Today marks the two-week anniversary of the final results of the election being released and government negotiations beginning in earnest.
As soon as the election was over, National leader Christopher Luxon said he wanted to do things “differently”.
“Well, just in terms of the approach. I’m not doing it through the media, I’ve talked, we’ve been very clear about what we’re wanting to talk about. We deal with the leaders in order to build good faith and good will,” Luxon said.
It’s not clear what Luxon means by “differently” - and it’s quite possible he is mistaken. Previous negotiations have not involved daily stand-ups about what was being negotiated and how. Previous negotiations have proceeded much like this one, with the only difference being that this negotiation has taken longer.
Some things have been different. A Government was, to be fair, sworn in over the weekend. The only problem is it was the wrong one, with Labour caretaker ministers needing to be re-sworn as negotiations dragged on. To be fair, this is Labour’s fault as much as National’s, for not updating the expiry of their warrants to fit the new election timeframe.
The last protracted negotiation period lasted for 12 days between the publication of final results and NZ First leader Winston Peters deciding he would choose Labour .
On October 7, 2017, the final results were published. As early as October 12, the parties had detailed dossiers on talks. On October 16, NZ First’s board was consulted and on October 19, Peters announced he had chosen Labour.
A look back at the last 14 days suggest things are progressing more slowly.
November 3-5 - ‘Now we can get cracking’’
November 3 saw the final election result, including special votes, released. They were only sort-of final. Three results were so close that recounts were ordered and errors on the part of the Electoral Commission meant tallies in other electorates needed updating too.
The main result was obvious, however: the next Government would include National, Act, and NZ First.
An energetic Luxon was keen to “get cracking”.
“We are working constructively with both parties. We are going to come together and form a strong stable Government,” Luxon said. “Now we can get cracking”.
Act leader David Seymour said he hoped the new Government could be finalised within a “matter of days” or within a week.
Even Peters was optimistic, saying he was only negotiating with one party.
“I’m only negotiating with one side, so to speak, not two and that’s why we can expedite this,” Peters told The Platform.
Peters launched his party’s campaign for the Port Waikato byelection that weekend. After Seymour said he had texted Peters to initiate some form of contact, Peters revealed that he had not responded to Seymour’s initial text because he thought it was “fake”.
“You know that I’m a people person - I’d rather see someone in person than do it over the phone,” Peters said.
“I can tell you the truth on that, the communication came without any identification and I’ll explain it to him when I do see him,” Peters said.
November 6-9 - talks ‘accelerated’ and David Seymour’s the long walk to Winston
Luxon did a full round of broadcast media the Monday following the release of special votes.
He told RNZ that talks were actually quite advanced, stressing he had been speaking to both parties during the three-week period between polling day and the final count.
“We’ve been progressing relationships and arrangements over the last couple of weeks since election night,” Luxon said.
“Obviously it’s accelerated since 2 o’clock on Friday when we got special results,” he said.
After days of negotiations in Auckland, things started to stir in Wellington. There were meetings - even dinners.
On November 8, National’s campaign chairman Chris Bishop and senior NZ First MP Shane Jones were spotted having coffee at Wellington’s Bolton Hotel, near Parliament.
There was finally a meeting between chiefs... chiefs of staff, that is. Act’s Andrew Ketels and NZ First’s Darroch Ball finally got together. It was the first meeting between the two parties.
Then, on November 10, a breakthrough: Seymour and Peters in the same room together. This was no small achievement given the pair’s most famous correspondence - aside from Peters’ repeatedly calling Seymour a “cuckold” - is the threat that he would deck Seymour in a single hit, should the two ever go toe-to-toe in a boxing ring.
The meeting underdelivered in terms of violence, with Seymour walking from Peters’ offices saying he was “very happy” and had got “a lot of very useful things done in a short space of time”.
November 10 - ‘A triangle has three sides’
The next morning, Peters returned the favour, making the trek to Seymour’s offices in the Parliamentary library for a meeting which Seymour said was “productive”.
“A triangle has three sides, so you’ve got to be committed to supporting what both of the parties’ agenda is. Otherwise, mathematically, it doesn’t work, so that all has to be worked through,” Seymour said.
Luxon was somewhat invisible, leaving things to his two partners, who were happy to fill in the blanks.
“Those matters are above the pay grade of Mātua Shane Jones,” said the senior NZ First MP, when asked about the hold-up.
He said the progress of negotiations was “all in the Bible”, saying: “Have patience. I know people may be anxious. But it’s all in the Bible, Galatians 6:9.”
That verse is “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Luxon was considerably less colourful. His only comments, made when walking into Parliament, was that negotiations were “progressing well”.
“There is good intention from all the party leaders to make sure we move through as quickly as we can and build a strong, stable Government,” he said.
November 11-14 - Luxon changes planes
Luxon began the week signalling he might not make it to the Apec summit in San Francisco - perhaps a signal to his negotiating partners, one of whom has an eye on the foreign affairs portfolio and a penchant for overseas travel to hurry up and ink a deal.
He said it was “highly unlikely” he would attend the summit.
Tuesday, November 14 looked like it would be a breakthrough: the three leaders would be in a room together.
Through gritted teeth, Luxon told reporters at Wellington airport the prospective Government had “a great week ahead of us”.
“We’re going to make some progress,” he said, setting himself a fairly low bar, given “progress” involved little more than getting three people to sit in the same room together at the same time.
Seymour seemed to think a meeting was imminent.
“I think that’s very possible, we’re certainly very happy to meet anyone, anytime, and we’re all in Wellington now so that’s got to make it easier,” Seymour said.
“I think there may well be a meeting of three, yes,” he said.
But it wasn’t to be. As it turned out, they weren’t all in the same city at all. Peters was in Auckland, and never made the trip down to Wellington.
For a time, almost no one, not even people close to him, knew where he was. Peters wouldn’t even be clear what country he was in.
When the Herald asked Peters whether he was in Wellington or Auckland, Peters replied “[or] San Francisco...”
On Thursday, Peters brushed aside any suggestion of chaos, saying he was “never going to Wellington... and both Mr Seymour and Mr Luxon know that”.
If Seymour knew Peters was not going to be in Wellington, he certainly didn’t know it on Tuesday morning when he said they were in the same city. Luxon appeared flummoxed too. He was spotted sprinting to a Crown limo on Tuesday ahead of his late flight back to Auckland with Simeon Brown in tow. Brown had only arrived in Wellington hours earlier, arriving on a flight that landed just prior to five, he was back at the airport at about 7pm - a quick and curious turnaround.
November 15 - The meeting
Twelve days after the final count was released, the same amount of time it took NZ First to negotiate a deal with Labour, put it to the party’s board, and announce it to the world, the three leaders finally met together in the Pullman Hotel in Auckland.
Negotiations continue. The parties continue to be positive. Luxon continues to insist on doing things differently.
Sick leave entitlements are about to change, according to the PM.