Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has rejected claims that his government has lost focus, stressing that its priority remains fixing the economy as Auckland struggles with sluggish growth and rising unemployment, RNZ has reported.
The comments come after mounting criticism from business leaders and political insiders. Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges recently urged the government to take stronger measures to lift the supercity out of its downturn. Stats NZ figures show that Auckland’s unemployment rate reached 6.1 per cent in the June 2025 quarter, the highest in the country and significantly above the national average of 5.2 per cent.
A Sunday Star-Times report said doubts were emerging among business leaders, including those traditionally aligned with National, over whether Luxon’s coalition had a credible economic plan. Heart of the City boss Viv Beck warned that “Rome is burning for some of our small businesses,” while Newmarket Business Association head Mark Knoff-Thomas described it as “ludicrous” for the government to focus on passport cover wording instead of the economy.
According to RNZ, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has called for a bed-night levy to boost the city’s finances, but Luxon ruled out introducing such a tax. “We’re focused 100 per cent on actually growing this economy,” he told Morning Report. “We inherited the big recession. We’ve had a massive post-COVID hangover. We’ve had a lot of international challenges concerning tariffs, but we’re also seeing a recovery in New Zealand.
Luxon said South Island primary industries were “growing strongly,” while acknowledging that cities such as Auckland and Wellington faced tougher conditions. He highlighted the government’s fast-track approvals for large projects, capital investment write-offs for small businesses, and policies aimed at making it easier to build.
“It’s tough in Auckland and also in Wellington, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “We’re open to continuing to look at what more we can do. We’re pretty dynamic and agile.”
Recent polls show Labour surging ahead of National, with Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins neck-and-neck in preferred prime minister ratings. Despite this, Luxon said he would “absolutely” lead National into the 2026 election.
“For me, it’s actually staying focused on what New Zealanders care about, and that is us fixing this economy,” he said. “I appreciate it’s been difficult, but our job is to fix it for New Zealanders, and that’s what we’re going to do every day.”
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