Christopher Luxon has responded to the public backlash against him claiming a $52,000 tax-free bonus to pay for his mortgage-free Wellington apartment, saying it was "quite full on".
The Prime Minister courted a public firestorm last week after it was revealed he was claiming the expense from the public purse, which is within the rules as he does not live in the official prime ministerial residence, Premier House, due to its state of disrepair.
After initially defending the claim on Friday, saying it was within the rules and an "entitlement" he could claim, he then issued a statement two hours later saying he would not longer claim it and pay back anything already collected from it.
Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lived in Premier House with her partner and young child but had noted its tendency to leak and general poor condition.
Today at his regular post-Cabinet press conference, Luxon said he was on the road all of Friday in Queenstown, then appeared for a press conference after visiting a tourist attraction there.
"I came out of that [press conference] and said, 'gee, this is quite a full on reaction to it' and I realised, like, it's becoming a distraction."
He said it was "very simple" as the expense claim was within the rules but "frankly, I'm not interested in that distraction".
One reporter asked if John Key texted him to advise him to forego the expense claim, to which Luxon laughed and said he had not and the suggestion was "so funny".
"I don't want any distractions, I want everyone focused on what we're here to do, which is to fix the country, turn it around and get it moving forward."
Luxon said some renovations were currently underway at Premier House, the Prime Minister's official residence, which he had chosen not to live in while in Wellington.
He said a report into the building's state found the building required millions of dollars spent on it for "rehabilitation and renovation".
"As a result, there's some real challenges around that. I got that report, there's no way, in a cost of living crisis, where we're trying to have fiscal discipline that I can actually go to the New Zealand people and say I think we need to spend tens of millions of dollars upgrading Premier House, as per the report.
"The upshot is I've got to find a way through.
"I would like to live there, I would like Premier House to be used on a daily basis with lots of community organisations through.
"I want it to be used and at the moment it's not been able to be used. So we've got to digest that report because there's no way that we can afford to spend the money that that independent report highlighted needed to be spent.
"I want to get that fixed and I want to get clarity around what can we do to make it work, but I'm not prepared to go spend all that extra money in upgrading Premier House, so I just stay in my current flat."
Asked if the building was in a state comfortable enough for him to live in, Luxon said there was "basic maintenance going on" which meant he couldn't live there.
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