Newshub can reveal the new leader of the National Party has no idea how much money he made off his seven properties last year - and that's not all Christopher Luxon didn't know.
Luxon and his deputy Nicola Willis were chuffed to be at the helm of the National Party together as they sat down for an interview on Wednesday, the first day of their reign.
"I've just admired her capacity for work," Luxon said of Willis.
"His drive, his energy, and his good character - he's a man of substance," Willis said of Luxon.
Luxon - a man of substance... and substantial wealth. The former Air New Zealand CEO owns seven properties, including four investment properties.
He's so rich he doesn't even know how rich he is.
"I have no idea," he told Newshub, when asked how much capital gains he made in total from those seven properties in the last year.
"I haven't thought about the number or thought about that at all."
Newshub checked homes.co.nz and found that one of his seven properties - a Remuera house he owns in Auckland - is worth $7.68 million, with an estimated increase in value of $2.3 million over the past year.
"What I have to say to you is... Yeah, I get where you're coming from... You can attack me for being successful. I can't defend that," he said.
A $7 million property is nowhere near affordable and the new National Party leadership team suggest house prices effectively need to be slashed back to affordable levels.
The international measure is a ratio of house prices of three times incomes. New Zealand houses are about eight times our incomes.
"Well obviously we want affordable houses so we want to get it much closer to 1 to 3 than 1 to 8," said Willis.
A 1 to 3 ratio would mean about a 50 percent drop in house prices.
"This is over time," Willis responded.
Pitching to be the strong economic stewards, Newshub hit the leadership team with some economy 101 basics.
The unemployment rate: Luxon guessed 3.9 percent. It's 3.4 percent.
The living wage: Luxon guessed $28. It's $22.75.
The median rent: Willis guessed $450 a week. She was $100 out on Trade Me's latest rental price index of $560.
As a duo, Luxon and Willis are a bit 'chalk and cheese'. Willis, the deputy, is the liberal 'trouble maker'.
"I wasn't always a goody two shoes at primary school," she says. "I turned off the power at the mains."
She told Newshub she has smoked cannabis before.
Luxon, the leader, is the conservative. He said he hasn't - ever.
But Luxon is also opposed to abortion, describing himself as 'pro-life'. He finally conceded that he believes abortion is tantamount to murder.
"I'm a pro-life person, you know," he said.
When asked to confirm if abortion is tantamount to murder, he said: "That's what a pro-life position is."
He doesn't want to discuss it.
"There are bigger issues for New Zealanders to get focussed on."
It is a big issue for a lot of women.
"Absolutely," he responded. "I fully respect that and I fully understand it is deeply personal... We all hold deeply personal views."
When you're auditioning to be Prime Minister, deeply personal views become very public - whether you think they are bigger issues or not.
