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Speaker 1: It's fair to say Christopher Luxon's had a rough run

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Speaker 1: at the top, is it. The transition from CEO to

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister hasn't been all that smooth. His approval ratings

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Speaker 1: have been way out of whack with those of any predecessor.

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Speaker 1: At the same time, in their ragn think Clark, think Key,

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Speaker 1: think Jacinda. We hardly saw a honeymoon for him, did we.

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Speaker 1: One of the problems has been communication. You ask people

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Speaker 1: and they tell you it's hard to connect with him.

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Speaker 1: We don't really get what he's about. And then his

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Speaker 1: loudmouth income, the loudmouth coalition partners, they've largely filled the

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Speaker 1: personality void to his detriment. As a businessman, as a

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Speaker 1: business executive, you've got to be optimistic, eternally optimistic. You've

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Speaker 1: got to project positivity, and that positive, upbeat style has

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Speaker 1: jarred with the reality of our economy. The more he

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Speaker 1: said things are improving and this economy is turning a corner,

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Speaker 1: the more out of touch he sounded. Jacinda adne encountered

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Speaker 1: the same problem when she refused to call the cost

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Speaker 1: of living crisis a remember that you lose the room.

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Speaker 1: It's a bit like trying to entertain a crowd of

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Speaker 1: Metallica fans with a choir bit of a bum note,

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Speaker 1: doesn't really hit, doesn't really land. That problem has Befallen

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Speaker 1: Christopher Luxen until now. There's no doubt that this economy

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Speaker 1: is on the up, despite the card data going sideways.

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Speaker 1: We saw this morning. We're about to see another jump

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Speaker 1: in GDP next week as we get called to one

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Speaker 1: data out. It follows a positive quarter four data last year.

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Speaker 1: Treasury reckons the current year, we will see growth heading

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Speaker 1: almost three percent. Thank you to our exporters, Thank you

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Speaker 1: to global conditions. There is light at the end of

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Speaker 1: the tunnel, and you can feel it and you can

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Speaker 1: see it. Shops are busier than they were a year ago.

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Speaker 1: Manufacturing is on the up, the data says, so companies

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Speaker 1: are hiring. And this is massive for Luxin because it

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Speaker 1: means his rhetoric is starting to match our reality. It's

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Speaker 1: the missing piece of the puzzle that could well turn

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Speaker 1: his political fortune around. For more from Early Edition with

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Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talks it be from

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Speaker 1: five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.