Labour leader Chris Hipkins believes it is “absolute hypocrisy” for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to let taxpayers fund his te reo Māori lessons while cutting bonuses for some public servants who learn the language.

Luxon is also attracting criticism from the typically National-aligned Taxpayers’ Union, which says there is no justification for Luxon to draw on taxpayer funding for lessons and he should pay it back.

A report by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) this morning said Luxon used public funds to pay for his private te reo lessons through a budget offered to the Leader of the Opposition, the role he held prior to October’s election.

A statement to AAP from a spokesman for Luxon argued developing better skills in te reo was “highly relevant” to his role as Opposition leader and potential PM.

It followed Luxon railing against financial bonuses being given to public servants learning te reo when it wasn’t relevant to their job. Finance Minister Nicola Willis had confirmed she was seeking advice on how to stop the bonuses being negotiated in the future.

“People are completely free to learn for themselves,” Luxon said earlier this month.

“That’s what happens out there in the real world, in corporate life, or any other community life across New Zealand.

“In the real world outside of Wellington and outside the bubble of MPs, people who want to learn te reo or want to learn any other education actually pay for it themselves.”

When asked, Luxon had regularly stated his support for more people learning te reo and how he was on his own journey with the language.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins is hitting out at the Prime Minister for how he's paid for his te reo lessons. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Hipkins, who had made similar statements regarding his own te reo education, said he supported Luxon learning but believed it was inappropriate to use public funding, given his recent comments.

“Christopher Luxon should be commended for learning Māori, but it’s absolute hypocrisy for his Government to then set about cancelling the taxpayer subsidies he used to do so, thus denying others that same opportunity,” Hipkins said in a statement.

Hipkins claimed Luxon had a history of hypocrisy, citing National scrapping the Clean Car Discount, despite benefiting from that discount when his family purchased a Tesla.

Luxon has long argued the Tesla belonged to his wife, Amanda.

Taxpayers’ Union campaigns manager Connor Molloy said it was clear Luxon had been “caught out saying one thing but doing the other”.

“He should do the right thing and pay the money back,” Molloy said.

“Taking taxpayer money for te reo lessons while criticising public servants for doing the same undermines the credibility of the Government, who proclaims to be focused on reducing wasteful spending.”

Molloy, in a statement, supported taxpayer-funded reo tuition if using the language was necessary to a person’s job. However, he didn’t think that applied to the role of Prime Minister.

“If Mr Luxon wants to learn te reo, he should do so from his own pocket.”

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.