Former prime minister Helen Clark, who governed with multiple coalition pairings over her time in power, has given her take on how the National-ACT-NZ First coalition has gone in its first five months in power.
In her years in office, Clark worked with multiple political parties and big personalities – including current deputy prime minister Winston Peters.
Her first government was formed with Jim Anderton's Alliance, supported by the Greens, with Clark later reaching out to United Future in 2002 and New Zealand First in 2005.
Speaking today, the former prime minister was asked what she made of current PM Christopher Luxon's leadership style and his approach to coalition management.
She said the prime minister was "learning on the job, as we all do".
"I led minority coalition governments for nine years.
"It's possible to do this, but what it needs is constant communication between the partners, and I'm not sure we're seeing that particularly well," she told Q+A.
Labour takes a "commanding lead" following Clark's election victory. (Source: 1News)
"We're seeing ministers surprised by what ministers from other parties are doing, for example."
Coalition tensions over a Cabinet paper authored by Media Minister Melissa Lee were reported by Stuff yesterday.
Clark said today: "If I had any advice, which would be presumptuous, it would be to really look at those liaison functions between the PM's office, National ministers' offices, the leader's offices of the other parties, and their ministers.
"If you're not constantly communicating, there will be surprises, there will be dysfunction, and in the end, that ends up in trouble."
In her Q+A interview, Clark also gave her thoughts on New Zealand's geopolitical shifts, the country's relationship with China, and the ongoing Covid-19 Royal Commission.
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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