‘Relentlessly Optimistic’: Luxon Looks Past Coup Attempt As Election Campaign Resumes

Lillian
Hanly Political Reporter

The
Prime Minister hasn’t referenced his tumultuous week at all
in a speech at the Business Canterbury election conference,
focusing instead on the state of the world and National’s
plans in the South Island.

“Two and a half years into
this job, I remain relentlessly optimistic about New
Zealand,” Christopher Luxon says.

Luxon survived
a confidence vote on Wednesday – the second in four
months – and remained the leader of the National Party, and
prime minister, following a leadership
challenge.

Speaking to reporters later, Luxon said
he’d “addressed everything” in regards to the leadership
woes. “I’m not getting into that.”

“We have discussed
that ad nauseam in the last 48 hours.

“I get it was a
bit of a frustrating period for everybody, but we came out
of that caucus united, focused, and I’m very proud of my
team that are there to take New Zealand
forward.”

Luxon dismissed reporters’ questions about
it, saying “I appreciate you may want to continue to noodle
away on it. That’s lovely, but it’s not what we’re
interested in.”

He confirmed he’d spoken to Erica
Stanford – who was tipped to be a leadership contender –
since the Wednesday meeting.

During his speech it was
as though the confidence vote never happened. Luxon spoke of
economic management and the “two broad reinforcing actions
that we desperately need”.

“The first is ensuring that
we have financial discipline and resilience, and the second
is improving economic productivity.”

He also
referenced the Budget Responsibility Rules the party
announced last weekend, including net core crown debt below
40 percent, which a leading
economist called the least ambitious it could possibly
be.

Luxon also took aim at what he called Labour’s
economic agenda of “spend more, tax more, borrow more”,
saying that doesn’t work out as people claim.

“It ends
in higher debt. It ends in higher taxes. It ends in higher
interest rates, and a country, frankly, less able to protect
its own people when the inevitable shock comes
along.”

He also used the speech to announce National’s
“plan for the South Island”.

Luxon said it was “easy
for a politician to tell you what they’re going to do”, but
a “different thing to ask you to judge them on their track
record”.

“But that’s actually what I want you to do
because National is the party of delivery.”

Policy
announcement

The National Party wants to bolster
growth in the South Island if re-elected, making a range of
commitments in infrastructure, energy and public
services.

The party would develop a new Government
Policy Statement (GPS) on mining and extraction, create a
requirement for data centre projects to also include new,
firmed generation and deliver 96 additional beds for
patients at Christchurch Hospital.

The package would
also make public transport funding available for congestion
reducing Gondola solutions in Queenstown.

Luxon made
the announcement during his speech at the Business
Canterbury election conference on Friday.

He called
the South Island a “powerhouse” of the New Zealand
economy.

“There’s
a lot going well in the south, but there’s more we can do to
unlock its full potential.”

The GPS on mining would be
modelled off similar ones created for grocery competition,
and make clear that “mining and extractive activities have
regional and national benefits qualifying them to access the
Fast-track regime”.

The requirement for new data
centres would mean “the development of digital
infrastructure doesn’t put upward pressure on power prices
for households and businesses, while giving energy
developers the committed customers they need to finance new
generation”.

The
party would finish fitting out Tower Three at Christchurch
Hospital, adding the extra beds, at an estimated cost of $70
million.

The building was currently being constructed,
“the rooms are there, but not finished off”, the party
said.

“National will complete them now, so all 96 beds
are ready for patients straight away instead of waiting –
adding real capacity to the South Island’s largest hospital
as Canterbury grows.”

‘Delay after delay’ –
Labour

The Labour party said National had spent
nearly three years neglecting
the South Island, with campaign chair Kieran McAnulty
saying everything it announced today “should already be
underway.”

“Instead, South Islanders have had delay
after delay, downgrade after downgrade, and a Government
that has treated the South Island as an afterthought,” said
McAnulty.

“After ignoring the South Island for most of
this term, it’s like they suddenly remembered it exists and
dipped behind the back of the sofa to see what promises they
could dust off.

“South Islanders don’t need another
glossy announcement. They need spades in the ground and a
Labour government that delivers.”

Labour
leader Chris Hipkins said the Christchurch Hospital project
had been started under Labour, and would probably have been
finished by now if National had not “slowed everything down”
when it came into government.

“Health infrastructure
has been left to languish under this government, and now
suddenly that there’s an election with an election rolling
round, they’ve rediscovered the South Island and
rediscovered the importance of investing in healthcare. They
should have been doing that for the last three
years.”

Hipkins dismissed questions on whether Labour
had any South Island projects up its sleeve for the
campaign.

“That’s not the approach I want to take to
this election campaign. We’ve seen pork barrelling around
infrastructure investment in recent elections. It doesn’t
work. It actually costs the country more. It creates more
uncertainty.”

Hipkins said governments needed to focus
on a stable, long-term pipeline of infrastructure work, in
line with the Infrastructure Commission’s
recommendations.

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