National Party leader Christopher Luxon says the cost of living is the main issue facing the Bay of Plenty and wider New Zealand.

Speaking to SunLive, the Leader of the Opposition says rising mortgage prices and food prices is a "major problem".

"When your mortgage goes from five per cent to seven per cent and you have to find $700 a fortnight, that's a major problem for people," says Luxon.

"When food prices are over 11.5 per cent in part because we didn't get the workers to pick the fruit and vegetables, now they've rotted and have higher prices because supply outstrips demand that's not great.

"They're the same issues, people want us to reduce the cost of living, raise incomes for all by building a better economy for all, they need us to restore law and order and they want better health and education.

"Whether you're here in the Bay or whether you're anywhere in New Zealand it's variations of those things that are major concerns to people."

Uffindell report

Luxon also addressed whether the the full Sam Uffindell report should be released to voters, saying the results are "crystal clear".

"We've handled that issue, we've dealt with that issue incredibly well. It was a very clear outcome and we handled it in an independent way so it was fair to all parties, and the results were crystal clear."

National Party leader Christopher Luxon says he is "proud" to have Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell as a "friend and colleague". Photo: Merle Cave.

"I'm really proud Sam is our representative here, I think he's doing an exceptionally good job. I love the way he has embraced the community and he's getting embedded in the community, and understanding the issues.

"I think we've got an outstanding man, I think we've got an outstanding MP, and I'm really proud to have him as a friend and a colleague."

Crime

Following the two dairies being robbed in Tauranga in the last few weeks, Luxon says "first and foremost" the Government "needs to back police".

"We need to give them the tools they need to respond to crimes properly.

"We want to crack down on gangs really strongly, banning gang patches in public places and make sure there are warrant of search powers for illegal guns.

"The most important thing in respect to ram raids and the instances of retail crime we have seen is to make sure we have serious consequences for serious young offenders."

Luxon then references the proposed military academy programme, saying this will give the Government tools to "support challenges" repeat offenders are going through, such as "literacy, numeracy, addiction and anxiety".

Labour Party policy reshuffle

When asked if the National Party has had its wind taken out of its sails following the Labour Party policy reshuffle, Luxon says "not at all".

"What New Zealander's want is a Government which gets things done. Instead they have been distracted by massive amounts of Labour Party pet projects.

"Just coming out and saying something that you think will drive more votes during an election year is cynical politics".

Media merger scrapped

Luxon is calling the now scrapped media merger between TVNZ and RNZ a "problem in search of a solution" and a "dumb idea".

"The commerical rationale for doing it made no sense whatsoever. To spend $380 million restructuring companies not worth $380 million combined, and then to spend $6 billion dollars over the next 30 years in a subsidy when we could have been spending that money on health roads or other infastructure.

"From my point of view, it was a dumb idea. Everyone didn't want it. Everyone said it was a dumb idea. We've now wasted huge amounts of money, time and resources to actually knock on the head what was a dumb idea."

To watch the full interview, click the video at the top of this article.