Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister wraps the year, exchanges gifts with Mike Hosking

‘Tis the season for the annual swapping of gifts between the Prime Minister and broadcaster Mike Hosking. 

For Prime Minister Christopher Luxon the festive season has begun with meal tray tables bearing the longtime broadcaster’s face, after the pair exchanged gifts in a Christmas tradition that dates back several years. 

As for Hosking, he’ll leave the Newstalk ZB studio today with a bespoke calendar with a range of dates highlighted, from sports events to Parliament’s Question Time and random world elections. 

“I get a lot of unsolicited advice when I’m in Parliament during question time. So, I’ve marked out in green all the times that you can give me that unsolicited advice,” Luxon said. 

“And then the other two big interests in your life are obviously F1 and the Warriors games, so they’re all mapped out there on the planner. And then sometimes you love to give a bit of esoteric advice to the listeners around sort of the Cameroonian election that might be taking place. So, down this side, I’ve just given you a list of random world elections.” 

Luxon also gave the broadcaster two wine glass rubber lanyards, briefly alarming Hosking as he unwrapped his gift, which was “only for you and [wife] Kate”, Luxon said. 

“Oh my Lord, what is it?” Hosking replied before the Prime Minister revealed the lanyards were bought at Ikea after the Swedish giant opened its first New Zealand store in Auckland yesterday. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking after the pair exchanged Christmas gifts on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning. Photo / Cameron Pitney

“I was the first person in the country to make a physical purchase in the store at Ikea. And I bought Mike ... wine glass lanyard[s], because as he ponders his estate ... him and Kate go wandering around and they often have a glass of wine in hand. 

“As you’ve got older, I don’t want you to trip and fall, because that’d be a real problem.” 

You can listen here to the exchange. 

The tray tables were inspired by a comment Luxon made this year about him and wife Amanda eating dinner on their laps while watching Netflix. 

“Stop eating dinner on your knee, it’s not healthy”, Hosking scolded the Prime Minister. 

“All I ask of you when you’re sitting with that on your lap looking at me … is not to spill your food.” 

The Prime Minister described the trays as having “lovely wood surrounds” and the image of Hosking as being “very wistful”. 

“It’s ponderous and thoughtful,” Hosking said. 

“The question I’m asking you with my eyes is, ‘Do you really think you’ll win the election next year?’” 

The Government has been struggling in the polls as economic challenges continue, with Luxon himself the subject of ongoing speculation that his leadership may face a challenge from within his own party. 

But the Prime Minister’s response was to the point. 

“Oh hell yeah, don’t you worry about that.” 

‘The Complete Guide to Surviving a Mike Hosking Interview’ 

Last year, after Luxon’s first full year in the top job, Hosking gave the Prime Minister a gift he described as “one of one” and a “prototype”. 

It was a book titled “The Complete Guide to Surviving a Mike Hosking Interview”, which Luxon described as “genius”. 

Luxon gave Hosking a Christmas card with a family photo on it and some “furikake seasoning,” a Japanese seasoning typically made with toasted sesame seeds and nori. 

“People like me, who are men of the people, just use salt, I mean, I come from a very humble background,” Luxon said. 

“This is what really posh people do.” 

“Absolutely love it,” Hosking said in response to the gift. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast with host Mike Hosking in October. Photo / Mike Hosking 

Luxon also gave Hosking a “special energy Voost” that was described as “posh Berrocca”. 

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also exchanged gifts with Hosking during her time leading the country. 

This included in 2018 a framed photo given to Hosking of the pair riding Lime scooters together and, in exchange, a T-shirt with a picture of Hosking holding a vacuum cleaner. 

Broadcaster Mike Hosking proudly wearing his Christmas gift from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - a T-shirt immortalising a verbal stoush between the pair. Photo / Supplied 

The following year Ardern – who in 2021 would cancel her regular weekly interview on the Mike Hosking Breakfast – gave the broadcaster a T-shirt showing the pair mid-verbal stoush and with the slogan “I heart Tuesdays”. 

“This could go wrong,” Hosking then said as he prepared to give Ardern h

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So given it's the time of the year, Les, welcome
back the Prime Minister for one last time for the
best of season. Christopher Luxon.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good to be with you, Michael, good to be with you.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Now.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
I told you when he came in.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
You've made see an end this morning for turning up
into for turning up at Ikea.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Do you regret that?

Speaker 4 (00:16):
Man? Now, I'm actually I know, I know how much
you love the store yourself and will be probably a
regular shoper for friends and family, discounts or whatever you
get going. But no, like, I mean, I'm really proud
of that, actually, because you know, I've lived around the
world and you know, most big cities have an Ikea,
and it's pretty awesome that they've come toys Ell and
made the investment, gone through a rather torturous resource management process,

(00:37):
I suspect, and ended up with a store being delivered.
And same with Costco. Good to see Costco going into
Drury as well. So I think that just good science.
You know, we used to go overseas and see all
these cool places and wonder why can't we have that here.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
We've got it here now.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Good investment in as non political way as you're capable
of how would you sum up your year?

Speaker 4 (00:59):
A challenge, yeah, challenging, yeah, but also encouraging. I think
no doubt about it. You know, we know we've been
hear it in a miss. We've had to deal with
a big recession, We've had to deal with big COVID hangover,
Trump coming in with the tariff's thing, causing massive uncertainty
globally on trade. It's been a challenge, but I actually
think we end the year actually we knew primary industries
going great, that's been really good. But actually we're seeing

(01:21):
really good science you know, of the turnaround coming through.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
The challenge is, yeah, we've got to continue to fix
a lot of basics. I felt like I spent most
of my two years frankly, just sorting stuff out that
you just everything.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
You pack up.

Speaker 4 (01:32):
You realize there sort of a bit busted and broken,
and we've had to sort it out and deal with it.
But then a lot of it is now right. We
know we're going to recover. So the question is, well,
how do we downwell realize all the potential it's and
the joints and that means, yeah, we are going to
do RM A reform. Yes, we are going to do
educational reform. Yes, we've got to really step up trade
and investment. So I think, you know, no doub about
a hard year, you know, as you'd expect, but it's

(01:52):
a turnaround job that we're doing here.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
What happened to the year?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Do you think?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Because it started with the concept that things were coming
right and yet broadly they didn't.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
Yeah, I think to what really happened was we had
a very good back endo last year. If you remember,
we started having a good back end, we had a
very good first quarter, and then literally on the second
of April, we hit the tariffs and that put a GDP.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Basically, investors stopped.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Spending, consumer confidence goes through the floor, partly because of
just the lack of clarity and chaos. It was ensuing
that had a massive sentiment loop. Let's be clear about it.
You know, we were a negative GDP territory. The economy
contracted after having two quarters where it grew and that
and you in middle of winter and everyone's going, well, actually,
what the hell is happening and when are we coming

(02:37):
out of this thing? The good news is we are
coming out of it. You can feel it, you can
see it, and actually even the media is now conceding
that it's starting to happen, which is, you know, on balances,
a better thing than.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
It has been.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
So there's note about it that was very challenging. And
you can see that every time we have a negative
GDP number, people go how much longer have.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
We got to deal with us?

Speaker 4 (02:54):
We've been through COVID, we've been through a recession and
high inflation, high interest rates.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
When does it get better?

Speaker 4 (03:00):
And for some people that are feeling that across the country,
they genuinely are as in South Island again last week.
I was in different parts of the country this week
where you can see the benefits of growth, But for
other folk they can intellectually say, yeah, I get these
guys are doing it. I just wish they get there faster,
and I just wish, most important, I'd feel the benefits
of it. Until people feel it, that's the thing that
you've got to see that transmission.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Do you have you personally found the year arduous?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Now? I've enjoyed the year.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
I mean, even with all the commentary and the polls
and the noise and the lot.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
As I said before, I mean I sort of I
came to politics because I just genuinely want this country
to realize its potential.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
I'm different. I'm not a career politician. I've come from
outside the system. I choose to do the job because
every day I do want to get their things solved.
I like problem solving. I like actually the improvement. I
like turning things around. I like getting things sorted. That's
what I did in my business life. It's what I'm
trying to do in this role.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, but it's going to wear you down there, because
although you came from business, you weren't publicly accountable to
the extent that you are jobs are as a politician.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yeah, you're right, And I mean, you know, you wake
up at four point thirty every day, seven days a week.
You do probably twenty hour days most days are to
be honest, but if you are very connected to mission
and purpose, then you actually, you know you can wake up.
You get hit with the lead pipe most days. And
you know, as I've said to you before, you know
you don't take offense from those who don't take advice
from but it.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Must wear you down.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
The only reason I'm asking these questions is being in
the public eye, and myself, I've taken over the years
like endless SuDS, and it's in certain times that it
wears you down, and it must have an effect periodically.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
I mean, you know it's hard, you know, and you
know you're fighting it and you know you're taking on,
but you're trying to drive change, right, so you know
that there's going to be people that are again. You know,
we haven't had the best run with media. I'll be
honest with you. We haven't had the best run with
the public service. You know, we're asking them to do
different things. But if you believe in doing change and
you believe it's worth doing and you've got to go
through us and get to the other side, then you

(04:56):
just keep going and you just have to do each day.
And you know, if you want to be good something,
you've really got to make the sacrifice and you've got
to double down and get the job done. But I
also think at a personal level, might you know you
might be the same. But if you've got like you know,
I've got a partner who is a partner, so I
mean we've been you know, we do this together. You've
got great family, great friends. I've got good you know
people I go to that I do respect and take

(05:17):
advice from so you know, you feel supported in the
process as hard as it actually is.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
But it is hard.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
I mean, you know, it's not like it's key in
two thousand and eight where you're sort of like doing
a bit of a realignment.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
No.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
No, we're doing a serious turnaround jobs and it's hard
because you're having to confront a bunch of things that
haven't have deteriorated or just you know.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Dribbled away over the over a ten year period that
need to be sorted.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Do you think you're a better Prime Minister this morning
than you were in January this year?

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (05:43):
I think you learn all the time in this job.
You know, you know, you come into it's an extreme job.
It's an extreme job. I mean by the time things
are coming to you, they're quite hard and the difficult problems.
But I think you get better and better at it.
I think, you know, we've had to deal with I
have to deal with the fact that first and I've
always had to rebuild a national party. It wasn't civil
war with each other. We did that in a twenty
month period and found a way to win. We then

(06:04):
had to build in a three party coalition, which requires
a huge amount of emotional intelligence, making all of that
kind of work in the background, and then importantly deal
with the massive turnaround for the country to get people
who have been and you know COVID with brutal recessions
being brutal. People are tired, they're fatigued, they're over it,
and you've got to get them on the result in

(06:25):
the outcoming you, AULI need to get to So if
you're connected to the mission and purpose and what you're
trying to achieve, then you can sort of deal with
all the knockers along the way and all the hard
stuff that comes.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Who do you think will win the present exchange after
the break?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'm very hopeful.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
But I noticed that you've been trashed talking my potential
GAFT and how much thought has hasn't gone into it.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Well, no, it consumed me. Last night I saw you
on the news that I here apparently I was on CNEN.
Well you were on cn end. But last night on
the news I saw you saying I've got a gift
swap tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
And I'm actually really confident in my exchange. I've thought
about this, okay, and I think there's a few a
few layers to it.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh interesting.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, now this this gift just just for just to
clear it all up, from me to you is actually
from all of us to you because it was Sam's idea,
so he needs credit for it, and it was a
brilliant He's a great young man.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Sam's amazing. Stays with you.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
It's the boss. I'm actually behind the scenes like a
really cool guy. So the Boss poo pooed the idea
and said, no, we can do better. But it turns
out we couldn't. And I think we've got to win it.
We've got an absolute exactly now listen to this. This
is why we've given UK.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
We sat down.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
I think we had dinner on our on our laps,
and I think we started watching There was some Netflix
show we started getting into.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Stop eating dinner on your knee. It's not healthy. So
so eating dinner on your knee was the.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Watching TV shows and trying to eat it.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
This is you.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
It's a one off. Seriously, well it's two things. You
wrap this So I heard this vicious rumor.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Or did you just technically no?

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Technically no, I did a social media thing that I
sort of pretended to wrap unwrapped that I think I'm
pretty confident.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Actually, I think you're going to love this.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Oh look at this. Oh this is amazing.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
They came from Britain. Funnily enough, it was looking good
until I took this out. Okay, viewers, So what listeners
to what we've got?

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Is you know, like on those informercial ads, you put
those what are they sort of like meal trays? But yeah,
and it was looking really good. It's got lovely wood surrounds.
But then Amanda and I are now going to have
the the the great pleasure of looking at at the
wonderful face of Mike Hosking on top of our of
our how good? All I ask of you is next

(08:54):
wistful photo is it's it's ponderous and thoughtful. It's the
question I'm asking you with my eyes is do you
really think you win the election next year?

Speaker 3 (09:03):
I'll hell you don't.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
You're worried about that.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Anyway, all I ask of you when you're sitting with
that on your lap looking at.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Me, I'm your photo is not not to spill your food.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
Oh yeah, because.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
I'm terrible to get a bit of a dribble on. Anyway, morely,
what have you got for me?

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Here?

Speaker 3 (09:22):
We got it going right, Oh my god, I want you?
Is that a copy of the treaty?

Speaker 2 (09:32):
One?

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Fantastic beautiful beautiful bag. By the way, is this handcuffs?

Speaker 2 (09:38):
All right? What do you think a muzzle? I tell
you for you, Kate?

Speaker 3 (09:44):
Oh my lord? What what? What is it? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:46):
What do you think it is?

Speaker 3 (09:48):
It looks? What does it look like?

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Mike?

Speaker 3 (09:55):
What do you think you do with it? Where did
you get this from? And what is it?

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Well? What do you think it is?

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Well, it's made of rubber. Yeah, and it's black, it's
black rubber.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
And you would strap it on?

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (10:09):
Would you strap it on?

Speaker 4 (10:10):
So so listen, as you know, if you go on
hosting social media, you basically see him doing a couple
of things. One as he sits at a TV and
just curses at it, which is usually his abuse of
the warriors or someone.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
The second thing he does is he then goes wandering
around this great ponderosa in a state he owns half
of Northland or something apparently, and he goes out checking
the estate and making sure it's all good. So put
that around your neck it's on? Yeah, okay, right?

Speaker 1 (10:35):
So, or there's something to attach that I want to
you have no one, You have no idea. How nervous
I was about that because I was going to I
thought you were going to ask me to put something else.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
And yeah, I could see you a bit anxious. There
you're worried.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Here we go, this is too good?

Speaker 4 (10:51):
Oh no way, now I want to say way, might
have no go the other way? Yeah, yes, yeah, so yes,
what we've got here team is that yesterday you might
have heard, I went to Ikea because apparently was on
CN and I was the first person in the country
to make a physical purchase in the store at Ikea,
and I bought Mike. Yeah, I bought him two wine glasses.

(11:14):
And what he's got is a wine glass lanyard because
as he ponders his estate and looks at his over
oversees all his lands and stuff. Him and Kate go
wandering around in the often have a glass of wine
in your hand.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
I've noticed. And as you've got older, I don't want you.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
To trip in four, you know, because I could be
a real problem, right, I don't think it's really good.
So I've got two of those for you. So that's
what that is.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Okay, very good.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
Now, the second part of the gift. This piece here
which I want you to open up.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
This is got.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Amanda did the nice roman.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
My wrapping.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yet after that this is oh now you got to
lay this out, Okay.

Speaker 4 (11:53):
So what we've got here, listeners, is that you'll be
aware that Mike works from six to nine am week.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Days, rough thirty five weeks a year, and through.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
The course of this year he has given me relentless
grief about how unproductive the parliament is, albeit that he's
sort of maybe.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Here thirty five weeks a year.

Speaker 4 (12:11):
So what I've done is a Mike Costing breakfast calendar,
and Mike's.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
On holiday quite a big part of the year. Yeah,
four months a year.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
I think I also get a lot of unsolicited advice
when I'm in parliament during question time. So I've marked
out in green all the time that you can give
me that unsolicited advice which is in parliament. And then
the other two big interests in your life are obviously
F one and the Warriors game, so bar or mapped
out there on the planner. And then sometimes you love
to give a bit of esoteric advice to the listeners

(12:40):
around sort of the Camerooniyan election that might be taking place,
so down this side, I've just given you a list
of random world elections, so that you've got the Many
and one on the seventh of June. You've got the
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the state legister on April
twenty six. What else you got the rhine Land state
election in two second of March. So I've just got

(13:01):
some facts there for you. So my question time for
the unsolicited advice occasionally when you're here lovely and the
other things there.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
So that's it, without word of lie. You win, hands down.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
That's pretty good. I mean that's.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
They're very good and you'll enjoy that.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
But that on calendar you take, that's I never thought
you'd get anything. You were already the first part of it.
I was so worried. But the calendar is absolute genius. Yeah,
well done.

Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yeah, No, have a great summer though I will indeed
you have a fair end of the summer.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
Good luck in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Oh, it's going to be a great year, I hope.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
So nice to see take Prime Minister.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
For more from the mic Asking Breakfast listen live to
news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,