Chris Hipkins (Labour) and Chris Bishop (National). Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi / Reece Baker
Chris Hipkins has accused the prime minister of starting this election year by "panicking" and throwing one of his senior ministers "under the bus".
The Labour leader made the comments to Morning Report on Wednesday, ahead of the party's post-break gathering in "wet and windy West Auckland".
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last week confirmed the coalition was considering weakening housing intensification laws in Auckland. The subject did not come up during his 'State of the Nation' speech on Monday.
Housing and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop last year directed Auckland Council to allow for greater housing and development intensification, particularly around rail stations, as the city prepared to open the long-awaited City Rail Link.
Auckland Council in September responded by approving plans that would allow up to 2 million homes in the city.
But Luxon's apparent backtrack showed he was "running scared" and "willing to throw Chris Bishop under the bus", Hipkins said.
"Chris Bishop has spent two years working on this plan, and he's absolutely determined that it's the right plan, and Christopher Luxon seems to be more interested in panicking rather than actually showing some loyalty to one of his most senior ministers."
Luxon on Monday dismissed any talk of a clash with Bishop, saying they were in regular discussion.
"I don't think there's a problem when you actually say, 'I've listened to feedback and I'm going to do something different about it on the basis of that.'"
David Seymour, deputy prime minister and leader of coalition partner ACT, expressed concern on Tuesday intensification would upset people in his electorate of Epsom, the country's wealthiest, because high-rise buildings might end up "looking into everyone's backyards and their swing sets and their pools".
Hipkins said if Luxon and Bishop have changed the plan, they should "get on and tell New Zealanders what it is that they've been cooking up behind the scenes".
"Because up until now, Chris Bishop is the person who's been speaking for the government on the matter, and it seems that he's now been sidelined."
House prices have fallen since their peak in 2022, and rents have stabilised - and in some places, fallen - after years of almost unbroken above-inflation rises.
Asked if he would like house prices to fall, Hipkins said he wanted a "stabilisation in house prices… giving New Zealanders a chance for their incomes to catch up".
"The current government aren't focused on growing people's incomes at all. They're only focused on increasing the wealth of those at the top rather than the people who are working hard every day and aspiring to owning their own home."
Asked if Bishop was "playing on your home ground" by overseeing improving housing affordability, Hipkins talked up his party's capital gains and Future Fund policies to "ensure that people are investing in productive businesses rather than simply buying up all the available houses and forcing first-time buyers out of the market".
Luxon said Bishop would "come forward with his views and explain that shortly".
Paying for pay equity
One way the previous Labour-led government tried to boost incomes - particularly for historically underpaid sectors - was through 2020's Equal Pay Amendment Act, which was gutted under urgency in early 2025, Luxon saying the changes would save the government "billions" of dollars.
Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
Labour has promised to restore pay equity, but still would not say how it would be paid for - Treasury's estimate was that it would cost close to $13 billion over four years.
"We'll set out before the election a balanced fiscal plan that will show how we will get New Zealand's books balanced, something [Finance Minister] Nicola Willis has spent two-and-a-half years failing to do and there is no balance in sight. She still hasn't figured out how to balance the books after her unaffordable tax cuts.
"We've been working our way through the costs of all of the commitments that we are making. I am determined that we will make a sensible, responsible set of commitments to the electorate this year that will be different to the current government.
"It will show that our priority of working New Zealanders and making sure that they get their fair share of the economic pie and that the economic recovery that Christopher Luxon keeps touting actually does arrive and it benefits everybody, not just those at the top."
A portfolio reshuffle was looming, Hipkins said, particularly with the departures of Duncan Webb and Adrian Rurawhe.
"We very much are in this to win it. We think that the election is up for grabs, and we're quite determined to offer New Zealanders a really compelling alternative."
National is meeting in Christchurch, where Luxon is to announce this year's election date.
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