A deal between National, NZ First, and the Act Party is almost complete but the issue of who will serve as Deputy Prime Minister has not yet been resolved.
Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister-designate, told reporters on Wednesday talks would continue into the evening and Thursday, if necessary.
“Largely all the ministerial appointments and responsibilities have been determined, and I think we’ve got to a very good place,” he said.
“Within each of the three parties there is incredible talent. There is a real mixture of skills and experience, and as Prime Minister, I want to be able to use all of that talent.”
Nicola Willis, the deputy leader of the National Party, flew back to Wellington Wednesday morning, where she said she was not a candidate for the Deputy Prime Minister role.
This means the job will be going to either Winston Peters, David Seymour, or both. There is a possibility that each could serve for half the term, or even have two deputy-PMs at once.
Luxon said he saw the job as being “ceremonial” but both coalition partners seem to want it.
The Cabinet Manual says the Deputy-PM can take over the role and powers of Prime Minister “if necessary” when the PM is “unavailable or unable” to do so themselves.
They also answer questions during Parliamentary debates and would chair Cabinet meetings whenever the Prime Minister was absent, such as when traveling abroad.
Seymour said Deputy-PM should be given to the second-largest party, in this case the Act Party, but Peters has done the job before and is the more experienced candidate.
Once the final issues have been resolved, Luxon said the three parties’ boards will need to finalize the agreements and then they will travel back to Wellington for the announcement.
It is likely that the swearing in ceremony could happen next week, with Parliament sitting the following week and then up until Christmas. A mini-budget is expected before then.
43 Comments
If it’s only a ceremonial position then can it. If the PM has to be absent then let cabinet nominate who is to deputise for each occasion. For heaven’s sake if this is an issue for bickering over now what the heck is it going to be like as soon as something important crops up. More than likely he that misses out is just going to sulk.
Imagine being a National Party supporter,knowing you have been in opposition whilst the "worst Government in history" was in power,watching as a viral plague,then biblical floods & a non existant summer in Auckland dragged the populous down mentally & financially and all you can garner is 38% of the vote,meaning you have to kowtow and negotiate with minor parties...
while i hate physical violence who would not like the chance to smash seymour in the snout, in a ring with and umpire, maybe as a charity boxing match, my thoughts are that david would win but there would be blood, sky tv could pay for view maybe we could find the 240 mil missing in JUST THE pay equity of preschool.... jesus there must be BILLIONS missing
Anyone have any idea how the pay equity effects WFF? Not that it impacts me but genuinely wondering if IRD would try and claw back a year or so worth of overpayment after seeing the money roll in or if they'd cut parents WFF for a while to compensate. either way it would create a lot of hassle for a lot of parents.
Should consider what the household income cut off is for WFF. A family with 1 child = $80k household income. 2 kids $100k.
My wife is an early childhood teacher. Pretty much all her colleagues have partners who work. One's a cop, couple of builders, a mechanic, sales so unlikely to receive WFF.
Pay equity is for private early childhood centers, bringing pays inline with what Government funded Kindergartens already receive. In January my wife was on $28 an hour, she's been fully qualified for 10 years.
100k for two kids is larger than I'd thought, thanks for the clarification. Interesting on the pay parity front as the ones that receive the public funding for free hours also crank their prices to make up for the rates paid by the govt to my understanding through water cooler discussions.
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