Election 2023: Act to meet again with National as negotiation talks shift to Auckland

Act's David Seymour and National's Christopher Luxon are keen to strike a deal "as soon as possible".

Act will re-engage with National today and will likely continue working towards a shared agreement, while the David Seymour-led party maintains contact with New Zealand First.

The three party leaders have been in Wellington for some of the past week but have now headed or will head to Auckland to hold further talks over the weekend.

Seymour and NZ First leader Winston Peters briefly met twice in the past two days and it is expected the pair will be speaking further ahead of a coalition deal being finalised.

Peters left Wellington yesterday afternoon, evading reporters who had waited throughout the day for him to make a statement.

It appeared much of the caucus had done the same as the group looked to prepare for the next phase of talks. Shane Jones told reporters he was flying back to Kerikeri yesterday.

The three party leaders have moved to Auckland for the weekend but are likely to be back in Wellington next week. Photo / NZME

Speaking to the Herald, Peters said his party would continue working from Auckland and accepted the week had been quite busy.

Asked how talks with Seymour had fared, Peters said: “Well, it was always going to happen about that time.”

He wouldn’t elaborate on how he and Seymour had got on.

“That’s not a comment I’m going to make, I’m out to do a job and so is he.

“We’re focused on getting a clear understanding where we’re both going to go.”

Asked whether the pair’s collaboration was an effort to shift National’s stance in negotiations, Peters said he “can’t comment on the substance of things”.

Peters hadn’t spoken to National leader Christopher Luxon when contacted by the Herald on Friday afternoon but indicated the pair could speak later that evening.

The NZ First leader would be in Auckland for the weekend to continue negotiating while also meeting with some “international visitors” who he would not name but clarified were not linked to coalition talks.

Peters was confident his seven other caucus members were holding up well during negotiations.

“We’ve got former mayors and councillors and people like that who have been around the traps, so to speak, they’re not coming in as novices to this process.”

He said it was likely he would return to Wellington next week. He wouldn’t describe his level of confidence in the three parties reaching a deal.

“I don’t want to make comments about being confident about this or that and the other thing, we have to sort these things out and we’ve only been at it for five days.”

Seymour told the Herald he would also be in Auckland for the weekend, but would likely be travelling between Auckland and Wellington over the next week.

He too would be working through the weekend “with both parties to get a deal as soon as possible”.

Luxon has previously said he hoped to attend the Apec Leaders’ Summit in the United States from Wednesday.

Seymour didn’t appear optimistic Luxon could make it.

“It’s challenging, just stepping through the logistics of who has to talk to who and check with whom.

“We’re not trying to be difficult, but there just are quite a few steps in there.”

Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon will be working through the weekend. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He compared his experience of coalition talks to ocean swimming.

“It’s lots of activity and sometimes it’s hard to get a sense of how far you’ve moved sometimes.

“I know that’s frustrating a lot of people, but actually, it’s just meet, revise, check, meet, revise, check and so it goes, but we do gradually get closer to what people really need, which is a stable, united government which can do the policy work.”

Seymour said he’d hoped to be in a position to take proposals to his party’s board this weekend, but said it was dependent on the outcomes of impending meetings.

Newstalk ZB understood Luxon met with Peters on Thursday and expressed his desire to attend the Apec Leaders’ Summit next week.

Luxon’s travel was reportedly less of a concern for Peters, who prioritised securing a durable deal.

Newstalk ZB reported Act and NZ First had made clear to the National leader their role in the next government would not be minimised.

It was also confirmed yesterday that Luxon and caretaker PM Chris Hipkins had agreed to advise Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro to extend the current caretaker Government, along with its ministers, while the next government was still being finalised.

Nanaia Mahuta losing the Hauraki-Waikato seat meant Grant Robertson would become the Foreign Affairs Minister and Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control. Willie Jackson would take over Mahuta’s delegations as Māori Development Associate Minister.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.