Hipkins slams Luxon's record: 'Costs are up – job losses are up'

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has used his State of the Nation address to confirm he will try to scrap the Government's billion-dollar gas import terminal if elected.

Speaking to the Auckland Business Chamber, Hipkins delivered his strongest commitment yet on the liquefied natural gas proposal announced earlier this month.

"Locking in expensive imported energy at the precise moment we should be building the renewable future that brings power bills down," he said.

"Let me be very clear about this. We don't support it. We won't support it. And, if we're in government before a deal is done, we won't go through with it."

The Government previously argued the terminal was needed to secure lower electricity costs for Kiwis and to improve New Zealand's energy resilience.

When elected three years ago, the coalition cancelled multiple Labour-era projects after entering office. These included Auckland's light rail line, the Lake Onslow scheme, and Interislander ferries from South Korea.

Today, Hipkins also came out against tolling the Auckland Harbour Bridge to fund another crossing, a response to a recent suggestion that tolls could reach as high as $9.

"We won't add new charges onto people – like increasing every household's power bill to pay for a gas import terminal, or tolling the Auckland Harbour Bridge to pay for a new crossing.

"Labour supports a second harbour crossing. But we won't penalise people for using the one that already exists," he said.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis and other ministers have previously emphasised that the suggestion, from the Infrastructure Commission, was far from Government policy.

Willis hit back at Hipkins' address today, saying Labour was "two years into opposition and devoid of any new ideas".

"Hipkins has given another State of the Nation speech with not a single new idea for New Zealand. Just a lot of words that amount to nothing, which is how some might characterise their last term in office," Willis said in a statement.

"It has taken National two years of careful economic management to start undoing the damage Labour did to the economy and put it into recovery."

Beyond those two commitments, the speech largely restated previously announced policies – including a targeted capital gains tax on, three free doctor visits a year for every New Zealander, and a government Future Fund.

Hipkins framed the address around Labour's existing "Jobs. Health. Homes" slogan.

"Jobs. Health. Homes. Not a slogan, a to-do list," he said.

Hipkins was scathing of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's record, saying New Zealanders had been promised lower costs and a stronger economy.

"Three years later, Christopher Luxon has delivered neither. In fact, they have gotten worse — and they continue to get worse," Hipkins said.

"Costs are up. Job losses are up. The economy has shrunk."

RNZ reported ahead of the address that no new policies were expected, with Labour planning to hold further announcements until after the Budget.

The Labour leader cited emigration as a key measure of the country's direction, saying nearly hundreds of thousands had left New Zealand in the past two years. "I hear it everywhere I go – that anxiety about the future," Hipkins said.

"Not just about paying today's bills, but about whether New Zealand is heading in the right direction at all. Every week, another 2000 New Zealanders leave the country because they can't see a future here."

He continued: "And they all say the same thing: 'I love New Zealand. I want to raise a family here. But I can't get ahead here. I can't afford a house. I can't find the jobs that I am trained for.'

Nearly 240,000 people have left the country in the last two years. "That's like Napier, New Plymouth, and Rotorua all packing up and leaving."

The Labour leader said the issue was a personal one for him.

"I have kids whose futures keep me up at night," Hipkins said.

"I see young New Zealanders – smart, hardworking, full of potential – making calculations that no young person should have to do.

"Do I stay in the country I love? Or do I leave to build the life I've worked for?

"It breaks my heart. Because it means we are failing them.

"Not because they aren't good enough for New Zealand. But because we haven't made New Zealand good enough for them. But we can. And we will.

"This is why I got into politics. That's why I'm standing here today. Because I believe we can build a New Zealand where your kids, and mine, never have to make that choice."

As part of his pitch to Auckland business leaders, former prime minister Hipkins conceded he and his party had lost focus during their last stint in government but promised that Labour would be taking a more disciplined approach 27 months later.

"We'll be making further announcements later in the year, as we get closer to the election. But, let me be clear: I want to know that I can deliver on any promises that I make, " he said.

"That's the standard I will hold myself and the next Labour government to. Because, frankly, Kiwis have had enough of promises that aren’t kept. We won't try to do everything in our first term. We'll focus on what matters most – and we will deliver."

He added: "I know Labour didn’t get everything right last time – and some of you don’t hold back in telling me. We tried to do too much, too fast, and we lost our focus. But here’s what I also know. New Zealanders didn’t vote for what they got instead."

Hipkins said that "affordability" – a progressive calling card popularised by New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani – would be at "the heart of all decisions that I make" if elected.

"The Prime Minister will spend this year saying he just needs more time before things come right. But time is not a strategy when the direction is wrong," he said.

"There is no plan. New Zealand is stagnating."