National Party leader and Prime Minister-designate Christopher Luxon says he has reached an agreement with his coalition partners and is ready to form a government.
Luxon said the final impasse was broken on Thursday morning, resolving 40 days of exhaustive negotiations to form the first ever three-party coalition.
While governments since 1996 have typically involved more than one party, most have had only two parties in the formal coalition and others involved through confidence-and-supply agreements.
The “final impasse” was understood to be which coalition partner would be given the role of Deputy Prime Minister. The office has traditionally been held by the support party’s leader.
With two support parties in this coalition, it was not obvious who should get the title.
David Seymour, the leader of the Act Party, argued it should be given to him as the leader of the second largest party, but there was no sign the other two leaders agreed with him.
Winston Peters, leader of NZ First, served as Deputy Prime Minister in coalition with Labour following the 2017 election.
In an impromptu press conference on Thursday afternoon, he said he had finished negotiating but wouldn’t reveal whether he had secured the job for a second time.
Seymour was seen in a local bar and cafe with his chief of staff while Peters was still inside the Treasury building finalising agreement details.
Peters did not seem to think the suggestion of him and Seymour sharing the role was a realistic option.
“We’ve never had a co-Deputy Prime Minister, ever. We’ve never had one in this country, why do you think that is the case,” he asked reporters.
Luxon would not be drawn on the subject either, telling reporters that all the details would be revealed during a signing ceremony on Friday morning.
Comprehensive partnership
The coalition agreement was “incredibly comprehensive” and would outline a well-defined work programme for the three year term.
“There is a lot of specificity there, that’s very deliberate so that we are all aligned about what we are shooting for, and what we are trying to achieve,” he said.
While all three parties had made compromises, there was “massive alignment” on broad goals with few areas of disagreement.
Negotiations had included deciding the policy programme and assigning ministerial positions, but also focused on building relationships and setting a process for resolving conflicts.
These last two items are necessary to ensure the three-party coalition can survive a full Parliamentary term and then successfully contest the 2026 election.
Luxon said he had been conscious that this specific coalition arrangement had not been done before and the three parties had wanted to ensure it would work.
“It's historic … that’s why we’ve spent so much time making sure we get it right.”
The caretaker government, which still occupies the iconic Beehive building in Wellington, has been told to be out by the end of Friday, so the new administration can move in by Monday.
Chris Hipkins, the current Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, said in October that his boxes were already packed and he was ready to hand over the keys.
After the signing ceremony on Friday morning, Luxon plans to announce the full list of ministers so they can take over the relevant offices that weekend.
The Prime Minister’s office is on the ninth floor of the Beehive and ministers often take the offices below in order of seniority — although there is no hard and fast rule.
On the tenth floor is the Cabinet office, where Luxon hopes to hold the first “ceremonial” meeting and photo opportunity with his new executive after they are sworn in on Monday.
Parliament plans to sit on December 5 for the three weeks remaining before the Christmas break.
47 Comments
I'm not convinced the incoming government will be particularly great (hardly a roaring endorsement considering I voted for one of the constituent parties) but I must admit that the winding up of the media - particularly from the likes of Jones - is quite entertaining and amusing.
Wonder just how harmonious things have actually been and wonder even more so, just how disharmonious things might become. This is new territory for NZ under MMP. A coalition with two junior partners, each with sizeable representation and a history of antipathy and at the top a PM a tyro as a politician.Thinks, Shakespeare War of the Roses collection, start in at Henry V1.
It has been a commendable effort where we have seen Luxon calm and unshakeable, and from National and New Zealand First, no posturing. I hope Seymour is able to put aside his ego and settle in to using his talents to ensure we begin tackling the half marathon we are collectively facing.
Two weeks from the final election results so I say well done all of the the three parties.
First item is to get rid of the bloated bureaucracy in the ministries that hinder better outcomes for NZ.
It appears that, at MBIE, you have to run every public release through a mandatory set of reviews from a dedicated diversity & inclusion team that make sure your releases aren't gendered or racial.
We need to spend time and taxpayer dollars making sure illustrations in safety standards published by Standards NZ have darker-skinned people in them.
Those large US corporations exploit people's DEI sensitivities to make an easy buck and distract attention away from the real issues affecting minorities - economic injustice built into their system.
Nike Sales Increase 31% After Kaepernick Ad Despite Backlash | Time. Never mind that Nike has a long history of mistreating blue-collared workers in its US factories and warehouses, most of whom are African American.
Clearly, Ardern and Hipkins had the same agenda here in NZ by delivering social justice to a sliver of the populace while rendering the masses economically worse off with their failed policies. Nobody minds some mindful spending on DEI but maybe sort out the functional illiteracy crisis in NZ before you start teaching race theory in schools.
Crime out of control, Education and Heath demolished. Three waters enacted, co-governance pushed, Maori Wards forced into place.
If the incoming government moves to fix crime, (locking up crims is a great start, bring back three stikes even better, remove cultural reports great), fix education and health, repeal three waters, cancel anything to do with co-governance in public services and abolish the Maori wards, that would represent a reasonable start.
Then with the country behind them they can clean up the rest of the mess....like the treaty shambles. There will be a referendum on that one coming.
It will be a slow change in government to have the rotten culture that has been allowed to sink in. Still seeing hiring based on ethnicity happening as we speak, and people withholding constructive criticism of work due to the eggshell, fragile culture around where everyone gets overly offended. Here;s to change
I think the first thing that will happen is that these people that you speak of that do all of this crazy reviewing and things will be the first to go. Up to 30% are apparently for the chop, and these people any anyone that does not want to change for the better will be the first to go.
looks like a 3 wheeled cart , how long before one wheel flys off, i will be interested to see who the leaders of these parties at the next election are, lot of rumbles internally about luxon and seymour during the election campaign, ACT have parachuted in replacements, luxon has a party full of new Mps that want to stay for awhile but might look at another option if things go pear shape
Hopefully not a Morgan:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/freddie-flinto…
According to reports, the accident occurred when Flintoff was driving an open-topped three-wheel Morgan Super 3 down the course at a high speed. The vehicle flipped and skidded, with Flintoff narrowly avoiding fatal injuries.
A useful summary of a long standing problem that won't go away
"New Zealand’s rules to regulate money in politics can now officially be declared broken. Although, in theory, political parties are required to publicly declare any large donations, we now know that in practice they sometimes don’t, and the enforcement and legal consequences can be extremely weak.
We know this because this month the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of the political donors who were on trial last year for channelling large undisclosed donations to the National and Labour parties."
Bryce Edwards: Court ruling shows big political donations can be given secretly – Democracy Project
he can not help himself, his nature is to niggle, i predict he will crash this government in 2025
Act leader David Seymour says he’s confident his party has secured a favourable coalition deal - and suggested his party has trumped NZ First when it comes to ministerial roles.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.