Summarised by Centrist
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has apologised for dismissing concerns from struggling small-business owners, while refusing to reveal what he told Winston Peters about remarks Luxon himself called “racist and offensive”.
Luxon said he “got that wrong” after telling a Rotorua business leader she was presenting a “negative view” of conditions facing local firms.
He had told the chamber that New Zealand businesses suffered from a “parent-child mentality” towards the government and needed to concentrate on “radically disrupting” their operations.
“If you’re not retooling and radically disrupting your business, you ain’t doing the job,” Luxon said.
He initially defended the remarks in media interviews on Monday morning, but changed course after reviewing the transcript.
“I know many small business owners are doing it tough right now,” he said. “I am sorry if my comments do not properly acknowledge the challenges that many small business owners are facing.”
Luxon also confirmed he had spoken with Peters after the foreign minister told Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan to “go back to your own country”.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, a former National candidate, said Luxon did not need to apologise and had been honest about businesses sometimes needing to solve their own problems rather than rely on government.
Rotorua Business Chamber president Paul Ingram welcomed the apology but hoped there was “genuine reflection behind it”. He said small businesses were not looking for handouts, but for understanding, particularly when owners had mortgages and their homes on the line. He agreed with much of Luxon’s message, but said the “parent-child” description had not landed well.
“My conversation will stay between Winston and me,” Luxon said, declining to say whether Peters had been warned.
Although Luxon described Peters’ remark as racist, he would not rule out appointing him foreign minister again after the election.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins went further, saying Peters could not serve as foreign minister in any government because he could no longer “credibly represent New Zealand on the world stage”. Hipkins said nothing had changed since Labour ruled out working with NZ First before the previous election, although Peters has already ruled out supporting Labour.
Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong has also said her party would not support a government in which Peters remained foreign minister.
Luxon instead urged voters unhappy with Peters’ rhetoric to party-vote National.
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