Christopher Luxon says coalition talks with Act and NZ First are ‘progressing well’

The incoming prime minister-designate Christopher Luxon has told media at Auckland’s Chelsea Sugar Factory this afternoon that coalition negotiations were “progressing well”.

But he has again reiterated his intention not to talk about the negotiations in public.

He said talks were “progressing the relationships and the arrangements” with Act and NZ First.

Luxon said he was “very open” to making any coalition agreement documents public, something Act Party leader David Seymour also said this morning he would support.

“As soon as we have something to say, we’ll say it,” Luxon said, confirming he has spoken to both leaders of the Act Party and NZ First.

Luxon said he hadn’t been briefed specifically on Kiwi Ahmed Zaoui being charged in Algeria, preferring to leave public comments on the matter to the caretaker Government, but said it was “concerning”. He said he was receiving daily updates on the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

Luxon was visiting the factory today as the clock counts down to special votes being counted and a new government taking office.

Christopher Luxon at the Chelsea Sugar Factory. Photo / Raphael Franks

He kept a low profile over the weekend, taking some time off with his family after a bruising election campaign. His Instagram account showed he spent some of the weekend on the water fishing with wife Amanda and daughter Olivia.

Alas for Luxon, the caption suggested he was unlucky in his fishing efforts.

Talks to form a new Government are in an early stage. National has made early overtures to Act and NZ First. It appears that Act and NZ First are not speaking to one another, much like 2017 when Labour negotiated between the Greens and NZ First.

Negotiations appear to have shifted to Auckland, where Luxon, Act leader David Seymour and NZ First leader Winston Peters are all based.

Last week, all three spent some time in Wellington, welcoming their new MPs to the capital, but the media attention on negotiations was so intense that the three are believed to be spending more time in Auckland where there is less chance of bumping into a member of the press gallery.

Speculation is rife over whether Act will get its Treaty referendum over the line in talks, despite Luxon saying such a vote would be “divisive”. Peters and NZ First are keen to scotch any lifting of the age of superannuation eligibility, something Act and National both want.

There are also question marks over what parts of National’s tax plan will survive negotiations. Act and National are both keen on tax relief, but NZ First’s package, while also cutting taxes, is far more modest, and saves the big tax cuts for later in the Parliament.

Labour has kept a low profile, with leader Chris Hipkins, still the prime minister, keeping his head down over the weekend.

He has not made up his mind about contesting the next election, but there are rumblings of a potential leadership change in his party, which could come to a head thanks to a rule in Labour’s constitution which requires a confidence vote in the leadership within three months of polling day.

That means in reality Hipkins will need to make up his mind before the Christmas break, or force his caucus to convene over the summer break.