There are no meetings in the diary between Winston Peters and David Seymour this week and some talks with National have moved to email and phone
Analysis: The New Zealand First leader says he would rather meet Act’s David Seymour face-to-face than talk on the phone, but nothing has been locked-in and the leaders are in different cities.
Winston Peters arrived in Wellington to meet his caucus on Monday afternoon, while Seymour was in Auckland where he’s scheduled to be for the rest of the week.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon flew to Wellington on Monday and met with Peters, but his caucus won’t be joining with no plans for National MPs to meet at Parliament on Tuesday.
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Luxon has repeatedly said conversations with both Seymour and Peters are progressing well, but those talks don’t appear to be as far along as it has sometimes seemed.
Face-to-face meetings have been on hold over the past few days with Act, and been replaced by emails and phone calls.
Once Luxon has sorted separate deals with Act and New Zealand First, nothing will be signed until Seymour and Peters have both seen what the other side has negotiated, and agree to it.
As of Friday's final election count, Peters has more power, given New Zealand First is now needed not just as a security blanket, and that will have consequences for some of the policy concessions Act has been putting on the table for National to consider.
It’s not surprising that’s prompted Seymour to say the crossbenches are still an option – a shot across National’s bows that it can’t assume anything when it comes to Act’s support.
Luxon has a lot of work to do this week and all three leaders may need to pull some long days and nights.
If they don’t, they could end up taking longer to get a deal signed than the three weeks the Electoral Commission took to count the special votes – something for which it has been roundly criticised.
Luxon will want things sewn up this week and while he has tried to downplay that by saying he won’t go to Apec if government talks aren’t complete, it’s effectively already put an unofficial deadline on talks.
There are just nine days until the Prime Minister is meant to be on a plane to San Francisco for this year’s Apec leaders’ summit hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Luxon told Newsroom there were clearly advantages to being there.
It can’t be overstated just how much he wants to be on that world stage.
It’s a chance to rub shoulders with the likes of not only Biden, but also Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japan’s Fumio Kishida, Russia’s representative and though Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn’t confirmed his attendance, it’s a fair bet he will make it.
Luxon says his governing negotiations partners are also mindful of the importance of being there and are working hard to make it happen.
Realistically, Seymour and Peters don’t place anywhere near as much importance on Luxon being there, but it certainly works to their advantage and their chance of cutting a deal knowing it matters to him.
Luxon will want things sewn up this week and though he has tried to downplay that by saying he won’t go to Apec if government talks aren’t complete, in effect it's already put an unofficial deadline on talks.
As for Labour, its caucus will meet on Tuesday morning away from Parliament.
Newsroom understands MPs will hold a leadership vote in line with party rules after an election.
Leader Chris Hipkins told media on Friday he was “still in the fight” and has received public support from MPs to stay on in the job.
There are currently no other public contenders for the Labour leadership.
