Christopher Luxon says National must build its case to be an alternative government in waiting. Photo / Bevan Conley
Christopher Luxon says while things feel "pretty buoyant" in Whanganui, prices are rising and the cost of living is getting hard.
"My takeaway is that essentially inflation is up 6 per cent and wages are only up 2.6 per cent," the National Party leader told the Chronicle during a visit to Whanganui this week.
"Everybody in Whanganui is going backwards, they are not getting ahead. They are worse off than they were 12 months ago.
"There is a rural community that is getting very good commodity prices but is actually getting slapped with a lot of cost and compliance."
Luxon said once inflation got its roots into an economy it was very hard to deal with.
"We are going to get through Omicron and we will be at a place where it's going to be all about the economy and the health of the economy."
National and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had been calling for the Government to be sensitive about reining in spending, he said.
That didn't equate to cutting public services.
"It means 'don't go and spend the additional $6 billion of new money you've got'.
"We think there are other ways you can spend that money, or keep it in Kiwis' pockets."
Investing in business communities was a key part of moving away from the current economic hole.
"We have to back them, and give them productivity-enhancing business policy, because it's businesses that start up with ideas," Luxon said.
"You can see that here in town with people like Andy [Hamilton] at Owen's Curtains and Sam [Monaghan] at Monaghans.
"They are the ones who employ people, it's not government that does that."
The Government's recent announcement that vaccine passes would no longer be required from April 4 showed they had "finally got their heads around Omicron", Luxon said.
"The risk is different, and we now have vaccines, we have rapid antigen tests, we have anti-viral drugs.
"We have a set of tools that mean the risk of this is different from what we were dealing with Covid two years ago."
Luxon said rather than simply opposing and criticising the Government, National had offered ideas.
Adjusting tax brackets to match inflation was one of them.
"That is something we could do immediately, and it would give people cash back. The average wage earner would get back almost $900 a year.
"The price of power has gone up $150 a year, the price of food is up 13 per cent, and it costs more than $45 to fill your car now. Then you've got rents going up almost $150 (per week) from what they were four years ago.
"That is particularly tough in Whanganui, because you haven't got a supply of rentals at the moment."
New Zealanders were currently feeling lost, which was reflected in Labour's recent dip in the polls, Luxon said.
"I think they are also sick of a Government that is all talk but is not actually delivering for them."
One example was the $2 billion increase in spending on mental health, which National thought was a "really good investment".
"It's a major issue for New Zealanders, it affects one in five of us who have a mental health disorder in our lifetimes.
"We've spent that $2 billion but we've just found out there hasn't been any improvement in outcomes, which is what the mental health report was saying.
"Results and outcomes matter, and I think people are sick of talk and spin and activity but no achievements, results, and getting things done."
Luxon said the current housing crisis consisted of four major challenges: home ownership, rentals, social/state housing, and emergency housing.
"It's a complex series of issues, but you have to get really clear on the problems and what the drivers of those problems are so you can build the solutions to solve them.
"I guess that's my frustration with the Government. There is a lot of money and a lot of talk and announcements, but when you sit down and go through transport, poverty, mental health, housing and education, you don't see outcomes.
"We are only interested in delivering outcomes. It's hard, it's tough, but you've got to make the system work to be able to do that."
He hadn't been to Whanganui much in the past.
"I've got a lovely voucher that my mother gave me a couple of Christmases ago, to do the trip up to Jerusalem with her.
"I suspect the voucher has expired. That doesn't matter though, I would want to come back and do it."
As for the local electorate becoming a National seat in 2023, Luxon said the party had some work to do to build its case and to build the trust of the New Zealand people, so they could see it was an alternative government in waiting.
"They will get to choose the government they want. The customer is always right, and the voter is always right.
"Our job over the next 18 months is to make the case for why we think we can manage it better."