In an interview interrupted somewhat humorously by a noisy scissor lift, National’s Christopher Luxon, during an election campaign visit to Tauranga, answers some lighter questions that reveal more about the man behind the political aspirations before getting down to serious matters.
He’s a country music fan, so when National leader Christopher Luxon is asked to choose between Johnny Cash and Chris Stapleton, he quickly opts for the latter, citing his love for Tennesse Whiskey.
Pineapple on pizza? A resounding “no” shows he’s happy to take firm stances on controversial matters.
Next up, his preference for putting sauce on his meals. Luxon confesses he used to be an “on everything” kind of guy, but now he prefers it “on the side of the plate”.
Hidden talents? Luxon reminisces about his days as a “mean recorder” player but it has been a while since he has given it a go.
As a sports enthusiast, Luxon says he is a fan of cricket and rugby.
He cheered for the Crusaders in the rugby domain and was a dedicated All Blacks supporter. However, asked to choose between Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett at first five, he stays loyal to Mo’unga.
When it comes to cricket, Luxon downplays his spin bowling skills, saying in his view they’re “not nearly as good” as the Labour Government’s.
Moving on to more personal matters, Luxon tells the Bay of Plenty Times his favourite thing to spend money on if he is “lucky”, is licorice allsorts.
Luxon’s favourite holiday destination is Waiheke Island, where he can enjoy the sun and beach and go fishing.
Asked about major mistakes, Luxon says he is far from perfect.
“I can’t think of one immediately. I’m not perfect so I do make mistakes, you know, and you’ve seen that over the last year and a half, even as the leader of the National Party.
“I’m not a career politician and I won’t get it right all the time but I do believe in fronting up to your mistakes and then moving on.”
Lastly, Luxon’s fashion style in one word? “Dad.”
But on to more serious matters.
Luxon was in Tauranga to attend the Junior Tough Guy and Gal Mud Run Challenge at Baypark and visit a retirement village before a public meeting at Classic Flyers as part of his Get NZ Back on Track tour.
In an interview at Classic Flyers, Luxon described the Bay of Plentyas “a great place” with huge growth, but he acknowledged that this growth had put a strain on the local infrastructure.
He also said many of the issues the region faced were not unique and mirrored struggles seen across the country.
“People are struggling with the cost of living, they really want law and order restored in New Zealand and personal responsibility restored and importantly, to better deliver health and education for future generations.”
Luxon criticised the Government for being “soft on crime” and sending a message to gang members and people who broke the law they could get away with their actions.
To highlight his point, Luxon referenced the recent funeral for Mongrel Mob Barbarians president Steven Rota Taiatini in Ōpōtiki, which affected the daily lives of its residents.
Luxon believed the Government’s stance often favoured the offenders over victims.
Luxon’s vision to hold gang members to account was to ban patches in public and give police the power to break them up and disperse them when they get together in public places.
Police would also be given warrantless search powers so they could “get after the surge of illegal guns which is driving so much violent crime”.
Luxon also took aim at the state of New Zealand’s roads, saying National’s recently announced plan to establish a Pothole Repair Fund had been “really popular”.
It would see a new directive for Waka Kotahi to double the current rate of roading renewals, halve the standard response rate for pothole repair from 48 to 24 hours, and see a $500 million fund established for roading repairs.
“[New Zealand] has five million people in a country the size of Great Britain and Japan. We are very dependent upon our roading network and yet the state of our state highways and our local roads is the worst ever it’s ever been.”
The high cost of living was also on his mind, with Luxon saying National would stop passing costs on to businesses, which leads to higher prices, and make sure people got tax relief.
Luke Kirkness is an assistant news director for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post covering general news. He previously worked at the NZ Herald for three years, mainly as a consumer affairs reporter. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019 at the Voyager Media Awards.