National leader Christopher Luxon is hopeful a coalition deal can be struck today after working late into the night to iron out the last remaining issues.
Arriving at Parliament Thursday morning, Luxon said he had not managed to close his coalition deal overnight, but was optimistic it would happen today.
He said there was still some work to do but a deal was “really close.”
Speaking on his way into Parliament today, Act Party leader David Seymour hinted a job-share arrangement could be in the offing for the deputy prime ministers’ role, saying “it’s partly Seymour Street, but we’ll see where we get up to at the end.”
“Look, it could well be. It depends what’s going on in negotiations and I can’t pre-announce or reveal exactly how those negotiations are going.”
NZ First leader Winston Peters arrived back in Wellington just after lunchtime.
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Act leader David Seymour arrived back in Wellington last night.
Luxon would not say if it was still the deputy PM role holding things up, but acknowledged it was one of the issues in the closing stages. He would not say if a co-deputy option was on the table, saying it would all become clear when announcements were made.
Peter Dunne backing Seymour for deputy
Former United Future leader Peter Dunne this morning said he thought David Seymour had a stronger argument for becoming deputy prime minister over Peters.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, Dunne said you can’t have two people sitting on one seat.
“You could have two deputy prime ministers, but one is always going to be more senior than the other.
“That’s where I think David Seymour has got a point, he has the larger party of the two so therefore by right he’s got a premier claim to the role than Peters, but it doesn’t always work that way.
“I think that having two could be a recipe for confusion.”
Dunne said the time it’s taking to sign off on a coalition deal is giving an insight into how the Government might function once finally formed.
“If it’s going to be this sort of stand-off mentality on resolving issues, then it doesn’t look very promising.”
“Whatever the policy agreement is, it’s going to be the mechanics of how it works in practice that will be the test for most people.
“People will forget quickly how long it took to put together, if it’s seen to be a cumbersome, awkward arrangement then that’s a long-term problem for the Government right through its term.
“If it’s seen to move smoothly and co-operatively, then they’re off to a good start.”
Jim Bolger backing Winston Peters
But former prime minister and National Party leader Jim Bolger picked Peters as being the preferred candidate.
The NZ First leader’s extensive experience in Parliament gave him the leading edge over Act leader Seymour, who is “still learning the job”, Bolger told TVNZ’s Breakfast this morning
Luxon’s team was relatively inexperienced, which would make Peters’ experience valuable, he said.
Bolger formed a coalition Government with Peters in 1996 after two months of negotiations. He said MMP would always leave some people disappointed about policies that did not proceed.
Bolger - who oversaw significant Treaty of Waitangi settlements during his time in power - said it would be “totally wrong” to hold a referendum on the treaty, as proposed by Act.
”The Treaty is our founding document... I think it would be a huge mistake,” he said. “There are many, many issues that we have to deal with as a country, as a community, as a society. And the last thing you want to do is start off by dividing them - because referendums do divide.”
Luxon’s approach to coalition talks had been calm, sensible and professional, Bolger said, which suggested “he’ll be a calm, thoughtful prime minister”.
And he believed the three parties could last the entire three-year term in coalition.
”They’ll have disputes over policy from time to time but that happens in every government.”
Kiwis tired of waiting
The remarks come as a new poll shows New Zealanders are losing patience with the incoming Government.
A poll by Talbot Mills, which also polls for the Labour Party, found 66 per cent of voters think that it has taken too long to form the Government.
That poll, taken between November 17-22, shows the number of people who think it is taking too long up six points on the last poll, taken between November 10-16.
Thirty-three per cent of voters said NZ First leader Peters was the most to blame, while 24 per cent of voters blamed Luxon. Just 4 per cent of blamed Act leader Seymour.
Luxon confirmed the deputy role was one of the last sticking points before the parties can announce their deal and set up the Government.
Yesterday, it was confirmed National deputy leader Nicola Willis was not in the running as deputy prime minister, with her and Luxon saying that was a decision they had made early on.
Luxon said that was because the general practice with coalitions had been for a coalition partner to be the deputy PM.
However, in the past, there has only been one other coalition partner, whereas Luxon has two.
Luxon would not say whether he is considering a measure such as a co-deputy model, or job-sharing with one leader doing half a term each in the job.
“Our conversations on ministerial responsibilities have been actually about using the talent across all three parties,” Luxon said.
“You know, there’s amazing skills, abilities and experience in all the talent that sits in all three parties.
“We want to put the right people on the right assignment.”
Luxon said he had no regrets about how long negotiations had taken, “but it would feel good too” to have a government form.
Both Seymour and Peters will want to meet with their caucuses ahead of any announcement.
Other MPs who are likely to be senior figures in the next Government have also migrated to the capital, some doing everything they could to get on a flight after the chaos at Wellington Airport following this week’s fog.
Act deputy Brooke van Velden made her way to the city, as did senior National MPs Willis and Chris Bishop.
Luxon said that almost all of the ministerial positions had been decided on, barring the deputy job.
He is not expected to unveil his new Cabinet when he releases the coalition agreements, although it is possible the portfolios given to NZ First and Act will be set out in their agreements.
Luxon is expected to call his Cabinet ministers and those National MPs who may have lost their portfolios - and their chance of being a minister - as a result of the negotiations.
National is also likely to have an online caucus meeting ahead of the deals being announced, although the caucus does not have to agree to the terms of them. National’s board does need to sign off on the terms but has been kept abreast of the agreements during negotiations and it is likely to be a quick process.
National MPs have not yet been told to travel to Wellington for a caucus meeting and instead are waiting - some nervously - to find out whether they will be ministers or not.
The only confirmed positions ahead of talks were Luxon as prime minister and Willis as finance minister.
As talks dragged on, a large international economics consultancy stuck the boot into the incoming Government for its tardy formation.
BMI, part of the Fitch Group, one of the big three international ratings agencies, downgraded New Zealand’s score in its political stability index to the lowest score since 2010.
The downgrade to 78.5 out of 100, down from 79.4 out of 100 reflects risks to “policy-making” and the “potential of a snap election”.
The accompanying report warned “internal divisions within the coalition could limit or slow policy-formation”. The “policy-making process score” which feeds into New Zealand’s overall score dropped from 86.7 to just 83.3.
Claire Trevett is the NZ Herald’s political editor, based at Parliament in Wellington. She started at the Herald in 2003 and joined the Press Gallery team in 2007. She is a life member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.
