Brash and Dunne at coffee rendezvous

Peter Dunne (left) and Don Brash meet at a cafe in Mt Eden Village yesterday. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

The National and United Future parties went on "Rodney alert" yesterday when their leaders decided to meet in the Epsom electorate which Act leader Rodney Hide is coveting.

The parliamentary press corps was told that National leader Don Brash and United Future leader Peter Dunne were going to meet at Newmarket's 277 shopping centre.

The media were requested not to publicise the meeting beforehand in case it was hijacked by the opportunistic Mr Hide.

It looked as though the secret was out when the first of the news teams arrived at the mall to find Mr Hide at the front door.

However, he did not see the journalists and strode off down Broadway.

Reporters were then called by Dr Brash's staff and told that the meeting would be held in Mt Eden Village.

Half an hour later and no sign of Mr Hide on the street, the leaders eventually arrived - Dr Brash in a Crown limousine and Mr Dunne in a taxi - and sat at a table outside a cafe.

They had a friendly chat over a cuppa - a cappuccino for Dr Brash and a herbal tea for Mr Dunne - with veteran National MP and campaign strategist Murray McCully standing guard in case Mr Hide tried to gatecrash the photo opportunity.

The meeting went smoothly as a publicity exercise. The only sour note struck was when a man walking past the table asked Dr Brash when he would get rid of the Maori seats.

"I'd shake your hand if you weren't a racist," the man added.

After the meeting, Dr Brash would not say why the venue was changed.

"I was not involved in the decision. I was told where to come for a coffee and I came here."

Asked whether the venue change was to dodge Mr Hide, Mr Dunne said that with him and Dr Brash campaigning all over the country, "it's been quite a logistical exercise to get this together".

Mr Dunne said that as a result of the meeting, United Future had cleared up a potential obstacle to any coalition with National. The Families Commission, United Future's brainchild, was not for the chop.