In 2023, New Zealand’s voters chose National Party leader Christopher Luxon to become their 42nd prime minister. With the country in recession, their decision might be seen as pragmatic – Luxon had decades of experience in the world of business, having served as the CEO of national flag carrier Air New Zealand between 2012 and 2019, before stepping down to run for parliament. He was elected as an MP in 2020 and became the leader of the opposition the following year. His swift rise reflects that of his internationally better-known predecessor, Jacinda Ardern. But that’s where their similarities largely end.

After a period when New Zealand was seen as a bastion of progressive internationalism, the country, like many others, has turned inwards, focusing on domestic issues such as the economy and housing. Another hot topic, which has dominated the first two years of Luxon’s term, is the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. Some on the right have criticised New Zealand’s founding document for affording too many rights and protections to the country’s indigenous Maori population – a complaint that has led to heated scenes in parliament and protests on the streets.

Late last year, Luxon acceded to the demands of a coalition partner, the right-wing act New Zealand party, to hold a parliamentary vote on rewriting some of the treaty’s principles. The bill caused the prime minister’s personal approval rating to plummet. Just days after it was definitively voted down in April, Monocle joined Luxon on a meet-and-greet trip to the city of New Plymouth, a centre of dairy farming and energy exploration. Following a barbecue at a bee farm, we sat down to discuss Ardern, Donald Trump and the Treaty of Waitangi.

We were surprised to learn that you fly commercial.
Yes, it’s the way to get around in New Zealand. We travel commercial because it’s efficient but it’s also a great way to meet and talk to people. It’s always good to get out there – into the provinces, where people can tell you what’s going on. It’s an important aspect of being a politician, just as it was for me as a business leader. You need to see what’s going on, to hear about the challenges that people are facing and also about the opportunities.

From an international perspective, New Zealand was put on the map by Jacinda Ardern and the progressive, empathetic image that she had on the global stage. Did you take any lessons from her time as prime minister?
Everyone does it differently because you inherit the country at a specific time. You play the cards that you’re given and have to deal with the situation that you have in front of you. In our case, we inherited a pretty poor economy from the Ardern-Hipkins years [Chris Hipkins was Ardern’s successor as prime minister and is now the leader of the New Zealand  Labour Party]. That’s why New Zealanders voted them out. It has been challenging to work through a recession and get the country out of that economic mess. But the key thing for New Zealand and its place in the world is that it punches above its weight.

There seemed to be a disconnect with Ardern: abroad, she was seen as a visionary progressive with a strong set of values but, at home, her popularity waned with the economy. What you’re seeing across global politics is that populations are increasingly frustrated with politicians who only have nice bumper stickers and soundbites. Voters want things to get done: they want to see results and improvements to their everyday lives, especially coming out of the coronavirus experience, which left us with high inflation, high interest rates and, in our case, a recession.

Donald Trump’s second term has already had an enormous effect on economies across the globe, particularly through tariffs. How exposed is New Zealand?
We’re relatively well positioned. We believe very strongly that tariffs aren’t good. We are free traders. Alongside Singapore, New Zealand was among the initial countries that established what’s called the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], which is probably the most comprehensive free-trade agreement that the world has at the moment. The free movement of goods and services is a good thing. Therefore, we don’t advocate for tariffs. What we’re trying to do is to ensure that we stay very cool, calm and collected as we work our way through those issues with the US administration. We have a good relationship with the Americans and will continue to have positive and constructive ties with them. We might disagree when it comes to [tariffs] but we can still have a very good relationship going forward.

What are New Zealand’s major exports to the US?
We have three: red meat, wine and dairy. We sell premium products and expect to continue to do so.

What is your relationship like with China? Do you have a lot of eggs in that basket, in terms of both trade and security?
We have a very longstanding and important relationship with China. It is our largest trading partner and we co-operate in areas around trade, the climate and renewables. But we also acknowledge that we have different political histories, cultures and values. China is one of the countries in this multipolar world that is now shaping global politics. So we call out those differences. I have done so with the country’s president, Xi Jinping – publicly, privately, consistently and predictably. Where we have issues or points of difference, we are not afraid to raise them. Of course, we continue to look for areas where we can co-operate but we disagree where we must.

In your eyes, what are the core values that define being a Kiwi?
It’s all about fairness: we just believe that everyone deserves a fair shot. We don’t like it when people rise too high or fall too low, so we keep things pretty even. We’re highly innovative and creative. We’re also very resourceful. We can talk to kings and paupers. We don’t have a lot of time for hierarchy and self-imposed status. We take people as they are.

I have lived in Sydney, then I was in London, Chicago, Toronto and then New York. When you come from a small country, you tend to have a more generalist set of skills. You also value people and understand those who are different from you. So you’re quite happy walking across a room and hearing some of the points of view that others have. Curiosity has served me very well, as has my Kiwi-ness. They have contributed to my success in my business career and my ability to take things on and learn. In the process of doing so, you pick up the good things from other countries and cultures that you see and build them into your game.

How committed is New Zealand to the Five Eyes intelligence partnership with the US, UK, Canada and Australia? Have the recent revelations about the White House’s Signal group-chat leak given you any hesitation?
We are very comfortable in Five Eyes. We have been collaborating with our partners, in an intelligence sense, for a long time. We want to ensure that we are making our own contributions and are following through with investment in our intelligence services but also in our broader defence capabilities as well. We are very proud of these relationships and they’re important for New Zealand. The alliance helps to keep New Zealanders safe.

So, knowing how the intelligence information is handled, managed and cared for by our allies, I have every confidence in Five Eyes. I’m very comfortable with the ways in which our partners use what we provide them with – and also with how we use the information that they give us. 

After Washington’s recent decision to cut US international development projects in the Pacific, Australia had to jump in and take over, which it did.What is New Zealand’s role in terms of development in the region? Do you foresee that you’ll have to take on a bigger role – or a greater share of it – in the future?
We think that it’s important for the US to reinstate that funding and to continue with its work in the Pacific. We have raised this with the US administration and made our case. Meanwhile, both Australia and New Zealand have been increasing aid spending in the region. We have deep relationships with the Pacific and I have spent a lot of time there. Auckland is actually the biggest Polynesian city in the world. We understand how the Pacific thinks because, in many ways, it’s how New Zealand thinks. We can grasp its issues and that makes us a very valuable partner. 

You have a new golden-visa scheme. Can you tell us a little about it?
One of the things that we need to do in order to lift our standard of living and economic productivity is to welcome more direct foreign investment to New Zealand. There are two parts to this. First, there was our recent Infrastructure Investor Summit, which was about making the pitch to sovereign wealth and pension funds to partner with government to build crucial infrastructure in the country. The second part is to say to high-net-worth individuals, “Look, there are pathways to residency here if you make investments in productivity enhancing assets in the country.” 

When we had a similar thing going on in the past, we would get a NZ$2.2bn [€1.2bn] investment from high-net-worth individuals, initially as part of the visa process – but then, once they were here in the market and were comfortable, and had built networks, they would invest almost the same amount of money again. When we have a foreign investor here partnering with a New Zealand firm, there’s an injection of capital that enables growth, and there’s often knowledge transfer as well.

I saw a fantastic business collaboration a couple of weeks ago in a place called Cromwell, near Queenstown. A New Zealand building company had partnered with a Swiss firm on the on-site manufacturing of buildings that were up to four- or five-storeys high. That brought in capital and also some Swiss thinking. Plus, it created opportunities for our products to go out into the world.

Another issue that New Zealand is facing domestically is housing. Between 40 and 50 per cent of Kiwis can’t afford to own their own home. How are you working to mitigate this?
The housing market is complex. First and foremost, we have plenty of land in this country. We are the size of the UK and Japan but with only five-and-a-bit million people living here. So a lot of this is about working with our councils to unlock the land, to rezone it, to allow and plan for 30 years of growth. It’s a supply-side problem. We have artificially constrained supply, which has driven up prices.

The Treaty Principles Bill, which aimed to rewrite some of the points in the Treaty of Waitangi, was recently resoundingly voted down in parliament. What are your reflections on that?
We operate in a mixed-member proportional political system here, similar to in Western European countries. There are six political parties in our parliament, each with strong and differing views. My party is the largest and we formed a coalition government with two minor ones. We have strong alignment on many things but there are areas where we differ and it was part of the coalition agreements that we have to compromise. So we had a debate about the issue. One party wanted to hold a full national referendum on the bill. We found a compromise, which was a first and then second reading in parliament.

Where will you go from here on the issue? The ACT party’s leader, David Seymour, who instigated the bill, has vowed to keep it alive.
No, we’re finished. We’re done. We had the conversation, had the debate and discussion. We’re moving on.

In your opinion, what is the role of New Zealand’s Maori population? And also the Maori language, the Waitangi Treaty and Waitangi Day?
It’s very important. The Treaty of Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It’s about the relationship between iwi – Maori tribes – the Crown and the government. It’s a crucial piece and we have wrestled with it for 185 years. It has made our country much better, much more tolerant. I’m very proud of it. 

When I look at the history of race relations in many other countries across the globe, I think that the Treaty of Waitangi has served New Zealand incredibly well. It hasn’t been easy: we’re debating the interpretation of the treaty and what it means in the modern world. But we’re not afraid of those conversations and shouldn’t be.

One final question: the film director James Cameron recently became a citizen of New Zealand. Are you expecting a potential influx of applications from the US?
We’ve got him – I mean, why wouldn’t you want to be a New Zealand citizen? This is the best country on Earth. We welcome people from all around the world. When they come to this country and experience it, and see a way of life that’s different from what they have known at home, you can see them fall in love with it. Kiwis are open and friendly, and welcome everybody. If people can contribute here and they want to be citizens, we welcome them because we are much richer and better in all senses by virtue of the waves of immigration here. I’m proud of anyone who wants to be a New Zealand citizen.