Despite dropping in the polls and failing to resonate with voters on a range of issues, Sir Bill English is confident Christopher Luxon is the right person to lead National to victory at next year's election.
Speaking to 30 with Guyon Espiner, the former Finance Minister said the government has done a "remarkably good job", adding that Prime Minister Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour all deserve credit for what they have achieved.
"They've got an equilibrium, and I'm making those comments not just as a former politician, but sitting outside it, involved in running businesses, involved with a wide range of New Zealanders.
"It doesn't work to change Prime Ministers," he said. "It's stable and it's working."
While suggesting New Zealand was going through a "rough patch", Sir Bill said it wasn't about the government showing "bold leadership", but rather the government needed to sort out "those barriers that are getting in the way of productive investment and, more importantly, productive employment".
"This government, it's a bit less sort of clean cut and well presented, but it is stable. The government's got a coherence, and it's getting through a whole lot of serious issues. I think they've done a remarkably good job, and probably an unexpectedly good job, of managing themselves."
On the economy, Sir Bill - who served as Finance Minister under Prime Minister Sir John Key from 2008 to 2016 - said in 12-18 months New Zealand's will be growing faster than Australia's.
The current economy feels like it is "struggling to get up out of the mud" because the usual cycle of house prices picking up, which makes people feel good and spend more money, isn't happening.
"New Zealand's dealing with some structural shifts in its economy, which means its recovery is slower.
"But in a sense, it will be a higher quality recovery, because it won't be dependent on some big shift in house prices, and it won't be as dependent on a surge in immigration."
Sir Bill said "this amazing, almost bipartisan view that we need to change the rules for housing so that it's more affordable" is cause for optimism.
When pushed on the increase in inequality, including rising homelessness, Sir Bill pointed to the impacts of previous policy.
"Our poor-quality housing policy in the past has driven a lot of inequality. It's driven a lot of a burden on low-income people trying to afford housing.
"I don't think the housing issues were to do with neoliberalism. They were actually to do with over-planning our city's.
"Poor planning causes poverty, it causes higher costs than would otherwise be the case."
Sir Bill English says New Zealand is going through a "rough patch". Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Sir Bill was also critical of the "state monopoly" which he said has done a "poor job for a long time" when it comes to social housing, and called for more housing to help tackle issues around homelessness.
While economists and politicians have been debating whether a Capital Gains Tax is worthwhile, Sir Bill said "there's a lot of complexity, not much revenue," and "the possibility of revenue is significantly less now than it would have been, say, 10 years ago, and certainly 20 years ago."
On Te Pāti Māori, whom he worked with for three terms, Sir Bill described it as "an often-challenging experience" but "a satisfying one", before saying the party as it was originally conceived was conservative.
"I don't mean in the sort of National Party's right-wing sense, but conservative in that they were trying to rebuild social connection, self-reliance."
Sir Bill praised the increasing use of te reo Māori in everyday language, and how "in the business world dealing with iwi is now completely normal", but said "particularly in the public service, performative biculturalism had got completely out of control."
"I think what you've seen recently has been a kind of general political correction.
"What I find interesting is that there's a debate going on in the political world about whether one party's anti-Māori or whatever. In the real world the custom and the practice of the people just moves on."
He added: "there's nothing wrong with a bit of pushing and shoving when you think the Constitution's at stake".
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