Christopher Luxon has pointed out there is “no single bullet” to deal with brain drain, and says he will work on “a combination of things” to encourage New Zealanders to settle down in the country.
National’s prime ministerial candidate made the comment at a public rally in Manurewa, the South Auckland suburb from where his colleague, Kiwi-Indian Siva Kilari, is contesting.
“I have to make sure I get more affordable housing in place in New Zealand,” Luxon told a packed audience at Netball Manurewa Events Centre on July 15, 2023.
“I have to improve the education system, I have to improve the healthcare system, I have to get the economics and the cost of living and inflation under control.”
Luxon did not seem too worried about people leaving Aotearoa temporarily. “We will always have Kiwis going overseas for overseas experience. And that's fine, I was one of those people.
“But we always wanted to come home…I have to make sure there is a more attractive proposition for you to stay here rather than go somewhere else.”
Luxon was in Manurewa to rally support for Kilari, who came to New Zealand as a migrant student in 2002 and now owns and operates Universal Granite and Marbles, a successful benchtop stone business.
Kilari said more than 1,000 people attended the weekend rally, adding the turnout was an indication National was building up a strong momentum in the electorate, which Labour has never lost since 1978.
“People were even standing at the back. If we can put in the right amount of effort, we are confident we are going to be winning the electorate [vote], as well,” he told The Indian Weekender.
A chunk of the speeches dealt with retail crime and National’s proposals to deal with criminals, especially juvenile and repeat offenders.
New Zealand Police have reported 388 ram raids in the six months to May 2023, with 86 young offenders being referred to Police Youth Services. In the same period, as many as 1,429 youth referrals were made in connection with retail crime in general.
Kilari pointed to these statistics as he made a case for getting tough on offenders, throwing his support behind Luxon’s proposal to send young offenders to military-style boot camps for mentoring and guidance.
“That is a really good policy. Everybody likes the policy, most New Zealanders want that policy to be implemented. So once the kids go into that system…they will be well groomed.”
Talking about Manurewa, Kilari pointed to the nuisance dirt bikers have created lately and said he will make it a priority to fix the problem.
“They make noise on the streets, and are an inconvenience for other drivers…the plan to fix it is to not allow dirt bikes on the road…we can give separate land for them to drive.”