Asked what was wrong, Luxon told RNZ: \u201cOh no, it\u2019s just more that obviously there\u2019s been a media story about it\u201d. <\/p>\n
He claimed he had a \u201cvery good\u201d wider conversation at the business event and highlighted positive economic indicators. <\/p>\n
Luxon said he didn\u2019t intend to \u201ccause offence\u201d. He told Newstalk ZB he was a \u201cgreat admirer of business people because they\u2019ve led through difficult times, they\u2019ve got a lot of people to lead\u201d. <\/p>\n
When asked if she agreed with the Prime Minister\u2019s comments, senior National MP Erica Stanford, who was fronting a media conference earlier on Monday, said Luxon had explained himself on the radio. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really tough out there for businesses. I go into cafes and small businesses around the country wherever I can when I\u2019m visiting schools and talk to business owners, and it has been really rough,\u201d Stanford said. <\/p>\n
She said the Government was trying to create conditions to allow business to thrive, pointing to actions she\u2019s taken in her immigration portfolio to support Chinese visitors to come to New Zealand. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to be empathetic and remind them of all the things that we\u2019re doing as a Government to try and support them.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said Luxon was empathetic, noting he was willing to engage with teachers and students on visits and \u201cincredibly supportive of my work programme\u201d. <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at a Rotorua Business Chamber event on Friday. Photo \/ Michelle Cutelli Photography<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Rotorua Business Chamber event, Luxon was told about declining business confidence and additional costs<\/a>. <\/p>\n He was asked by the chamber\u2019s chief executive, Melanie Short: \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of time, how long can we hold on?\u201d. <\/p>\n As the Herald reported on Saturday, the Prime Minister responded by telling Short her view was \u201cnegative\u201d, and said if businesses weren\u2019t \u201cretooling and radically disrupting your business, you ain\u2019t doing the job\u201d. <\/p>\n A transcript of the full conversation showed Luxon talked about his own experience in business, claiming when he was in Chicago: \u201cthe last person I wanted to ever talk to as a CEO was the Government\u201d. <\/p>\n According to Luxon\u2019s LinkedIn profile, he was never a CEO in Chicago. The online resume shows he was a senior figure at Unilever, before moving to Toronto to become chief executive of Unilever Canada. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a business person. I\u2019m building a kick-ass company that actually has commercially superior returns, great customer experience and awesome internal culture,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Returning to New Zealand, he found a \u201cparent-child mentality\u201d. Luxon said businesspeople here wondered \u201cwhat the Government\u2019s going to do\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cWho cares what the Government thinks or does? Our job is to be adult, adult, adult.\u201d <\/p>\n Luxon went on to say his job, as Prime Minister, was to \u201cset the conditions up\u201d, noting attempts to get inflation back into the targeted band and create growth. <\/p>\n Before entering politics in 2020, Luxon was chief executive of Air New Zealand, of which the Government is the majority stakeholder. <\/p>\n He also chaired Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern\u2019s Business Advisory Council, intended to provide advice to the Government on economic matters. <\/p>\n According to a Beehive press release at the time, Luxon said one of the council\u2019s roles was to \u201cbuild closer relationships between business of all size and the Government\u201d. <\/p>\n Labour\u2019s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds on Saturday responded to Luxon\u2019s comments, saying they show \u201chow out of touch he is\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cBusinesses aren\u2019t asking for a patronising lecture and a handout from the Prime Minister, they\u2019re asking for an economy that works,\u201d Edmonds said. <\/p>\n \u201cRotorua businesses told Christopher Luxon confidence is freefalling, customers are disappearing, and costs keep rising. They are telling him his Government\u2019s choices aren\u2019t working. <\/p>\n \u201cHis response was to call them negative and tell them to grow up.\u201d <\/p>\n Manufacturing boss Chris Barrett, the Steel Worx Group director, told Ryan Bridge TODAY on Monday that he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in National<\/a>. <\/p>\n After voting National his whole life, Barrett said he\u2019d be giving his vote to a smaller party this coming election. He said National had failed to turn around the economy after it was \u201cdestroy[ed]\u201d by Labour. <\/p>\n