Luxon’s Singapore claims are hollow – what his trip really showed
Christopher Luxon wants New Zealanders to see his Singapore trip as proof of economic leadership during a global energy crisis — but beneath the photo ops and diplomatic language sits a far more fragile reality.
Singapore and New Zealand signed an agreement on Monday to keep supply chains open during times of crisis, with both sides saying it could serve as a model for other countries to build a network of trusted partners, The Straits Times reported.
The Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies was signed during New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to Singapore, where he met his counterpart, Lawrence Wong. The pact comes as global energy markets are disrupted by the war in the Middle East.
The agreement, first concluded during Wong’s visit to New Zealand in October last year, ensures both countries can continue trading a set list of essential goods during crises, including fuel, medical supplies and construction-related products, The Straits Times reported.
New Zealand sources about one-third of its fuel needs from Singapore refineries, including diesel used in freight, farming and food production. In return, New Zealand supplies around 14% of Singapore’s food imports, according to New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, cited by The Straits Times.
Dairy remains New Zealand’s largest export to Singapore, making up about 31.6% of total exports, alongside fruits and nuts, fats and oils, and meat and edible offal.
The agreement builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in October 2025, which expands cooperation in trade, security, innovation and supply chain resilience.
Luxon has been selling this as some sort of cure-all that only his CEO leadership could achieve.
In one way that’s true, in another way it’s pantomime.
The deal ensures fuel will turn up, but the price could be astronomical.
Will the Singapore fuel deal actually protect New Zealand?
The agreement is mainly about government policy cooperation, so Luxon is arguably correct when he says it helps “keep fuel flowing” in a diplomatic/trade sense. But critics are also correct that:
- private companies still control much of the supply chain
- global oil markets still determine prices
- ships can still be delayed, rerouted, or disrupted
- Singapore itself depends on imported crude oil
A significant portion of NZ’s strategic petroleum reserves are effectively “oil tickets” or contracted reserves held overseas rather than fuel physically stored in NZ so if the Strait remain closed, accessing those oil reserves will become extremely difficult and when you consider Maersk just put a 27% surcharge on shipping to NZ, that inflation bomb is heading our way now.
Singapore has so far reportedly sourced alternative crude supplies despite Middle East disruption.
But:
- Singapore is itself a global trading hub
- if shipping insurance explodes in cost
- if tanker availability collapses
- if Asian buyers outbid NZ
- or if conflict widens
…NZ still feels the shock.
It was left to the Singaporean PM to warn Kiwis that the next 6 months were going to be painful because while Singapore will trade us fuel for food, that fuel is going to cost an arm and a leg!
The politics behind Luxon’s Singapore trip
What Luxon’s trip really showed wasn’t the deal he signed, but who he took. Nicola Willis was stuffed into his luggage and pointlessly taken, because Luxon is so vulnerable that even when he is running overseas to escape media attention over the revelation he wanted to back the very war that is causing this economic trauma, he can’t leave Nicola behind in case there is a coup against him.
It was the hollow promises that matter on his trip, it was why he was forced to flee NZ and why he took the Finance Minister with him.
This wasn’t leadership, it was a defensive stunt aimed at hiding him from scrutiny while ensuring the next person who could replace him couldn’t.
So Labour halts any chance of us finding our own oil and then stands aside as our refinery to close down . Then supply become hard and they want the Coalition to act in the same follish way they did during covid and splash the cash to soften the financial blow . The Coalition have done a great job in confirming constant supply and the price is reasonable and will improve as supply increases from other sources.
We don’t have any oil Trevor.
All the exploratory drilling in the last 20 years have revealed that we have zero economically viable fields.
Nothing to do with legislation.
You can’t dream up non-existent resources Trev.
Now fuck off and read a book you absolute cretin.
We do have coal reserves so we can make our own transport fuels through coal to liquids.
Perhaps if you read more you would discover the vast reserves of oil and gas in the Canterbury Basin. It is estimated at 500 billion barrels but no firm would commit to the expense of drilling and pumping when there is a chance of a government takeover .Business leaders fear Labour /Green that is why we are a poor country.
They stopped allowing new blocks to be available for exploration, the oil companies still had existing areas they could explore although like any sensible person would they had chosen and explored the most likely areas first so you are only fooling yourself and the other muppets if you want to believe that there is a big deposit of oil somewhere in NZ just waiting for Shane Jones to find it.
Luxon followed the lead of the Government Labour party leader in Australia albeit 4 to 6 weeks later. Luxon is no innovator, he is a follower, he has followed ACT and NZ First during this term and has led nothing. No wonder thousand want to live in Australia. Raising the retirement age is criminal particularly someone making that decision who is wealthy and sorted and never worked a manual job in his life and it shows.
Those going to Australia will have to work until 67 before they get the pension as they would in the UK ..When the retirement scheme was brought in there were 7 workers for every pensioner now there is 3 going done to 2 in a few years.
The main problem with Luxon is he too is hollow! There is no actual substance – it’s all vanity, bravado, and blathering on when he should shut up. Whatever he thinks he has achieved, with his Singapore over-staffed, over-priced stunt, will be negated by the huge amount of $ it will cost NZ. All this foolish man needed to do, in the first place, was to NOT give what he did to the Landlords. He was BRIBED and will continue to pay the price!