National leader Christopher Luxon greeted his caucus for the first time this year with a simple message: stay focused.

As a candidate in National’s wipeout election in 2020, and as a survivor of the 53rd Parliament, which saw several MPs bow out in disgrace, Luxon has seen his fair share of MPs’ careers end in scandal - the latest being Green MP Golriz Ghahraman this week.

Leading his party’s two-day caucus retreat in Christchurch, the first event of the year for National’s caucus, Luxon focused on setting expectations for the party’s 20 first time MPs - with a lot of the message being focused on discipline.

“I want you to be focused on three things,” Luxon told his MPs.

“The first thing I am asking for each of you, is I want you to be very focused on your electorate. I want you to be focused on the needs of your people.

“Build those relationships across the local government, build those relationships across iwi, build those relationships across business groups in your electorate,” Luxon said.

His second focus area was Parliament itself.

“Make sure you become a good Parliamentarian. Learn the House, learn Parliament, make diligent contributions in select committees. Be a great Parliamentarian that is determined to improve the quality of legislation that is going through that place so that it makes a big decision out there,” Luxon said.

His final area of focus was to build a “high performance team”. Luxon said politics was a team, not an individual sport.

National begins every political year with a gathering of its caucus. It’s an opportunity to strategise for the year ahead and set expectations. This is its first caucus retreat since it entered government last year, and includes a very large crop of new MPs.

This has meant the focus of the almost entirely closed-door retreat has been on showing new MPs the ropes, and outlining how the party will operate in government.

Luxon said he had been in touch with his governing partners, Act’s David Seymour, and NZ First’s Winston Peters over the break and that Cabinet committees, involving ministers from all three parties, had started back this week.

Luxon told his MPs to block out what they were hearing in the media and from political commentators about the state of the Government.

The beginning of the political year often has a particular focus on issues relating to Māori, as MPs make the pilgrimage to Rātana Pā for the annual celebration of the founder of the movement, T.W. Rātana’s birthday, and for Waitangi Day commemorations.

There is added emphasis on Māori issues this year with Kīngi Tuheitia calling a national hui at Tūrangawaewae marae to discuss the ways the Government’s policies may affect Māori.

Luxon will not attend, having instead opted for a private meeting with the King earlier this week. Māori Affairs Minister Tama Potaka and MP Dan Bidois, the Chair of the Māori Affairs select committee will attend for the National Party.

Luxon defended the decision to skip the hui, saying it “was not a political event per se”.

“It’s actually not for politicians. We are not front and centre in those conversations. It’s an opportunity for Māori to come together. I’m very supportive of it,” he said.

“I think it’s a good idea to be able to think about where is Māori going out to 2040 beyond,” he said.

Luxon said he had a good relationship with the King, and had met him several times in the past.

“I’ve also been meeting with iwi leaders over the last 12 to 18 months quietly, either individually or in small groups,” Luxon said.

Luxon added that yesterday he met with South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu. All governments handle Crown-Māori relations in their own way. The next few months will demonstrate how National intends to conduct relations.

“We are going to be a government that’s going to get things done for Māori and for non-Māori in this country,” Luxon said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.