new zealand first

The soon-to-be coalition partners are meeting for the first time today, but there's no end in sight to negotiations.  

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters didn't show up for an anticipated meeting with National and ACT in Wellington yesterday.  

ACT's David Seymour confirms he flew back to Auckland last night, reportedly also with National leader Christopher Luxon. 

Former United Future Leader Peter Dunne told Kate Hawkesby that their rapid return to Auckland suggests negotiations are very much being done on Peters’ terms. 

He that there's a perception growing that Christopher Luxon's earlier confidence may have been misplaced. 

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Act's leader says a strong relationship with Winston Peters is important, as Government-forming talks continue.

David Seymour and the New Zealand First leader talked for just 10 minutes in Wellington today.

He told Heather du Plessis Allan it wasn't a long talk, but it was productive.

He says it's worth taking the time to speak face-to-face - with three years ahead of them.

He says all three parties have to work together and a triangle is always going to be stronger than a V, if all three parties are talking at the same time.

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Winston Peters is poised for a triumphant return to government October 14. Our New Zealand expert unpacks his colourful 50-year career.

Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app.

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet, and edited by Tiffany Dimmack. The multimedia editor is Lia Tsamoglou, and original music is composed by Jasper Leak.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters is poised for a triumphant return to government October 14. Our New Zealand expert unpacks his colourful 50-year career.

Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app.

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet, and edited by Tiffany Dimmack. The multimedia editor is Lia Tsamoglou, and original music is composed by Jasper Leak.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does Christopher Luxon know something we don't? Because that's the only reason I can think of, for him being so cagey.

Did you hear him talking to Mike Hosking this morning? I thought it was Monday when I woke up - but no, it’s Groundhog Day.

Another day and the National Party leader still has his head in the sand. Just like he did yesterday. Just like he did on Saturday. Just like he did on Friday. And I’ve got no idea why he can’t bring himself to say ‘yay or nay’ when it comes to NZ First.

There he was again this morning, banging on about NZ First not being in Parliament and, because of that, he’s not going to think about them until they are.

He seems to be ignoring some of the recent polls which have had NZ First polling high enough to get into Parliament. And was going on about the National Party’s internal polling painting a different picture. But who cares?

Public sentiment doesn’t rise and fall on the back of internal polling. Public sentiment is influenced by the polls that you and I see on the TV news. And those polls are pretty much saying that NZ First is back and on the path to Parliament. Four of the last seven polls have had them over the 5 percent threshold.

I don’t know who’s advising Luxon but, when I heard him on the radio this morning, I thought “Yep, you’re sounding just like the inexperienced politician your opponents like to say you are”.

In fact, I’d go further than that. I thought Luxon sounded this morning like someone almost in complete denial of the MMP system. And time and time again, he’s showing that he just doesn’t get it.

He doesn’t get it that people want to know whether a vote for National means a potential coalition government involving Winston Peters and NZ First.

Chris Hipkins gets it. That’s why he came out yesterday and said there’s no way in hell that he’d form a coalition government involving NZ First after October’s election.

David Seymour gets it too. He’s made it very clear that he has no interest in doing any deal with Winston Peters.

But Luxon was just amateur hour this morning. And he seems to think he’s going to get away with doing the same thing for the next six-and-a-bit weeks until the election.

Chris Hipkins, though. Complete opposite. Although, I did think Hipkins went a bit too far yesterday when he was talking about NZ First but then went on and started portraying the National Party and its supporters as a bunch of extreme conservatives.

I agreed with Luxon when he said yesterday that it was all sounding a bit desperate from the Labour leader or the Prime Minister - or whatever hat Hipkins was wearing yesterday.

But then Luxon went and blew it completely this morning with this ongoing ploy of keeping us all guessing as to whether NZ First would be part of any coalition government he might pull together after October 14.

He seems more than capable of somehow knowing what New Zealanders are thinking about everything else, doesn’t he? Because, like every politician, he tells us what we’re worried about, what’s keeping us awake at night, and how he’s going to fix it.

But the old ESP system runs out of batteries when it comes to what we might be thinking about NZ First. Because he seems to think we don’t care whether Winston Peters and his cronies end up in government again.

Christopher Luxon is dreaming if he thinks we don't need to know, or don't want to know, before election day whether or not he would form a government involving NZ First.

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In the first of the Three Gals’ leadership series, ACT leader David Seymour goes deep on the difference he believes he can make in politics, the divisive Treaty debate and government waste. Holly grills him on his comments about the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Georgie is surprised by David’s view on lifting kids out of poverty and Brigitte gets grilled herself on common sense policies.  

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There was an air of inevitability around the polls this week.

It pays to be restrained in putting too much weight into any one poll, but the trends are what matter and the trends are suggesting Winston Peters and New Zealand First might break 5% and make it back to parliament. 

All manner of pundits have come out and suggested that Christopher Luxon should make a call and do what he’s refused to do in the race so far, follow in John Key’s footsteps and rule out working with New Zealand First after the election. 

I think Luxon’s best opportunity has passed.

Back in May, I wrote that the National leader was strategically well-positioned to rule out Peters, so long as he managed the process as delicately as might be possible. He’d need to be respectful and deferential to New Zealand First’s supporters, explaining that it was less about the party’s leader and more about forming a simple, clean, two-party coalition to counteract what he continues to describe as a potential ‘coalition of chaos’ on the other side. 

Given Winston Peters’ and David Seymour’s open distain for each other, the ‘coalition of chaos’ barb is now much better suited to the centre-right block. 

Think about the reaction if Christopher Luxon ruled out working with New Zealand First, today. It’s not impossible it would have the desired effect from National’s perspective, but it comes with much greater risk than when New Zealand First was polling at 3%. 

“Why have you ruled them out now, when you’ve been asked so many times over the last few months?” 

“... Ahhh... because for the first time it actually looks like he’s gonna’ get in?” 

It would martyr Winston Peters. It would play into the narrative that the major parties were colluding to exclude him and New Zealand First from parliament. It would breathe oxygen into his campaign and potentially galvanise his support base. 

If Luxon had ruled out New Zealand First while they were polling at 3%, it wouldn’t have mattered if none of those 3% changed their minds and the vote was essentially wasted. But it potentially would have stopped new supporters from coming across in the subsequent months and deciding to back Winston Peters. 

Now the party’s hitting 5%, and it’s a totally different equation. 

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Winston Peters has reaffirmed he definitely won't be working with Labour, even after the change of leadership. 

The New Zealand First Leader's delivered his State of the Nation address to supporters in Auckland this afternoon.

Peters told Heather du-Plessis Allan that Labour betrayed his party and "went down a pathway of division and racism," and they will not be dealing with them in any future Government.

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