Election 2023: National’s Christopher Luxon unveils health policy, Chris Hipkins gets campaign mojo amid pledge card battle, Act pledges to end building consents

It was an energetic Sunday for the two major party leaders with National’s Christopher Luxon doing his best pirate impression while Labour’s Chris Hipkins made a mulitcultural tour of Christchurch along with a raucous local campaign rally.

It also saw Labour seek to one-up National in unveiling its own pledge card, with the latter also unveiling its health policy alongside facing some major questions over its tax policy and how it will be funded.

The minor parties were active also, with Act outlining plans to streamline building, the Greens pledging to protect 30 per cent of New Zealand’s marine spaces by 2030 and Te Pāti Māori unveiling a radical plan to achieve equity for Māori health.

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Hipkins kicked off his South Island tour this week with a visit to the Sikh and Indian community at the Gurudwara Singh Sabha place of worship.

It was shoes off and hair covered up as Hipkins, several MPs and a hefty media contingent were welcomed into the space. There are more than 40,000 people who identify as Sikh in New Zealand, a religion that began in the Punjab region of India, with more than a quarter living in Christchurch.

Sikh community leaders met Hipkins and shared with him a range of their concerns, from crime and the cost of living through to immigration.

Labour Party leader Chrisopher Hipkins at the Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Christchurch where he met people from the Indian and Sikh community. Photo / Michael Neilson

Hipkins said the Christchurch Sikh community had played a huge role in responding to recent tragedies in the city, including the 2019 mosque terror attacks and Covid-19.

He said work was under way to better recognise Sikh religious practices, and the engagement taking place so far highlighted the importance of having a Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, most recently Labour’s Priyanca Radhakrishnan.

The contingent was then off to South New Brighton, home of retiring MP Poto Williams, for an energised local campaign rally.

Introduced by local country music legends The Eastern and Lindon Puffin, Hipkins was given a rock star welcome and appeared to relish the opportunity to be immersed in the party faithful.

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins at the Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Christchurch where he met people from the Indian and Sikh community. Photo / Michael Neilson

There he launched his party’s pledge card, which included nine “personal commitments” - essentially listing off key policies already announced, such as free dental care for people under 30, boosts to childcare support and removing GST from fruit and vegetables.

Labour was not copying National, he made clear, rather National in launching its pledge card just over a week ago had copied Labour, with former Prime Minister Helen Clark utilising the concept in all her campaigns since 1999.

Hipkins listed off Labour’s achievements and policies before railing against National and Act, repeating his party’s catchphrase they would be a “coalition of cuts”, all to raucous cheering.

“We are building momentum... I can feel it,” he said to more applause.

He told reporters later the assertion was based on “the vibe” he was getting from people, and he wasn’t interested in recent polls that had Labour’s support share slipping into the 20s.

Hipkins then took that momentum with him to the final stop - a Tongan church service in Spreydon. There Hipkins was again mobbed by supporters - young and old - with selfies abound and even the odd “Up the Wahs” video taken.

The Labour leader will be visiting Nelson on Monday and travelling across the rest of the island in the coming days.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon battles a pirate at the Ellerslie Fairy and Pirate party. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Luxon, meanwhile, was in Auckland, where he began his day being grilled in a Q+A interview with Jack Tame.

Luxon appeared unable to answer many specific questions about recent policy announcements, including its housing policy and tax plan - in particular his mentor Sir John Key’s 2016 comments that a foreign buyers’ tax was tricky because of free trade agreements and tax treaties.

It was a lighter next stop, or at least it was meant to be, as he made his way to the Ellerslie Fairies and Pirates party, where he continued a recent rather active run on the campaign trail.

He did not disappoint, dressing up for the part and even partaking in a duel after being heckled by a pirate who said he needed a wig to get elected.

Shortly after, Luxon and health spokesman Dr Shane Reti launched their party’s health policy. The keystone was the long-signalled plan to reintroduce health targets, which the previous National Government had in place but which Labour scrapped.

These targets would cover shorter stays in emergency departments, faster cancer treatment, immunisation, and shorter wait times for specialist treatment and surgeries.

Results would be published every quarter for each region.

“Having transparent targets with regular, robust reporting helps identify where the system is falling short and focuses effort on improving outcomes,” Reti said.

Christopher Luxon at Ellerslie's Fairy Festival and Pirate Party in Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Hipkins said he didn’t believe there was a lot different in National’s proposals to what the Government was already doing, but he didn’t think there was enough justificaition to introduce binding targets.

He said in the past it had seen hospitals shift the workload into other areas to meet targets, but it had not actually improved healthcare overall.

Te Pāti Māori also launched its health policy on Sunday, pledging to dramatically increase funding for the Māori Health Authority, with plans to channel 25 per cent of all health funding into the body.

It would address the “significant under-investment in Māori health, which currently sees Māori dying on average a decade earlier than non-Māori”.

The party would also ensure free primary and dental care for anybody earning less than $60,000 annually, among other measures.

The Act Party, meanwhile, announced plans to allow builders to opt out of council building consents, which it says will improve the supply, quality and cost of housing.

Party leader David Seymour said the policy would also include scrapping the reformed Resource Management Act and using building insurance as an alternative to building consent authorities.

Earlier, the Greens said any future Government they were part of would legislate to protect 30 per cent of the country’s marine spaces by 2030.

The party said it would demand a Green minister for oceans and fisheries, who would introduce legislation to ensure targets were met, and create an independent Ocean Commission.

The wider oceans policy also includes plans to ban bottom trawling on seamounts, or underwater biodiversity hotspots, along with boosting marine biosecurity.

Sunday also saw National reveal it would not allow electric vehicles to continue to be exempt from paying road user charges after the current exemption ends next year.

Transport spokesman Simeon Brown said that policy was only meant to help lift the vehicle share to 2 per cent, and that had been achieved.

Michael Neilson is a political reporter based at Parliament in Wellington. He joined the Herald in 2018 and has covered social issues, the environment and Māori affairs.