Election 2023

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...

Economists are wracking their brains over how negotiations are set to shape the incoming Government's economic polices. ANZ's latest economic outlook examined the fiscal outlook for the incoming National-led Government, and noted that the addition of ACT and NZ First could lead to more significant changes. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says National will face potential roadblocks in i...

Lobbying efforts are already underway to prevent the incoming Government from implementing a new tax on commercial and industrial building owners. National campaigned on removing the ability of commercial and industrial building owners to deduct depreciation as an expense when paying tax. This extra tax would bring in an extra $2 billion over four years and help cover National's proposed tax cuts....

New Zealand First and ACT have made their first contact in coalition negotiations since the election wrapped up. ACT’s chief of staff Andrew Ketels and NZ First’s Darroch Ball met in Wellington today to establish 'lines of communication'. As of yet, Winston Peters has not responded to David Seymour's invitation for a conversation.  NZ Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan says there's sti...

A 19-year-old Waitaki candidate has spoken out about the abuse he faced on the campaign trail. Ethan Reille says he went through a 'daunting' experience in his first campaign- he was subject to verbal and digital abuse and threats, and was spat at a rural A&P event. He says young candidates shouldn't have to experience that kind of abuse in politics. "We've seen it progressively get worse as m...

An electoral law expert says a vote counting error could have been easily avoided. The Electoral Commission is conducting a full check, after results from three polling booths were recorded incorrectly. The data entry slip-up saw the Leighton Baker Party and the New Conservatives score votes meant for National. Barrister Graeme Edgeler says it should have triggered alerts when National got no vote...

Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and Kiwiblog contributor and Curia pollster David Farrar joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!  Chris Hipkins will remain leader of the Labour party after securing a vote of confidence from his caucus. Hipkins intends to run again in 2026- and capital gains and wealth taxes are back on the table again. Could these po...