KEY POINTS:
And on the eighth day, he created history. John Key's confirmation yesterday of his Government with partner parties may not be of biblical dimensions but it is telling in its achievement.
First, New Zealand has been spared the interminable post-election horse-trading that has done more to damage MMP
than anything else. Second, Maori have been embraced into a centre-right Government in a spirit and in detail that gives far broader hope for our society's development than the mere completion of a political support document. Third, two parties, the Maori Party and Act, that have not been in government before now have an opportunity to introduce their philosophies directly into the sharp end of our politics.
None of this should obscure the hard reality that, admirable though these arrangements are, getting them to work will be a much more difficult task.
But there is no doubting that Mr Key has made a good start, especially with his inclusion of the Maori Party. This speaks loudly of the incoming Prime Minister's commitment to real progress for Maori in our society.
These talks were undertaken in clear air: there was no prospect of the Maori Party having to choose between National and Labour blocs. There was therefore no need for its leaders to have to justify talking to National if the party really wanted to make the difference for its people that it professes.
In the short-term National could have bypassed the Maori Party and relied on Act and United Future to give it 65 votes in the 122-member House. But Mr Key is not thinking short-term. By committing his Government to some of the Maori Party's goals he is hoping to transform politics and society beyond 2011.
By choosing - and not being forced - to work with the party, he sends powerful signals of where this co-operation might lead.
An agreement forged in possibilities has more chance of thriving than the lowest common denominator of painful concessions. It should have been no real disappointment for anyone that National will not, as it claimed, seek to eliminate the Maori electorates. Its "review" of the Foreshore and Seabed Act is vague but has the chance of finding a solution rather than cementing a problem.
Act's deal with National is one that can also be read as win-win. The party will have much the same status as the Maori Party, whose inclusion in some form was advocated by Act's leader, Rodney Hide. Yet Mr Hide should be proud of his position on a leadership council with National's top tier to consult on the Government's strategy and of the review he has championed of the emissions trading scheme.
That measure will delay implementation of one of the outgoing Government's last big initiatives, yet in the economic climate we now find ourselves, any sensible re-appraisal is hard to argue with.
For National, its first moves towards Government have been decisive and inclusive. It has gone beyond Mr Key's personal motto of "whatever it takes" to something that may endure and transform.
The challenge now is to make sure the Government works cohesively. A hint of how great the challenge may be could be seen yesterday before the ink was dry. Tariana Turia bridled at the thought that a private sector-led taskforce on government spending, part of National's agreement with Act, should poke its nose into her areas of ministerial responsibility.
It was the first sign of the kind of tensions that Mr Key will have to defuse if his governing arrangements are to flourish.
In the meantime, there is no gainsaying the achievements of his first eight days. The economic crisis meant we needed a Government as fast as one could be formed. What we have been offered is something much more than the sum of its parts.
