He had spent the summer working on the first. It was to be more about himself and where he had come from, what he saw as the future for New Zealand. It was to better introduce himself to the people he wants to vote for him in 18 months' time and present himself as a statesman. He had intended to talk about education.
That speech was intended to be given in early February, but was put on hold because of Omicron.
As the times changed, so did Luxon's speech.
In the month between, the cost of living increases started to really bite and Omicron came along. Luxon was also getting momentum from pursuing cost of living rather than Covid.
As people feel broker, a mental tally is inevitably done of how much the Government is taking as its share. Tax cuts look more appealing.
So Luxon pushed the tax cuts button. The speech itself was bit boring and predictable, rather than grand, thumping rhetoric.
There were the critiques of government spending and a rather odd comparison of the "socialism" of Labour MPs with Moscow.
There were policy announcements on tax and the cost of living, and some will be people pleasers but none were startling or surprising.
The only truly new thing in his speech was the news that his finance spokesman, Simon Bridges, had Covid-19.
The policy announcements were pitched as ways to make life a bit easier for those struggling with their household bills – especially those whose wages were not keeping up with inflation, but were moving into higher tax brackets.
The big two were borrowed from his predecessors' cupboards and given a quick polish. The first policy was the one Bridges had put up when he was leader: for indexation of income tax thresholds to try to slow bracket creep.
The second was Bill English's social investment policy suite – a programme to better identify and target the most at-risk families and throw support around them early to try to prevent longer-term issues such as welfare dependency.
The other policies involved unwinding Labour taxes: the regional fuel tax, reducing the bright line test, returning interest deductibility on rental properties.
National has estimated changing the tax thresholds would cost about $1.7 billion a year. Luxon said that would come out of the $6 billion allowance Labour has given itself for new spending.
The reaction to his speech was as predictable as the speech: Some Labour supporters on Twitter wondered why he had not talked about things like fair pay agreements and the minimum wage. The answer is that he is the leader of the National Party, not the Labour Party.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said it was "the same tired old story" and wondered how National would afford to reduce taxes, pay off debt and cut spending while still wanting to spend. Others questioned whether the policies would worsen rather than improve inflation.
But Luxon's move also forced Robertson to state straight out that Labour would not be offering any tax cuts. The 2023 election battleground is drawn.
Ahead lies many months of happy bickering about who can afford to do what.
Luxon's goal is to ensure people see National as the best economic manager rather than Labour, knowing that the economy will once again be the biggest issue confronting New Zealanders for the next 18 months.
His goal was set out by his deputy, Nicola Willis, in her introduction of him as "the next Prime Minister of New Zealand."
She said it as if he had already achieved it that "he has won the confidence and support of New Zealanders from all walks of life".
Luxon has not quite done that yet, though their polling has improved significantly - and he was getting momentum from the cost-of-living focus.
His state of the nation speech itself won't do much in that regard, or to illuminate people about his own character. But nor will it harm it. A National leader is talking about issues again, not about himself or the party.
