Election 2023

Every week a member of the Newstalk ZB Parliament team joins Nick Mills for the Beehive Buzz. This week Senior Political Reporter Sophie Trigger discusses the how coalition talks are going between Luxon, Seymour and Peters, a recent poll, and final recount results. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All sides of the soon-to-be Government want talks completed as soon as possible. David Seymour, Winston Peters and Chris Luxon sat down together this morning for the first time, in Auckland. This meeting will be the first of several collaborative meetings in the city centre this week. ZB political editor Jason Walls says nothing significant has been divulged- but all three parties are keen to get...

A political commentator says leaks from post-election talks are rife this year. The leaders of National, ACT and New Zealand First have now all sat around a table together, a first in their negotiations. Prime Minister elect Chris Luxon has wanted talks to stay private. But Ben Thomas says that hasn't been the case. He says it may reflect the parties playing off against each other. "There's the qu...

Tonight on The Huddle, current affairs commentator Josie Pagani and Tim Wilson from Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! In coalition updates: Luxon's trip to APEC is officially off, Winston has been AWOL from Parliament- but the parties are set to meet later this week. Who knows what's going on? What can we expect in the coming days? NZ First'...

One expert has issued words of caution for anyone expecting the incoming Government will be easier on businesses. BusinessDesk's Pattrick Smellie says it shouldn't be a given that the National-ACT-NZ First coalition will take all the pressure of the business sector- and cited their history of policies and statements. Smellie explained that the banks, supermarkets, fuel companies will likely experi...

New Zealand First's caucus met today in Wellington- but the Party's leader was noticeably absent. None of the newly elected MPs explained where Winston Peters was, but they said work was progressing in his absence. ZB political editor Jason Walls says senior NZ First MP Shane Jones claimed progress was under way, and Peters would turn up- eventually. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

David Seymour says a referendum on Treaty principles is still on the negotiating table. ACT signalled the policy would be a priority in post-election talks. Prime Minister-elect Chris Luxon has said a referendum would be divisive, but New Zealand First's Shane Jones today told Radio Waatea he understands Seymour's concerns. Seymour says it's an idea whose time has come. "I think the more people un...

Tonight on The Huddle, Trish Sherson from Sherson Willis PR and former Labour chief of staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Chris Luxon has warned coalition negotiations will be extended for another week- and claimed it seems unlikely he'll make it to APEC. Is this a bad look for the National Party, or does this process need more time? MBIE is...

Sticking points in National's tax plan seem be causing friction in Government negotiations. New Zealand First's Shane Jones told media today his party's working out some 'jagged edges'. NewstalkZB understands they involve how National will pay for tax cuts. ZB political editor Jason Walls says two issues are lifting the foreign buyers ban and dipping into the Climate Emergency Response Fund. He sa...

National's Nicola Willis is defending Luxon as he extends post-election coalition talks. Luxon has begun another week of discussions with coalition partners ACT and NZ First, and it's looking less likely he'll attend APEC on Wednesday. The Finance Minister-elect says she's not going to go into detail about who's talking to who, but coalition discussions are progressing.  "We're making sure we're g...

A former Minister says the continuing Government negotiations are starting to look bad for Chris Luxon. Another week of talks has begun, and the Prime Minister-elect says he's unlikely to be able to leave for the APEC Summit on Wednesday, with nothing wrapped up. Peter Dunne says Luxon gave the impression his business background would help him strike a deal quickly. "He's got the second-longest se...

It's starting to get a bit awkward with how long these coalition negotiations are taking, especially now that Chris Luxon’s warned us we might not get a deal until the end of this week. These talks are about to become the second longest set of coalition talks in the history of MMP. Former Green Party MP Gareth Hughes went back through all of the elections and counted how long it took from each ele...

Labour's Ginny Andersen and National's Nicola Willis join Nick Mills for Politics Monday. Together they discuss how coalition negotiations are tracking, New Zealand now being the second highest vaping nation, allegations that Ginny yelled at a teenage volunteer on election night, the Electoral Commission facing counting errors, and Chris Hipkins changing his tune on tax. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudi...

Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says this week will be important to finishing coalition negotiations.   He says there's been constant work over the weekend, and progress is being made.   Luxon says while there's agreement on the big goals, there's difference on how they should be achieved.   He says the Treaty referendum is one policy that's being discussed and worked through.   Luxon to...

Certain policies could be sticking points in holding up negotiations between National, Act and New Zealand First.   National will need both parties to make a government after they lost two seats following special votes.   Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls says it's hard to figure out how much progress was made over the weekend.   He told Kate Hawkesby while there seems to be agreement on in...

FIRST WITH YESTERDAY'S NEWS  (highlights from the weekend on Newstalk ZB)   It's Quite Good Like This, Really/Hard to Be a Bowler These Days/Come On, Get Happy/Cartoon Rabbit Holes See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been 28 days from the 2023 election and one week since the final results were counted- and coalition talks are carrying on. Chris Luxon and National will need NZ First and ACT to help form a new Government, after the special votes were weighed up. Electoral law expert Graeme Edgeler says other Governments have taken extra time to get established, and that this isn't an isolated case. "It real...

Chris Luxon remains unsure about whether he'll make it to APEC, as coalition talks continue. The conference begins in San Francisco next week. A week on from the final election results, National is working with ACT and New Zealand First to form a Government. NZ Herald political reporter Adam Pearse says Luxon's coalition partners will need to form an agreement, making it unlikely that Luxon will g...

It’s ridiculous how long it takes to count all the votes in a general election, only to get it 'mostly right' and how long it takes for several groups of adults to get into a room and haggle out an arrangement as to how to govern, but I’m rather enjoying the country being rudderless at the moment.   Have you noticed how much less noise there is? There is something quite refreshing about not having...

Labour leader and outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was re-elected as leader. Was he really only the valid option? Where do coalition negotiations currently sit? Should Electoral Commissioner Karl Le Quesne lose his job over the election mistakes? ZB's Political Editor Jason Walls wraps the week that was.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Nick Mills from ZB's Wellington Mornings and BRG director Georgina Stylianou joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! Winston Peters held an impromptu press conference about the ongoing coalition discussions, and claimed 'speed is of the essence'. Is Winston getting impatient?  Labour's Helen White is under pressure to defend her campaign, a...

Fifteen voting places have been found to have data entry errors causing changes for electorate candidate results. The Electoral Commission has just released amended official results after doing a full check of party, electorate and special votes. Errors include one electorate where some special votes were entered incorrectly, and 620 votes in the East Coast that were included in the preliminary co...

The head of the under-pressure Electoral Commission has apologised once again, for yet another voting day error. Earlier this week, the Herald revealed 3 voting places where the data entry was incorrect. But after an investigation, the Commission revealed that number was actually 15. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne says this was a regrettable error. "It appears the quality assurance checks...

I was driving home from work late yesterday afternoon listening to Heather du Plessis-Allan, and I started feeling slightly aggravated. No, more than slightly aggravated, I felt a little bit angry. I thought to myself, New Zealand has voted overwhelmingly for change. We thought we were voting for a government led by a businessman, that would make decisions, like a businessman. Yes, Christopher Lux...

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke partners joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! The Electoral Commission is under pressure to recheck the voting results after the Herald uncovered wrong vote counts at three polling booths. Is this going to lead to a crisis in confidence in future election...