Peters sees no need to meet Shaw

Greens leader James Shaw says his team tried to strike up a relationship with NZ First but Winston Peters has no knowledge of it.

Shaw told media following an almost two-hour meeting with Labour that his staff had contacted Peters’ office to say they were available for a meeting if they wanted one.

But Peters’ was unaware of it when he answered questions after a more than 21⁄ hour meeting with the National Party negotiating team.

‘‘I’m not aware of that ... I have no knowledge of that being requested of me at all.’’

Peters said he had been clear from the beginning he would have talks with both National and Labour and he hadn’t ‘‘deviated from that’’.

He didn’t think it was necessary to sit down with Shaw given the Greens and Labour had a memorandum of understanding and had campaigned together.

‘‘We didn’t campaign with any other party, the rest did. For months and months, in fact for years, they’ve all campaigned together - hugging each other, embracing each other and loving each other - we didn’t.’’

Peters said the talks with National went ‘‘fine’’ and he would meet for a second time with Labour yesterday afternoon and with National last night.

He wasn’t budging on what the talking points of the meetings had been but maintained the party would still be in a position to make a decision about the next government by tomorrow.

Shaw said he was happy for Labour to take the lead on negotiations.

It had always been the process that the bigger party did so, he said.

Asked if there was to be a coalition would he sit down with Peters, Shaw said ‘‘at some point I assume you’ve got to get in a room together with the people you’re going to go into coalition with’’.

However, he went on to say it was ’’Labour’s responsibility to put the government together, that’s their job and they seem to be doing a pretty good job of it’’.

NZ First leader Winston Peters stayed tight-lipped in between coalition talks yesterday, other than a brief discussion about the NZ dollar.

On his way out of a 140-minute meeting with Labour on Tuesday morning Peters was asked about the value of the New Zealand dollar.

‘‘We have the most volatile currency in the whole wide world,’’ Peters said.

Asked if the talks ‘‘would be looking at ways to make it less volatile’’, Peters said ’’I think exporters will be pleased ... If you are an export-dependent nation why would you go ahead with an inflated dollar.’’

He refused to clarify his comments and when asked if that meant exporters would be ‘‘pleased’’ with the talks as a whole he wouldn’t comment.

The Green Party and Labour met at 1pm to further their coalition discussions.

On his way to the meeting, Greens leader James Shaw maintained a deadline of Thursday for a coalition deal was still realistic but wasn’t concerned if it was slightly longer.

‘‘I’ve said before the process takes as long as it takes, a day here or there is no big deal.’’

He said calling together the party for a special general meeting - the formal process required before entering a coalition - could be done quickly.

‘‘We’ve got to go to them but we’re able to call a meeting pretty quickly.’’

He said he wouldn’t expect any delays from his end.

Leaving the NZ First meeting, Ardern said it had been another ‘‘really productive session’’.

‘‘Our meetings have focused on our shared ideas, areas where we want to make sure we progress New Zealand socially and economically and that’s where our focus continues to be,’’ she said.

Ardern expressed sympathy for the media.

‘‘I feel so sorry for you guys - it’s a test in patience,’’ she said.

The negotiating teams were fairly consistent yesterday - Labour has Ardern, deputy Kelvin Davis, MP Grant Robertson, former MP Annette King, chief of staff Neale Jones and adviser Mike Munro.

NZ First’s team didn’t head to the meeting in its usual formation - some choosing to grab breakfast en route - but it looks to be Peters, deputy Ron Mark, MP Tracey Martin, chief of staff David Broome, staffer Kirsty Christison and adviser Paul Carrad in talks.