National Party leader Christopher Luxon spoke at a packed Lake Wānaka Centre last night (Thursday June 17) after a day in Wānaka which included a tour of Three Parks with developer Alan Dippie and an event with National party supporters at the House of Travel.

The Wānaka App took the opportunity to chat with Luxon at Three Parks, where he said “in general Wānaka feels positive now, which is good”.

But he hammered home his view that the current government was responsible for “economic mismanagement on a scale that New Zealand hasn't seen before”, blaming it for high inflation, high interest rates, and the increased cost of living.

Housing

Luxon said he wants “major councils and cities to immediately rezone land for 30 years of housing growth”.

He supports “innovative financing and funding tools” to ensure developers can build the infrastructure they need.

This may include applying targeted rates to new developments, and incentivising councils by funding them $25,000 per house built to spend in the community if they build houses above their five year average, he said.

Tourism

The Wānaka App asked Luxon his view on the tension between the focus on regenerative tourism by Regional Tourism Organisations Lake Wānaka Tourism and Destination Queenstown, and his party’s focus on growth.

Christopher Luxon speaks to the Wānaka App in Wānaka.

“We want to maximise as much tourism as we can,” he responded.

“We have to grow New Zealand. We are not rich enough to just turn off sectors and not maximise the growth that actually sits there. Tourism is one of those sectors that we need to be back on full song.”

He said work done to date on balancing capacity with demand was “lovely; but we now need to get the country growing”. 

Proposed airport at Tarras 

Luxon said he wasn’t across the details of Christchurch International Airport’s plans to build an international airport at Tarras, but said it was important to have “good air connectivity and air capacity and services into this region to fuel tourism”. 

He said such decisions were up to local government but added his party wants to discuss critical infrastructure over the next 10 years with regional stakeholders.

The economy and other challenges

At the packed public meeting in the Lake Wānaka Centre Luxon said New Zealand is a country with “tremendous potential” which had been taken off course by the current government.

“We've got a government that is spending an incredible amount of money, that is taxing a lot and is borrowing a lot of money… and that economic mismanagement is causing pain and suffering for people up and down this country like we've never seen before,” he said, noting that the country was in recession. 

Yesterday Stats NZ figures showed gross domestic product (GDP) fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in the three months ended March.

He also criticised the current government’s “massive desire around centralisation and control”, citing centralisation of the country’s polytechs, district health boards, and three water assets.

Luxon was also concerned about the “huge amount of identity politics” in the nation.

“We all have our identities. That's what makes New Zealand great. It makes us diverse and it's fantastic. But the thing that we are first and foremost is we are all Kiwis.”

Luxon said if he became prime minister in October he would fix the economy, reduce the cost of living, restore law and order, restore personal responsibility and accountability, and improve health and education. 

“I think we've got six months to get quick and early quick wins. We're going to have two years to get the one to two to three big strategic things away by each portfolio, and then we'll find ourselves back in election again. So, I don't wanna be too presumptuous because really I've got to win first.”

The New Zealand general election will take place in October.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App