Former Labour Party MP Stuart Nash is one of the guest speakers at New Zealand First's annual meeting.
Nash had been widely rumoured to be considered aligning himself with the party.
He told members it's no coincidence leader Winston Peters and second-in-command Shane Jones were filling halls around the country.
Peters predicts 'massive victory'
Winston Peters earlier made brief opening remarks to open New Zealand First's 32nd annual general meeting, reflecting on the 2023 election and predicting a "massive political victory" next year.
He harked back to the 2023 election campaign, saying the parties on the left all promised they would fix everything if re-elected.
"There's a guy with a sausage roll, doesn't ever have a meeting, but he's got a parade of journalists following him everywhere... it was a disgrace," he said, clearly referring to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
He pointed similar critiques towards National's Christopher Luxon "somebody else was on the other side eating ice cream most of the time".
"They say 'just re-elect us, we can fix it'. This is after they'd blown the country into massive debt. Every problem, they just fix it with more borrowing and then those in Parliament on the right said, 'elect us, and we will fix it'.
"And here's the tragedy. If they ever knew how bad things were, they'd have never said that. They would say 'we could begin to fix it, but it'll take time'. It'll take years and maybe decades to turn it around wholly, but it'll take time."
He concluded the nearly seven-minute speech, saying this convention would be "critical" and pointing to a "massive sea change" in New Zealand.
"Please go home and talk to your supporters, to all your friends who work with you back home and say, 'get ready for convention 2026, and onwards to a major, massive political victory'."
Election a year away
With about a year before the election – and freed from the responsibilities of Deputy Prime Minister – the next 12 or so months will be crucial for his campaign.
The two-day event at Palmerston North's Distinction Hotel will see the wider party membership gather to vote on 55 policy remits and hear from four guest speakers and the leadership.
A public speech from Peters will conclude the event starting at about 9am on Saturday, just down the road at the city's convention centre.
At last year's AGM, Pro-Palestine protesters diverted attention during Peters' concluding public remarks, which focused on a pledge to campaign on a $100 billion infrastructure fund modelled off similar schemes in Singapore and Ireland.
Security has been stepped up for this year's event, with guards in hi-vis keeping tabs on those coming in.
Peters opened with a salvo against his political opponents, the media and former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr.
Guest speakers included Australian senator Jacinta Price who railed against the Voice to Parliament; a union organiser Dennis Maga criticising ACT Party changes to contract law; and Save Women's Sport Australasia's Ro Edge opposing trans ideology.
Policy remits NZ First members would debate and vote on include removing references to the Treaty of Waitangi from local and central government, and university/school documents "except where directly relevant", scrap co-governance (excluding Treaty settlements), develop a "long-term Demographic and Migration Strategy", amend the Bill of Rights to "ensure that basic medical freedoms are safeguarded", explore nuclear power, including fusion, consider exiting the Paris climate agreement and more.
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