Winston Peters insists that New Zealand First and the Green Party can look beyond their differences to make the incoming Government work to "ensure that the greatest advantage and the least damage will happen to the New Zealand people".
Speaking exclusively to Newstalk ZB this morning, Peters again warned of a social and economic downturn that the new Government, expected to be sworn-in on Thursday, will have to tackle.
"When you look at the circumstances, economically and socially, that we are entering this agreement in, there are obvious concerns which we all share.
"But the point is, it was a decision made to ensure that the greatest advantage and the least damage will happen to the New Zealand people."
The policy details of the Labour-NZF agreement and the Labour-Green agreement are expected to be signed and released today.
Peters could not say if he would be sitting down with Green Party leader James Shaw when the new agreements are signed, but he again repeated that he has "never had a bad word to say about James Shaw, publicly or privately".
That did not mean that New Zealand First and the Green Party did not have differences, "but we've got to make this Government work, and our intention is to do just that".
"It is two separate agreements. That's the nature of this Government... This is an agreement between the Labour Party and NZ First on the question of coalition, and there's an agreement between the Labour Party and the Greens on confidence and supply."
Peters said New Zealand First had to move towards Labour on some of its policies, again mentioning the Rolling Stones song You Can't Always Get What You Want.
"You have to understand the other party's point of view. In the end, we're happy enough with the serious direction in which things are going. I believe that will ensure that some of the dire warnings that some of the critiques have been giving out there with the greatest of freedom will not in fact be materialising."
Peters would not confirm if he was taking up the role of Deputy Prime Minister, saying that that would come out in due course, but the Herald understands that he is set to take up the role, as well as the Foreign Affairs portfolio.