It’s been a very busy and important week for the Prime Minister. There was a reason he championed the Investment Summit and made himself available to attendees to a degree unusual for a Prime Minister at events like this.  

Plain and simple, he desperately needs it to be successful.  

He has staked his leadership on growing our economy, which includes creating an infrastructure pipeline and attracting the overseas finance to help get things done.  

It’s going to take time to evaluate the summit’s success, but the Prime Minister would have been buoyed to hear the Italian tunnelling company behind Auckland’s massive Interceptor wastewater project say it will keep workers and machinery in New Zealand now the Government has outlined a proposed pipeline of infrastructure projects. That’s an early win.  

And wins are what the Prime Minister and coalition need. Two polls this week showed support for Labour is higher than National, and Labour leader Chris Hipkins is overtaking Luxon as preferred Prime Minister. It’s not just the National Party who will be concerned. The Taxpayers Union Poll saw ACT drop 2.3 to 7.7 percent and NZ First drop 1.3 to 5.1 percent.  

I know there’s a lot of scepticism about polls. It’s not as if Labour are presenting an alternative invigorating vision that’s dragging voters over. The concern for the Government is they don’t seem to need to; there’s some wisdom in Labour sitting back and letting the Government lose support all on their own.  

The declining trend in popularity and the Prime Minister’s inability to get traction will irk the hard-working coalition. Especially because they are undoubtedly hard working. But for voters, it only counts if it leads to results.  

The Prime Minister can’t be panicked – he doesn’t have time – but the pressure is on. Last night, Christopher Luxon headed off on his first visit to India as Prime Minister in an attempt to deliver another election promise by securing a free trade agreement during his first term in Government. Apparently, the best we can expect is to establish a timeframe for when they begin formal negotiations. Luxon needs to come home with this at a minimum. 

Next week also sees Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters in the US, discussing New Zealand’s relationship with the Trump administration. Peters will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other US political contacts to discuss a wide range of international issues – including, no doubt, tariffs. Peters is the man for the job, but once again the pressure is on.  

As the Prime Minister and Government are learning, results take time. But voters are not as patient as they used to be – and their politics are centred on the cost-of-living and making ends meet.  

While there is no imminent danger to leadership, the polls are a flashing light that without some big wins soon, they may run out of time. 

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