Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is hoping US President Donald Trump takes up his offer to visit New Zealand for a round of golf.
Luxon met Trump while at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit and invited him to come and play at Tara Iti, a course north of Auckland.
Speaking with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning, the Prime Minister said he thought it was possible Trump would accept his offer.
“He knew a lot about the golf assets that are here in New Zealand, you know, the golf courses. He has heard about them. They generally are in the top 10, 15 in the world.
“If he’s going to come down to Australia and New Zealand and this part of the world, then, you know, we should certainly welcome him here.”
Luxon said the informal nature of their talk was a positive.
“That was a good meeting because he had very formal meetings with China and Korea. And then he met with us just informally or me personally, which was great. So he was very good.”
Luxon mixed and mingled with some of the world’s most powerful leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his time at Apec in South Korea.
At the meeting with Xi, Luxon made sure New Zealand was still on the Chinese radar.
Speaking of New Zealand’s relationship with China, Luxon said it was an “important” and “complex” one with areas for further co-operation but also differences to be called out publicly and privately.
Luxon also discussed recent changes to the education curriculum for years 1-10, taking issue with criticism from the PSA and other unions.
“I feel very strongly about this”, he told Hosking.
“There is a stack of high-paying jobs out there in the world, and we need them to come to New Zealand. And what’s been happening is actually our standards have been slipping versus lots of other countries.”
Luxon said he does not remember unions “going after” Labour leader Chris Hipkins when he was Education Minister, while standards were being dumbed down and children were underachieving.
Strengthening the curriculum was the “single biggest thing that we can do to set ourselves up for the future”, he said.
“So, you know, the unions, there’s a consultation period, be constructive, don’t be political, get in behind, but where were you when the last six years calling out the poor performance?”
In other policy, changes to Chinese tourist visas were announced this morning, with Chinese tourists no longer needing to apply for a New Zealand visitor visa if they already hold an Australian one.
The changes announced by Minister for Immigration Erica Stanford are expected to bring a boost to the country’s tourism sector.
“We anticipate that as many as 50,000 additional visitors may now come each year on holiday via Australia through these changes,” she said.
Currently, those travelling from China to New Zealand must apply for a visitor visa, which costs $441 and can take up to two weeks to process.
However, the change now means Chinese visitors with a valid Australian visa can request an Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) - permission to enter New Zealand without needing a visa.
Yesterday, Health Minister Simeon Brown also announced four hospitals will open new wards during the second half of next year.
The rapid-build projects will provide for 140 new beds nationwide at Middlemore Hospital, Waikato Hospital, Wellington Regional Hospital and Nelson Hospital, said Brown.
The minister said the wards would be constructed off-site and installed on hospital grounds.
They will open at the same time as a new ward at Hawke’s Bay Hospital that was announced in February.
“These new wards will make a real difference for both patients and staff. They will ease pressure on emergency departments, support faster admissions and discharges and improve patient flow right across the hospital,” Brown said.