Christopher Luxon says the country needs a Prime Minister who understands business.

The former Air New Zealand chief executive and first-term MP is taking over the National Party leadership, with Wellington-based MP Nicola Willis as his deputy.

Luxon says the New Zealand economy is doing well on macroeconomic indicators like unemployment.

But he told Mike Hosking anyone who understands business will know the situation is very different on the ground at a micro-economic level.

“I can tell you having spoken to, I think, 25 hospitality businesses a couple of weekends ago in Auckland, they're doing it tough. There’s many more to go to the wall in February just because we’ve got this Mickey Mouse Traffic Light System.”

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