Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on Chris Luxon denying he tells the Reserve Bank what to do

The Prime Minister's stressing he doesn't tell the Reserve Bank what to do, but does offer his view.

Chris Luxon told Mike Hosking this morning he gives interim Governor Christian Hawkesby his reckons before the OCR's set.

Speaking this afternoon, Luxon denied he has any influence over the bank's decisions. 

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper wonders if this is still too much for Luxon.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barriso Per senior political correspondence with US.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hello Barring, Good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 3 (00:03):
Okay, so what do you make of the Reserve Bank
reviewing the capital requirements. Well, look, there've been calls for
this for so long now. It was Adrian orr that
pushed it through in twenty nineteen against all advice, and
of course banks say that they're charging higher mortgage interest
rates as a result. At the moment, large banks have
to hold thirteen and a half percent of what they

(00:25):
call risk weighted assets in capital. Now that'll rise, according
to the ore recipe, to eighteen percent by twenty twenty eight.
Smaller banks that are eleven point five rising to sixteen percent.
So you know, there's a lot of capital being held,
and the financial institutions here, as we know, are very

(00:46):
very sound, and that's one thing that we can be
happy about. It was interesting today that Chris Luxon, i'd
know whether you heard him this morning, talking about having
a meeting with the Reserve Bank in advance of the
ocr being announced. Now that is commonplace. A lot of
the media has said, well, this is terrible. There's the

(01:08):
independence of the Reserve Bank. Well, prime ministers and finance
ministers have for a very long time met with the
Reserve Bank, who have told them what the official case
rate will be. The decisions already been made by the
time they meet with the politicians. This is how Chris
Luxen sees his conversations with the central banker. Before those

(01:32):
ocr meetings or announcements are made.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
We will share our respective observations and views on the
economy and what we're respectively seeing coming at it from
slightly different takes a fiscal sense and also a monetary sense,
and those engagements I've always found very productive, very constructive.
Occasionally they're robust as we give our different views on things.
But equally the Reserve Bank always has insight that I
think is incredibly valuable for me to hear their perspective

(01:56):
as well, and that's why I appreciate those conversations. But
I want to be under noahu, I do not direct
the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank independence as sacriscinct.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
The problem with Chris Luxen was that maybe he went
too far. He said in response to a question from
the host that in fact he would have cut by
fifty basis points, and perhaps that's taking it too far,
because the independence of the bank has to be preserved.
It's a fair point. Is act going to be able

(02:26):
to get this end of Life Choice Act changed? Well,
it has to be a private members bill because it's
a conscience vote. And Todd Stevenson, the Act MP, he's
going out talking to politicians around the House trying to
get their support for it. Like I said, it's a
conscience vote. Interestingly, if you look at the figures from
the year that the assisted death started in November twenty one,

(02:50):
two hundred and fifty seven assisted deaths took place in
that year. That had grown a year later to six
hundred and seventy. From April twenty three to twenty four,
three hundred and forty four had their lives taken in
that year. About two and a half thousand people have applied. Now,
what they're saying, what Todd Stevens is saying, is the

(03:12):
Act should be changed so there's no longer that six month.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
The nob dying in six months that.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
You've got to have it from a physician that you're
going to die with well, because the hell knows. Also,
some people are living with such debilitating conditional size that
will never kill them, but which are so miserable to
live with that they don't want to. Well, it's an
undignified live and what this is all about is what
they talk about is dignified, being dignified in death and

(03:42):
people that do suffer the way you've outlined. I mean,
why should they not be able to decide to take
their own line.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
And see which way you would vote for you in
the parliament.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well absolutely, Now what about the early voting and the
Tamakimikodo sects. It's opened today, so the ballot booths are out.
I keep saying it every time I see I think
of Tyrant. I'm sure that's right. Yeah, he's it's a

(04:14):
race between him and the broadcaster are really Copra. But
we've got the a couple of other people there as well.
You've got Bishop Tomoky's wife Hannah, she's in the race
as well. But look, people can enroll on any day

(04:35):
up to including voting day because the rules haven't been
changed yet. So I didn't go along. But they can't
change their electorate and they should remember that. They can't
turn up and say, now this is Tommocky maccoulda to
Malory seat. I want to be on the Maldi roll now.
But you can't do that in an advance do you
think it would be.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Do you think it would be early on set with
you just out to measure.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
I think that is just graceful, laugh about things like
I've heard you time and time again call people the
wrong stage. I'm sorry, Yeah, I just you listeners, bond
Barde you for that.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
That's Senior political Correspondence.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
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