He believed recent economic indicators showed better times lay ahead for Kiwis.
There had been a “two-speed recovery” between urban and rural where farmers were benefiting from good prices for red meat and horticultural produce, he told the Gisborne Herald.
Lower interest rates would help Auckland and other large centres, he said.
Inflation had “got out of whack” and people had not been spending.
But there had been positive indicators out in recent weeks, such as increased credit card spending, more spending in the hospitality sector and the lowering of the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points or 0.50% to 2.50%.
There would “potentially be” another 25-point cut before Christmas.
Asked about unemployment, currently sitting at about 5.2%, the PM said it was the last economic factor to change after the impact of lower inflation, lower interest rates and “once people start spending”, resulting in employers starting to hire.
He expected unemployment to peak shortly and then start to decline.
When asked about the local body voter turnout, Luxon reiterated a point he made to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking earlier in the week, saying candidates had to be “more compelling”.
Nationwide, the provisional voter turnout was 38.01% as of Monday. In Tairāwhiti, this figure was 46.3%.
When it was suggested that central government politics were followed more closely, he replied; “You need better quality candidates to make their case and be more compelling”.
Luxon said democracy was special and referred to NZ soldiers training Ukrainian troops to defend their democracy.
“You have to get out to vote.”
