I've not seen Luxon this tetchy and brassed off before.

"Guys, no disrespect, but it's not about the frickin targets, it's actually about the outcomes, and the outcomes here are actually reducing violent crime."

He was being asked about the national gang list which the cops have been sanitising. Hygienically cleaning it apparently to remove the dead and those who've said goodbye to thug life.

The reason he's worked up is the targets: they're off track and he's being peppered, or assaulted, depending on how you look at it, with questions.

This morning in the Herald, beneficiary numbers are projected up, not down. The Jobseeker target is a reduction of 50,000 people, but the forecast is an extra 11,000, which is set to peak in January 2025.

So the question for the government, and all of us, is whether the targets are worth it?

Politically for Luxon they're clearly causing some frustration. Is the political cost of constant updates and inquisition worth the end result? The answer is of course yes.

Ask anyone who's successful how they got there and they'll usually say small, intentional planned steps in a particular direction.

Things don't just happen in life - you make them happen.

We all have targets in our own lives. Where do you want to be in ten years? I want to run a marathon by the time I'm 40, I want to retire at 55, whatever. If you don't set a target, it'll likely never happen – that's what happened with the last lot.

Make no mistake, these targets will be the making or breaking of Luxon. The key issue that will unseat him 2029.

He's set the goals, now he needs to meet them, and perhaps be a little more relaxed about the questions along the way.

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