“It is the biggest responsibility and the biggest privilege of my life.’

Chris Hipkins is New Zealand’s new Prime Minister.

He told reporters ‘I’ve had a good summer break. I’ve absolutely come back energised and refreshed and ready to get into it.

I’m a politician. I love my job. And I’m really passionate about it. It’s a massive honour to have this opportunity to be Prime Minister” he said.

When asked to talk about himself he said “I like to be outdoors, I like to DIY, maybe I don’t have the best fashion sense, but, you know, I am who am.”

Hipkins said “I think there has been an escalation and vitriol and I want to acknowledge that some politicians have been the subject of that more than others and Jacinda Ardern has absolutely been on the receiving end of some absolutely intolerable and unacceptable behaviour.

“Labour has an incredible Maori team. I’m really proud of them. I’m really proud to work alongside them. They’ll continue to play a really pivotal role of government as they have done in the last five and a half years.

I think I’m relatively upfront, relatively inclusive. People won’t die wondering what I think. I’m a hard worker, and someone that’s absolutely committed to leaving New Zealand in better shape than I found it.”

“I think New Zealand is an amazing country. We have so many opportunities here in New Zealand. There is nowhere else in the world that I would want to live in, that I would want to be raising my kids.

And I acknowledge that at the moment that we’re going through some economic turbulence, and we’re going to have to navigate our way through that I believe passionately that we can come out the other side of that in better shape than we went into it.

I’m really optimistic about our future and I’m really committed to leading New Zealand through this in a way that is strong, stable and unifying.”