More New Zealand government MPs have admitted taking taxpayer-funded Maori language classes as the government prepares to gut incentives for public servants to learn the Indigenous language, te reo.
On Monday, AAP revealed Prime Minister Chris Luxon's private tuition was paid for by parliament, putting him at odds with his own his recent attack on public servants.
"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," he said.
Mr Luxon has not revealed the cost of the classes despite pressure to do so, including from opposition leader Chris Hipkins in parliament.
The revelation has led nightly bulletins and ran on the front page of the NZ Herald, the country's biggest newspaper.
Mr Hipkins called it "absolute hypocrisy".
"He certainly seems to have a double standard, he sets one standard for himself and a different standard for everybody else," he said.
It follows a similar blunder by Mr Luxon earlier this year, when it was revealed his family took a discount for purchasing a Tesla, when his party was campaigning to scrap the benefit.
On Tuesday, National deputy leader Nicola Willis revealed she had also taken "a small number" of taxpayer-funded classes when she was first elected.
Radio NZ first reported Ms Willis, who is finance minister, was looking at ways to remove taxpayer-funded bonuses to public servants who spoke the language.
The government is on a search for savings and wants to support te reo language only for public servants who specifically need it.
Ms Willis declined to guarantee the government would maintain training budgets for public servants who wanted to learn the language, a benefit MPs enjoy.
"We celebrate te reo Maori as a language. We encourage people to develop those skills," she said.
"What I've asked is that the public service ensure that the guidance is clear: where te reo Maori skills and knowledge is required for a role, that's reflected in the base renumeration."
In addition to Ms Willis, National MPs Louise Upston, Dan Bidois and Tim Costley also revealed they had studied publicly funded te reo classes, as did Mr Hipkins.
ACT leader David Seymour said he had also taken te reo classes. But in an on-brand move for the party of personal responsibility, he had paid for them himself.
