Podcast appearances and mentions of chris luxon

Chris Luxon insists Chris Bishop and Erica Stanford played no part in the leadership challenge against him. MP Chris Penk was removed from Cabinet and has announced his retirement from politics, after leading an unsuccessful coup against Luxon. Both Bishop and Stanford have denied any involvement in the leadership challenge, or any interest in taking Luxon's job. Luxon says both Bishop and Stanford have given him assurances, both publicly and privately, and he believes them. He's confident Chris Penk was acting on his own. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This should be it for coup gate questioning of the Prime Minister. Bruce Cotterill's piece over the weekend in the NZ Herald I hope, and more importantly actually I think, represents a growing feeling in this country among middle New Zealand that the superficiality of what the media obsess in is not really what counts. And what counts is the record and, as Bruce very clearly lays out, the record is not a bad one - from crime, to education, to exports there is a very good story to be told. Perhaps, and the Government might want to work a bit harder on this, the only story this election outside the record of achievement is tax. One side want to tax us more. The side in Government doesn't. It's that simple. In a country that has been through what we have for the past seven or so years, we are fed up with tax and the constant raiding of our pockets by people who have no other ideas than having you and I pay for everything. Anyway Luxon was at our Newstalk ZB 100th party on Friday night and everyone commented on his speech, which was kind, self deprecating and funny. "Why couldn't we see more of that," they asked. My answer is the country is not a party and when you see the Prime Minister he isn't giving birthday speeches. It's the old issue they have argued all along; meet the bloke and you like him but watch him in a 20 second news clip and he can look troubled. My guess from the mood in the room on Friday is it was the opposite of what you probably read over the weekend, which was "Luxon is done for", "National are mortally wounded". I think last Wednesday enhanced Luxon. It showed balls, it showed self-belief and it showed courage. Most of us like that stuff. In a caucus of 48 does he have some self-absorbed dickheads? Yes, but that's not his fault. It's not a reason to be derailed. The big picture should never be interrupted .by the trials and tribulations of the small-thinker. By the time we vote this will be yet another non-event in a campaign full of things we thought were a big deal, until they weren't. If you're bullish, and I am, last Wednesday could be the making of him. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know what? I thought the Prime Minister was right to rule out working with Opportunity, until that One News-Verian poll. Now, I think he might have made a mistake. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I'm starting to lean towards this being an error. If you didn't catch the poll, the screaming message from it was that nobody gets to govern unless they have Opportunity. The centre-right bloc has a combined total of 57 seats. That's not enough. You need 61-plus to govern. The centre-left, once you take out the ridiculous thing TVNZ does by counting six Māori Party seats, which is just unreasonable, probably has about 55 seats. Again, that's not enough. Opportunity has nine. Both sides of the political divide need Opportunity's seats to form a Government. Now, look, things are going to change. One poll does not mean that's what happens on November 7 and Opportunity will almost certainly come back from this. This is probably too high for them. But I think the message here is clear: this scenario is now a live possibility in a way it wasn't before, especially after the failed coup, which must almost certainly dent the chances of an outright centre-right victory. That poll will have scared National Party MPs for two reasons. First, the centre-right doesn't win in that poll. Second, Opportunity did not die after Chris Luxon ruled them out. In fact, they went up instead. What he would have hoped is that by ruling them out, they would fade away as a political force. Instead, they shot up to 8 percent. Now, look, Opportunity is a pretty radical left-wing party, okay? They sit more comfortably on the left. But the fact is, the policies they're spruiking, the ideas National will say no to, are also ideas Labour will say no to. Chris Hipkins knows that if he says to Opportunity, "Yep, absolutely fine. Let's roll out a universal basic income. Let's introduce a land tax. Let's lift the age of youth crime to 25," he'll only last one term in Government because that stuff is nutty. It's nuttier than anything the Jacinda Ardern Government did with the Greens. Because of that, because Labour will say no and National will say no, it neutralises Opportunity. Neither side is going to put up with their more radical ideas. Both sides will only agree to the more sensible proposals. Which means Opportunity possibly becomes a viable support partner for the centre-right as well. And that raises the question: has the Prime Minister made a mistake by ruling them out? And does he now need to row that back? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Luxon doesn't believe voters will punish his party in the polls after he survived another confidence vote. Chris Penk has been sacked from Cabinet after Luxon claimed he was behind yesterday's leadership challenge. Penk's since announced he won't seek re-election in November. Senior Ministers Chris Bishop and Erica Stanford deny involvement in the coup attempt, and are pledging support to Luxon. Newstalk ZB reporter Azaria Howell says Luxon claimed the party dealt with the issue in-house, and they'll be moving on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon stared them down and survived again. Now, it sounds like both contenders, or at least both people who thought they were contenders, Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop, were reasonably confident they had the numbers to roll Luxon yesterday afternoon. But then things swung Luxon's way early in the evening. About 8pm, I got a text suggesting the coup was falling apart and Luxon was shoring up his numbers. The people who had defected from him were defecting back to him. By this morning, the confidence had shifted back to Luxon's camp. It looks like, if I can put this really simply, the coup fell apart because of egos. Neither Chris Bishop nor Erica Stanford was prepared to go second on the ticket. They needed to work together if they wanted the numbers. They needed to coalesce around one candidate but they couldn't because both wanted to be leader. So, in the end, neither of them became leader. Now, I can't say the caucus has made the wrong call by backing Chris Luxon because, as I said, either choice was risky and difficult. But the situation the National Party finds itself in is the worst of all worlds. For a second time, the party has signalled to the country that it does not fully back its leader, and then left him there to do the job anyway. No one is going to believe the false show of unity that saw them standing behind Chris Luxon for 75 seconds while he told us his caucus was unified. It doesn't take three hours in a caucus room to establish unity. It takes five minutes. Three hours is what it looks like when there isn't enough unity. The people behind this coup, and this time it appears to be Erica Stanford rather than Chris Bishop, should reflect on what they've done. They have effectively blown the arms and legs off their Prime Minister, then pushed him out there to try to win the election for them again because they couldn't get past their own egos long enough to execute a coup properly. There's only one thing worse than a coup against a Prime Minister, and that's a failed coup. You do all the damage and end up with nothing shiny and new to show for it. This is going to hurt National. Mark my words, this is going to hurt National. The party will probably bleed votes to its coalition partners in the next three months. I'm still not convinced it will cost National the election but it certainly makes that outcome more likely. They only have themselves to blame for what comes next. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon's held on as Prime Minister and National leader, but there's likely to be fallout from the party's recent turmoil. Luxon's leadership was put to a vote during a near three-hour caucus meeting in Wellington this morning. It followed murmurings about a potential coup - with some MPs signalling they wanted Luxon out of the top job. Former National Minister Maurice Williamson says these events were still 'damaging' for the current Government. "This was just the worst possible thing to be happening to National at this time...he couldn't have left it as business as usual." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National MP Chris Penk's been dumped from Cabinet and his ministerial portfolios, after instigating today's failed coup. Prime Minister Chris Luxon managed to fight off the challenge for his leadership - at a three-hour caucus meeting in Wellington today. He says Penk's role is now untenable. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says Penk was likely running the numbers - for Erica Stanford or Chris Bishop to contest the leadership. "I think there was a classic stalking horse or sometimes they're called kamikazes - they launched the attacks and destabilised...so that it triggered the confidence vote." Paul Goldsmith will pick up the Defence, Veterans, Space, GCSB, and NZSIS portfolios. Simon Watts will become Minister for Building and Construction. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's suggestions heads will roll over Chris Luxon's latest leadership challenge, but not straight away. The Prime Minister's survived a confidence vote of his caucus - the second in four months. Luxon called an urgent meeting to address recent reports of discontent among National MPs, and he confirmed today that he had full backing from the party. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says it's clear Bishop and Stanford were angling for the top job - but they couldn't strike a deal. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Chris Luxon's now faced with the knowledge there's several detractors in his caucus. The Prime Minister's survived a second vote of confidence in a matter of months, following an urgent caucus meeting which lasted close to three hours. He says the Prime Minister has to avoid wreaking havoc on the party and not immediately penalise those who plotted against him. "He's got to live with that, that's the nature of politics. Between now and the election, at least - after the election, all bets are off." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ginny Andersen joins to discuss National's decision to keep Chris Luxon as leader to going into the 2026 election. How is Labour feeling about the drama?Chris Penk was ousted as the leader of the attempted coup, and portfolios taken from him.Latest 1News Verian Poll released, showing small parties are holding a lot of power going into the 2026 election.++++++++++++++++++++Like us on Facebook.com/BigHairyNetwork Follow us on Twitter.com/@bighairynetworkFollowing us on TikTok.com/@bighairynetworkSupport us on Patreon www.patreon.com/c/BigHairyNewsCheck out our merch https://bhn.nz/shop/Donate to our work https://bhn.nz/shop/donation/

Well, as I warned you last night, they are coming for him again. The roll is on for Christopher Luxon. I didn't think it was going to happen this fast, but I knew it was going to happen. After I got off the radio last night at 7 o'clock, it ramped up, Thomas Coughlan wrote a piece late in the evening for the Herald confirming that National MPs were again phoning each other about his leadership. That, by the way, for people who've already asked me if I'm happy with the situation is not a media creation, get off that bandwagon. It is not the media creating the situation. The media are not forcing the MPs to try to roll him. This is the MPs trying to roll him in the media. They are telling you what is happening. Thomas Coughlan wasn't creating the situation - he was merely reporting on what was going on. Other media who were behind Thomas on this, then started phoning around, found out that Thomas was right and started reporting on the situation as well. The level of reporting became quite overwhelming today. As a result, the Prime Minister could no longer ignore what was now out in the open, and he called a caucus meeting, which will happen tomorrow at 9:30 in Wellington. MPs have already started landing in Wellington for that meeting. I think you would be a fool right now to say which way it is going to go tomorrow because there are about 17.5 hours between now and 9:30 tomorrow morning. There are multiple MPs who consider themselves to be in the running for leadership and those MPs will be using every one of those hours within reason to try to get the numbers for them. There will be horse trading between now and 9:30 tomorrow. There will be promises of jobs. Loyalties will shift. But what I would say is that it is going to be very hard for Chris Luxon to survive this. Because how do you survive two of these in less than 4 months? If, against all the odds, he manages to survive, does he have any authority left after that? I also think he is very close to losing the numbers if he hasn't already. I have counted by myself 3 loyal Luxon MPs who have left him. Two of them have joined Erica Stanford's camp. One of them has joined Chris Bishop's camp. If you've been following this over the last week, you will know that he only had a margin of 3 MPs in the rumored 27 to 22 vote in April. He has lost by my, my count, those 3 MPs, and those are just the ones I know about. He has possibly lost more than that. As I say, I think you would be a fool to say with certainty one way or the other that Chris Luxon will or will not be rolled tomorrow, but I don't like his chances. I don't think this is looking good for him at all. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amid discussions surrounding Luxon's political future, there's still one sector backing him. National MPs are arriving to the Capital ahead of tomorrow's big meeting to discuss the Prime Minister's political future. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister is refusing to say if he has caucus support before an urgent meeting tomorrow morning. Chris Luxon has summoned National MPs to the capital, after renewed speculation about his leadership. He says division and disunity need to be resolved quickly. Luxon had no answer for journalists when he touched down in Wellington this afternoon, but senior MPs Nicola Willis and Mark Mitchell have both expressed confidence in the PM. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says potential leadership challengers would go into the meeting believing they have the numbers. "People are too afraid to say - no, I wouldn't support them, because what happens when they become leader?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's silence from some National MPs as the Prime Minister faces a potential leadership showdown. Chris Luxon's called an urgent Caucus meeting in Wellington tomorrow morning, after rumours emerged he doesn't have his party's full support. He's touched down in Wellington, batting off questions and saying he'll talk to media tomorrow. NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan says MPs like Simeon Brown - who've previously stood behind Luxon - aren't returning texts. "Usually, when there's a bit of speculation it's very easy, it takes two seconds to say - yes, I back the Prime Minister, and they do that all the time." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Chris Luxon's political future is hanging in the balance ahead of tomorrow's big meeting. Will he survive, or will he be rolled? Will Erica Stanford or Chris Bishop replace him? What do we make of Chris Hipkins' plan to help small businesses join the AI revolution? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday the 12th of August 2026, Chris Luxon's in Wellington for an urgent caucus meeting over speculation about his leadership, political commentator tells Ryan if it's the end of the road for him as Prime Minister. Over half a million kiwis now in debt to the IRD, Deloitte Tax Partner Robyn Walker explains. A new study from the University of Otago is linking vaping around newborns to a higher risk of sudden infant death, Dr Buzz Burrell General Practitioners Aotearoa Chair, shares his concerns. Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on the UK PM telling Justice Secretary to find a way to keep two young men in prison who were found guilty of the manslaughter of a newly-married police officer and the clock ticking for one of the most bizarre UK by-elections in modern history. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a fork in the road of the National Party, as speculation looms around the Prime Minister's leadership. Christopher Luxon's called an urgent in-person caucus meeting tomorrow morning to resolve the issue quickly. In a post online, Luxon says it's a major distraction 90 days out from an election - and unfair to the New Zealand people and National's supporters. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says a change at the top could increase the public's perception of disunity. "And if you're a disunified party, then rarely will the public say - we want to vote for you. So it's a big play, whichever way you look at it." Parliament's in recess this week - meaning MPs will travel from around the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters has offered up a theory on why the Prime Minister has expressed interest in an MMP referendum. Chris Luxon said he's like to get a public vote on MMP if National returns to power, alongside a four-year term. Peters says there will not be any change to our electoral system - and that National's getting desperate because polling's not looking good. "I've watched their body language and there's a huge stress on them at the moment because of the energy crisis we've got, the fact that we've got delayed recovery...and all those things are stressing them out." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yeah, well, if Chris Luxon's week wasn't already bad, it's not much better. Not after he apparently announced off the cuff on ZB Mornings with Kerre that he's going to hold an MMP referendum if he wins the election. Now, where do I start with the problems with him doing this? The first is that it looks incredibly desperate. No one was asking for a referendum. It's not a topic of discussion. I mean, sure, we can all see that MMP is giving Chris Luxon heaps of trouble because he can't fire his Foreign Minister for being racist without ending the coalition and forcing a snap election. But that has not led to a clamour for a return to FPP. In that context, him suddenly announcing that he wants to get rid of MMP, which is basically what he said by calling for a referendum on the thing, looks like he just wants to get rid of the system that's to blame for his party polling around 30 percent and sometimes below 30 percent. That just looks incredibly desperate. Now, I'm not saying that he is desperate because I actually think what happened here is that Chris Luxon fell into the trap of doing what Chris Luxon often does: agreeing with the person he's talking to. And because Kerre really liked the idea, all of a sudden he liked the idea and off he went on a tangent. But for people who didn't hear the whole exchange and just see the headlines, this looks desperate. The second problem is that this is now dominating what should really be a very good news day for the National Party. Their star minister, Erica Stanford, has just released the new subjects for students in Years 12 and 13. Chris Bishop has finally revealed the date for Auckland's new train system. We should be talking about that but instead we're talking about the Prime Minister saying the second weird thing in a week. For the record, if there were a referendum, and there will not be a referendum, which is why this idea is cooked, it would fail. Look at how many people vote for parties that are only there because of MMP: the Greens, ACT, New Zealand First and The Opportunity Party, if you believe the polls. Meanwhile, the two old FPP parties, National and Labour, can't get themselves out of the low 30s. So it's going to fail and that is the third problem. A Prime Minister should never, if they can avoid it, back an idea that is destined to fail. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 6 July, 2026, Winston Peters says Christopher Luxon's pledge to look at a referendum on MMP is a sign of desperation. We talk to a pharmacist about whether they're prepared to treat more conditions, as ACT wants them to do. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown on the number of passengers he hopes will catch the City Rail Link. And on The Huddle, Mike Munro and Jordan Williams discuss Chris Luxon - one of them says he's a dead man walking. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters believes the Prime Minister's suggesting an MMP referendum will backfire. Chris Luxon says if re-elected, he'll support revisiting that, and discussing a four-year Parliamentary term. Peters has suggested Luxon's poor polling is what's making him want another look at MMP. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacked the reactions to Luxon's statements. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister's interest in an MMP referendum's being labelled as a potential blunder. Christopher Luxon's revealed on Newstalk ZB he's open to another vote on the 1996 Mixed Member Proportional system, if re-elected. It provides a party and an electoral vote and was reaffirmed in a 2011 referendum. Lawyer and political commentator Liam Hehir told Ryan Bridge no one's able to say if this is a policy announcement, or just a view. He says this makes it more likely it wasn't pre-planned; it just came off the cuff and blew up into something larger than Luxon wanted. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I've come back from holiday to find Christopher Luxon having the week from hell, haven't I? The small business comments, the Winston Peters "go back to where you came from" comments and now Choppergate. The latest with Choppergate, by the way, is that the event Chris Luxon was telling Mike Hosking about on Monday, where he finished up in Whanganui at 10:30 and then had to get back to Auckland, was in fact a National Party fundraiser. Now, that would be a big no-no if he were using a Defence Force flight to get to a National Party fundraiser because you can't use Defence Force aircraft to get yourself re-elected, can you? But it is not a no-no because that is not what he was doing. He was using the flight not to get to the fundraiser but to get from the fundraiser to an event in Auckland the next day. His office says that was a prime ministerial event and that makes it acceptable. As far as I'm concerned, prime ministers should be allowed to use the Defence Force, within reason, to get around the place. The Defence Force has to keep those aircraft flying. They have to complete a certain number of flying hours and surely, if the choice is between flying for the sake of it or flying for an actual reason, the practical option is to choose the actual reason. That's what this is. Also, come on, we've got to stop nitpicking legitimate uses of things like Defence Force flights, for God's sake. Whether you like Christopher Luxon or not, whether you vote for him or not, he is the Prime Minister. That is the most senior elected position in New Zealand. It is a job that requires constant travel and work. The Defence Force should be flying him around the place to cut down his travel time, simply so he can use that time for something more productive. It is neither novel nor new that this happens. Go and watch the Jacinda documentary on Netflix. She gets picked up from Clarke's parents' holiday home in Gisborne in a Defence Force chopper. Prime ministers have been flown around the country, and around the world, by the Defence Force for decades. It says more about us, I think, than it does about Chris Luxon that this is an issue. Now, the other two issues Luxon is dealing with this week are proper problems that do warrant debate: his small business comments and Winston Peters' racist comments. But this, Choppergate, is just nitpicking. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A predecessor of Chris Luxon is unconcerned about his non-emergency use of Defence Force aircraft. Luxon's justifying taking dozens of military domestic flights this term - including twice between Auckland and Waikato. He says he only uses them when necessary. Former Prime Minister Sir John Key says the aircraft are there to be used, and doing so can make practical sense at virtually no cost. "The pilot is already being paid for by the Air Force, the plane is being depreciated whether he uses it or not - in fact, actually, if you don't fly them, then their parts just get ripped out, unused." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says a late night meeting was why he recently used a military aircraft, but it's now been revealed it was a National Party fundraiser dinner. That was a flight in July, when Chris Luxon flew from Whanganui. He initially said he had a late night meeting, now his office says former National MP Bill Birch's funeral required a last-minute travel change. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacked the backlash further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rotorua's mayor says Chris Luxon doesn't need to feel sorry, after igniting backlash for comments at a local business event. The Prime Minister last week told business owners they have a parent-child mentality, and too often ask the Government for help. Yesterday he backtracked, saying that was wrong and didn't acknowledge the challenges many face. But Tania Tapsell says Luxon was right on the money and his comment was taken out of context. "Yes, times are tough - but actually, don't rely on the Government to be bailing you out. And I 100 percent agree with that, because, we don't need to keep getting into debt, we need to make sure we're innovating." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister's says he believed he had a good robust chat with the Rotorua Business Chamber last week, but that doesn't minimise his apology for comments he made. Chris Luxon responded to a question over the city's struggles, saying businesses had a 'parent child mentality' and need to be more adult. Today he's apologised, saying he got it wrong, and he's sorry if he caused offence. Newstalk ZB reporter Azaria Howell says this apology has raised questions from Labour, who claimed it wasn't 'convincing'. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The battle for the right and centre-right vote is the most interesting thing about the Election. Because it's the battle that will determine who wears the pants in the next Government. I'm still of the view that the Coalition will be re-elected. The make-up of the cabinet is what they're now fighting for. That's why over the past week we've seen the biggest dust ups between the three parties currently sitting on the Treasury benches. When was the last time you heard anything from or about the Māori Party? The left's been fascinated by TOP. In some ways this a function of the media oxygen. Fighting, albeit with gloves on, between coalition partners is newsworthy. Punch too hard and the thing could collapse before making through the next 90-odd days. Punch too soft and you might not make it out the other side of November 7th. The right is battling for the same group of voters. Luxon ruling out TOP was an attempt to pull some formerly blue votes back to the mothership. But their polling is still at a point where they would lose some big names —Goldsmith, Bishop— if things don't turn around. The fundamentals, i.e. the economy and how people feel about it, won't change dramatically in the next few months, so this is now a battle of wills. Who has the stamina and discipline not to blow it and go of course on the campaign? Will the Nats pull a Hail Mary-Jacinda move and roll Luxon, for fear his foot-in-mouth disease strikes again and they lose even more of the soft centre? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Matt Heath and Tyler Adams Afternoons Full Show Podcast, first up - are graphic protests with beheadings a freedom of speech issue or taking things too far? Then, Chris Luxon has upset some with his comments about Government v business. And to finish - an influencer reckons he doesn't want to go on holiday cause he has worked so hard on making his life perfect at home. Get the Matt Heath and Tyler Adams Afternoons Podcast every weekday afternoon on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon's standing by his comments telling struggling business owners to take more responsibility for themselves. The National Party leader told a Rotorua business function on Friday to not rely on the government and "be adult, be adult, be adult", responding to a question about the city's struggling economy. He says the previous Labour government had treated business with a "parent-child mentality" - and that he didn't wait for the Government when he was a business leader. Luxon told Mike Hosking that his government's trying to empower businesses. He says they've partnered with businesses through the fuel crisis, which is different to Labour's approach of dictating to businesses through Covid. LISTEN ABOVE Below is the transcript of the prime minister's full response to the question at the event, provided to Newstalk ZB by his office. "I think that's a negative view, to be honest. Like we're entrepreneurs and business people, and I get it. You know, if you're not retooling and radically disrupting your business, you ain't doing the job. "You know, you have to disrupt yourself aggressively before you get disrupted by global events, and if you keep thinking you want the same business model, the same customer mix, the same margin structure, you know you've got to be retooling and refinancing and rehoming, and that's just the reality of business people all around the world. "So, my job is to make sure I'm setting up the conditions for you to be able to go create that growth. And I think some of the subtext and assumption in your question is that...I think in New Zealand I'll be honest with you as a business person who was... I sat in Illinois for six years in Chicago, and the last person I wanted to ever talk to as a CEO was the government. I didn't sit there in Chicago saying I wonder what the government thinks and I wonder what they're doing to help me for my business? Can I get some grant money to do something? No, no, I'm a business person. "I'm building a kick-ass company that actually has commercially superior returns, great customer experience, and awesome internal culture. That is the job of what makes a great company, not a good one, a great one. And so that was my mentality. "Come home to New Zealand, and there's a parent-child mentality. I have literally sat in boardrooms across New Zealand, and the conversation goes: 'I wonder what the government's going to do? I wonder what the government's going to think?' "Who cares what the government thinks or does? Our job is to be adult, adult, adult. The business leaders, the political leaders, and the community leaders working together, doing things differently. I set up the operating system. You go out there and smack it and go create the road, and the community leaders see the pain, the hurt, the need, and the frustration, and the three actors do different things but complementary things to deal with the challenges and the opportunities. "So I still think there's a little bit of.... okay, so in this chamber, how many of you are actually using Claude or Claude code? Okay great. How many sessions has the chamber run to help you understand that? Is that your number one focus right here, right now? Because that is going to disrupt your businesses, and it's a huge opportunity for you to do exceptionally well off the back of it. "So how do we collectively lift our SME literacy on something like AI as a result? So I'm just pushing back to say my job is to set the conditions up. We're getting spending under control. We're getting inflation back into the band. We're at 2.9 percent, strip out the fuel pieces. We've got growth coming in. And that creates opportunity."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon's standing by his comments telling struggling business owners to take more responsibility for themselves. The National party leader told a Rotorua business function on Friday to "be adult", responding to a question about the city's struggling economy. He says they had a "parent-child mentality" - and that he didn't wait for the Government when he was Air NZ's CEO. Luxon told Mike Hosking that his government's trying to empower businesses. He says they've partnered with businesses through the fuel crisis, which is different to Labour's approach of dictating to businesses through Covid. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Rotorua business leader told Prime Minister Christopher Luxon about the city's struggling economy at a function, prompting the PM to tell business owners to 'be adult'. Luxon was in Rotorua last week with appointments including the recent Business Chamber Westpac Smarts Breakfast. Newstalk ZB political reporter Ethan Griffiths says Luxon's comments have prompted outrage, with Labour condemning him for 'lecturing' business owners about the state of the economy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Rotorua business leader told Prime Minister Christopher Luxon about the city's struggling economy at a function, prompting the PM to tell business owners to 'be adult'. Luxon was in Rotorua last week with appointments including the recent Business Chamber Westpac Smarts Breakfast. Newstalk ZB political reporter Ethan Griffiths says Luxon's comments have prompted outrage, with Labour condemning him for 'lecturing' business owners about the state of the economy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you see even Don Brash reckons Luxon should fire Winston as Foreign Minister? Before anyone gets their hopes up, this never going to happen. If the PM cut Winston loose, the government would fall apart. That would kill not only Luxon's current term but his ambitions for a second. MMP is a game of swallowing dead rats. Campaign-mode Winston is the political equivalent of one of those giant New York sewer rats. With the plague. Gross. Unsightly. A pain the arse. But impossible to get rid of. The PM has so far handled the situation well, using the playbook of Jacinda Ardern and Helen Clark to deal with his brain farts. Those calling for his sacking are hypocrites to their party. Carmel Sepuloni sat round the cabinet table with Winston POST two Wongs don't make a White. The faux shock and outrage only make their own leader look weak. If 'Go Home Gate' is so outrageous and egregious, why hasn't Chris Hipkins ruled Winston out? He did so about this stage of the election cycle in 2023. Why not last night? Why not this morning? I text Hipkins today to ask exactly this question. Why not rule him out ever being foreign minister, at least? Guess what? Crickets. Radio silence. Why? Same reason as Luxon. They need him. Or might need him. Luxon, because he's no John Key and doesn't have the arty vote to govern without New Zealand First. And Hipkins, because if he did get enough support to cross the finish line, he'd rather do it alongside Winston Peters than Te Pati Maori. The fact is, Winston can say what he likes and he knows it. His comments aren't popular with most fair-minded kiwis, but then, really, neither are the Chrises'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters is defending his comments, which coalition partners Chris Luxon and David Seymour have labelled 'attention-seeking'. The New Zealand First leader yesterday responded to Chinese-born Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan heckling over vaccinations, by telling him to go back to his own country. Luxon says Peters has a long track record of inappropriate comments designed to get people talking about him. Newstalk ZB reporter Azaria Howell says Labour has also condemned Peters' comments and called for his resignation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Green MP told to go back to his own country by Winston Peters says the NZ First leader conducted himself 'carelessly'. After Lawrence Xu-Nan heckled him about his vaccination status, Peters fired back and today said he was 'supporting democracy'. Chris Luxon's labelled it 'attention seeking'. Xu-Nan says it was an attack on his identity. "What is also important is freedom of expression - it doesn't necessarily mean freedom from consequences." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National leader Chris Luxon has ruled out working with the Opportunity Party after the election. Three recent polls have had the party nearing the five-percent threshold for getting into Parliament. Leader Qiulae Wong has been adamant it'll will work with any party, if it gains enough votes. "We kind of have to wait to see where the votes fall on election day, and we'll be really clear with voters what our bottom lines are." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! National leader Chris Luxon has ruled out working with the Opportunity Party after the election, but leader Qiulae Wong has been adamant it'll will work with any party if it gains enough votes. What do we make of this? The Green Party is calling for a moratorium on data centres - do we think this is fair, or is this bad for jobs and future investments? Would you take your pet on a plane with you? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister has responded to the US hitting New Zealand with 12.5% tariffs. Despite the tariffs already facing scrutiny from US courts, Kiwi exporters are preparing to bare the brunt of the raised tariff. Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking that, "it's purely a play to find another avenue to open up the 12.5% tariffs when the Supreme Court came back with a negative ruling" Donald Trump used accusations of 'forced labour' to justify the tariffs, which Chris Luxon strongly denies. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon says he doesn't know if and when New Zealand could face higher tariffs from the US - but we'll weather whatever comes our way. Trade experts have suggested New Zealand could face a blanket 12.5 percent tariff as early as this Friday. It would replace the 10-percent tariff we currently face. The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking that there will continue to be strong demand for New Zealand goods. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty is calling for tougher regulations on misbehaving councillors, including docking pay, banning people from meetings - or even recall elections. Do we think these changes are needed, or is this anti-democratic? We got our first case of bird flu in New Zealand today - should we be worried? What could this mean for our poultry sector? Paul Henry recently gave an interview about why Prime Minister Chris Luxon isn't clicking with voters after he announced his bid to run for ACT. Does he have a point here? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Luxon just delivered one of the most animated speeches of his prime ministership to 10,000 Kiwi Indians at Spark Arena. He went all out, laying down massive praise for the community. But not everyone is happy. Coalition partner Shane Jones is calling out immigration overreach, and some viewers feel regular Kiwis were completely thrown under the bus. We look at the tight politics behind it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Seymour's been left in awe of the Indian Prime Minister's x-factor. Narendra Modi stopped by Auckland on Saturday, attending a series of business, political and community events. He and Chris Luxon agreed to attempt to double two-way trade by 2030. Acting Prime Minister David Seymour told Mike Hosking that he heard Modi speak at a rally, which he attended out of political nerd-ism. He says Modi's a cross between a charismatic Baptist preacher, Winston Churchill, and a new world leader. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A word of caution as New Zealand forges closer defence ties with India. Prime Minister Chris Luxon's signed a Strategic Partnership with Narendra Modi - during the Indian Prime Minister's whirlwind visit. He's also agreed to strengthen maritime cooperation and carry out more bilateral naval activity. Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller says the relationship's come a long way in a short space of time - but we need to be careful we're not moving too fast. "It is positive to broaden the relationship from trade, I just think New Zealand needs to be careful in what it is signing up to, because it has the potential to impact on international relations more generally." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand could soon have its second formal ally, as the Government considers joining Australia and Fiji's defence pact. Anthony Albanese and Sitiveni Rabuka inked the deal on Monday, promising to come to each other's defence in an attack. Prime Minister Chris Luxon's confirmed Cabinet's pondering signing up, and he's spoken to both leaders about it. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained what we know so far. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says sport will likely be top of mind for his Indian counterpart when he visits this week. Narendra Modi will fly into Auckland on Friday for a one day visit - marking our first visit of an Indian leader in 40 years. He's set to hold a bilateral with Chris Luxon, meet business leaders and attend an Indian-New Zealand community event. Luxon told Mike Hosking that Modi is really interested in sport. He says they want to host the 2036 Olympics and are interested in our high-tech sports approach. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister's remaining reticent about accusations against the country's top cop. The Police National Integrity Unit and IPCA are looking into historic sexual allegations from Police Commissioner Richard Chamber's former partner. Chris Luxon says he can't comment on the allegations. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister says the Government's about-turn on conservation reform, came down to a mistake in wording. Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has scrapped a controversial clause in the Government's reform, that would have allowed sales of protected land. It follows public outcry, over Forest and Bird maps showing a large amount of land could be sold off under the clause. Chris Luxon told Mike Hosking that the wording of the clause didn't reflect the Government's intentions. He says the Government has made a mistake, and has corrected it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Luxon is in damage-control mode today, after Campaign Chair Simeon Brown made some strong comments at the Party's annual conference over the weekend. Brown's likened the two minor coalition parties to children, and has warned that voting for them doesn't help National. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says National's at risk of losing votes to ACT and NZ First, according to current polling. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister's blasting the Greens' wealth tax, saying it would make Kiwis poorer and drive away investment. The party's proposing a 2.5% tax on net assets above 10 million dollars, excluding the family home - alongside income tax cuts for people earning under %160,000 dollars. Chris Luxon says National's focused on growing the economy, while Labour has an 18-billion-dollar hole in its plans. He told Mike Hosking that Labour would have to cover it through higher taxes or more debt, while their partner is coming out with financial lunacy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.