Relief for Ardern, for now

It was messy, but they got there. The Government has finally agreed to lift the refugee quota by 500 to 1500 by 2020. But not before the issue put Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and her deputy, Winston Peters, in direct and public conflict.

They stood side-by-side at yesterday’s lunchtime conference to announce the decision.

The timing was essential – Ardern needed the matter tidied away before she is feted on the international stage. She’s heading to the United Nations General Assembly at the end of the week.

The staging served to display unity (although the Greens were left out of this particular photo op), but the elephant in the room was what concessions Peters has gouged out in return for his acquiescence.

For now, it’s a secret. But it’s widely assumed the quid pro quo is changes to the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, with the ability for provincial employers to opt out of collective agreements.

Peters was as meek as a lamb, standing beside Ardern. He even attempted to reframe the intragovernment disagreement as mischief-making by the media.

‘‘The fact is it was put to me in Nauru that the 1500 figure was already there, which it wasn’t ... All I did was put out the plain facts and to say that it was a work in progress,’’ he said.

Peters knew exactly what he was up to. Compassion to refugees is integral to Ardern’s personal brand. Lifting the quota was also an important election pledge.

Throwing a spanner into the works earlier this month, he knew exactly how his words would be interpreted.

Labour and the Greens can breathe out a shaky sigh of relief, for now.

However, to stand in Nauru and shadow-box over the quota was morally bankrupt.

Peters has demonstrated there is no sacred cow when it comes to putting NZ First first.

It’s increasingly clear that position – or rather dominance – is his chief concern. Policy is just an instrument to achieve it.

And if Labour wins a concession, he’ll make sure they, very publicly, lose another.

If this approach to decisionmaking continues, Peters will continue to disrupt and destabilise without consequence.