Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in studio with Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Christopher Luxon says he’s expecting a “pretty seamless transition” as Winston Peters hands over the deputy prime minister role to David Seymour this week.
The Prime Minister spoke live to Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills today as he reaches the halfway point of his three-year term as leader.
Luxon was sworn in as Prime Minister in November 2023, after National secured 38% of the vote at the general election. He negotiated a three-way coalition agreement with New Zealand First and ACT.
As part of that agreement, the leaders of the two parties, Winston Peters and David Seymour, are sharing the deputy prime minister role for half of the parliamentary term each.
This week marks the midpoint for the three-year parliamentary term.
Peters has been serving as deputy prime minister with Seymour set to take over this Saturday.
When asked how he felt he was tracking in the job, Luxon said he was “absolutely loving it” but acknowledged it was a tough time for the country.
“It’s essentially like the recession of the early 90’s. We inherited a hell of a mess and we’re happy to fix it up and sort it out.”
Luxon said he and his wife continue having date nights on Fridays despite the demands of the job, and had just been to the movies together to see Mission Impossible.
“I really want Amanda and the kids to be able to carry on their life without being defined too much by what I do.”
He said there was “no question at all whatsoever” that he would do it all again if he had the chance to start over.
“I kind of knew what I was getting into . . . the hard stuff comes to your desk. If it’s easy, it gets solved somewhere else in the system.”
When asked whether he was spending too much time appeasing coalition parties, Luxon said they were doing something that had never been done before.
Mills asked whether Luxon’s party would be more effective if they could work without the coalition parties, and Luxon said that was not how New Zealand worked with the electoral system.
He said it was “okay” and “normal” to not agree on everything with partners, but in the majority of cases they were aligned in what they wanted to do.
Asked about the handover from Peters to Seymour as deputy prime minister, Luxon said he expects it to be a “pretty seamless transition”.
He said Peters and Seymour were different people with different personalities, and Luxon’s job was to make that work.
Mills asked Luxon what he thought was going wrong with Wellington, referencing public sector job cuts and the appointment of a Crown Observer at Wellington City Council.
Luxon referred to other major cities that were making bids for big events, such as Sail GP in Auckland and the supercars in Christchurch. He criticised a bike lane being built on Molesworth St.
“You’ve got way too much ideology and party politics in your local government.
“Wellington should be more than just a public service town. We’ve just gone and invested $500 million in film rebates in this country.”
He said there was ambition and aspiration in Wellington, but there needed to be a council that did the basics well, such as managing water.
He said Wellington Water was a “total basket case”.
Luxon wouldn’t be drawn on who he thought should be the capital’s next Mayor, instead saying “whoever is the next mayor needs to have a vision where it’s going to, they need to get the finances under control.
“It’s a big city, it’s an important city to New Zealand. I live here, I love this place, it’s got so much potential.”
Luxon then turned the questions on Nick Mills asking if he was going to be throwing his hat in the ring. He jokingly exclaimed they had managed to confirm Mills was not running for mayor.
The pair also discussed the recent death of Palmerston North teenager Ryan Satterthwaite, who died after taking part in a private “run it straight” game on Sunday.
The 19-year-old was taken to Palmerston North Hospital with severe head injuries. His life support was turned off on Monday.
Satterthwaite’s grieving family say his death was an “accident waiting to happen” and have urged others to stop taking part in the social media-driven trend.
Speaking to the Herald, his uncle Peter Satterthwaite said Ryan was a “top kid” who loved his mates, enjoyed playing rugby, and “would do anything for anybody.”
He said “run it straight” was simply a “stupid idea”.
“Just don’t do it. A little bit of fun has lifelong consequences.”
Satterthwaite said it was “disgraceful” the events are being promoted as a sport, and is calling on the All Blacks, Warriors, and other high-profile sportspeople to publicly speak out against it.
“People don’t listen to us, we’re just Joe Bloggs, but they [the public] idolise our sportspeople.”
Luxon said the situation was “incredibly tragic for the young person involved, for their family, for their friends. It’s just an absolute tragedy”.
He said it was a good reminder for people to take “personal responsibility”.
Luxon said adults and influencers driving the craze should be “thinking and reflecting very strongly right now”.
He said it wasn’t something you can ban at a government level.