Chair of National’s Pacific caucus defends party's performance

Despite taking a hit in a recent public poll, the chair of National’s Pacific branch has defended the party’s performance while acknowledging there is a lack of representation within the caucus.

But John Loau says the cellphone ban in schools has been one of the “more impactful” policy wins for the Pacific communities.

Loau has been the chair of National’s Pacific Blues since July and is one of the highest-ranking Pasifika with influence in the party.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Loau said the cellphone policy has seen some real significant changes for Pacific people.

“It's not the biggest [policy win for the Pacific community], but you're asking for one. I'm telling you that this [cellphone ban in schools] has been one of the more impactful ones that I've seen out on the ground.”

Watch Loau's full interview on Pacific Mornings here

The cellphone ban was enforced in April as part of the government’s six education priorities.

“I think at the end of the day, the big wins for Pacific people, as a whole, are all the policies that have come into play for not only Pacific but for all of New Zealand,” he said.

A recent 1News Verian poll found that more than half of New Zealanders think Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is out of touch with the voters.

The poll surveyed 1000 eligible voters and ran from 5-9 October.

Luxon told Terite he disagreed with the results.

“I've been talking to New Zealanders up and down this country every week since I came to politics three and a bit years ago.

“That has been my focus is to make sure that I'm out there understanding what their needs and concerns are. And that's what we've focused our government on.”

Watch Luxon's full interview on Pacific Mornings here

The poll also revealed a 1 per cent drop in party votes for both National and Labour.

When it came to preferred Prime Minister, both Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins took a hit, dropping 3 per cent.

Hipkins also told Terite that he disputed the poll results, saying Labour’s support has increased since election day in October 2023.

“I take comfort or encouragement from that. I think we know that we weren't going to rebuild our support within the first year after the election.

“In terms of my own support, I fully expected those numbers would go down a bit. I'm not the Prime Minister at the moment.

“I'm not on the TV news every day making announcements and doing the things that you do as Prime Minister.

“But I do see that TV One also had a poll asking whether people wanted me to stay, and the majority of people do want me to stay. So I take encouragement from that.”

Watch Hipkins' full interview on Pacific Mornings here

Poll results weren’t so encouraging for the government as 40 per cent believed the country was worse off than before the election.

Thirty per cent voted that the country is in a better shape while 26 per cent believed there’s no difference.

Loau defended his party’s performance, saying there hasn’t been a government that has inherited the number of challenges National has.

While he acknowledged the party’s lack of Pacific representation, Loau said he believed many people agreed with National’s values.

“Our focus at Pacific Blues is not only ensuring that our voices are represented and heard, but that's one of our main focuses and our main purpose is ensuring that we have people that we can lobby within the party to make sure that we are not only in seats, but also higher up on the list.

“So that's been our focus since I've taken over the Pacific Blues over the last two months, is ensuring that we refocus the purpose of our organisation and making sure the strategy is in place so that we're just not seen only in Parliament, but also throughout the entire party as well.”

Pacific Blues with Pacific Minister, Dr Shane Reti. Photo/Pacific Blues Facebook