‘I don't need to do this job’: a peek inside a public meeting with Christopher Luxon

Wednesday, 8 July 2026

It's not that often Christopher Luxon holds a public meeting, so when he held one in Whangārei about 300 curious locals showed up to hear what he had to say.

Luxon spoke at the Northland Events Centre on Tuesday evening in his capacity as National party leader, supported by National’s candidate for the electorate, Lloyd Budd.

Budd, the former chief executive of Bayleys Auckland, hopes to keep the seat blue, with the current Whangārei MP - National’s Shane Reti - set to retire from politics at the November election.

Speaking to Stuff against a backdrop of pro-Palestine protesters outside, Budd enthusiastically talked up his leader.

“Tonight is all about engaging with the people of Whangārei. We're so very proud of this area, this region, this city, and to have Prime Minister Chris Luxon here, and a public meeting in this forum, it's so exciting for the place,” he said.

“Look, for me, politics has always been in my blood. I'm a local boy, born and bred here in Whangārei, stoked to be back home.”

Robin Grieve, a 76-year-old who runs an orchard, told Stuff he attended the meeting to hear from the Prime Minister.

“Even without an election, I'd come along to listen to the Prime Minister of the country, and, I'm not sure whether he's going to be able to take any questions or get some of my brilliant ideas, but that would be a bonus.”

What made the public meeting intriguing, is that it’s something that NZ First Leader Winston Peters is doing regularly. Speaking at a packed public meeting in Warkworth last week, Peters told the crowd that Luxon and other politicians should speak directly to communities more often.

So, what was the vibe like at Luxon’s public meeting? It was very different from the public meetings that Peters holds. There was no mention of other political parties, and no jibes at the media.

Luxon struck a serious tone in his speech. He acknowledged it had been a tough few years economically, but pointed out areas where he felt National had succeeded in power, such as education and law and order.

He also acknowledged it’s not something he does often.

“For me, it's really important as an opportunity as a Prime Minister. It's not common, but I love doing this. I love getting in and out of Wellington as quickly as possible and getting out and about and meeting with people because from the front line you actually hear the opportunities and also the challenges that exist.”

He also told the crowd that being Prime Minister is not something he has to do.

“I don't need to do this job. I choose to do this job because actually I want the potential in this great country of ours to be realised for the benefit of our kids and our grandkids.”

But Luxon was challenged by the audience. A man who called himself Aaron blasted the Government’s plan to eliminate regional councils and force local councils to restructure and amalgamate with a deadline of August.

“This is the maddest thing I've ever seen in my whole life,” the man said.

Luxon responded saying he “loved the passion”.

“So first and foremost, let me tell you how this thing started, which is this is a country that has a massive amount of red tape and bureaucracy in it, and all we seem to do is shuffle paper between each other, and we give the same information to district councils, to regional councils, to the central government, right,” Luxon said.

“We're not mandating it from Wellington. We believe in localism. We believe in devolution. You make your decisions. That's a conversation you and your community need to have.”