Opportunity will talk with National first but will turn to Labour if negotiations stall, leader Qiulae Wong says, after meeting Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins for the first time.
Wong met National leader Christopher Luxon for an hour last night and Labour leader Chris Hipkins for an hour today. The meetings come as parties wait for the release of the special vote count on November 27.
On provisional results, National, ACT and NZ First hold 67 seats, a one-seat majority. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori hold 56. Opportunity has seven.
Special votes are still to be counted. They usually lean left, and the count is expected to take about three weeks. If the coalition loses its majority, Opportunity’s seven MPs could decide who governs.
Wong said Opportunity would honour its commitment to speak first with whichever party won the most seats.
"It's unlikely that that's going to change with the specials, given that National's got a much larger number of seats."
"If they are willing to talk and want to talk, then we will have those discussions with them, but if it feels like we're not reaching any agreement or can't move that forward, we will certainly speak to Labour."
From ruled out to 'very positive'
Last night's meeting marked a turnaround for Luxon, who spent the campaign repeatedly and unequivocally ruling out working with Opportunity. On Sunday, after the party crossed the 5% threshold for the first time, he said he wanted to build a relationship with the party and Wong.
National chief of staff Cameron Burrows and Opportunity chief of staff Iain Lees-Galloway also attended.
Luxon said today it had been a very positive and constructive conversation.
"It was a great opportunity to get to know her and start to build a relationship together."
Wong said Luxon's earlier stance did not come up.
"We didn't discuss it. I think, ultimately, the fact that we've landed at a place where more political leaders are looking to find those areas of common ground is a good outcome for New Zealand."
She said the pair had bonded over their backgrounds in the private sector, sustainability and business. She told Luxon she saw that space as "the biggest opportunity for New Zealand's economy".
Wong said Luxon had talked about finding common ground across all parties, which she found encouraging.
"Next, we need to see some real action from all parties."
Opportunity's five bottom lines came up broadly, Wong said, but she and Luxon did not discuss them in detail or whether National would meet them.
Her meeting with Hipkins followed a similar pattern.
"[It was about] understanding each other's priorities a bit more, and just getting to know each other as people, seeing as we're new parliamentary colleagues."
Bottom lines before sides
Wong said the party was focused on delivering its five bottom lines rather than on picking a side, and on settling into Parliament.
"We're a new party, and a big focus for us as well is just learning to be good MPs because we want to be here for a long time, not just a single term."
Opportunity's seven MPs arrived at Parliament yesterday. Wong said several had public service backgrounds, but "being in an MP role is another thing entirely".
She expects to keep talking with other leaders before the specials are counted if the chance comes up.
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