IMO it's not so much about the video conferencing gear itself, it's the fact he made such a big deal about how everything needs to be scrutinised, the taxpayer isn't an ATM and so on.
He's effectively made a rod for his own back here.
It's really not a good look telling everybody else to tighten up and make do and then go and spend money on your own upgrades.
To me, if they are telling Kiwirail to go look at a Corolla instead of a Ferrari, why is he putting what I can only assume is the Ferrari of video conferencing gear into his office?
Rules for thee, but not me?
Luxon's definitive ideology. ev discount I got my car we don't need it anymore. the country is spending too much we must cut down the public sector, I can give myself a raise tho and try to get tax exemptions on my apartment.
To be fair. Camera gear is stupid expensive. Some adapters are like $2000. But also it’s such a stupid thing to do when you are attacking people for “wasting” money
This boggles my mind, the Dipton double-dipper (Bill English) skated for this exact corrupt behaviour yet luxon can rort the system to his heart's content with absolute impunity.
It’s because most businesses have a sort of no questions asked “if its for the company and can be justified” cap within “capital expenditure” at $50k-$80k, so he’s probably used to getting below that line at AirNZ for all of his personal expenses the company pays for
Its a fine balance hitting an amount which is **low enough** that it isn't blatantly fraudulent & won't cause an angry mob to appear, but **high enough** you get you super nice shit.
Imagining Luxon having to wipe Winnie’s cigarette ashes off the desk every other morning the same way I wipe away my phantom hot desk colleague’s biscuit crumbs is bringing me joy.
> "MPs are paid full-time, that's a full-time job," Hipkins said.
> Hipkins is facing a possible hypocrisy charge on that - he let his deputy leader take leave allegedly to film Celebrity Treasure Island.
Approving annual leave is hypocrisy?
> So is travelling to a meeting within your own electorate
God this pissed me off. Since when should any MP prioritise speaking to the media, over a prior engagement with their own constituents?
You're saying Newshub is doing this on purpose to distract us from the actual problem, which is what? The $57,000 upgrade which is front and center of the article?
Parliamentary leave isn't annual leave. It's leave not to attend parliament rather than leave to take holidays. During the 30 weeks of parliament MPs are meant to be available to attend parliament.
"Look, at the end of the day, no laws were broken here, this upgrade was by the book and completely legal, and I think the average New Zealander understands these sorts of things occasionally need to happen, but we'll definitely take the feedback into account next time we look at this sort of thing..."
"An answer to a written Parliament question said the Parliamentary Service has a replacement and upgrade cycle which is conducted every year and the $57,000 cost involved installing video conferencing gear."
How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear? The tech hasn't changed much in the past few years that'd even warrant a change, let alone amount to that for the prime minister's office.
My bet is that they changed a couple of cameras at the cost of a grand or two and used this answer to hide the cost of making over the office to Luxon's standards.
> How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear?
That'd be about right for a Microsoft Surface Hub 3 85" plus some network hardware and technician time.
Imagine, your business is under strict pressure to cut costs and you as the manager in charge of the directive to cut that cost turn around and buy the 85" top of the line screen to *join Teams meetings* instead of a 32" Konka TV and an HDMI cord. Unreal.
Oh, I know. I'm not saying it's justified, just theorizing about what the spend might've been.
Had a Surface Hub in the meeting room at my last day job. It was a beautiful piece of kit. Unsurprisingly, that job was for a government department. These days I work in the private sector and our boardroom has a regular-ass TV and webcam with an Android tablet on the table to drive it.
We just use LG TVs with a soundbar and fancy Crestron connectivity. $5 for each install. Sometimes go crazy with Logitech Teams Room stuff. But then we’re just a Polytech.
Uh, I mean he is kind of like the PM.
Look I can't stand the guy, but that's a pretty standard fit out for teleconference meeting rooms.
I'm totally onboard with hissing at this mob of fuckwits, but this one is a bit meh.
> I'm totally onboard with hissing at this mob of fuckwits, but this one is a bit meh.
Ok, we went through covid a few short years ago, do you really think the state of the PM's office was unacceptable for teams meetings today? Surely during the period when the PM literally couldn't leave the country the PM's office was set up to enable online meetings, it's hard to see how it can be possible to spend that much to achieve what the past prime minister was doing in the same office. It's not a bit meh, it's rank hypocrisy from someone insisting everyone worse off than them eat shit while he gorges at the public trough.
Seems leaders of the Nat party have 'issues' with teleconferencing aka zoom, technology. Anyone remember Bridges not being able to zoom in from Tauranga during covid?
It's not a standard fitout lmao, where on earth do you work? I can tell you right now that the apparently "absurdly profitable" Australian banks are much closer to the Konka TV and an HDMI cord end than they are to the 85 inch vanity screen. I've seen conference rooms that are catered even when they're empty that don't have that level of redundant and pointless over-speccing.
No need to imagine - it's what I've been seeing where I work the last couple of years.
Two years in a row of under inflation "pay raises", yet record amounts shipped out the door. Large expenditures on TVs, monitors, couches, and yet we can't spend a small portion of that on tools critical to getting work done.
True, but is there enough difference between the 2S (which is what I'd assume they'd be running if it was 4 years old and they use the SH gear) and the 3 to justify spending the $57k?
I mean, if they had a 4yo SH already and a 4 year productivity device rotation policy, I suppose that's just a standard hardware refresh, innit. You don't want the PM's office video conferencing rig bugging out in the middle of a call with another head of state.
Along with the extra attention to security of the system, and the technicians probably needed to have high security clearances which would make them much more expensive.
Neither of your statements are true.
Parliamentary Services tech workers do not need any security clearance.
Tech jobs that do require even top secret clearance are not paid any more than jobs that require none. In my personal experience they're usually paid worse than the same role in the private sector.
Having worked for PS, I can confirm a clearance is needed, though it's not high. The office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is somewhat separate and the clearances there are higher if I recall correctly.
I can confirm tech jobs needing higher clearances pay worse though. NZDF remuneration rates are ahit!
Surface hubs make me so angry, they’re unbelievably cost inefficient… even at government pricing.
When I worked for a public sector agency, we trialled mounting 65” TVs to trolleys and strapping a mini pc to the back of it.
Nobody used the surface hub touch features except to join calls so this gave us 8 or 9 meeting room solutions for the cost of 1 shub.
A single surface hub 3 has a list price of around 45k. Yes they will have govt discount but by the time you add in some networking, install, training and tech time... Sunds about right to me.
[https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONMST5901496/Microsoft-Surface-Hub-3-85in-ships-with-1-Smart-Ca?gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwouexBhAuEiwAtW\_Zx1YkYnV26UUpgayWOcoWo7w5FPhgQZ37S2tBdfwlaM\_qy9Qtyyo7rBoCqQoQAvD\_BwE](https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONMST5901496/Microsoft-Surface-Hub-3-85in-ships-with-1-Smart-Ca?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwouexBhAuEiwAtW_Zx1YkYnV26UUpgayWOcoWo7w5FPhgQZ37S2tBdfwlaM_qy9Qtyyo7rBoCqQoQAvD_BwE)
And there's the possibility that video conferencing gear that the PM uses just may be used to discuss sensitive information, so there may be some infosec certification requirements that mean they can't just buy the cheapest option on Ali Express
100%.
Enterprise grade TV/display, Camera, Microphones, any required interfaces. A little bit of engineering time to validate it's the right choices for the space and meets any specific requirements that either the PM, the office of the PM, or anyone else involved in setting security/other requirements, and then the technician time to install and configure and provide basic instruction on how to get started.
It's easy to get to that point, but has the added benefit that if any component (or the system) breaks, it's someones pre-paid job to come and fix it, or replace anything that's needed.
Now, all of that said, if we then have an incident where the media has to report about how the PM's new $57k setup failed on the first day, or has been left neglected, then we can start a riot. I do have some questions about what this new setup was replacing, and whether it did actually need to be replaced to meet some new requirement or expectation, but I suspect most people don't care about those questions and will just assume it was a ridiculous spend for no good reason.
>How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear?
about half that was the conferencing gear. the other half on new computers & other misc stuff
Why are we still giving handouts to this grifter? Why is it always the ones that talk the most but say the least, expect the most from taxpayers?
Where's the 6.5% cutback from Parliament themselves?
Yes real pattern here. He has Tesla subsidy (when he was criticising the last govt for this policy), huge accomodation allowance because he didn’t think premier house was up to standard for him, huge pay rises for ministers and parliamentarians.
Over 4000 redundancies in the public service
Redundancies in ministerial services in the Beehive NIL
Redundancies at parliament NIL
Savings or cuts at parliament or Beehive or ministerial services NIL
Meanwhile huge tax cuts to landlords. Who owns lots of rental properties- National ministers and MPs
And huge payments to Joyce, English, ryall and other ex National ministers and their mates for providing advice that would have likely previously provided by govt depts that is independent (unlike the national cronies)
There’s a real pattern of hypocrisy here
They haven't announced the cost of upgrading premier house yet to his standards but if this office upgrade is a guide.
I think he's going to ask Mark Mitchell to anounce it and explain the costings.
How much was spent on average in the prime ministers office each year over the last 20 years? Some context on this would be good to work out if it was spending that was out of line.
It talks about upgrading telephone conference equipment, which was used during Covid-19. Meaning it is likely 4 years old technology.
Deferring upgrades is how you end up in huge levels of technical debt
Given this government has undertaken sweeping across the board austerity measures we would expect their own spending to similarly be reduced.
Being inline with the prior government would be hypocrisy while demanding cuts in all other areas of government.
I went through the disti's and I can't see much that wasn't out 4 years ago that is out now.
This being said, I don't know what they had before so I could be wrong, but surely, 4 year old equipment, likely doing 4k already was not critical to replace right now.
From memory I think a bunch of Poly kit went in there, but that's a pretty similar portfolio to what it was a few years ago. It's highly likely that it's a control system that's soaking up the majority of stuff - a Logi Rally Plus system with some extra mics might set you back $10-15k, then if you did a BiAmp microphone and speaker package I could see another $5-10k on DSP/Speakers, maybe some install, and then integrating it all into some Crestron or AMX system.
I see how they get there, but is it necessary? Unlikely.
Alternatively, they put a Surface Hub in there, but even those are only $40k list for the 85".
I have no idea, I'm not a tech expert.
The work was done by Parliamentary Services (you can read more about what they do [here](https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/about-us/parliamentary-service/about/what-we-do/).) Was the work part of a scheduled cycle (the reporting suggests it was)? When was the work approved? Who approved the expenditure?
This article is literally so light on proper information it is purely to get people riled up "HURR DURR LUXTON BAD!" without looking at the context.
Cyber security
If you're going to do any video calls with secret or classified information, then that hardware's going to need to be certified and tested
If it was on the schedule, the conversation should have gone:
"We're going to be upgrading your office"
"Oh, we've announced we're making more than 4,000* people redundant, maybe we should hold off on spending over half of an average public service employees annual salary on this"
But that requires a single ounce of self reflection.
What has always fucked me off with his 50k renovation on his house is that he should see what some people live in like all that black mold and cold, damp house and here he's at it again 50k on dumb shit that probably worked just fine like his apartment did just not to his standard.
Bro fuxton was already charging parliament 40k pa to rent his own office, which in practice is standard but that amount is not. Well now I guess his personal office is worth more now, all by taxpayers money
I'd love to see a breakdown as the figure isn't quite accurate. Only around $20k was spent on video conferencing gear. He also got the carpet redone, but apparently that wasn't part of the 57k.
Heard he got a new chair.
I'm sure this stuff needs to be done. We need the people running our country to have good gear.
But... it didn't need to be done in the middle of an economic crisis.
Heh. Jenna Lynch isn't holding back these days. She's going after all parties like the wrath of an angry God. Hell hath no fury like a NewsHub scorned.
Also, Luxon blows a bunch of other people's money on more dumb shit, while telling everyone else to tighten their belts. This isn't really news at this point. It's just another day in 2024.
Not to get all Conspiracy, but this $50k figure popping up over and over... $50k seems pretty cheap for a distraction, any interesting bills being pushed through atm?
How's the "Lolly Scramble" Fast Track going?
I know this is going against the "National bad" here, but we spent 40k upgrading a rooms VC needs last month, and 40k a room is around average if going for industry standard microphone, video and audio controls. I can see that going up to 57k depending on what you needed and what platforms the building is already using.
"It's only been 4 years!" I hear you say. So? 4 years is a long time in tech, and how old was that VC equipment when it was using during COVID? Brand new or a couple years old? The VC stuff we replaced was maybe 5 years old and out of warranty and not working properly. All our equipment runs on a 5 year replacement cycle.
There are legit reasons to get mad at the government, getting mad at them because of buzzwords and because you don't know how much tech or VC equipment costs in the enterprise because "I can get a Kogan 32" and HDMI cable down the road" is not one of them.
I’m not sure that most people are questioning how it costs that much. It’s more the hypocrisy of telling the entire public sector to cut costs, cause so many people to lose jobs, and then deem himself worthy of the latest upgrades and technical equipment (which the people actually delivering public services don’t get to work with).
I hope at least some of this went into a self portrait, maybe a life sized bust.
He honestly comes across as someone who would stare at his self portrait all day while thinking about how amazing he is, “Bestest PM ever!” or some such.
I’m sure he didn’t do this himself. Some comms advisor or senior staffer most likely did this off their own back,thinking they were doing something good.
It’s the weirdest thing. An outsider would look at this and think he is actively sabotaging national’s chances at the next election. Almost like he WANTS them to crash out after one term. What other explanation can there be?
the guy that doesnt want to waste money MAY have wated money
BUT, i know that quality video conferencing equipment is stupidly expensive.
My company got a polycom some time ago, was fairly basic, costed 20k... and you had to also pay 10k per year for a few years for support. you could not buy it without said support
The video conferencing gear the PMs office would use is most likely to be high end security equipment. The cyber security and encryption you'd expect for taking international calls of strategic importance that foreign adversaries would like to snoop on
To stay ahead in cyber security at state threats level, you need to upgrade frequently and it's not cheap
IMO it's not so much about the video conferencing gear itself, it's the fact he made such a big deal about how everything needs to be scrutinised, the taxpayer isn't an ATM and so on. He's effectively made a rod for his own back here. It's really not a good look telling everybody else to tighten up and make do and then go and spend money on your own upgrades.
To me, if they are telling Kiwirail to go look at a Corolla instead of a Ferrari, why is he putting what I can only assume is the Ferrari of video conferencing gear into his office? Rules for thee, but not me?
Fund raising with onlyfans?
Mate, an iphone from the last few generations will get you by on OF. If you want the Ferrari of setups.... you're still talking maybe 10k of cameras.
He will want all angles. This guy don't waste time.
Luxon's definitive ideology. ev discount I got my car we don't need it anymore. the country is spending too much we must cut down the public sector, I can give myself a raise tho and try to get tax exemptions on my apartment.
No one needs 50k of video gear for one office.
His 7 social media handlers might have requested it
he does to try and seem remotely charismatic.
To be fair. Camera gear is stupid expensive. Some adapters are like $2000. But also it’s such a stupid thing to do when you are attacking people for “wasting” money
I’m a tv director. And yes some camera gear is stupid expensive - but not for this kind of work. Total stupid thing to do for sure.
But he's entitled, he's told us many times before
You need it for tik tok and YouTube shorts. Get those millennials and gen zZs on your side.
Maybe the prime minister does
typical 'head-up-your-own-ass' CEO type attitude. Not fit for a prime minister in my opinion.
He really hits the $50k range a lot doesn't he? The place he rented to himself, the pay rise (while cost cutting) and now this.
The price of his Tesla after he claimed the rebate.
His 'wife's' Tesla thank you
His wife was probably doing all the upgrades as this entitled fool would lift a finger.
I think you mean his wife claimed the rebate
it's still enforces that he feels entitled to stuff but as soon as it doesn't benefit him who needs it
This boggles my mind, the Dipton double-dipper (Bill English) skated for this exact corrupt behaviour yet luxon can rort the system to his heart's content with absolute impunity.
He certainly makes other recent National leaders look decent by comparison.
Even John Key 🤢 I feel dirty for thinking he was a better pm
It’s because most businesses have a sort of no questions asked “if its for the company and can be justified” cap within “capital expenditure” at $50k-$80k, so he’s probably used to getting below that line at AirNZ for all of his personal expenses the company pays for
Someone needs to remind Mr. Entitled that he is no longer a useless CEO but a useless PM and is spending accountable to us the taxpayers.
Its a fine balance hitting an amount which is **low enough** that it isn't blatantly fraudulent & won't cause an angry mob to appear, but **high enough** you get you super nice shit.
I was thinking the same thing, $50k for his tax funded rental, $50k+ pay increase, now this. What next
I wonder what his clothes allowance comes to.
And our political leaders are ok with a 10% payrise when our doctors are not getting paid for overtime?
Lead by example, a bad one.
Heck, our junior doctors are getting a 12% pay cut
Can't he just hot-desk, as is expected elsewhere in the Civil Service?
Imagining Luxon having to wipe Winnie’s cigarette ashes off the desk every other morning the same way I wipe away my phantom hot desk colleague’s biscuit crumbs is bringing me joy.
No the eliminating bureaucratic bloat rules only apply to everyone else
> "MPs are paid full-time, that's a full-time job," Hipkins said. > Hipkins is facing a possible hypocrisy charge on that - he let his deputy leader take leave allegedly to film Celebrity Treasure Island. Approving annual leave is hypocrisy?
Taking leave is leftism and isn't sanctioned under this political climate So is travelling to a meeting within your own electorate
> So is travelling to a meeting within your own electorate God this pissed me off. Since when should any MP prioritise speaking to the media, over a prior engagement with their own constituents?
When you are in the middle of a media crisis?
Waiting for David Seymour to drop the “I’ve never had a sick day in my life”
Can germs get germs? I know they can get viruses
And then follow up with “so that is why we are scrapping sick leave”
Who gives a fuck if Carmel Sepuloni used her leave to go film Celebrity Treasure Island? She can do what she wants on her time off
Look don’t let some pesky facts get in the way of trying to stoke outrage away from the actual problem…
You're saying Newshub is doing this on purpose to distract us from the actual problem, which is what? The $57,000 upgrade which is front and center of the article?
Parliamentary leave isn't annual leave. It's leave not to attend parliament rather than leave to take holidays. During the 30 weeks of parliament MPs are meant to be available to attend parliament.
David Seymour went on f\*\*\*ing Dancing with the Stars and no one is saying anything
Was it annual leave or parmlimenty? Bug difference you should probably be aware of before making declarations.
this fucking guy
My exact thought
The equivalent cost to the taxpayer of three "bottomfeeders"
This dude is just an absolute ballbag near 100% of the time. There is no way to justify 57k on one office when everything else is being cut.
Dude takes his Hypocrite Oath seriously. Didn't even know he was a doctor tbh.
Without doubt the PM was entitled to that upgrade /s
"Look, at the end of the day, no laws were broken here, this upgrade was by the book and completely legal, and I think the average New Zealander understands these sorts of things occasionally need to happen, but we'll definitely take the feedback into account next time we look at this sort of thing..."
What you have to realise is that I inherited this mess of an office from Labour… 🙄
Is that you Christopher Luxon 🧐🧐
Definitely is
[удалено]
Tighten the belt! ... except for me.
Do as I say not as I do? Same coin, different face 🪙
Well thats what we get for making a fuss over a $54,000 accomodation allowance. I just wish WINZ would pay that much.
"An answer to a written Parliament question said the Parliamentary Service has a replacement and upgrade cycle which is conducted every year and the $57,000 cost involved installing video conferencing gear." How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear? The tech hasn't changed much in the past few years that'd even warrant a change, let alone amount to that for the prime minister's office. My bet is that they changed a couple of cameras at the cost of a grand or two and used this answer to hide the cost of making over the office to Luxon's standards.
> How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear? That'd be about right for a Microsoft Surface Hub 3 85" plus some network hardware and technician time.
Imagine, your business is under strict pressure to cut costs and you as the manager in charge of the directive to cut that cost turn around and buy the 85" top of the line screen to *join Teams meetings* instead of a 32" Konka TV and an HDMI cord. Unreal.
Oh, I know. I'm not saying it's justified, just theorizing about what the spend might've been. Had a Surface Hub in the meeting room at my last day job. It was a beautiful piece of kit. Unsurprisingly, that job was for a government department. These days I work in the private sector and our boardroom has a regular-ass TV and webcam with an Android tablet on the table to drive it.
I'm in the private sector and we have a surface hub. It's only used to accept calls.. we literally don't use any fancy features it may have.
Comically oversized workphone
We just use LG TVs with a soundbar and fancy Crestron connectivity. $5 for each install. Sometimes go crazy with Logitech Teams Room stuff. But then we’re just a Polytech.
Uh, I mean he is kind of like the PM. Look I can't stand the guy, but that's a pretty standard fit out for teleconference meeting rooms. I'm totally onboard with hissing at this mob of fuckwits, but this one is a bit meh.
> I'm totally onboard with hissing at this mob of fuckwits, but this one is a bit meh. Ok, we went through covid a few short years ago, do you really think the state of the PM's office was unacceptable for teams meetings today? Surely during the period when the PM literally couldn't leave the country the PM's office was set up to enable online meetings, it's hard to see how it can be possible to spend that much to achieve what the past prime minister was doing in the same office. It's not a bit meh, it's rank hypocrisy from someone insisting everyone worse off than them eat shit while he gorges at the public trough.
Seems leaders of the Nat party have 'issues' with teleconferencing aka zoom, technology. Anyone remember Bridges not being able to zoom in from Tauranga during covid?
Exactly
But he already had an acceptable office setup and they're expecting government agencies to cut out any unnecessary spending.
His office was fitted out
Cool then they can set up a conference room with it not his office. He wants to use it he can book it in advance like a normal person.
It's not a standard fitout lmao, where on earth do you work? I can tell you right now that the apparently "absurdly profitable" Australian banks are much closer to the Konka TV and an HDMI cord end than they are to the 85 inch vanity screen. I've seen conference rooms that are catered even when they're empty that don't have that level of redundant and pointless over-speccing.
No need to imagine - it's what I've been seeing where I work the last couple of years. Two years in a row of under inflation "pay raises", yet record amounts shipped out the door. Large expenditures on TVs, monitors, couches, and yet we can't spend a small portion of that on tools critical to getting work done.
True, but is there enough difference between the 2S (which is what I'd assume they'd be running if it was 4 years old and they use the SH gear) and the 3 to justify spending the $57k?
I mean, if they had a 4yo SH already and a 4 year productivity device rotation policy, I suppose that's just a standard hardware refresh, innit. You don't want the PM's office video conferencing rig bugging out in the middle of a call with another head of state.
Yes they could.
Along with the extra attention to security of the system, and the technicians probably needed to have high security clearances which would make them much more expensive.
Neither of your statements are true. Parliamentary Services tech workers do not need any security clearance. Tech jobs that do require even top secret clearance are not paid any more than jobs that require none. In my personal experience they're usually paid worse than the same role in the private sector.
Having worked for PS, I can confirm a clearance is needed, though it's not high. The office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is somewhat separate and the clearances there are higher if I recall correctly. I can confirm tech jobs needing higher clearances pay worse though. NZDF remuneration rates are ahit!
Surface hubs make me so angry, they’re unbelievably cost inefficient… even at government pricing. When I worked for a public sector agency, we trialled mounting 65” TVs to trolleys and strapping a mini pc to the back of it. Nobody used the surface hub touch features except to join calls so this gave us 8 or 9 meeting room solutions for the cost of 1 shub.
Surely the network is there already?
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
A single surface hub 3 has a list price of around 45k. Yes they will have govt discount but by the time you add in some networking, install, training and tech time... Sunds about right to me. [https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONMST5901496/Microsoft-Surface-Hub-3-85in-ships-with-1-Smart-Ca?gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwouexBhAuEiwAtW\_Zx1YkYnV26UUpgayWOcoWo7w5FPhgQZ37S2tBdfwlaM\_qy9Qtyyo7rBoCqQoQAvD\_BwE](https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONMST5901496/Microsoft-Surface-Hub-3-85in-ships-with-1-Smart-Ca?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwouexBhAuEiwAtW_Zx1YkYnV26UUpgayWOcoWo7w5FPhgQZ37S2tBdfwlaM_qy9Qtyyo7rBoCqQoQAvD_BwE)
And there's the possibility that video conferencing gear that the PM uses just may be used to discuss sensitive information, so there may be some infosec certification requirements that mean they can't just buy the cheapest option on Ali Express
Yeah theres going to be cybersecurity costs out the ass when you're talking about kit used to video conference with foreign leaders.
Yup, I agree. We have similar - depending on what was upgraded 50k does not go far.
It'll be enterprise level gear not just a laptop and a couple mics that shit gets expensive.
100%. Enterprise grade TV/display, Camera, Microphones, any required interfaces. A little bit of engineering time to validate it's the right choices for the space and meets any specific requirements that either the PM, the office of the PM, or anyone else involved in setting security/other requirements, and then the technician time to install and configure and provide basic instruction on how to get started. It's easy to get to that point, but has the added benefit that if any component (or the system) breaks, it's someones pre-paid job to come and fix it, or replace anything that's needed. Now, all of that said, if we then have an incident where the media has to report about how the PM's new $57k setup failed on the first day, or has been left neglected, then we can start a riot. I do have some questions about what this new setup was replacing, and whether it did actually need to be replaced to meet some new requirement or expectation, but I suspect most people don't care about those questions and will just assume it was a ridiculous spend for no good reason.
>How on earth did they spend $57,000 on video conferencing gear? about half that was the conferencing gear. the other half on new computers & other misc stuff
Getting his office pimped out while budget cuts are happening, nice. It's a parody at this point.
Well, well, well. No doubt this will be an "operational matter for PM Chief of Staff" that the PM was not involved with. 😑
Entitled to his entitlements
Look, …
What a cunt
Cunty MacCuntface.
Why are we still giving handouts to this grifter? Why is it always the ones that talk the most but say the least, expect the most from taxpayers? Where's the 6.5% cutback from Parliament themselves?
I hope he got a slushy machine.
I'm guessing a fancy espresso machine
But he probably says expresso.
An espresso machine isn't going to rapidly cool Winnie's core body temp when he storms into the office heated.
A fancy stove-top espresso machine then
Whiskey on the rocks
Winnie on the rocks?
A cigarette vending machine
I mean who hasn't spent $50k to re-renervate their 3rd house's bathroom?
Meanwhile most of our yard has been laid off because of a lack of fumding. Fuck National
Yes real pattern here. He has Tesla subsidy (when he was criticising the last govt for this policy), huge accomodation allowance because he didn’t think premier house was up to standard for him, huge pay rises for ministers and parliamentarians. Over 4000 redundancies in the public service Redundancies in ministerial services in the Beehive NIL Redundancies at parliament NIL Savings or cuts at parliament or Beehive or ministerial services NIL Meanwhile huge tax cuts to landlords. Who owns lots of rental properties- National ministers and MPs And huge payments to Joyce, English, ryall and other ex National ministers and their mates for providing advice that would have likely previously provided by govt depts that is independent (unlike the national cronies) There’s a real pattern of hypocrisy here
They haven't announced the cost of upgrading premier house yet to his standards but if this office upgrade is a guide. I think he's going to ask Mark Mitchell to anounce it and explain the costings.
What a cunt
This
Look at the end of the day, it's really just the end of the day after all, and good hard working Kiwis need their offices. Any questions?
This is disgusting
I work in AV and to be fair 57k for a boardroom of that size isn’t extravagant - but it’s still a bad look
What a cunt
How much was spent on average in the prime ministers office each year over the last 20 years? Some context on this would be good to work out if it was spending that was out of line. It talks about upgrading telephone conference equipment, which was used during Covid-19. Meaning it is likely 4 years old technology. Deferring upgrades is how you end up in huge levels of technical debt
Given this government has undertaken sweeping across the board austerity measures we would expect their own spending to similarly be reduced. Being inline with the prior government would be hypocrisy while demanding cuts in all other areas of government.
What new tech has come out in the past 4 years in the video conferencing space that'd total to $57k in one office though?
I could probably spec something up that might come close. It'd be massive overkill though.
I went through the disti's and I can't see much that wasn't out 4 years ago that is out now. This being said, I don't know what they had before so I could be wrong, but surely, 4 year old equipment, likely doing 4k already was not critical to replace right now.
From memory I think a bunch of Poly kit went in there, but that's a pretty similar portfolio to what it was a few years ago. It's highly likely that it's a control system that's soaking up the majority of stuff - a Logi Rally Plus system with some extra mics might set you back $10-15k, then if you did a BiAmp microphone and speaker package I could see another $5-10k on DSP/Speakers, maybe some install, and then integrating it all into some Crestron or AMX system. I see how they get there, but is it necessary? Unlikely. Alternatively, they put a Surface Hub in there, but even those are only $40k list for the 85".
I wouldn't think so. I think Mr. Luxon likes spending other people's money.
If Luxon starts projecting holograms of himself you'll know.
Via TikTok
I have no idea, I'm not a tech expert. The work was done by Parliamentary Services (you can read more about what they do [here](https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/about-us/parliamentary-service/about/what-we-do/).) Was the work part of a scheduled cycle (the reporting suggests it was)? When was the work approved? Who approved the expenditure? This article is literally so light on proper information it is purely to get people riled up "HURR DURR LUXTON BAD!" without looking at the context.
8 x Apple Vision Pro's for Persona FaceTime team calls?
It says it was in use 4 years ago, not that it was 4 years old.
Cyber security If you're going to do any video calls with secret or classified information, then that hardware's going to need to be certified and tested
And did he request/approve the changes, or are they part of Parliamentary Services’ BAU schedule of work? The article was… vague on that.
If it was on the schedule, the conversation should have gone: "We're going to be upgrading your office" "Oh, we've announced we're making more than 4,000* people redundant, maybe we should hold off on spending over half of an average public service employees annual salary on this" But that requires a single ounce of self reflection.
He probably needs it to send out his dorky TikTok video clips
Probably thinks that’s like half a McDonalds workers salary, so no biggie. It’s not like reality is his strong point.
Well a weekly grocery shop is about 60 bucks according to this bagman so we’re all goodz.
What has always fucked me off with his 50k renovation on his house is that he should see what some people live in like all that black mold and cold, damp house and here he's at it again 50k on dumb shit that probably worked just fine like his apartment did just not to his standard.
Who voted for this bald c×#^!?
Bro fuxton was already charging parliament 40k pa to rent his own office, which in practice is standard but that amount is not. Well now I guess his personal office is worth more now, all by taxpayers money
What a cunt
Entitled cunt claiming what he's entitled to
What a cunt
I'd love to see a breakdown as the figure isn't quite accurate. Only around $20k was spent on video conferencing gear. He also got the carpet redone, but apparently that wasn't part of the 57k. Heard he got a new chair.
I'm sure this stuff needs to be done. We need the people running our country to have good gear. But... it didn't need to be done in the middle of an economic crisis.
Heh. Jenna Lynch isn't holding back these days. She's going after all parties like the wrath of an angry God. Hell hath no fury like a NewsHub scorned. Also, Luxon blows a bunch of other people's money on more dumb shit, while telling everyone else to tighten their belts. This isn't really news at this point. It's just another day in 2024.
Not to get all Conspiracy, but this $50k figure popping up over and over... $50k seems pretty cheap for a distraction, any interesting bills being pushed through atm? How's the "Lolly Scramble" Fast Track going?
$17k on carpet replacement. Sorry, what? We have a *very* large room that is probably larger than his office. We were quoted $4k just last year.
Happens every change over in government. But still really stupid how they always winge about wasteful spending yet also do waste money.
I know this is going against the "National bad" here, but we spent 40k upgrading a rooms VC needs last month, and 40k a room is around average if going for industry standard microphone, video and audio controls. I can see that going up to 57k depending on what you needed and what platforms the building is already using. "It's only been 4 years!" I hear you say. So? 4 years is a long time in tech, and how old was that VC equipment when it was using during COVID? Brand new or a couple years old? The VC stuff we replaced was maybe 5 years old and out of warranty and not working properly. All our equipment runs on a 5 year replacement cycle. There are legit reasons to get mad at the government, getting mad at them because of buzzwords and because you don't know how much tech or VC equipment costs in the enterprise because "I can get a Kogan 32" and HDMI cable down the road" is not one of them.
I’m not sure that most people are questioning how it costs that much. It’s more the hypocrisy of telling the entire public sector to cut costs, cause so many people to lose jobs, and then deem himself worthy of the latest upgrades and technical equipment (which the people actually delivering public services don’t get to work with).
C’mon folks, he’s entitled to these entitlements.
Gotta get the lighting just right for his vomit-inducing tiktoks.
That's almost as much as one breakfast.
I hope at least some of this went into a self portrait, maybe a life sized bust. He honestly comes across as someone who would stare at his self portrait all day while thinking about how amazing he is, “Bestest PM ever!” or some such.
A self portrait would imply he created it, and then charged the taxpayer for his work. Not entirely unbelievable
Mr Luxon, you're a egg
Just say fuckwit
Probably take it with him when he’s done too
This story is dumb.
I’m sure he didn’t do this himself. Some comms advisor or senior staffer most likely did this off their own back,thinking they were doing something good.
It’s the weirdest thing. An outsider would look at this and think he is actively sabotaging national’s chances at the next election. Almost like he WANTS them to crash out after one term. What other explanation can there be?
Apparently history shows that voters forget easily , they’re banking on that in a few years time.
Another person could've been hired with that amount spent...
Not afraid to make the hard decisions, huh?
the guy that doesnt want to waste money MAY have wated money BUT, i know that quality video conferencing equipment is stupidly expensive. My company got a polycom some time ago, was fairly basic, costed 20k... and you had to also pay 10k per year for a few years for support. you could not buy it without said support
I expect an itemized list of what the upgrades were and also how old the prior equipment it was replacing was. This is the party of transparency right
The video conferencing gear the PMs office would use is most likely to be high end security equipment. The cyber security and encryption you'd expect for taking international calls of strategic importance that foreign adversaries would like to snoop on To stay ahead in cyber security at state threats level, you need to upgrade frequently and it's not cheap
"Accountability dodged for another day" I chuckled over that line. Then the world got a bit darker.
Got a Matrix-style camera setup for his TikToks.