Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has waved away New Zealand First’s criticism of National’s economic plan, saying Winston Peters has many entrenched views.
In an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report on Tuesday, the NZ First leader said Luxon’s interest in asset sales was based on a “tawdry, silly argument”. Peters said National wanted to “flog those [assets] off” having “failed to run the economy properly”.
Responding on his way into a caucus meeting at Parliament, Luxon said he was not bothered by his coalition partner’s comments.
“Winston Peters has been around for half a century in this place. He has a lot of entrenched views on a lot of different things that aren’t a surprise to me or you.”
Luxon reiterated that the government would not be pursuing state asset sales this term but said there was a “legitimate conversation” to be had about the best use of its funds.
He told RNZ both National and NZ First would develop their policies over the next year and campaign on them into the election.
“He has his take on it, and I have my take on it,” he said. “It’s not surprising. He’s been here 50 years, for goodness’ sake. He has a lot of different views.”
Luxon said it was “quite normal” for coalition partners to express different views “on the margins” – especially going into election year – and that should not be viewed as an impediment to governing.
Asked about Peters’ claim that National had failed to turn around the economy fast enough, Luxon said all three coalition parties were “working incredibly hard” on that goal.
“We are in this together as a coalition government,” Luxon told RNZ. “Part of [the economy]… has recovered well. The other part has been more challenging.”
In the Morning Report interview, Peters cited Singapore as a model of economic success, but Luxon said Singapore was a big proponent of selling assets to put that capital to better use.
“When you look at countries like Singapore, a country I’ve studied really deeply over 30 years, one of their great successes and hallmarks has been they recycle their assets.”
Peters also told Morning Report he opposed selling the government’s stake in the telecommunications lines company Chorus – an option currently being explored and advocated for by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
Luxon said Willis was still seeking advice and the Government would discuss next steps “in due course”.
“We’ll come to Cabinet, have a good conversation about it, and see where we go to from there,” Luxon said.
“The choice for New Zealanders is: do you want the money tied up in Chorus debt, or do you want a new hospital or a school? It’s that simple.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters’ “admission” that the coalition Government had failed to turn the economy around was “stunning”.
“Goodness gracious. Imagine what the conversations are like behind closed doors,” Hipkins said. “If that’s what they’re saying about each other in public, they can’t be getting on particularly well in private, can they?”
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