Photo: RNZ / Katie Scotcher
Speaking at National's caucus retreat ahead of the government's first year in office, Christopher Luxon says he wants his MPs focused on three things.
The annual retreat is a chance for the party's MPs to reassess and take stock after the summer break, and plan for the year ahead.
Held this year at a hotel in the Ilam electorate - in Christchurch, where Luxon grew up - the party leadership has been emphasising the need for discipline ahead of the party's first year in government since 2017.
It also followed shoplifting allegations that resulted in the resignation of Green MP Golriz Ghahraman.
Luxon began in his typical managerial style.
"Welcome back to work, that's what we're here to do," he said, "we're going to get back to work, and we're going to keep going, we're going to go hard in Parliament, and importantly we're going to make sure we continue to deliver on that 100 day plan.
"We are looking ahead to actually deliver a set of deliverables that will help our vision of New Zealand to take root and come to pass."
He said that vision was for a "stable, confident and outward looking and much more prosperous country in which every New Zealander understands their rights and responsibilities, every New Zealander feels included".
He spoke of being "ruthlessly focused on outcomes" before running through a laundry list of the government's action so far and attacking the previous government - returning to his criticism that New Zealand had gone backwards over the past six years.
"What is clear is that when you're doing a turnaround job, which is what we're here to do, you have to confront the brutal facts of your reality, whether you like it or not. And we have been left a mess by the previous government," he said.
Veering into that familiar territory, the speech could easily have been mistaken for one delivered on the campaign, targeting the previous government's record on financial management, education, health, and housing.
But next he looked to the job ahead.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (file photo) Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"Getting elected is never an end in itself. The reason we come to public service, the reason we come to public life, the reason we go through election campaigns is not just to get elected, it's actually to come to government to go and do something ... because we believe in making sure we can make the lives of our fellow New Zealanders much better."
He told his MPs he wanted them focused on three things. First was a focus on the electorate.
"I want you to be focused on the needs of your people, build those relationships across the local government, build those relationships across iwi, build them across the different community groups and the different businesses that are in your electorate, have presence and be very present in your electorate, take the time to explain the problems and the reality that we're facing. And then most importantly, take the time to explain how we're going to resolve that, how we're going to solve those problems.
"We need to take New Zealand with us, and you've got a big job in your electorates to make sure that people in your area understand what's going on."
Second, he called for a focus on the work of Parliament.
"We've got lots of new MPs, and we've talked a lot about it and recent caucus meetings, but make sure you become good Parliamentarians. You know, learn the House, learn Parliament, make diligent contributions."
Finally, he urged the MPs to work together.
"We've made immense progress over the last two years on because we've built a high performance team. And as I've said, from day one, politics is not an individual sport, politics is a team sport. We all play positions on our team.
"We support each other and we go up and down as a team, so we're going to stay very consistent as we have been in the last two years as a caucus. That means we continue our mantra and making sure we stay calm and consistent, stay even, don't get too high when things are going well, don't get too low when we get some setbacks along the way."
He closed with a call for MPs to stay focused on New Zealanders and their interests as the new government barrels on towards its first-100-days milestone on 8 March.
"So the message is simple. The holidays are over. We've got a huge year ahead of us ... Let's go to work, let's go get this thing done. Thank you guys."
Luxon 'very supportive' of Kiingitanga's hui
Speaking later to reporters, Luxon was asked about the hui called by Kiingi Tuuheitia over fears of the coalition government's plans for Māori.
He plans not to attend - sending Māori Development Tama Potaka and Northcote MP Dan Bidois instead - and said the hui was not a political event, and "actually a bit broader" than just a response to the coalition's plans.
"It's an opportunity for Māoridom to come together, I'm very supportive of it, I think it's a good idea to be able to think about where is Māori going, out to 2040 and beyond."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins also plans not to attend, although the party's Māori caucus will be there.
Luxon also pointed back to his individual meetings with iwi leaders, and his meeting with Kiingi Tuuheitia on Monday, saying it was very constructive.
"We got into a conversation about actually how do we improve outcomes, and actually in a spirit of a government that believes in localism and devolution that is where we can really align about delivering improved outcomes for Māori up and down the country."
Asked what his metric for when New Zealand is on track, he said: "Well, we'll never get there, right? We've got to keep striving hard to keep improving New Zealand ... we're going to continue to keep perfecting our country and that is the work of all governments.
He later clarified the government would indeed get New Zealand "back on track", saying we would know when the economy was creating more prosperity, when children were "actually competitive with kids from around the world in terms of the quality of their education", and when crime was at lower levels.
