Voters will of course be the ones who decide, but this final face-off in the battle of the Chrises was the last real chance for either leader to meaningfully shift voters before election day.
With recent polling showing Labour making up lost ground, Hipkins had nothing to lose - and continually challenged Luxon over his answers.
Luxon in response frequently called for Hipkins to "calm down" - even making a reference to Taylor Swift - and allow him to answer, but at times got into the verbal sparring game himself.
It was certainly more lively than the first TVNZ debate, with moderator Jessica Mutch-McKay at times wishing she had brought a bell and resorting to talking over both in the lead-up to an ad break.
Luxon said he would “absolutely” get a free trade deal signed with India, even though India has shown little appetite for one given its protectionist stance.
Luxon's comment was a step up from his previous comments about it being a priority.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins immediately challenged him on it.
“You’re misleading New Zealanders. That is a promise you will not be able to deliver on. Are you going to tell them they have to?” asked Hipkins, noting that previous governments hadn’t been able to get one.
Hipkins said he would lead a trade delegation to India within 100 days of taking office. “I’m not going to make a promise I might not be able to fulfill.”
Labour has faced allegations it was ignoring India since before the Covid-19 pandemic. Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern never visited the country. The last prime ministerial visit was by John Key in 2016. Trade Minister Damien O’Connor visited earlier this year.
Such a deal with India is challenging given how tariff-free access for dairy, meat and horticulture could undercut local Indian producers.
New Zealand’s top trade official Vangelis Vitalis told a select committee earlier this year that New Zealand could not realistically possible given the importance of dairy to our trade profile.
Hipkins and Luxon also clashed further on poverty reduction, with Hipkins saying it was important to index benefit levels to average wage growth, rather than inflation.
Luxon said “building a better economy” was the answer, noting the 60,000 more people on a benefit over the past six years.
Asked what if employment isn’t the answer for everybody, Luxon said indexing to inflation was right because it protected purchasing power. National’s move would improve its books $2 billion over four years.
“That’s thousands more children in poverty,” Hipkins interjected.
He then attacked National’s tax break for landlords by restoring interest deductibility on rental income, noting how landlords with at least 200 properties each would get over $1m over five years.
“Your moral compass is entirely wrong.”
Luxon: “Here Chris goes again, misinformation, we are not cutting benefits ... You need to listen to Taylor Swift [and] calm down.”
The debate started with a poll result showing 43 percent of people trusted Hipkins more than Luxon, while 33 percent trusted Luxon more than Hipkins.
Luxon said he would “continue to earn trust”, and had real-world leader experience who had spent his whole career solving problems.
Hipkins said trust wasn’t earned by “slogans with no substance behind them”, but by answering questions, a shot at Luxon’s apparent inability to answer questions directly.
“They want substance, not a PM who walks away from questions which you have repeatedly been doing,” Hipkins said to Luxon.
“I don’t trust Christopher Luxon, if you look at his tax swindle for example. Not many New Zealanders will get the full benefit.” National has been caught omitting the words “up to” when selling its tax package as delivering up to $250 a fortnight to a family on the average income.
Luxon shot back that he didn’t trust Hipkins: “No, he doesn’t deliver. It’s not in his DNA.”
Luxon took a shot at the five ministers who have left Labour this year, to which Hipkins referred to National MP Sam Uffindell, who was accused of bullying in his youth.
“People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. None of my MPs beat people up with a bed leg.”
National has been trending down in the polls after being on the rise until Luxon said he would make the call to NZ First leader Winston Peters as a last resort, but preferred a National-Act coalition.
Luxon said ruling in Peters was not an own goal but a principled stance to avoid another Labour-led Government.
Hipkins and Peters have ruled out working with each other, but Luxon noted that wasn’t the case in 2017.
“Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, wouldn’t do it again,” replied Hipkins.
Hipkins was keen to make an impact after some recent polls gave Labour a sniff of hope, showing the vote was moving around a bit and the left block of parties making some gains on the right.
While it remains very difficult for the left to get the 61 seats to form a government without NZ First, its chances would improve if NZ First fell short of the 5 per cent threshold.
Luxon was aiming to try and secure more support to help get there without NZ First – but also reassured voters that he would be able to work with Winston Peters.
He said he was feeling calm ahead of the debate.
Luxon was still hopeful of being able to form a government with Act alone but said he would deal with whatever the voters delivered.
- RNZ and NZ Herald
