Source: Radio New Zealand
Christopher Luxon. RNZ / Calvin Samuel
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he did not ask any of his ministers over the weekend if he had their support, because he did not need to.
There has been speculation in recent days that Luxon is under pressure after a terrible poll result last week that showed his and National’s support slipping.
The latest Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll had National on 28.4 percent – down nearly three points in a month.
Labour was up slightly on 34.4 percent, while the Greens, ACT, and Te Pāti Maori were all up on 10.5, 7.5, and 3.2 respectively. The centre-left bloc would have 61 seats on these results, enough to govern.
On Monday morning, the NZ Herald reported additional figures suggesting voters viewed Luxon less favourably than some of his senior MPs, including Chris Bishop and Erica Stanford. His personal ratings were also below that of Labour leader Chris Hipkins and NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Christopher Luxon with two of his Cabinet colleagues who are seen less unfavourably by voters – Chris Bishop and Erica Stanford. RNZ / Nick Monro
Asked on Morning Report on Monday if any of his MPs thought they could do a better job than him, Luxon said that “isn’t the case”.
“We are very focused as a team on making sure we deliver for New Zealanders. We know the major challenges of the economy – that’s what this election is going to be all about and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Asked if he had checked in with ministers that he had their support, Luxon said “I haven’t needed to because I have their support.”
Asked how he knew if he had not asked them, he said they had told him – some after the poll result.
“They tell me regularly and it’s just not a question that needs to be asked.”
Earlier that morning in his first media appearance of the week, Luxon told TVNZ’s Breakfast he had a “big job to do” and still had no plans to resign.
“I don’t need polls to tell me what’s on New Zealanders’ minds,” he said.
“I talk to them every day, and it’s really obvious they need us to fix the economy so they can lower the cost of living. It’s as simple as that. And that’s what this election is going to be all about, so, that’s what my team and we are focused on doing.”
Christopher Luxon during his last – and only – appearance on Q+A as prime minister, in December 2024. TVNZ
Asked if he had spoken to senior ministers over the weekend, Luxon said he spoke to them “regularly and over time and continue to do so”.
His predecessor as National leader, Judith Collins, in 2018 said she would resign if the party polled below 35 percent. She did not, and led National to one of its worst-ever electoral defeats.
Asked if there was a number that would prompt him to step down, Luxon said no – there was “only one poll” that mattered, the election in November.
“The New Zealand public don’t want me focusing on polls. What they want me doing is focusing on them and making sure that every minute I’ve got… is actually focused on making sure we’re getting things better for them.”
When it was suggested to him many MPs would be worried about losing their jobs on National’s current polling, Luxon said the poll numbers would not be seen on election day.
Luxon and Peters in the House. VNP / Phil Smith
“New Zealanders I talk to every day are telling me, look, this cost of living is really hard, inflation was baked in for a number of years at very high levels… and we have to grow the economy so we can lower the cost of living for people.”
Luxon said he had “total confidence” he would not get rolled.
In a separate interview on Newstalk ZB on Monday morning, Luxon said “hand on heart” he would not quit before the election.
Not avoiding media
Luxon also defended his apparent unwillingness to appear on TVNZ’s weekly political affairs show, Q+A.
Q+A host Jack Tame at the weekend called out Luxon’s absence.
“Despite doing more than 80 broadcasts since Christopher Luxon became prime minister, he hasn’t appeared on the programme for more than 15 months,” a post on the show’s website said, noting he had only appeared on the show once since taking on the top job.
“I make myself very available to the media throughout the course of any given week,” Luxon told Morning Report on Monday, after also speaking to Breakfast and Newstalk ZB.
Asked about Q+A specifically, Luxon said that decision was made by his media team.
“As to which outlets we talk to, as to based on who they talk to and how they reach and what their ratings look like,” he said.
“But I think when you look at any leader around the world and the accessibility you have to me as media, it’s pretty high.”
Asked directly if Q+A‘s ratings were the issue, Luxon said they were not.
“No, I’m just saying there’ll be reasons for why we choose who we engage with and when we do that… I’m sure I’ll do it again, but it’s just a question of – we get lots of media requests.”
National’s polling ‘not my concern’ – Peters
Peters said coalition partner National’s polling woes were “not my concern”.
“It’s not happening to my party,” he told Morning Report. NZ First polled at 9.7 percent, down from 10.5 (inside the margin of error).
“There’s an election coming, and some of the things that are being put out by way of speculation at the moment is absolutely astonishing. The great thing about politics, it’s a learning curve, and some have to get on it still, even though they’ve been in it for a long time.”
Peters’ party had been in coalition with National before when it changed leaders – notably in the late 1990s when Dame Jenny Shipley rolled Jim Bolger, fracturing the coalition and contributing to its defeat in the 1999 election.
“Look, I’d like to pride myself on not getting involved in these matters, but sitting on the outside with a blank piece of paper, you look at every possible permutation and make sure that you’ve got it covered,” he said.
“This country of ours called New Zealand demands a thing called stability, and my job is to provide it to the best of my ability.”
‘Too messy’ for a coup
RNZ political editor Jo Moir said it was not likely the prime minister would be rolled anytime soon.
She told Morning Report Christopher Luxon would have had to do an interview with Newstalk ZB, in which he denied coup speculation, on Friday to calm things down.
“There was no way he could have gone into the weekend with the country thinking he was considering his future.”
Luxon would have had lots of conversations over the weekend about how to reclaim the narrative, Moir says.
With a big morning media round, and the post Cabinet media conference on Monday afternoon – both of which he finds a little difficult – it would have been a big weekend of trying to work out the specific language, Moir says.
“I don’t think we’re in the territory of a coup or him being rolled,” she said.
With a three-way coalition, any thought of instability and the possibility of having to renegotiate an agreement with a new leader was “incredibly messy”.
If National polled consistently in the 20s, then it would start to get more difficult, but it would be for the party’s caucus to do the convincing and not Luxon suddenly deciding it was time to go, Moir said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand