‘Between Devil and deep blue sea’
Peters says NZ First can’t win as talks begin with parties
Winston Peters says he feels “between the Devil and the deep blue sea” as National and Labour try to secure NZ First’s support. Peters met Bill English and his National team for about 30 minutes yesterday morning, and held a meeting of around the same length with Labour leader Jacinda Ardern.
Peters said he would begin negotiations on Sunday, after the final results are released tomorrow, and his caucus would have a decision by Thursday.
Ardern, leaving her meeting with her team, which includes former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Michael Cullen, echoed her “relentlessly positive” campaign theme by saying the meeting was “very positive” and a “great start”.
But Peters was less positive, saying his situation was like being “between the Devil and the deep blue sea here”.
“Not in terms of the political parties. But we just can’t win — you can’t win with the public, you can’t win with the media, you can’t win with the commentariat.
“You can’t win with people who believe it is all about first past the post, even though it is an MMP environment. And they just bang on day in, day out.”
Peters said media had depicted the situation as him holding the country to ransom, when his party couldn’t start final negotiations until special votes had been counted tomorrow.
“The whole thing has been depicted as one man holding the country to ransom. And I belong to a very democratic caucus and a very democratic board . . . they will get to make the decision and not one person.”
NZ First has now agreed on the ground rules with National and Labour for looming negotiations, saying absolute confidentiality is needed to avoid the talks becoming a “circus”.
Despite Peters saying he wants to make a decision by Thursday, policy was not discussed at yesterday’s meetings, which were designed only to agree on protocol for serious talks after special votes are announced.
Peters said those ground rules weren’t complicated.
“Do we agree to meet at a certain place on each occasion? Do we agree that we will have changed teams, depending on the subject matter?
“Do we agree that these talks are confidential . . . where the media are concerned as well, or we may as well hire the Westpac Stadium and turn on the lights and turn on the loudspeakers and just go for it. Now, we are not going to have that sort of circus.”
Possible options open to his party include a full coalition inside Cabinet, a support agreement offering confidence and supply in return for some ministerial posts outside Cabinet, or sitting on the cross benches.
Peters said NZ First was yet to decide on its preferred governing framework. He said the short timeframe did not suggest it was more likely to sit on the cross benches.
The counting of special votes tomorrow was crucial, Peters said, but even when that was done there could be uncertainty.
“The logistics of getting all those numbers counted may not happen — they [the Electoral Commission] may ask for a 24-hour extension.”
The special votes — about 15 per cent of the total — usually favour the Greens and Labour.
National’s team yesterday included English, Gerry Brownlee, Steven Joyce, Todd McClay, chief of staff Wayne Eagleson and adviser Cameron Burrows. Ardern’s included deputy leader Kelvin Davis, strategic adviser Mike Munro, Cullen, finance spokesman Grant Robertson and chief of staff Neale Jones.