Labour leader Chris Hipkins and NZ First leader Winston Peters are denying work is underway to build a bridge between the two parties, ahead of next year’s election.
Peters said it was “bull dust” to characterise talks between him and Labour’s Peeni Henare as early “coalition” moves. And Hipkins also disputed suggestions that Henare was working on building a potential coalition relationship with Peters.
Stuff first reported on the talks between Henare and Peters, after Henare confirmed he had spoken to the NZ First leader about “opportunities next year”.
He said those talks started because of foreign affairs. Henare is Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson and Peters is the minister. But he said those discussions had evolved.
Of course Labour and NZF are ‘talking’.
They are not ‘in talks’, yet, but they certainly are talking.
The Labour faction who want a deal with NZF over Māori Party are using the same arguments about not being beholden to the Greens and all Labour’s beige wonk wonk policy announced to date appeases Winston, it certainly doesn’t challenge him.
Labour are wedded to the same neoliberal 30% debt to GDP straightjacket that National are wearing and Labour are channeling Labour UK Keir Starmer over New York Mayor Mamdani.
I think the Greens should take the gloves off with Labour, the way Green MP Steve Able did on The Bradbury Group last night, NZF stands for everything the Greens oppose and if Labour won’t challenge Winston, the Greens should start laying into Labour.
If the Greens went hard against Labour’s incrementalism, they could shave another 3 points off Labour’s Left and that is all that is going to matter at negotiation time: how much larger Green vote is to NZF vote and how close the Greens are to half of Labour’s vote. Those two numbers will determine how much leverage the Greens have come negotiation time.
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