AUCKLAND, New Zealand: New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told AFP on Friday planned cuts to foreign aid would make sure the country spends less money on "nice-to-do" but frivolous projects abroad, and he vowed to push for new free trade deals from Brazil to Bangladesh if re-elected next week.
New Zealanders go to the polls next Saturday (Nov 7), with Luxon's centre-right Nationals seen as neck-and-neck with the opposition centre-left Labour Party to lead the country for the next three years.
Luxon has vowed to slash the country's NZ$1.2 billion (US$677 million) aid budget by 10 per cent over four years if he wins.
The proposal has sparked fears that it could impact New Zealand's standing abroad - including from Luxon's own ruling coalition partners NZ First, who have dubbed it irresponsible.
The changes would come at a time of shrinking budgets worldwide for humanitarian aid - most notably from the United States under President Donald Trump.
Speaking on the sidelines of New Zealand's T20 cricket win against India in Auckland, Luxon said the cuts would be made to fund new medicines back home and were about "making sure that what we're doing is the must-do stuff, not the nice-to-do stuff".
Luxon said money was going to "having Indigenous workshops in Patagonia, or actually putting climate change equipment into South African universities".
"As interesting as that may well be, that is money that I'd sooner spend on Kiwis back here at home," he said.
Luxon's government this year signed a landmark but controversial free trade deal with India that also drew opposition from those within his ruling coalition.
He said his goal if re-elected was to "keep the foot on the accelerator" and get more deals signed.
"We want to open up to seven more markets over the next five years and ultimately get I think 13 markets over the next ten," he said.
He said his focus would be on markets like Brazil and Argentina - as well as in Europe and with Asian partners like Bangladesh.
"That would give us our next billion consumers around the world."
He admitted that New Zealand - home to five million people - was a small country, and it's "easy for everybody to forget us".
Luxon said he saw himself as a "super salesman" for the country - "you've actually got to go out in the world and build back that rapport".
Polls this week suggested Labour are inching ahead of National and that former prime minister Chris Hipkins could replace Luxon in the top job.
But the indicators have swung wildly in recent weeks, and either of the leaders would almost certainly be forced to deal with New Zealand's multiple minor parties to govern. - AFP
