National leader Christopher Luxon has held a standup after Chris Hipkins was chosen as the sole nomination for Labour leader on Saturday.
This comes after current leader Jacinda Ardern announced she was stepping down from the top job at the Labour caucus retreat on Thursday, saying she doesn't have enough in the tank for another term.
While Hipkins still needs to receive the Labour caucus' endorsement at a meeting of MPs before he officially becomes the leader - with the meeting set to take place at 1pm Sunday - as he's the sole nomination Hipkins is positioned to become New Zealand's next Prime Minister.
This means he's set to be Luxon's main rival in the upcoming 2023 election as National battles to make it back into Government.
Speaking from Hamilton on Saturday afternoon, Luxon congratulated Hipkins on his nomination.
"It's a tremendous privilege and a great honour to be able to lead any political party and to be prime minister," he said.
"I think from my perspective though just changing the leadership of the Labour Party doesn't do enough for the New Zealand people.
"Chris Hipkins has been part of a Government that has spectacularly failed to get anything done and what New Zealanders really need is a National Government that will get things done. And that means a Government that's going to be focused on them and single-mindedly focused on reducing the cost of living, making sure we can raise incomes for all, that we can restore law and order and that we can deliver better health and education."
Luxon warned things were going to get worse in the year ahead, with rising rents and interest rates along with high inflation and food prices.
"You can change the Labour leadership as much as you like but the reality of it is New Zealanders are doing it tough and they really want a Government that's going to come in and get things done."
