Luxon and Hipkins take centre stage at Hawke’s Bay A&P Show
Politics took centre stage at the Hawke’s Bay A&P Show on Friday as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins worked the crowds in a bid to win over voters.
There were plenty of requests for selfies, but some showgoers also took the opportunity to question the leaders about their policies.
The two leaders did not meet during their visits, although a hotdog conversation involving Hipkins, broadcast over the showground’s loudspeakers, interrupted Luxon’s media stand-up.
Asked for his impressions of the show, Luxon praised the people taking part.
“I think you see the best in New Zealand in shows like this. Hardworking people doing the right thing.”
He said people he spoke to were excited about the export opportunities from a free trade agreement with India.
“It means a lot to the food bowl of New Zealand for exports,” he said.
“There was a lot of optimism as I moved around.”
Hipkins, asked about his message to rural voters, said he wanted to see farmers and growers doing well.
“We want to see jobs in every region across the country, because when that happens, we know that the whole of the country is going to be thriving.”
He said living costs remained a major concern among the people he was meeting, along with how to create a future that would encourage young New Zealanders to stay in the country.
Luxon watched sausage-dog racing and the hobby-horse competition, declining an invitation to take part in the latter unless a journalist went first.
He also stopped at the sheepdog trials and tried virtual golf, where a young player named Ruby got the better of him.
Hipkins declined a turn at the golf simulator. Both leaders, however, agreed to hold a chicken during their visits.
Luxon said he had held chickens before, but “not one as impressive as that chicken”.
Young showgoers questioned Luxon about National’s proposed social media ban, while others approached Hipkins to ask why young people should vote for him.
