During that meeting, Peters took a swipe at the current crop of Hawke’s Bay MPs, Catherine Wedd (Tukituki), Katie Nimon (Napier), Mike Butterick (Wairarapa) and Cushla Tangaere-Manuel (Ikaroa-Rāwhiti).
“As they say in the deep south of the United States – they’re long on the lip and slow on the hip,” Peters said at the meeting.
In response, the Prime Minister was blunt.
“Absolute rubbish,” he said.
“How can you sit there as the party that ended the oil and gas in this country that caused huge problems for regional economies, including McCain’s and others in this region because of high energy prices caused by New Zealand First and Labour?”
He said that his Government had given $50,000 to local growers to explore whether the McCain’s facility was something “they could come together on and actually purchase or acquire”.
Luxon said NZ First put a Labour Government into power that had “ruined our economy and we’ve been dealing with it ever since”.
Christopher Luxon with Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Karla Lee (left). Photo / Jack Riddell
Luxon said Wedd and Nimon were the “hardest-working MPs this region’s ever had” and encouraged Peters to attack National on its policies but not its people.
He said the Government had made “big investments on infrastructure, whether it’s health, education and transport” in Hawke’s Bay.
He described the India Free Trade Agreement as a massive expansion for New Zealand internationally that would bring jobs and profits to the region.
He said apples would be able to be sold in India at double the rate they currently are “at half the tariff rate”, which he said would raise agriculture profits across the board.
“There’s huge opportunity for horticulture in Hawke’s Bay.”
When asked why Hawke’s Bay wasn’t funded to be included in the judging of restaurants for the coveted Michelin Star, Luxon said both Nimon and Wedd “made the case very, very strongly”.
“We hope it will expand out across the country.”
He said National would be “very open” to funding a future concert at Mission Estate through the events fund if a future return on investment could be demonstrated, and it created economic opportunity and growth.
“I just encourage anyone to make an application.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.