PM’s demonstration of leadership

There was talk elsewhere about his leadership last week, but it wasn’t mentioned on the Prime Minister’s home turf last Friday, he was only showing it, reports PJ TAYLOR.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was in an assertive, upbeat and determined mood when fronting a sold-out breakfast for East Auckland business leaders and owners last Friday.

The nation’s economy was on the menu at the Business East Tamaki function at Pakuranga United Rugby Club, and plenty of information, analysis and detail were served up by the MP for Botany for the engaged audience to digest on his home political patch.

He described Botany as “the best electorate in the country” at one point in his wide-ranging question and answer chat with Zoe Wallis, investment analyst for sponsors of the breakfast, Forsyth Barr Investment Advice Auckland East, and the subject matter was in-depth across the economic portfolios.

Warmly received, Luxon presented with his customary energy and quick, knowledgeable answers to questions being asked by Wallis, one of the best economic strategists and commentators going round.

The discussion began where it had started out for many Government representatives over the past two years – speaking about the poor economy and financial state of the books they inherited in 2023 from “those muppets” – the Labour Party, which coincidentally was about to hold its annual congress in Auckland last weekend.

Luxon reiterated that the last Government increased spending by 84 per cent and national debt extended to alarming record levels, so too the size of the public service, and it has been the responsibility of his coalition to first “fix the basics of the fiscals and get spending under control”.

And as many mortgage holders know, by making payments on time, no extra fees are incurred, and this National Party-led Government’s view is the same: to pay off debt on time and keep working it down over time until the country is back to surpluses in five years.

He mentioned the United States’ tariffs issue has been just that, too, and talked about New Zealand’s “two-speed economic recovery that’s under way – the rural sector where there is record exports in red meat and horticulture”, while in places such as Auckland it has been “difficult” on the construction and development sector for which the region is reliant on driving economic prosperity and “it’s coming”.

One man from a well-known, large construction company told the Eastern Times as he left the venue later, clutching the November 21 issue of the paper, that his business has again “taken off in the last six weeks – going gangbusters”.

Luxon said he does not favour “slash and burn austerity” measures, such as employed by Britain’s Conservatives under David Cameron in the 2010s, but “we can’t run up debt”.

The strategy is to continue cutting spending and red tape regulation, while investing in essential areas such as health and education, where the budget is $40 billion over the next two years, reducing “back office” workforce numbers and having those resources “deployed” to the public-serving front line.

“One dollar in every $5 is spent on healthcare.”

The audience actually gasped when Luxon informed it that “the average classroom cost was $1.2 million” when the coalition came to power, and it’s managed to have “halved the cost”.

He said the Government is firmly focused on “economic productivity – technology, cutting red tape, and building modern, reliable infrastructure and public services because we haven’t done those things well in a long time”.

He also cited Australia, Ireland and Singapore as good examples for New Zealand to look at in turning around a negative economic situation, and how this nation should be working harder at attracting foreign investment such as from “sovereign wealth funds” out of countries such as Korea and Japan and others to work together on big jobs in public-private partnerships (PPPs) to construct much needed infrastructure.

Luxon also stated the goal to “lift savings and investment savings” for Kiwis, explaining the recent announcement and reasoning behind KiwiSaver minimum contributions being phased in over the coming years for retirement.

“We want to keep national superannuation” and have people think to “augment it with personal savings and investments income”, and he says a “big conversation” needs to happen soon about raising the pension qualification age from 65 to 67, with one reason being “every decade we live a year or two longer”.

And concluding the hour-long discussion, Luxon said “we shouldn’t have an energy crisis”, and his Government is unravelling the “mess” created by the last administration that banned oil and gas exploration projects and seriously put off overseas investors.

There was good news, too, as “the renewable energy space is on fire with wind and solar projects” and the goal for the country is having “affordable, abundant energy for everyone”.

At the end of the function, Luxon spent a lot of time talking with attendees and having selfie photos taken with them, because he enjoys the confidence and support of business leaders and owners in his Botany electorate.