National leader Christopher Luxon, Act leader David Seymour, and NZ First leader Winston Peters sign their coalition agreement
Winston Peters and David Seymour will rotate in the Deputy Prime Minister role in an unorthodox coalition Government stitched together by incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Peters bristled at the suggestion he was “sharing” the role with Seymour as the new Cabinet was unveiled today.
The NZ First leader will be Deputy PM for the next 18 months before surrendering the position to Act’s Seymour on May 31, 2025.
Peters has also secured the coveted role of Foreign Affairs Minister – a job he has filled in previous administrations.
In one high-profile coalition deal casualty National has abandoned its policy to repeal the foreign buyers residential property ban - that is a significant win for Peters.
Earlier: Seymour suggests Act trumps NZ First for ministerial roles
Act leader David Seymour told media this morning he was confident his party has secured a favourable coalition deal - and suggested his party trumped NZ First in the ministerial stakes.
He wouldn’t directly answer questions about how many ministers Act had been given or how many spots the party had within Cabinet.
Seymour said he was unaware of what ministerial portfolios both National and NZ First had been allocated.
However, when pressed, Seymour admitted he thought Act’s presence in Cabinet was proportional to the election’s party vote. Act received 8.6 per cent of the party vote, while NZ First got 6.1 per cent.
Done deal: What to expect in the first 100 days
A jubilant Luxon was last evening giving nothing away about the deal National had struck, including who has been given the role of deputy prime minister, which was one of the final sticking points in negotiations.
Luxon said “all of that will be revealed” today.
“I won’t get into any of that until the deal has been ratified by the respective parties,” he said, adding he was “100 per cent” confident the deals would be ratified by the parties’ respective boards. Act’s board had already been consulted on a deal as required under that party’s constitution. National’s board had signed off the deal as of late afternoon yesterday, leaving only NZ First.
Luxon promised to announce the shape of his Cabinet later on Friday, after briefing MPs.
Luxon on his way to announce the end of talks. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He called the Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro on Thursday to say he was on the verge of announcing the deal, and was set to call her again last night after the parties’ respective boards had ratified the deal. Kiro will look for public statements from the three parties that Luxon has the ability to form a government, which will be obvious by today.
Luxon said he wanted to have a swearing-in ceremony for ministers on Monday.
Rehearsals for the state opening of Parliament took place there yesterday. Luxon said he wanted Parliament open by December 5, allowing three weeks of sitting time before the House rises for Christmas.
Act leader David Seymour told the Herald the Government would announce a 100-day plan shortly after the announcement of the coalition deal. Seymour hinted some of this would include repealing legislation, potentially under urgency.
“There may well be some things where the existence of legislation that we no longer want to exist and that is costing a large amount of money and therefore, it actually requires urgency to stop that waste.”
National had promised to repeal the Government’s RMA reforms by Christmas and revert to the old system. It also wants the Clean Car fee or “ute tax” gone by the end of the year.
Luxon defended the length of negotiations, the longest bar one since the advent of MMP in 1996, saying the deals were detailed enough to justify the length of time spent negotiating them.
“I’m really proud of the negotiations... When you see the deals... you will understand how comprehensive they are, we cover a tremendous amount of policy,” Luxon said.
“I’ll take as long as it takes, it’s been important for me to go through this in a really disciplined way.”
NZ First leader Winston Peters on his way to Wellington. Photo / Michael Neilson
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.
