PM puts on 'usual Luxon charm' for rural sector at primary industries summit

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has "charmed" the rural sector at a summit in Auckland, sharing with them the origin story behind the Indian free trade deal that is set down for its first reading in Parliament on Thursday.

Luxon spent Wednesday morning in Auckland at the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit and sat down with Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford for a fireside chat.

His appearance came the morning after a 1News-Verian poll showed his party sitting at 29 percent and Labour at 32 percent, marking the major parties' lowest level of combined support since the first MMP election in 1996.

Speaking to around 560 industry heads, delegates, scientists and farmers, Luxon said there "was nothing more important to New Zealand" than the primary industry.

"You were treated as villains, if I'm really honest about it, before and as I came through politics."

He said the government's job was to "power you guys up" and pointed to the industry's outsized mark on the country's economy.

"We provide about 400 million people with 10 percent of their food. Our agriculture sector is driving in about 10 percent of our GDP, about 360,000 people employed in it.

"I want it pumping and I want it on the front foot, out there in the world, smashing it. We have the best farmers in the world, we have the most carbon efficient farmers in the world and there's a world of opportunity."

The prime minister said it was a "bit chaotic with Trump and everything out there" but there was still a "massive" growth in exports.

"When you think about places like the UK, I think we're up over 42 percent in two years, EU pretty similar. We've now got India up 72 percent of growth in exports - before we've even done the FTA - just because we're talking positively about it."

"I don't think we just sit back and admire the opportunity, we put the foot on the accelerator and we go for it now, because as good as it may be across our core sectors, there's still a few like arable and agriculture I want to see better performing."

He described the relationship between the government and the industry as "adult-adult" not "parent-child".

"Me, as government, I can create the conditions for growth, but you go and create that growth and create those opportunities and build kick-ass businesses."

The summit gave Luxon an opportunity to share the benefits of the government's India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with those most likely to benefit from it. His coalition partner, New Zealand First, have pulled their support for the deal, citing concerns around "unfettered immigration" and a recent report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) found the it was unlikely to deliver an immediate boost to the economy.

Luxon said he had dinner with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Laos, a meeting that "started the whole relationship, actually, for the FTA."

"We were sitting together side by side, and I said 'Narendra, what's going on for you in India?' He said, 'Chris, I've got 1.5 billion people, I've just overtaken China as the most populous country on earth.' He's supposed to be a $12 trillion economy by 2030, but he'll probably get there in 2028.

"That's the power of just one economy that's actually moving from low income to middle income, and why you want to grow with growing economies and get New Zealand as a small country in on that ground floor," Luxon said.

Speaking to RNZ, Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford - who shared the stage with the Luxon - said there was lots of positivity within the primary sector, which he credited to Luxon.

"The prime minister's a hard-working guy and he often only gets a 10-second soundbite on the radio or in the media and so to have 20 minutes of really sharing his vision, and particularly the vision for the primary sector, was fantastic.

"The new Indian free trade deal was a big part of that for this government and so it was good to hear his thoughts and the opportunities that may come with it," he said.

There was a similar sentiment from another Federated Farmers representative, Charlie Reynolds, who told RNZ the prime minister put on his "usual Luxon charm".

"He's leading the charge with Todd McClay and being offshore a lot, sitting down with the Indian Prime Minister and securing that deal, it's been absolutely fantastic.

"The story he told on how it all happened, and the wins we've had over Australia, over the EU, of getting into India, it shows the strength of the diplomatic team and negotiators that we've got in the [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade] at the moment."