Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has opened up on why he has never touched alcohol, going public on some of the battles his grandfather had with drinking.
Luxon said he took the decision not to drink alcohol at a young age and has stuck with it.
The National Party leader referred to his Christian faith in his maiden speech to Parliament in 2021, saying it was personal to him and not political. But in an interview with podcaster Dom Harvey he has explained there is no connection between his religious beliefs and his drinking choice.
Luxon said: “It’s got nothing to do with that. My grandad, great man, but you know flawed like all of us – and he had a problem with alcohol really.”
He said he would see his grandfather, who was a groundsman at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, in a bad state because of his drinking.
“I just remember as a young chap spending time with my grandad in the school holidays and just seeing him out of control.”
He said he resolved as a seven- or eight-year-old not to drink because it made his grandfather “go a bit funny”.
“I decided then and there that wasn’t something I was doing. And I’ve never done it.”
Luxon, who has previously referred to a family member being an alcoholic, said his teetotalism meant in his teenage years he was always the sober driver when out with his friends and he would drink an alternative.
His decision not to drink was highlighted by international media when he became Prime Minister in 2023, The Times in London calling him a “teetotal tycoon” referring to his previous career as an executive with Air New Zealand and Johnson & Johnson.
In the Harvey interview, he also paid tribute to his father Graham – one of five boys – for his strong parenting which Luxon said had made a major difference to his family's future path.
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