Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, said taking turns as Deputy Prime Minister was “childish behaviour” and about managing ego.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got an unleashing of all the things that don’t represent a progressive government and are quite threatening and hostile towards marginalised people.”
Rangitīkei MP Suze Redmayne (National) said the role being shared was workable.
“They’ve obviously gone into these negotiations with a clear head and they’ve worked out everything and it seems to be in order,” Redmayne said.
“I think to me, it looks like Christopher Luxon has used his negotiating skills to really get the best out of every person and their individual skills and talents.”
The new Government has agreed to introduce a Treaty Principles Bill.
Ngarewa-Packer said she thought there would be fallout from the way the new Government perceived Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“There are not too many surprises in their various policy platforms but there is absolute destruction, particularly towards Māori and marginalised communities, and for those of us who are champions for protecting the environment,” she said.
Bates said National’s economic plan and policy programme were well-represented in the coalition agreement, despite the foreign buyers’ tax being scrapped.
“We’re all aligned on addressing those key issues that matter to New Zealand.”
The 20 days since the special votes were released demonstrated Luxon knew what he was doing, Bates said.
“He knows how to manage negotiations like this and he’s worked constructively with David Seymour and Winston Peters to ensure we have a strong and stable government.
“The risk is if you do it quickly you don’t have the foundation on which to deliver during your term in government.”
Both Bates and Redmayne said they were not surprised by any aspects of the coalition agreement.
Redmayne said it absolutely had not taken too long to form the coalition agreement, and probably the only thing that took too long was counting of the special votes.
“Clearly, with the complexity of the arrangement they’ve come up with, there was a need to spend a long time on it.”
Act MP Andrew Hoggard, who unsuccessfully stood for Rangitīkei but got into Parliament on the list, has been given a number of ministerial portfolios outside Cabinet in the new Government.
Hoggard will be Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety, Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare, Skills) and Associate Minister for the Environment.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
