ACT Party leader David Seymour has said he won't work with New Zealand First after this year's general election.
Seymour took aim at NZ First leader Winston Peters on Breakfast this morning: "He can't work with anybody.
"I don't see why people think that I might have superhuman abilities to do so."
And Seymour argued that Peters wouldn't return as an MP anyway.
The ACT Party leader has ruled out working with NZ First after the upcoming election. (Source: 1News)
"The truth is, there's no polls that say he's got a chance of being back in Parliament," Seymour said.
It comes as the latest 1News Verian Poll shows the National-ACT bloc on 61 seats - just enough to secure power - and the left bloc on 59. The poll had NZ First on 3%, which wouldn't be enough to earn a seat in Parliament come election time.
"Think about how many chances this guy has had already," Seymour said.
"He's ultimately the person that created all these problems by putting Labour into government.
"The same person now selling themselves as the solution to that problem? I don't think that's credible."
Seymour also discussed National Party leader Christopher Luxon's assertion yesterday that a National Government would "absolutely" accept Chinese investment to fund the building of new proposed roads.
"Let me be very clear first of all. We love China, we love the Chinese people, we don't love the Chinese Communist Party or the style of government that they have," he said, adding that accepting money from China can "come with some strings attached".
"I think New Zealand does actually have to be wary of this," Seymour said. "We want to build our connections with the Chinese people, but we also have to be very honest and clear about what we think about the style of government they have.
"We're happy to trade, we're happy to do business, but when it comes to the possibility of major strategic infrastructure being owned by people who are under the thumb of a regime that we disagree with on many issues, I think that's probably a little bit too close."
"On the other hand, ACT is very clear that the idea that there are people around the world who could do with places to invest their money, think about Canadian pension funds," he said.
"There's lots of people that want to invest in infrastructure around the world and New Zealand, rather than saying 'the government can't afford it, it won't get built for a generation', should start trying to welcome that."
ACT would work together with National to find a solution to the question of Chinese investment in roads, Seymour said.
"We in conversation would say, 'let's think this through'," he said. "And I suspect that if we did that, we'd come to a different conclusion than 'yes, we unequivocally would be part of Belt and Road'."
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