Luxon blames low election turnout on weak candidates, defends methane move

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says low voter turnout in this year’s local body elections was the result of uninspiring candidates who failed to engage the public.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning, Luxon said candidates needed to “excite voters” with clear ideas and vision.

“One is candidates have to be compelling, and they have to excite voters to actually say they have a vision of what they want to achieve and what they want to do,” he said.

Luxon said he supported exploring computerised voting for future elections, though he believed the current system “does actually work – people just need to get off and do it”.

While the elections were underway, Luxon was hosting Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for a private dinner at his Auckland home, cooked by retired chef Tony Astle, who came out of retirement for the occasion.

“It was just the three of us — no guards, no partners,” Luxon said. The pair spoke about leadership styles, including how Wong only attends parliament “once or twice a month” but can still run his country effectively.

Luxon added he helped Astle clean the kitchen “to a standard Amanda [Luxon’s wife] would be pleased with when she got home”, while Wong helped clear the table.

The Prime Minister’s comments on voter turnout came after many regions opted for centre-right leaders in the local body elections, while low participation and the removal of Māori wards dominated results.

Over the weekend, 43 councils held referendums on Māori wards — 17 voted to keep them and 25 voted to remove them. More than 200 candidates across the country were elected unopposed.

Wayne Brown was re-elected in Auckland, former Labour leader Andrew Little won the Wellington mayoralty with a strong lead, and Phil Mauger retained his position as Christchurch’s mayor.

Luxon also spoke about the lowering of the 2050 methane target after he was absent from yesterday’s announcement, saying he was “really pleased” that New Zealand was returning to a “sensible, practical place”.

“Here’s the deal. We are the most carbon efficient farmers in the world. We are the most productive farmers in the world, and the previous model of just sending that production offshore just makes greenhouse gas emissions worse and makes Kiwis poorer.”

Luxon confirmed it would not affect already-signed trade agreements and that he would not be campaigning to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. He would not say if there had been “tensions’ within the coalition on this and alleged he had no clue about his partner’s plans for their campaign on the matter next year.