Labour on Wednesday accused the prime minister of using the Defence Force as a “personal taxi service” for campaigning purposes. Luxon flew from Whanganui to Auckland on a six-seater NZDF King Air plane on the evening of 23 July after attending a National Party fundraising dinner. “I needed to get back to that meeting… I couldn’t catch a commercial flight to get there after a full day in Feilding and Whanganui,” he said. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Luxon could have easily skipped the National fundraisier and caught an earlier commercial flight from Whanganui in order to make the next meeting. “Air force planes should not be used to support that.”