Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visits Hawke’s Bay for Horse of the Year

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon came to Hawke's Bay on Sunday for Horse of the Year, and also stopped by a local social supermarket and up-and-coming tech company. Photo / Connull Lang

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon popped in to see Horse of the Year, and got a taste of a local social supermarket and up-and-coming tech company in Napier on his way.

Nourished for Nil founder Christina Mcbeth showed the PM around the social supermarket, born of a partnership between the food rescue, Foodstuffs and various local food suppliers.

“We have record numbers of lower middle income working New Zealand using food banks across the country,” Luxon said.

He said growing the economy was essential to getting the public services people desperately wanted.

His next stop was Onekawa, where tech company Red Phase is based making powerful high-capacity EV vehicle chargers.

“We are a government that wants to double the amount of renewable electricity in this country, we want to make sure we get more embracing electric vehicles up and down the country,” Luxon said.

“It is exciting to see a tech company taking it to the world and conceiving of a global business from Napier.”

When questioned on whether he believed Hawke’s Bay was poor or in recession right now, he said Hawke’s Bay had a “tremendous” future ahead of it.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is shown around Nourished for Nil and Foodstuff's social supermarket in Napier by Nourished for Nil founder Christina Mcbeth. Photo / Connull Lang

“I think it has got a major set of cylinders that can drive its economic engine incredibly well. Businesses like this around tech and energy are a good example of that but we also have got more traditional sectors like horticulture which we want to see bouncing back and making a contribution.”

He said the government was focused on growing the national economy through exports and Hawke’s Bay would play a key part in that.

Luxon viewing the EV charging tech at Onekawa-based tech company Red Phase. Photo / Connull Lang

In the afternoon, Luxon went to the Tōmoana Showgrounds near Hastings for the final day of Horse of the Year, where he met with young attendees, NZ Riding for the Disabled representatives and spoke for the prizegiving ceremony.

The show had been cancelled for the last three years due to Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz