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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with the Green co-leaders Monday afternoon, beginning the process of deciding what her role, if any, will be in the next government.
Ardern’s office said the meeting “was not a negotiation” but a general conversation about the outcome of the election and the process and timeframe for future discussions.
She was later seen in the lobby of Bowen House, where the Green Party has its offices, although she noted that she was heading for an afternoon tea for Labor staff, rather than a meeting with the Greens.
Ardern didn’t want to talk about their conversation.
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“I just got back from Labor afternoon tea,” he said.
“Tomorrow I will have a post-caucus press conference,” Ardern said.
With an overwhelming majority of 64 seats, Ardern does not need the 10 Green Party seats to govern.
Thomas Coughlan / Things
Jacinda Ardern the afternoon after the talks with the Greens
However, he has said that he would like to reach a “consensus” agreement.
Their comments suggested that this arrangement could be very flexible and may not involve ministerial positions.
But the Greens have some influence. The party is popular in Labor’s center and center-left, and they point to a widespread dislike of one-party governments in New Zealand.
The Greens are also confident that the Labor Party will want to draw on the expertise of its ministers.
Ardern was ambiguous when asked on Sunday if non-Labor MPs could win ministerial posts.
“That seems like a very premature conversation to me,” he said. He added that he had had “very early talks with other parties, but still a very clear mandate for Labor.”
Ardern described this as “consensus building.”
“Everyone will have seen that I have been a consensus builder, but I also need to work with the mandate that Labor has given me,” he said.
It also appears that Labor will opt for a much looser governance arrangement than the coalition and trust and supply arrangements it had in the previous term, which saw the party cede ministerial position to other parties, both inside and outside the cabinet.
Instead, Ardern appears to be looking for what she describes as a “consultation agreement.”
“During a period of the MMP government there have been a series of agreements: there have been trust and supply agreements, there have been consultation agreements, I do not want to draw any conclusions at this time,” he said.
“What is clear is that we have a mandate to go ahead and form a government.”
The consultation agreement could be something similar to the very flexible agreement that existed between the Greens and Labor after the 2005 elections.
