Former Prime Minister John Key says this year’s election is really tight and the economy will be the big thing that's fought over.
“Everyone can see that there’s blocs on the left and there’s blocs on the right, and there’s all sorts of people who don’t want to work with each other,” Key told the audience at the Financial Services Council conference in Auckland on Wednesday.
“You always fight elections on the economy, law and order, health and education,” he said during his question and answer session with TVNZ’s Jack Tame.
Key said he thought the Government had done a good job in education, law and order, and health.
“So the economy really is going to be the big thing that's going to be fought out, and it's going to be fought out over tax policy in that space.”
He said if you looked at environments that had lower tax, more freedom and more private enterprise, “the long-term history shows you, without doubt, those economies perform better”.
“So to me, you know that's what we're fighting for. So we can't afford to waste days talking about ourselves. We need to start talking about where this country is going and what makes it go faster? And so you know, our guys have got to get back on that train, and they've got to get back on it as soon as they finish their meeting this morning.”
Key’s comments came as the National Party Caucus were in a meeting having a confidence vote on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s leadership.
Luxon would later emerge successful, saying he had the full support of his caucus and that they were united.
‘If you put me down as an American voter, I would have voted for Donald Trump’
There was some dispute over Key’s thoughts on US President Donald Trump - Tame put to him that Key said he wanted Trump to win in 2024 and that it would be a good thing, while Key said he "reckoned" Trump would win. (Here's a 2024 interview Key did with Stuff on the US election).
Asked if Key still felt that way, the former prime minister said “yes and no.”
“I’ve never voted anything other than right or centre right in my life, and I’m never going to. So if you put me down as an American voter, I would have voted for Donald Trump, and that’s because the options are vote left, which I won’t do. Or don’t vote, which I won’t do."
“So you don’t give me lots of options, do you? You’ve got to vote right.”
He said when it came to some of the things Trump spoke about, he didn’t necessarily feel them because he didn’t live in that environment. “But it doesn’t mean I can’t understand them.”
Key said he spent a lot of time in the US and heard people talking about illegal border activity and people talking about issues Trump has dealt with like Fentanyl, concerns about energy policy “or their feeling that wokeness had gone too far in the US or whatever.”
However, there were elements of policy that he didn’t agree with like America's tariff policy.
He referred to a comment about Trump where his supporters take him seriously but don’t take him literally, while his detractors take him literally but not seriously.
“I've kind of been in the camp of I take him seriously but I don't take him literally.”
NZ’s financial services
Key said New Zealand’s financial services sector has been way better than it’s given credit for, pointing to having to send a cheque off for anything he did for his house in Maui.
“It’s arcane, it’s antiquated. New Zealand’s good.”
He said the country has been a leader in a lot of things like Eftpos.
He also urged the audience not to be scared of AI, saying while it would have some dramatic impacts on people’s businesses, “it doesn’t mean you’re not going to be there”.
“Let's strive for the best financial services we can, because we happen to have a sector that's well regulated, that's got good people in it, and we actually do something that people really care about.
“Because I tell you what, they only care about a few things. Really, put their health and their families [to] one side. They care about housing, and they care about money. They care about the money they've got for their retirement.”
‘Name me a single problem that New Zealand has that's unique’
Key said we live in an era of grumpiness.
“There’s been a bit of that running around New Zealand. There’s been a bit of a sense that we’ve lost our mojo, that people have gone to Australia and that … maybe New Zealand isn’t the kind of promised land type of thing, and somehow it’s not great.”
Key said he didn’t want to be a “screaming Pollyanna” that told people everything was fantastic. “But you take a step back for a second, and you ask yourself this question: You know, if you didn't live here, then where?”
“You name me a single problem that New Zealand has that's unique,” he said.
Key said NZ had its challenges but technology had been a game changer.
He said while we needed to address the challenges we have, NZ needed to put its best foot forward and have the best policies to make NZ strong.
He urged people not to fret about the future of the country, and NZ was going to be a place where financial services can operate, prosper, and grow from.
"Because I think both internally in New Zealand that demand will rise, the population will continue to rise, and I do think that the international opportunities for us here are really great," Key said.
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