Christopher Luxon
Christopher Mark Luxon is a New Zealand politician and businessman who has served as the 42nd prime minister of New Zealand since 2023. A member of the National Party, he has been member of Parliament for Botany since 2020 and previously served as leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2023. Prior to entering politics, he was the chief executive officer of Air New Zealand from 2013 to 2019.
Luxon grew up in Howick in East Auckland before studying commerce at the University of Canterbury. He joined Unilever in 1993 and held senior roles at Unilever Canada, becoming president and CEO of the subsidiary in 2008. In 2011, he left Unilever Canada and joined Air New Zealand as group general manager and became CEO in 2013. After stepping down as CEO of Air New Zealand in 2019, Luxon won the pre-selection for the safe National Party seat of Botany in East Auckland. He won the National Party leadership unopposed on 30 November 2021, eight months after giving his maiden speech, after the ousting of his predecessor. Luxon led his party to a plurality of seats at the 2023 general election. Luxon signed a coalition deal with ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First to form a majority, and was sworn in as prime minister on 27 November 2023.
Under Luxon's premiership, the Sixth National Government of New Zealand has shrunk New Zealand's civil service and attempted to boost the economy through international tourism. The government introduced cuts to healthcare expenditure, reintroduced the three-strikes sentencing law and a pilot military-style boot camp for youth offenders, and enacted NZ$14.7 billion in tax cuts. The government replaced the Three Waters reform programme with the Local Water Done Well policy, and minimised co-governance initiatives while discouraging the use of the Māori language alongside the English language in the public service. His government has contributed to the construction of the City Rail Link metro system in Central Auckland, and agreed to support the controversial Treaty Principles Bill to its first reading. In foreign policy, his government has increased military spending and Five Eyes cooperation in a general pro-United States shift. Luxon's coalition dynamics with his deputy prime ministers Winston Peters and David Seymour have proved controversial, given they have openly challenged his authority.
Early life
Christopher Mark Luxon was born in Christchurch on 19 July 1970, to a Roman Catholic family of Irish, Scottish and English descent. His father, Graham Luxon, worked for Johnson & Johnson as a sales executive. His mother, Kathleen Luxon, was a receptionist but subsequently enrolled in a Diploma of Social Work the same year that Chris started at university. She eventually worked as a psychotherapist and counsellor.The family lived in Christchurch until Christopher was seven, when they moved to Howick in Auckland. After a year at Saint Kentigern College and another year at Howick College, the family returned to Christchurch and Luxon spent three years at Christchurch Boys' High School. While there, he won the prize for senior debating. He studied at the University of Canterbury from 1989 to 1992, gaining a Master of Commerce degree.
He always wanted to be a businessman and said: "If you met me at 12 years old I'd be having window washing rounds, lawn mowing rounds and deck painting. I just loved it." During his high school and university years, Luxon worked part-time at McDonald's and as a porter at the Parkroyal Hotel.
Business career
Unilever
Luxon worked for Unilever from 1993 to 2011, starting in Wellington as a management trainee for two years, leaving for Sydney in 1995. He worked his way up in the company, working in Sydney until 2000, in London from 2000 to 2003, and then Chicago from 2003 to 2008, becoming "Global Deodorants and Grooming Category" Director. In 2008 when Unilever restructured, he became president of the company's Canadian operations, based in Toronto. Altogether, he worked overseas for 16 years before returning to New Zealand.Air New Zealand
Luxon joined Air New Zealand as group general manager in May 2011 and was named the chief executive officer on 19 June 2012, taking up the role at the end of that year. During his eight-year leadership, Air New Zealand profits grew to record levels. Important contributors to this were a booming tourism market; the company's decision to stop operating under-performing regional routes; and the cutting of hundreds of jobs. The company was named Australia's most trusted brand several times.In 2014, Luxon joined the board of Virgin Australia representing Air New Zealand, which was then a major shareholder. In 2016, Air NZ decided it was no longer in its best interest to maintain a close connection with another airline so it sold its 25.9% stake in Virgin Australia. Luxon consequently left the Virgin board.
Luxon resigned from Air NZ in 2019, and hinted at a possible career with the National Party. He was encouraged in this by his close friend, former Prime Minister John Key, who said Luxon would be a "world class candidate" for the National Party.
Personal wealth
As at March 2024, his net worth was estimated to be between NZ$21 million and NZ$30 million, which makes him the second-wealthiest leader of the National Party, after former Prime Minister John Key. He then owned seven properties, including a home in Remuera valued at NZ$7.68 million, and other assets collectively valued at over NZ$21 million. In late 2024, Luxon stated, "Let's be clear, I'm wealthy," in response to questions about his property sales and financial position.After becoming prime minister, Luxon stayed in his own Wellington apartment and claimed a NZ$52,000 accommodation allowance, to which he said he was entitled. After public scrutiny began, he quickly changed his position, saying: "It's clear that the issue of my accommodation allowance is becoming a distraction" and "As such, I have decided today that I will no longer claim the allowance and will repay anything I have received since I became Prime Minister."
Luxon sold three of his properties in 2024 with Stuff estimating he could have made up to $769,500 in profit.
Early political career
Member of Parliament
In November 2019, Luxon secured the National Party candidacy for the Botany electorate - which has always been won by National and was regarded as a safe seat for them - after Jami-Lee Ross resigned from the Party.In Opposition (2020–2023)
Amid a sweep of National seats lost to Labour in the 2020 general election, Luxon won Botany with 52% of the vote. He was appointed as the spokesperson for local government, research, science, manufacturing and land information, as well as associate spokesperson for transport in the Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins. After Collins was removed as party leader on 25 November, Luxon was cited as a potential replacement. On 30 November, after Bridges's withdrew from the National Party leadership election, Luxon was announced as the party's leader.As Leader of the Opposition, Luxon used public funding to pay for Māori language lessons. He defended using taxpayer money to pay for his Māori language lessons, stating that "developing better skills in te reo was highly relevant to his role as Opposition leader and a potential Prime Minister. Once he became Prime Minister, the National-led coalition government considered discontinuing incentive payments for public servants to learn the Māori language.
Prime Minister (2023–present)
In the 2023 general election, Luxon retained his Botany electorate seat with 67% of the vote. The National Party won 38.1% of the party vote and 48 seats – the most of any party but not enough to govern outright.Formation of coalition government
National required support from at least two other parties to form a government. They negotiated with ACT and New Zealand First for six weeks to produce New Zealand's first formal three-party coalition government. The negotiations took until 24 November and involved two separate coalition agreements – one between National and ACT, and one between National and New Zealand First – with each junior party formally committing to support the other's key priorities. Luxon was sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro on 27 November.Economic growth
On 18 February 2024 Luxon delivered his first State of the Nation address, in which he blamed the previous Labour Government for what he called the "precarious state of the economy". Luxon claimed that economic growth is the central theme of his government's agenda, that it is the solution to New Zealand's problems and key to improving living standards for all New Zealanders. He said his Government would restore the economy by cutting taxes, reducing public spending and "red tape".However, under his government, the economy entered a protracted recession, with per capita GDP falling 4.6% since September 2022 due to tight monetary policy combating inflation that peaked at 7.3%. Unemployment rose from 3.7% in June 2023 to 5.2% by late 2025 and would have been higher if thousands of workers had not moved to Australia.
As part of reducing Government spending, Luxon's government began implementing significant cutbacks to New Zealand's public service in late 2023. Radio New Zealand reported in May 2025 that the coalition had cut 9,500 public sector jobs. More than 240 government programmes have been scaled down or scrapped, particularly those initiated under the previous Labour government. Luxon has consistently articulated the rationale for these cuts, amounting to about $6 billion, and publicly defended the scale of job losses. At Kāinga Ora, hundreds of staff were laid off, and plans to build 3,500 new homes were scrapped.
Health sector
New Zealand's health system faced severe strains before the coalition government came to power, primarily from workforce shortages, financial mismanagement, and long wait times for many services. Core problems included a significant shortage in the number of GPs leading to a massive increase in visits to hospital emergency departments plus financial mismanagement. Health NZ posted a $722 million deficit in 2023, driven by vague savings plans and uncontrolled spending.In response, the government replaced the board of Health NZ with a commissioner to improve performance and accountability. This was followed by multiple high-profile resignations, including the Director-General of Health, the Chief Executive of Health NZ, and the Director of Public Health. In January 2025, Luxon announced that Simeon Brown would replace Shane Reti as Minister of Health.
Despite these frequent changes in personnel, little progress has been made. Emergency departments have experienced increased wait times and staffing shortages. GP shortages remain acute, with over 250,000 unregistered patients and productivity losses exceeding $1 billion annually, unchanged from pre-coalition levels. Efforts to recognize overseas qualifications and plans for a third medical school are targeted at additional recruitment, but so far have had little impact. Overcrowding in emergency department persists, due to the shortage of GPs and primary care. Concerns have even been raised about the sustainability of general practice.
Luxon seems unconcerned about long waiting lists. He told Kerre Woodham on NewstalkZB that if he had an infection, he would rather see a nurse practitioner than a GP.