Christopher Luxon

Christopher Luxon (born in 1970) is a New Zealand businessman and politician of the New Zealand National Party. He is the former chief executive officer of Air New Zealand and was elected MP for Botany in the 2020 New Zealand general election.
There has been frequent speculation that Christopher Luxon will be a future leader of the National Party, but Luxon denies this. Luxon said "I’m not here pushing for the leadership; I’m here to do my job. Judith Collins has been a great leader and given me a great portfolio."
Early life and family.
Luxon was born in Christchurch and lived there until age 7 when his family moved to Howick in Auckland. His father worked for Johnson & Johnson as a sales executive and his mother worked as a psychotherapist and counsellor. The family returned to Christchurch and Luxon finished high school in his birth city. He studied Master's in Commerce at the University of Canterbury and majored in business administration.
Business career.
Luxon was previously on the boards of Tourism New Zealand and Virgin Australia. Luxon also served as the President and chief executive officer of Unilever's Canadian operations. In May 2011, Luxon joined Air New Zealand and was appointed as the company's chief executive officer in 19 June 2012, succeeding Rob Fyfe. On 20 June 2019, Luxon announced that he was resigning as CEO of Air New Zealand and hinted at a possible career with the National Party.
Political career.
Luxon contested the National Party's candidate nomination in Botany, running against National Party list MP Agnes Loheni, Howick Local Board chair Katrina Bungard, cancer drug campaigner Troy Elliott, and tech businessman Jake Bezzant who was later selected as National’s candidate for Upper Harbour.
During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Luxon won Botany, defeating Labour's candidate Naisi Chen by a margin of 3,999 votes.
In his maiden speech, Luxon praised Martin Luther King Jr and Kate Shepard.
Political views.
Luxon opposes capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, and legalising recreational cannabis. Luxon supports medicinal cannabis. Luxon also supports a "no jab, no pay" policy for sanctioning welfare beneficiaries who do not vaccinate their children.
Controversies.
Saudi Arabia controversy.
In February 2021, it was revealed that while Luxon was CEO of Air New Zealand, Air New Zealand's contracting business unit Gas Turbines was providing assistance to Royal Saudi Navy vessels, despite them blocking essential supplies like water, food and medical assistance from Yemen. Luxon claimed to "have no recollection of it" and that "it might've post-dated my time" - the latter claim being disputed by his successor Greg Foran. It was met with criticism from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman.
Luxon later admitted Air New Zealand not having a process where the airline's chief executive would be told about all military contracts was a mistake. Luxon said "It's a $6 billion company. Every day there's lots of commercial contracts and arrangements being forged and clearly in the context of all of that, this is a small contract ... It certainly didn't come to me as the CEO or my own executive team, the people who reported to me in my last four months with the company, and obviously as you have heard from Greg [Foran] ... it hasn't come to him and his team in the 18 months since I left the company. But the bottom line here is, clearly it was a mistake ... and so if there is any way I can facilitate help I am very happy to contribute to that."
Personal life.
Luxon identifies as an evangelical Christian. He is married and has a son and daughter.