Luxon denies National went too negative too early on tax attacks
National leader Christopher Luxon has denied that National went too negative too early with its tax attacks. Speaking to RNZ's Nine to Noon programme, he said "No, I don't think so, because there is a real issue here."
The RNZ-Reid Research poll, released on Thursday, put National at 24.8 percent, just below the 25 percent mark. The election is on 7 November.
In the same interview, Luxon ruled out sharing the prime minister role. He was asked about the prospect of leaders of minor parties being prime minister for part of a term. Under New Zealand's MMP electoral system, parties often need to work with others to form a government, and Luxon has been asked repeatedly about which partners National might work with.
Luxon said he had spoken to 8000 people at 20 town hall meetings while campaigning around the country. He also claimed that New Zealand's economic growth was outpacing that of the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia.
On Opportunity, a minor party, Luxon has ruled out working with it after the election. He cited its land tax policy and National's campaign commitment to no new taxes, as RNZ reported earlier this month. A 1News analysis published on 22 October argued that the main obstacle to Opportunity was New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, not Luxon.
Peters has also commented on the party leaders. He described Luxon and Chris Hipkins as "not in the same league" as the prime ministers he had worked with. Luxon said he would pick up the phone to Peters, but only if he had to.
