Luxon Finally Shows

Will Jack help the PM find his mojo or highlight his missing mana?

Mr Moon I like the way you think
Let's sit a while and have another drink
You can tell me how the new will rise,
How the old will sink
Open my eyes and make me wise
Don't fall from the sky just yet
Cause it won't be long enough to make me strong

Songwriters: Grant Fell / Michael David Lawry / Bevan Patrick Sweeney / Fiona Maude Mcdonald / Christopher Stephen Matthews.

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Christopher Luxon finally turned up to Q&A for the year's last show. Thus far, the PM’s response to invitations had been, “Yeah, nah, this chicken ain’t crossing that road.”

In fairness to the PM, those with long memories might recall a prior appearance he made on the show when we got to know him a little too well. That week, he called out the Tangiwai Express, saying, “Call that a train wreck? This is a train wreck!”

Before the election, Luxon was more than happy to court the media, some of whom fell deeply for his charms - I’m looking at you, Jessica. He’d smile as he claimed how transparent his government would be. The now-elected Luxon has become a little camera shy, and it hasn’t only been Q&A that has seen 100% less of the country’s leader than usual.

A few days ago, Te Ao with Moana from Māori TV posted:

Despite multiple attempts, Christopher Luxon will go another year without a sit-down interview on Te Ao with Moana. The first AND last interview he agreed to was in April, 2022. Between 2023-2024 we have interviewed every political leader from every party currently in Parliament - including both Jacinda Ardern & Chris Hipkins twice each while PMs. We hope the Prime Minister and his team will one day understand the need to front to Māori media.

It has been a rough first year for Christopher Luxon. His government has faced large-scale protests over its Fast Track Approvals, their attacks on Māori and the Treaty Principles Bill, and its broken promises of a new hospital in Dunedin. You can see why the PM prefers to appear on breakfast television, where the presenters give him an easy ride - at least while Anna Burns-Francis is away.

Couple that with increasingly aggressive moves from his coalition partners as they choose their time to break from the pack and sprint to the next election. It’s no wonder the poor little fella feels like he’s lost his mojo, and he’d rather stay at home making TikToks than have to answer questions.

But which Jack Tame was going to turn up? The one who would help Christopher get his mojo back by letting him get away without answering questions or the one who made him look like a sad, angry middle manager who had risen far above his ability, as previously?

I wasn’t feeling optimistic that Jack would make the exercise more useful than recent efforts from his kitty cat colleagues at TVNZ. I prepared a Buzzword Bingo card to keep things interesting, just in case.

Would it be a last hurrah from the media, a final defiant display of journalism and the art of the interview or is the future for what remains of our news media, serving up subservient sycophantic slop like the Breakfast team so they don’t lose their funding and close down too.

The media is in trouble. Viewers and readers are reluctant to pay for the news when free content is available. Why pay for stuff when there are free alternatives, even if they give you heartburn and make your brain wither?

Advertisers don’t want to pay. Their target demographics have long since drifted off to other content and wouldn’t dream of watching a scheduled program with advertising, much less buying a newspaper. So we’ll be left with low-grade dross, probably AI-generated, that provides answers but doesn’t ask questions.

This is me saying I can’t keep giving away my writing as much as I would like to. If you want to keep reading this newsletter, you need to subscribe. As things stand, more of our media will disappear over the next year, and if you think people are poorly informed now, wait until Newstalk ZB and Co. are the only game left in town, offering advertorials for the sponsor’s products and views.

As always, a 20% discount for Gold Card holders applies for as long you subscribe; it’s not an “introductory offer”. You can access that here:

Righto, I’ll see the rest of you on the other side of this paywall you can’t see for the interview. 🙂