The Unilever connection is not something Luxon makes a great deal of publicly. But he has talked informally about how Rutte’s move into politics and subsequent success as Prime Minister inspired him to make his own move from business to national politics.
Rutte successfully managed a series of tricky coalitions in the highly fractured world of Dutch politics. Luxon has also succeeded in melding together a three-party coalition where their “agree to disagree” clauses are now being routinely applied without collapsing the Government.
And both Rutte and Luxon understand the need to be consensus builders when the longevity of Governments depends on melding successful political coalitions.
Rutte stepped down this year as Prime Minister of the Netherlands after 14 years in the top political job and takes over at Nato when current chief Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg steps down on October 1.
Rutte won’t be in the box seat when Luxon goes to Washington DC next week for an important Nato summit.
Officially, the summit marks Nato’s 75th anniversary. It arguably should have wound up in the post-Cold War era. But the military alliance has since super-charged itself by expanding its membership and delivering Western military aid to Ukraine in the fight against Russia.
The possible return of Donald Trump as United States President after the November election is now raising well-founded speculation over Nato’s future. Trump has threatened to cut US aid to Ukraine if he is returned to the White House. Given the US is the largest military donor to Ukraine, that step would place additional financial strain on Nato members to fund Ukraine’s defence.
Some two-thirds of Nato members are now spending 2% of their GDP on defence. But despite pledging a decade back to meet the 2% target, one-third have failed to do so.
Luxon contends it is important New Zealand steps up and plays a role in upholding UN sanctions in our region. He’s not getting into the implications of a Trump White House – this is a minefield for political leaders.
What he does observe is the increasing need for security in Europe where there has been widespread economic suffering. Then there is New Zealand’s requirement to play an increased role given the flashpoints that have emerged with North Korea developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear programmes.
These flashpoints will no doubt be traversed when Luxon meets with other members of the Indo-Pacific Four – the leaders of South Korea and Japan and Australia’s defence minister will be in DC.
The Indo-Pacific Four is not formally part of Nato but is increasingly part of the chain of influence when it comes to China.
But don’t expect Luxon to bow to the growing pressure to contain China. He is not in the pro-sanctions camp, as recently advocated by the outgoing Nato head Stoltenberg, ostensibly in response to claims China is delivering military aid to Russia.
Luxon is an economic rationalist and is fully aware that much of the clamour emerging from US and European quarters relating to alleging dumping of EVs, for instance, has a protectionist basis. In conversation this week he pointed to the protectionist response from some Western nations when the Japanese and Korean car industries began exporting cheaper cars. As he puts it, the goal is to steer a fairly economically rational course at the same time as protecting New Zealand’s national interest.
Maintaining international dialogue is important.
Luxon is still in the early stages of his Prime Ministership.
But having a great Rolodex is important for New Zealand Prime Ministers to successfully ply this country’s influence on the international stage.
Helen Clark forged powerful connections during her nine years as Prime Minister. She was networked with centre-left politicians like former US President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and international public servants like former World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy through the Progressive Governance Group.
Sir John Key personally connected with former US President Barack Obama and forged his own connections as chair of the centre-right-aligned International Democrat Union.
The existence of these political networks is important; not simply from an ideological perspective but from connecting the like-minded. (This tends to get overlooked in the current hysteria over the Atlas Network.)
International success means politicians do also need to bridge those ideological differences – particularly given the major political shifts now occurring in Britain and France.
It is a testing time – including for Luxon.
