1
00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast

2
00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,453
Speaker 1: from News Talks.

3
00:00:11,453 --> 00:00:16,373
Speaker 2: That'd be Despite the polls, I reckon, the last two

4
00:00:16,413 --> 00:00:19,173
Speaker 2: weeks have been among the best for Prime Minister Christopher

5
00:00:19,213 --> 00:00:22,413
Speaker 2: Luxen in his time in the top job. Sure, the

6
00:00:22,493 --> 00:00:26,653
Speaker 2: numbers aren't showing him and his government much love at

7
00:00:26,653 --> 00:00:30,373
Speaker 2: the moment, school lunches still have their issues. The Treaty

8
00:00:30,413 --> 00:00:34,373
Speaker 2: Principles episode is far from over. But at a time

9
00:00:34,693 --> 00:00:38,413
Speaker 2: when Luxon faces significant pressure on the domestic front and

10
00:00:38,493 --> 00:00:43,093
Speaker 2: a pretty grumpy voting public, you cannot deny that his

11
00:00:43,213 --> 00:00:46,933
Speaker 2: efforts last week, first of all the Infrastructure Investment Summit

12
00:00:47,533 --> 00:00:51,933
Speaker 2: and then this week in India represent a full court

13
00:00:52,133 --> 00:00:56,053
Speaker 2: press in the government's push for economic growth. Now, look,

14
00:00:57,133 --> 00:00:59,853
Speaker 2: I know that we don't have tangibles just yet. I

15
00:00:59,893 --> 00:01:02,693
Speaker 2: know that we don't have a free trade deal. I

16
00:01:02,773 --> 00:01:05,813
Speaker 2: know that if we do get one negotiated and signed,

17
00:01:06,413 --> 00:01:10,173
Speaker 2: our biggest primary export sector may end up with very little.

18
00:01:10,893 --> 00:01:12,893
Speaker 2: But at a time when most of us are feeling

19
00:01:13,053 --> 00:01:17,253
Speaker 2: really glum about the economy, despite this week's GDP figures,

20
00:01:17,773 --> 00:01:20,813
Speaker 2: when unemployment continues to rise, and when our second biggest

21
00:01:20,813 --> 00:01:24,013
Speaker 2: trading partner, the world's biggest economy is being led by

22
00:01:24,093 --> 00:01:28,653
Speaker 2: an erratic and highly unpredictable president. I reckon the welcome

23
00:01:28,653 --> 00:01:31,613
Speaker 2: that Luxon and his delegation received in India and the

24
00:01:31,653 --> 00:01:36,093
Speaker 2: resumption of negotiations for a free trade deal were meaningful,

25
00:01:36,493 --> 00:01:40,573
Speaker 2: seriously meaningful. Now, sure, it's a stretch to think we

26
00:01:40,653 --> 00:01:44,013
Speaker 2: will get a comprehensive deal signed in the next eighteen months,

27
00:01:44,573 --> 00:01:47,533
Speaker 2: but you cannot argue we are not in a better

28
00:01:47,573 --> 00:01:53,013
Speaker 2: position today than we were when Luxon took over. It's

29
00:01:53,053 --> 00:01:56,933
Speaker 2: my view that on several occasions as National's leader, the

30
00:01:56,973 --> 00:02:00,093
Speaker 2: PM has suffered from having a bit of a bad

31
00:02:00,213 --> 00:02:03,813
Speaker 2: political radar. I just think he's made some kind of

32
00:02:03,813 --> 00:02:08,773
Speaker 2: misjudgments that perhaps MPs with more political experience would have

33
00:02:08,813 --> 00:02:13,493
Speaker 2: been able to avoid. But of as many public facing responsibilities,

34
00:02:13,573 --> 00:02:17,813
Speaker 2: I reckon he's probably at his best when he's alongside

35
00:02:18,053 --> 00:02:21,813
Speaker 2: the international business and political crowd. You know, leaders from

36
00:02:21,853 --> 00:02:26,053
Speaker 2: around the world in salesman mode, as it were, hustling.

37
00:02:27,333 --> 00:02:30,933
Speaker 2: I was at Apek in Peru last year and it

38
00:02:30,973 --> 00:02:33,213
Speaker 2: was kind of the same. I just remember the PM

39
00:02:33,293 --> 00:02:35,493
Speaker 2: flew in and flew out. The time zone was a

40
00:02:35,533 --> 00:02:38,653
Speaker 2: total dog. He was probably only on the ground for

41
00:02:38,653 --> 00:02:41,493
Speaker 2: forty eight hours. There were breakfasts and dinners. There were

42
00:02:41,493 --> 00:02:45,293
Speaker 2: official meetings, multiple bilaterals, all across town, twenty or so

43
00:02:45,373 --> 00:02:48,253
Speaker 2: different leaders to meet. And I remember that when he landed,

44
00:02:48,293 --> 00:02:50,733
Speaker 2: before he even went to his hotel or had a shower,

45
00:02:50,893 --> 00:02:54,253
Speaker 2: after seventeen or eighteen hours in the year, Luxon insisted

46
00:02:54,333 --> 00:02:57,893
Speaker 2: on swinging past the Australian delegation so he could catch

47
00:02:57,973 --> 00:03:02,933
Speaker 2: up in an impromptu way with Anthony Albanesi. By anyone's measure,

48
00:03:03,133 --> 00:03:09,093
Speaker 2: it was a grueling schedule, a serily grueling schedule, no downtime,

49
00:03:09,813 --> 00:03:13,533
Speaker 2: and Luxon always had to be on. And I asked

50
00:03:13,573 --> 00:03:16,053
Speaker 2: him just before he flew home how he was feeling.

51
00:03:16,053 --> 00:03:20,133
Speaker 2: He must be exhausted, I said, honestly, it was as

52
00:03:20,173 --> 00:03:24,053
Speaker 2: though the possibility had never even crossed his mind. Huh,

53
00:03:24,173 --> 00:03:28,573
Speaker 2: he said. No. I love this, he said, and I

54
00:03:28,613 --> 00:03:33,253
Speaker 2: believed him. Look, there are plenty of levers that governments

55
00:03:33,253 --> 00:03:37,693
Speaker 2: can pull that impact economic conditions. This government's critics will

56
00:03:37,773 --> 00:03:40,853
Speaker 2: argue that a part of New Zealand's current economic malaise

57
00:03:41,413 --> 00:03:45,293
Speaker 2: is as a result of their policies. Nonetheless, at a

58
00:03:45,333 --> 00:03:48,853
Speaker 2: time when the world's biggest superpower is spraying tariffs all

59
00:03:48,893 --> 00:03:53,253
Speaker 2: over the show and speedily retreating from its international role.

60
00:03:54,293 --> 00:03:58,293
Speaker 2: I do think there's value, symbolic or otherwise, and a

61
00:03:58,333 --> 00:04:02,013
Speaker 2: Prime minister overtly hustling for his country.

62
00:04:02,573 --> 00:04:05,693
Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live

63
00:04:05,773 --> 00:04:08,933
Speaker 1: to Newstalk said B from nine am Saturday, or follow

64
00:04:08,973 --> 00:04:10,573
Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio