of people not like that doing it bloody tough, for reasons not of their fault."
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