Coalition talks are set to continue into the night as party leaders seek to finalise a weeks-long negotiation process.
Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon arrived in Wellington at 10pm on Wednesday and told reporters there was still more work to be done before he called it a day.
"We’re in the final stages, we made some more progress this afternoon.
"There’ll be more phone calls this evening. More work tonight and into tomorrow, then we’ll get this thing done and hopefully move forward.
"We’ve got to close it out now and bring it home for New Zealand, that’s what we’re going to work hard to do."
Luxon said the assigning of ministerial roles had been "largely completed". One of the final sticking points is which one of ACT leader David Seymour and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters will be deputy prime minister.
The Prime Minister-elect would not get into detail around those discussions but said he had grown fond of both leaders throughout the negotiation process.
"I like them both and I’ve got to learn a lot more about them both through this process and seeing how they think, how they work. I think we’ve had some good, upfront conversations about what we hope to achieve together.
"Our conversations on ministerial responsibilities has actually been about using the talent across all three parties. There’s amazing skills, abilities and experience across all three parties. We want to put the right people on the right assignment and we want to hold them accountable on an agenda that helps take New Zealand forward."
While repeating the statement negotiations were in their final stages, Luxon said there was no deadline to meet.
"It will take as long as it takes," he said.
"All three leaders are working incredibly hard to make sure we can form a strong and stable government that takes New Zealand forward. It will takes as long as it takes but we are getting closer and we’ve got a couple of issues to close out."
Earlier in the evening, Seymour denied the three parties were "squabbling" over the role of deputy prime minister.
“I think that’s what the media would like it to be, because that’s the simpler dynamic to report on,” Seymour said.
National Party deputy Nicola Willis also stated she was 'not in the race' for the role.
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