National Party leader Christopher Luxon says that the present Labour government is falling apart and has failed on every front. He said the Labour government has taken the country in wrong direction and has put everything is in a mess. He said this government is out touch, out of ideas and now out of time and people of New Zealand now have only one choice to party vote National to bring the country back on track. He said New Zealanders want some serious people to deal with the serious challenges the country faces today. He said he meets people on streets, and they only talk about the rising cost of living, cost of food items are up, rents are up, mortgages are up, and it’s just getting incredibly tough. Luxon said one in every two Kiwis are deeply worried about money on daily basis and feeling the huge economic pressure.
Christopher Luxon said when they are back as government on 14 October it will be top priority of his government to fix and rebuild the economy and reduce the cost of living, to bring the interests down and to bring the inflation down. On being asked about a jibe by the Act Party leader David Seymoure who recently said Act Party is the conscience keeper of National Party, Christopher Luxon said though David is entitled for his views, but he takes any comments from him constructively. The only way to change this government is to party votes for National Party and he is only focusing on maximising National Party votes. On being asked about Act Party leader’s strong opposition to National Party’s proposal for inviting Chenese investment for their Road projects, Luxon said David Seymoure has taken his views completely wrong and he never said this. He further added what he said was to open up for private capital as we see it today all around the world around infrastructure financing. We in New Zealand have our own Super funds, ACC funds or the pension plan funds around the world that can finance the infrastructure projects. He said we always have our Overseas Investment Office to look into our national security dimensions and all the tests are in place to ensure our national interests. He said David Seymoure has got him on a completely wrong perspective about his road project plan.
On being questioned about where the money will come from in absence of the Chinese investment, Luxon said there is around 11 trillion-dollar worth of sovereign wealth money around the world and 54 trillion dollars available of just pension fund in the top 20 countries of the world. He said the most developed and modern countries are using this money to for their development work in their countries. He said this is what exactly we need to do in New Zealand to accelerate the development and delivery of infrastructure work and not to put any extra debt on New Zealand’s taxpayers for financing the development work.
On being asked about another strong opposition by David Seymoure on any possible coalition with New Zealand First Party, Chris said he is not interested in knowing what Daivid Seymoure thinks about any hypothetical situation, he said National is the main mainstream political party and is free to take its own independent position on matters related to his party. He said NZ First is not even in the Parliament and not sure if they will even make to it, so it’s not relevant. On being asked what magic bullet they will use to control the rampant crimes in country, Luxon said there are many things they will do that will determine the serious consequences for serious crimes by young offenders. So, the young offenders of 15-17 years age will be sent to Military Academy where they will have to spend a year under the leadership and mentoring of Military personals alongside the community organizations. They will be made to understand that there will be consequences of their wrong doings and they will be made to be disciplined and behave in a responsible manner. Luxon further said he will ensure to limit the discounts some Judges can give to stronger sentences and make certain that serious and violent crimes result in harsher sentences.
He said police will be given more powers to have a better control in crime situation, to raid, search warrants and arrest of criminals to check the crime spree in country. He said his government will back the police, tackle gangs, stop gangs’ activities in public places and give powers to police to disperse any criminal activities.
On being asked if his government will bring ‘three strike’ legislation back he said certainly it will be back since it’s a very important piece of legislation and the government getting rid of it sends a message that this government is very soft on crimes.
On being asked about what one paradigm shift he would want to make if National is back in power on 14 October, he said he wants New Zealand to have some new ambitions, aspiration to celebrate excellence, achievements, and successes. He said he wants to give back some mojjo, some positivity, some optimism to be out in the world to make things happen for us. Under this government in last six years New Zealanders have been way too negative, way too insular, way too isolated. New Zealand is a great country, and it has a tremendous potential which has not been realised under this government. He said under National he will maximise opportunities and solve the real problems.
Luxon was supportive of New Zealand’s bid to join NATO countries and said he supports the countries which have similar values as New Zealand and termed the Russian war on Ukraine unjustified. He said we have an independent foreign policy, and we strongly support the sovereignty of nation states and strongly believe in the rule of law.
On being asked about his message to Indian community for the coming elections, Luxon emphasized that Indian community is very important, and they can make a difference in this election.
He said if people are angry, grumpy, or having discussions in their living rooms, this is the opportunity for them to come out on 14 October and vote the party that can change this all. This country deserve a lot better future, so the economy needs to be fixed, law and order restored, bring the inflation down and make the lives of New Zealander better. This all can be achieved by choosing a right government in the coming elections.
-Yugal Parashar