Economic growth, improved education, reform after reform: National’s annual conference in Christchurch was a chance for the party to congratulate itself. But there were some conspicuous absences.
Before Christopher Luxon spoke, there was an important announcement about air fresheners. The Young Nats were selling them, said Gabby Bird, MC and Young National vice president. One was vanilla scented; the other was an illustration of the prime minister in a train, choo-chooing to get New Zealand back on track. Then there was an introduction from local MP Nicola Grigg, saying that Luxon had made a “Herculean effort to pull our party back together”. A hype reel of Luxon holding babies and looking serious on site visits, with front-facing camera excerpts from front-bench ministers trumpeting National’s achievements concluded the lengthy preamble, and the prime minister walked onto the stage.
National’s annual conference, held on Saturday at the Airforce Museum in Wigram, Christchurch, was an opportunity for the prime minister to tell the party faithful just how “awesome” his team was doing at leading the country.
“Two years ago, New Zealand was in utter turmoil,” Luxon said, to applause. Ram raids and gangs were the issue, and economic mismanagement. From there, the prime minister had a long list of achievements to run through. Some words kept cropping up: “relentless,” he said, referring to the work of ministers. “Laser-focused,” he said, referring to the government’s plan. The National Party was for those “who believe that our country’s best days lie ahead of us”. He referred to various ministers watching from the audience as “mate”; got them to stand up and wave.
Luxon, and screens with giant Luxons (Image: Shanti Mathias)
Just like at last year’s conference, Luxon made no reference to the parties he’s in government with – although Nicola Willis did later acknowledge the “energy” the prime minister puts into controlling David Seymour and Winston Peters. Luxon talked for nearly half an hour, drawing just one lukewarm laugh for a jab at Labour building bridges that won design awards while National built bridges that cars could actually drive on. Compare that with Nicola Willis, his deputy leader and finance minister, who managed to get the crowd enthusiastically laughing thrice in five minutes. But by the time Louise Upston spoke, lots of the audience were looking at their phones, including the minister for climate change, Simon Watts.
Chris Bishop declared that “everything will be better once we fix the RMA”; Willis decried the threat of the Greens’ budget; Louise Upston explained that she was going to bring more tourists into New Zealand.
Many of the same notes as last year’s conference were hit – although it was perhaps slightly warmer, broken heaters having been replaced with serrated blue light projects glowing on the ceiling. As positive and indeed relentless as Luxon was, he’s fighting the sudden announcement of 15% tariffs from the US and columnists declaring that he’s living on borrowed time.
Chris Bishop talks about how RMA reform will fix everything. (Image: Shanti Mathias)
Perhaps an announcement would help; Luxon and Tama Potaka, conservation minister, confirmed changes which had been consulted on earlier about concessions on conservation land and requiring overseas visitors to pay levies at popular spots. Making it easier to get a concession would “unlock more economic activity”, Luxon said. “There’s huge potential for growth on DOC land… If we want to keep Kiwis at home we can’t afford to keep saying no to every opportunity that comes our way.”
Cathedral Cove, Milford Sound, Aoraki Mount Cook and the Tongariro Crossing would require a charge to visit. How would New Zealanders prove they were local? Where would the checkpoints be? How much was the charge? Would the number of sites be expanded in the future? Asked at a media stand-up after the announcement, Potaka seemed unsure. “We’re figuring out the implementation for those areas, then we might look at some other areas as well,” he said.
Kadin, Young Nats president, shows off his air fresheners (Image: Shanti Mathias)
At an afternoon tea break, people lined up for free-range meat pies; The Spinoff overheard two people in the line muttering about a “waste of $17,000 of ratepayers’ money”, possibly a reference to the local council’s spending on repainting the Springfield doughnut, which was recently raised in parliament. SuperNats (over 60) sold preserves and a couple wearing Young Nat lanyards strolled towards the merch table holding hands. Clumps formed around the ministers, people eager to tell them their opinions about what the government should be doing.
“I got to talk to Nicola,” said Allan, from the West Coast branch. He thought the party should look into secondary tax for people receiving pensions, which he thinks prevents pensioners from getting jobs – removing this barrier could unlock another workforce and grow New Zealand’s economy, he said. Sunil, from the Te Atatū branch, said that “good progress” had been made. Dulari, from Invercargill, agreed. In 2018, when she moved to New Zealand, her husband had waited more than 12 hours for surgery in an emergency room while his throat was bleeding. This year, a friend of hers had gone to the emergency room and been seen within three hours. For the party to be successful at the next election, she said, the people of New Zealand had to be “convinced that what National chooses is what the country needs”.
The panels continued, relentlessly, with ministers glowing in the blue gel lights. Someone asked a question about “young women who have babies and end up married to the government”. Tania Tapsell, Rotorua mayor, wanted to know whether the government would give councils more tools to charge rates for short-term accommodation providers. Police minister Mark Mitchell, who had described some young offenders as “the worst of the worst”, got a hard one: what was the government doing about the link between family violence and youth offending? Were they addressing the root cause? They were, he said quickly. There’s an action plan and everything.
Act and New Zealand First weren’t the only conspicuous absences. Outside the conference, protesters called for the government to sanction Israel and recognise the state of Palestine as starvation continues in Gaza. Far away on the West Coast, two protesters sat in a coal bucket, protesting a mine with fast-track approval to dig up conservation land on the Denniston Plateau. “There will always be activists and opposition who don’t want growth,” Luxon said in his speech, one of just a few gestures to his detractors.
The prime minister glossed over media questions about how changing the passport or transgender people’s inclusion in sports helped people worried about their incomes. “We’re moving in the right direction,” Luxon said. As always, he sounded like he meant it.