Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has congratulated Kiwi teen running sensation Sam Ruthe on running the fastest-ever mile by a New Zealander.
Ruthe ran 3m 48.88s to smash the New Zealand indoor and outdoor men’s records in Boston yesterday.
Speaking to Ruthe on Ryan Bridge TODAY, Luxon said he was “really proud” of the 16-year-old.
“I’ve watched a number of your videos over the last few months and it’s absolutely brilliant what you’ve achieved and what you’re doing at such a young age.
“You just keep going, keep chasing the excellence. I know that what’s involved is so much hard work and so much time. But if you want to achieve great things, you’ve got to put a lot of effort in.”
Ruthe said he really appreciated the Prime Minister’s words.
Elsewhere on his appearance on Ryan Bridge TODAY, the Prime Minister spoke of critical minerals, the free trade agreement with India and disaster relief for storm-hit regions.
Luxon revealed that he personally called THL chief executive Grant Webster to get motorhomes delivered to Northland for people displaced by severe weather.
The Prime Minister went on a whistle-stop tour of weather-ravaged regions last week, where he delivered KFC to the east coast.
Another phone call, this time to the Restaurant Brands boss, helped get the chicken cooked early, Luxon told Bridge.
“[I] said, mate, I’m coming through Gisborne, your store doesn’t open until 11am. They opened their store, I guess at 9am and did a big cook-up, which was fantastic for the recovery workers, and we took that up on the helicopters.”
Speaking on the NZ-India Free Trade Agreement, Luxon said Winston Peters was wrong in his criticism of the deal.
“He’s wrong. I mean, like, I love Winston, I respect him a lot, but he has a history of opposing FTA agreements, like we saw he opposed China, he’s wanting to oppose this one.”
Peters claimed the deal would allow “tens of thousands” of migrants to come into the country, taking away opportunities from New Zealanders.
Luxon said the deal would make 1700 short-term work visas available, “which are component parts of every FTA”.
He told Bridge that with the rise of AI and demand for supercomputers and superchips, New Zealand should “absolutely” have a critical minerals sector.
“If we have them [minerals] here in New Zealand, we should be making sure that we are exploiting them.”
The Prime Minister dismissed reports of New Zealand holding conversations with the US about supplying critical minerals as “getting ahead of the conversation”.
“We haven’t had a cabinet conversation, discussion of any depth. We haven’t had a decision taken.”
On declining the invitation to US President Donald Trump’s ‘board of peace’, Luxon said New Zealand’s focus should be on the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think the board of peace should be really primarily delivering the peace plan in Gaza. That requires a lot of Arabian countries that are regional players that can participate and can add a lot of value to that.”
He said the almost $2 billion member fee could be better spent on delivering roads, hospitals and schools.
This morning Luxon kicked off a week of interviews ahead of a long-awaited visit to Waitangi – after his absence last year under the cloud of the Treaty Principles Bill.
He is set to return to the Treaty grounds this Friday with coalition partner Act’s Treaty Principles Bill no longer a central focus of protesters.
Luxon received criticism last year for not attending while the Treaty Principles Bill was yet to be voted down at its second reading.
Luxon is also dealing with a deepening row between National and NZ First over the NZ-India Free Trade Agreement after he dismissed Winston Peters’ immigration concerns as “wrong”.
He has also not yet commented about an on-camera incident in which a firefighter made a crude gesture behind her back. Fire and Emergency said it did not condone the woman’s behaviour and has opened an investigation.
Luxon has not attended Waitangi since 2024, when he promised a “relentless” focus on improving the economy in his first term in Government.
In 2025, the PM was criticised for spending Waitangi Day with Ngai Tāhu in the South Island, while the controversial Treaty Principles Bill was still before a select committee.
This year he will be in Auckland on February 6, but will attend Waitangi on February 5 to meet with the Iwi Chairs Forum and attend the official politicians’ welcome.
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