Chris Luxon: Prime Minister on receiving support from Elon Musk

Published Sep 5, 2024, 5:20 AM

The Prime Minister's welcoming support from a billionaire admirer.

Elon Musk replied to a tweet by Chris Luxon this week - about being in Malaysia.

The founder of SpaceX and Tesla wrote he likes the new New Zealand PM, adding he has good energy and talks directly to the public.

Speaking from South Korea, Luxon was pleased to hear of the boost.

"That's great, I'll take support from anyone. But more importantly, I'm just focused on the job and getting things done."

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The Prime Minister is beating the trade drum again on his ninth trip overseas since coming into office. He's on a mission to double trade in the next ten years. Spent two days in Malaysia, the first visit by a New Zealand Prome minister there since twenty fifteen, and he's currently in South Korea with trade and security high on the agenda, and Christopher Luxin's with us.

Now, Hey, Chris, get a here.

How are you saying?

Well? Thank you?

Hey?

Do you know what I've noticed about your trip is that there's hardly any media coverage of it. What's going on?

Well, all I know is I'm going from meeting to meeting, meeting with investors, and we've here got a business delegation. I've been doing a bunch of deals while i've been here, both in Malaysia and Korea, so i haven't been paying too much attention to media attention on it. I'm just getting on and getting the job done, which is that we have to get rich, and we've got to get rich by selling more stuff to people around the Southeast data region.

For Rich Chris, who've you got on which media? Who's who from the media contingent are on the trip with you?

We've got TVs there with us on this trip and they were with me today when I was at at AMC.

You've got Benette Collins and that's it.

I think that's in the delegation. Yes, he's traveling on us in the downdation.

Okay, an uselying commercial, Yes I am. Well, there's your problem, isn't it. You haven't subsidized the media to come on the trip with you, so they don't want to pay.

Well, look, I mean I'm able to talk directly to New Zealanders through something called social media, which is a novel idea, but it seems to work, and we talk straight to them and tell them exactly what I'm doing. So I think people at home understand why I'm here, and why I am here is because you know, New Zealand needs to become much wealthier. We do want to double our exports. We do want to attract investment to New Zealand to get out roads built, to get a lot of infrastructure built in the country, and you know, that's my job is to make sure that we are making people aware that we are open for business and we want to be able to work with them and deep in those relationships.

Has the fairy issue come up in South Korea?

No, not at all, because you know, you've got to remember a Korea is a two point seven trillion dollar economy and ultimately that's a dispute between two commercially inviously it's result.

It's obviously sensitive enough for our ambassador there to have to tell a high level diplomat beforehand, right, So, like, are you telling me absolutely, No one's mentioned it at all.

No, I hasn't come up in conversation whatsoever. And it's not something that I've proactively raised either. It's something that deserves you know, that can be raised through contractual arrangements and contracts that exists between Korean firm and a New Zealand firm, and they're quite capable of sorting that out.

Hey, how are you going to make us rich out of South Korea?

Well, look, I mean there's huge opportunities here. I mean even yesterday I talked to President Un and we agreed to remove some what are called non you know, tariff barriers are that exists between our two countries, and so you know, five different dairy type of products that have been difficult to sell in Korea. We've been able to free that up. The same with things like blueberries and you know, even just those little things. You know, that's fifteen million dollars worth the value to New Zealand each and every year. We've agreed to look it upgrading our FTA agreement over the course of next year, which is important to make sure that we've got really competitive settings that New Zealand growers and producers and those of tech firms look renewable energy, but also in advanced aviation and space our opportunities for New Zealand as well. So you know, it's really about us understanding. Look, you know, we do not get wealthy in a small country selling stuff to each other. We need to get out in the world and hustle. And that's why I've had it so hard in my first year because I and I've got Winston Peter's out there on the planes a lot. I've got Trade ministm maclay out there. I've got Defense Minister Collins out there as well, like the four of us to lift our intensity and our urgency and our relationships, because we have to convert opportunity for New Zealand people, and that means trade. And we know when New Zealand firms are exporting, they are able to pay much higher wages as a consequence because they're doing better than those that aren't exporting. And so it's a really important thing that I do everything I can to set the conditions and the set up right. We've got I think twenty two outstanding business leaders here from a range of sectors across the economy. And as you know, yesterday I sat there and you know, we signed ten deals between Korean and New Zelling companies. We did similarly similar activity in Malaysia as well, So all of that is incredibly positive for Malaysia. You know, just by showing up talking to the Prime Minister and the officials, I said, well, look, you know, we want to sell red meat into Malaysia. It's very difficult at the moment with halal regulations and bureaucracy on your side. We need to get that sort of Prime Minister and we both committed that in the next two months we would make our officials, particularly on the Malaysian side, actually get that job done so we can get red meat flowing into Malaysia.

Did I hear that you saw one of those rubbish balloons being launched by North Korea today?

Yeah? I have to be honest with that. It was really interesting today because you know, we live in a pretty benign environment in the South Pacific, but you know up here in you know, you've got North Korea on your border. And so I went to the DMZ this morning, and if you think about it, you know, the the Korean War finished, but actually essentially a ceasefire was maintained through an armistice, and we've had peacekeeping troops here on the ground. In fact, I've tripled the resources. Overcoming year will happen as well. But essentially, as we were standing there on the DMZA, balloon went up with rubbish bags attached to it. And that's North Korea sending trash in to South Korea.

And the weird Jesus is like stuff you do at school.

Yeah, a lot of it's irrational and it doesn't make a lot of sense. But what does make sense is that you very clearly the message I've been trying to communicate over the course of this year is that that security, peace and stability relatively we've had on the Korean Peninsula rather than a hot war or hot conflict, has meant that South Korea has grown into the fourteenth largest economy in the world. New Zealand has doubled our trade with South Korea in the last nine years. And so you cannot have economic prosperity without security and peace and stability. And that's why I keep saying in twenty twenty four, security and economic interest are inextricably linked. And that's why you've got able to talk both of those conversations at the same time.

What's up with Elon Musk's love affair with you?

I thought that, ye, like one of my kids told me that, But.

I follows you on Twitter. Now did you see that?

Anyone who's support us?

Of us?

That's great? So I take support from anyone. But more importantly, I'm just focused on the job and getting things done.

Listen, why don't you milk that for us? Like Elon Musk? I mean, he's about dodgy, but he's got heaps of money, so.

Well, I've got to do the business here in South Korea, so we'll be focused on that trade, make sure we grow New Zealand. That's what it's got to be about.

Trade trip, job done, trade trip to Elon's house next day. Thank you very much, Christopher appreciated. Look after yourself as Christopher lux and the Prime Minister who's over in South Korea at the moment.

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