Today’s the day

NZ First leader Winston Peters has ramped up pressure on National and Labour, saying what happens in government coalition talks today — the last scheduled day of negotiations — could decide what his party will do as New Zealanders wait to hear who will go

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has ramped up pressure on National and Labour, saying that what happens in the talks today could decide what his party will do.

Talks are expected to end this evening, with National first at 9.30am.

Peters said he was expecting today’s discussions to be the most substantive of the week.

His party caucus meets at 8am and is likely to discuss whether the party should go for a coalition, confidence and supply or the cross benches.

Peters’ negotiating team will take two options to the NZ First board.

The country will find out who will lead the next Government after the NZ First board makes its decision. The board meets tomorrow.

Peters told media after leaving a meeting with National last night that it was “doubtful” that he would know which direction the party favoured by the end of tomorrow.

“But what we’ll be able to do is, now, as a caucus, sit down and say, ‘This is what we can present to the party . . . and this is how quickly we can assemble that information’.”

Peters said portfolios had not been discussed: “Soon, but not now.”

In a bid to improve Labour’s case, the Green Party members could be asked to approve its deal with Labour as soon as today with little notice of the agreement’s details.

Labour wants the Greens formally on board before Peters and his team make their final decision so they can guarantee they have the numbers.

Greens leader James Shaw and his team met Labour leader Jacinda Ardern and her negotiators twice yesterday to hammer out a deal.

Shaw and the Green team are working blind, without knowing the details of what Ardern is set to offer Peters. Shaw has said he is leaving it to trust to ensure the Greens’ deal is not worse than any NZ First might get.

Former Green MP Sue Bradford told the Herald that Green supporters shouldn’t be in the dark on what Peters and his party were getting.

“The Greens couldn’t go [to] their people and make a decision without knowing what Labour had signed up to with Winston,” Bradford said.

One of Labour’s concerns is that the Green Party will put Peters off siding with Labour, either because of any objections to the Greens’ policies or because a three-party Government is more complicated.

Shaw told media yesterday that he trusts Ardern to arrive at a good deal for his party. That would be important in ensuring a stable Government that could pass legislation.

“Jacinda made fairness one of her principal values in the campaign. I have known her for a number of years and I said this before the election — I trust her, and she seems to be doing a good job of it.”

Shaw would not say if the Greens were open to sitting on the cross benches instead of being part of a Government with Labour and NZ First.

The Greens are ready to conduct their special general meeting to get sign-off at a moment’s notice.

It needs 75 per cent support to go ahead — and the quick timeframe and confidentiality around discussions means the delegates responsible for signing off on the agreement will not get advance notice of the details.

Possibilities include full coalition with ministerial positions inside Cabinet, a support deal with ministers outside Cabinet and a confidence and supply deal from the cross benches. Shaw has favoured a full coalition.

Labour will need the support of both NZ First and the Greens to form a Government. However, it is negotiating with both parties separately.