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NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Act leader David Seymour to make celebratory speech as New Deputy Prime Minister
David Seymour has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, succeeding Winston Peters. Seymour's appointment marks a milestone for the Act Party, which now has 11 MPs. He is set to outline his vision for the country at a celebratory brunch in Auckland this morning. New Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour is holding a brunch with supporters and party members this morning to celebrate his fresh appointment. Seymour, leader of the Act Party and a Cabinet Minister, is expected to outline his vision for the country for his 18-month tenure as deputy Prime Minster and beyond. The address, taking place in Auckland, will be live-streamed at the top of this article from 10.45am. Seymour drove himself to the venue, Hyundai Marine Sports Centre, on Auckland's Tamaki Drive, and pro-Palestine protesters chased his car as he pulled in. Seymour was sworn in as deputy Prime Minister yesterday at Government House in Auckland, taking over from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. The Act leader was joined by family members, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. Kiro congratulated Seymour, and Luxon called it a 'great privilege'. The Act Party called it a 'historic milestone'. 'Not only for Seymour personally, but for the Act Party, which has grown from a caucus of one in 2014 to 11 MPs and seats at the Cabinet table in 2025.' In a speech after the swearing-in ceremony, Seymour said he would be judged he would be judged by how much was delivered for the people of New Zealand – 'all of the people, those who support Act and those who don't.' 'If I proved anything, it's that anyone can dance, not always that well, but well enough to earn people's respect and give a lot of entertainment along the way,' he said, in reference to his stint on Dancing With The Stars. Seymour is the 21st person to hold New Zealand's deputy prime ministership. His predecessor, NZ First leader Winston Peters, has held the role three times. Several deputies have gone on to become Prime Minister, including Keith Holyoake, Jack Marshall, Robert Muldoon, Geoffrey Palmer, Helen Clark and Bill English. On the deputy prime ministership, Seymour told the Front Page this week, 'It's one of those things you probably didn't think would happen in your life, but here we are'. 'I think it's good for New Zealand. It shows if you're a bit quirky but if your heart's in the right place and you put in the work, as Crowded House say, 'You can get somewhere'.' Seymour was first elected to Parliament as MP for Epsom in 2014. The Act Party's sole MP would become its leader. Just over a decade later, he sits beside 10 others after leading the party to its best result ever in the 2023 general election. His latest tenure in the Beehive hasn't come without controversy. His Treaty Principles Bill, which Act heralded as a 'promise of equal rights for all New Zealanders' was fiercely criticised for its perceived impact on Māori rights. It was one of the drivers behind a massive hīkoi to Parliament in November, where tens of thousands of people rallied in protest. It received an unprecedented amount of public submissions, more than 300,000. Despite it being dead in the water at the start (coalition partners had always intended to vote it down), Seymour said he was not at all surprised it created so much backlash. This week, Nicola Willis claimed ignorance about the importance of today to the Government on Heather du Plessis-Allan's Newstalk ZB Drive show. Du Plessis-Allan told her it was the day Seymour became Deputy PM. 'You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar,' Willis said, claiming not much would change. Du Plessis-Allan replied: 'I want to say 'stop pretending' but I know you have to pretend because you have to work with the guy'. Seymour is the Minister for Regulation and the Associate Minister of Health, Finance, Education, and Justice. Before politics, he worked as an electrical engineer in New Zealand and for private sector think tanks in Canada.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Deputy PM Handover: Seymour Vows Straight Talk, Peters Fires Up Campaign
David Seymour has vowed to keep speaking freely as he takes over as deputy prime minister, while an unshackled Winston Peters shifts into campaign mode, planning to avoid another handover next term. And both men were quick to demonstrate their fire after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ he still regards the number two job as largely ceremonial. The handover of the deputy prime ministership, as agreed during coalition negotiations, marks a new milestone for the government and the half-way point of its term. Seymour will head to the governor-general's official residence in Auckland on 31 May to be sworn in. In separate sit-down interviews with RNZ, the ACT and NZ First leaders remarked on the honour of holding the position, though downplayed the significance of the change. Seymour told RNZ the transition – in most respects – would be 'business as usual', adding, 'I've actually been the acting prime minister several times, and we're all still here, so don't worry.' Peters too was matter-of-fact: 'We signed up to that in 2023 – so we don't have reflections on it. Just stick to your word and keep going.' Ceremonial? 'How would he know?' The position was one of the last points of contention to be resolved during coalition negotiations. At the time, Luxon sought to play down its importance, saying it was 'largely a ceremonial role'. Eighteen months on, Luxon told RNZ he stood by that, noting Peters and Seymour were only ever left in charge for brief stints: 'When I do my trips [overseas], I'm pretty fast – in and out and back home pretty quickly.' To that, Seymour sniped: 'He doesn't think it's ceremonial when he leaves the country and relies on you to act for him. 'A couple of times when I've been acting prime minister… we had the CrowdStrike [IT outage], we had the Chinese ships … you're the person on the spot for those decisions.' Peters also gave Luxon's comments short shrift: 'When he [first] said that, he had no experience himself of the job, so how would he know?' He pointedly noted that the opposition asked him far fewer questions during Parliament's Question Time than they ever did Luxon: 'I kind of think that tells you something… experience matters, big time.' Seymour: 'Won't be losing my freedom to think' Asked whether the new role would temper his at-time-outspoken style, Seymour was defiant. 'I'm astonished you believe that my tone would need moderation or my remarks would need constraint,' Seymour told RNZ. 'I certainly won't be losing my freedom to think and to speak and to express what people in our communities are thinking.' Seymour denied ever criticising his coalition partners, saying he had only ever responded to criticism: 'Hopefully that won't be necessary again in this term of government.' He stressed he intended to discharge his new responsibilities 'very well' to demonstrate the ACT Party was 'a serious player'. 'My responsibility is going to be regulation, education, finance and health, just like the day before,' Seymour said. 'My job will be to show New Zealanders that ACT is politically competent and can deliver and execute in government. This is another chapter of that – becoming DPM.' Seymour said he'd not sought – nor received – advice from his predecessor, saying Peters had taught by demonstration. 'Some of those lessons, I'll take. Others I might leave with him.' Peters eyes 2026 as he passes the baton The NZ First leader said his role as deputy prime minister had been to 'offer experience… in a environment where a lot of ministers were new'. Peters said the privilege of the position also came with 'serious constraints' including a heavier workload and limits around expression. 'Speaking your mind is marvellous – but we're not in a free-think society here. We're in a coalition, and one should always remember it.' With his duties reduced, Peters said he would now have more time to focus on NZ First's election campaign, with a series of roadshows – 'not eating sausage rolls' – planned around the country. 'We took the first turn [as DPM], not the second one,' he said. 'It works out like a charm.' Peters also planned to ease back his relentless travel schedule as foreign minister, as previously signalled. He will be overseas at the time of the handover, visiting Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India. By his return, he will have visited 44 individual countries in the past 18 months. 'We've slogged it out trying to make up for the massive deficit that we inherited… it was pretty exhausting, and in that sense, it is going to be less now.' As for what his election campaign would look like, Peters said he had learned the 'bitter lessons' of 2020 and would bypass the mainstream media to speak directly to hundreds of thousands of 'forgotten New Zealanders' over the next 18 months. 'This time, we're getting the firepower, the army ready,' he said. 'We are better prepared than we've ever been in this party's political career.' And Peters made clear he would seek to avoid another handover of the deputy prime ministership next term. 'If we'd have been given a fair go in the 2023 election, there'd be no need for a handover,' Peters said. 'It's our intention to remove any doubt next election.' Early election? Full term, the plan The exact date of the next election remains unset, though Labour has stirred mischief by raising the spectre of an early vote. Peters said he was 'not really' preparing for that possibility: 'You can never forecast any of those things, but our plan is the full term and stable government.' Seymour also dismissed the idea his time as deputy prime minister could be cut short. 'It's in absolutely nobody's interest – except perhaps the complete Looney Tunes in the Greens and Te Pāti Māori and their enablers in Labour. 'There's only about 60 odd people in New Zealand – and they are odd people – who would benefit from an early election.' Even Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ he thought it unlikely: 'Turkeys don't vote for an early Christmas.'
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Deputy PM Handover: Seymour Vows Straight Talk, Peters Fires Up Campaign
David Seymour has vowed to keep speaking freely as he takes over as deputy prime minister, while an unshackled Winston Peters shifts into campaign mode, planning to avoid another handover next term. And both men were quick to demonstrate their fire after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ he still regards the number two job as largely ceremonial. The handover of the deputy prime ministership, as agreed during coalition negotiations, marks a new milestone for the government and the half-way point of its term. Seymour will head to the governor-general's official residence in Auckland on 31 May to be sworn in. In separate sit-down interviews with RNZ, the ACT and NZ First leaders remarked on the honour of holding the position, though downplayed the significance of the change. Seymour told RNZ the transition - in most respects - would be "business as usual", adding, "I've actually been the acting prime minister several times, and we're all still here, so don't worry." Peters too was matter-of-fact: "We signed up to that in 2023 - so we don't have reflections on it. Just stick to your word and keep going." Ceremonial? 'How would he know?' The position was one of the last points of contention to be resolved during coalition negotiations. At the time, Luxon sought to play down its importance, saying it was "largely a ceremonial role". Eighteen months on, Luxon told RNZ he stood by that, noting Peters and Seymour were only ever left in charge for brief stints: "When I do my trips [overseas], I'm pretty fast - in and out and back home pretty quickly." To that, Seymour sniped: "He doesn't think it's ceremonial when he leaves the country and relies on you to act for him. "A couple of times when I've been acting prime minister... we had the CrowdStrike [IT outage], we had the Chinese ships... you're the person on the spot for those decisions." Peters also gave Luxon's comments short shrift: "When he [first] said that, he had no experience himself of the job, so how would he know?" He pointedly noted that the opposition asked him far fewer questions during Parliament's Question Time than they ever did Luxon: "I kind of think that tells you something... experience matters, big time." Seymour: 'Won't be losing my freedom to think' Asked whether the new role would temper his at-time-outspoken style, Seymour was defiant. "I'm astonished you believe that my tone would need moderation or my remarks would need constraint," Seymour told RNZ. "I certainly won't be losing my freedom to think and to speak and to express what people in our communities are thinking." Seymour denied ever criticising his coalition partners, saying he had only ever responded to criticism: "Hopefully that won't be necessary again in this term of government." He stressed he intended to discharge his new responsibilities "very well" to demonstrate the ACT Party was "a serious player". "My responsibility is going to be regulation, education, finance and health, just like the day before," Seymour said. "My job will be to show New Zealanders that ACT is politically competent and can deliver and execute in government. This is another chapter of that - becoming DPM." Seymour said he'd not sought - nor received - advice from his predecessor, saying Peters had taught by demonstration. "Some of those lessons, I'll take. Others I might leave with him." Peters eyes 2026 as he passes the baton The NZ First leader said his role as deputy prime minister had been to "offer experience... in a environment where a lot of ministers were new". Peters said the privilege of the position also came with "serious constraints" including a heavier workload and limits around expression. "Speaking your mind is marvellous - but we're not in a free-think society here. We're in a coalition, and one should always remember it." With his duties reduced, Peters said he would now have more time to focus on NZ First's election campaign, with a series of roadshows - "not eating sausage rolls" - planned around the country. "We took the first turn [as DPM], not the second one," he said. "It works out like a charm." Peters also planned to ease back his relentless travel schedule as foreign minister, as previously signalled. He will be overseas at the time of the handover, visiting Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India. By his return, he will have visited 44 individual countries in the past 18 months. "We've slogged it out trying to make up for the massive deficit that we inherited... it was pretty exhausting, and in that sense, it is going to be less now." As for what his election campaign would look like, Peters said he had learned the "bitter lessons" of 2020 and would bypass the mainstream media to speak directly to hundreds of thousands of "forgotten New Zealanders" over the next 18 months. "This time, we're getting the firepower, the army ready," he said. "We are better prepared than we've ever been in this party's political career." And Peters made clear he would seek to avoid another handover of the deputy prime ministership next term. "If we'd have been given a fair go in the 2023 election, there'd be no need for a handover," Peters said. "It's our intention to remove any doubt next election." Early election? Full term, the plan The exact date of the next election remains unset, though Labour has stirred mischief by raising the spectre of an early vote. Peters said he was "not really" preparing for that possibility: "You can never forecast any of those things, but our plan is the full term and stable government." Seymour also dismissed the idea his time as deputy prime minister could be cut short. "It's in absolutely nobody's interest - except perhaps the complete Looney Tunes in the Greens and Te Pāti Māori and their enablers in Labour. "There's only about 60 odd people in New Zealand - and they are odd people - who would benefit from an early election." Even Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ he thought it unlikely: "Turkeys don't vote for an early Christmas."
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
New Zealand's odd couple in deputy PM job share
New Zealand is on the cusp of an orderly yet highly unusual transition of political power, swapping the deputy prime minister position between coalition parties. On Saturday, Winston Peters, the wily veteran first elected in 1979, will hand over the reins to David Seymour, the rising star of the right. The odd spectacle was agreed upon 18 months earlier, when both men argued to be deputy to Prime Minister Chris Luxon in coalition talks. The brokered solution was a job share, which Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva said put New Zealand in "unchartered waters". "There have been changes in deputy PM during a term before, but only due to a leadership coup or coalition bust-up rather than a pre-arranged deal," he told AAP. Perhaps more remarkable is the willingness of Mr Peters, the firebrand leader of NZ First, to step down for the ACT party leader Mr Seymour, the 41-year-old free-market ideologue, given past hostilities. In 2020, Mr Seymour called Mr Peters "a crook", and while campaigning in 2023 called the 80-year-old an "arsonist showing up dressed as a fireman saying 'I am here to help and fix it all'." "We're not going to sit around the cabinet table with this clown," he said, two months before agreeing just that. Mr Peters has hurled all sorts of names at Mr Seymour, including "a cuckolded puppet" and a "chihuahua". When election results showed Mr Luxon's National party would need to include both ACT and NZ First to build a majority coalition, the antagonism between the pair contributed to coalition talks taking six weeks. The eventual agreement of a coalition deal - including the job share - brought about a detente. "They have mellowed," NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan told AAP. That may be as the political incentive has moved from scrapping for attention and votes to presenting a united front as a co-operative, effective government. "The coalition has been dangerously united," Mr Seymour told the NZ Herald. "Our opponents thought it would all fall apart ... they underestimated that while we're all quite different we're all committed to digging New Zealand out of a hole." The two men will experience Saturday's handover in differing fashion. Mr Peters, also the foreign minister, returns from a four-country mission late in the day, and will not have to suffer the ignominy of a decommissioning, as his appointment will lapse at midnight. Before he arrives home, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will host Mr Seymour for a ceremony at her Auckland residence to formalise his ascension to the second most powerful job in politics. The rise is a remarkable one for both ACT and Mr Seymour, who entered parliament in 2014 and spent six years as the party's sole MP before engineering the ACT's growth to serious player. He championed euthanasia - which became law after a 2020 referendum - and was the sole voice opposing gun law reform that followed the Christchurch Mosques terror attack and Jacinda Ardern's Zero Carbon Act. The unlikely mix of causes - and a stint on Dancing With The Stars - saw Mr Seymour improve from one MP to 10 at the 2020 COVID-infused election. "A lot of pundits wrote the party off, guessing that eventually ACT would lose that last remaining seat and vanish," Mr Coughlan said. "The End of Life Choice bill proved there was something more substantial to Seymour than the celebrity dancing. "As National's support imploded during COVID, ACT seemed to be the main beneficiary and the party has never really looked back." In government, he created a new 'regulation' portfolio, with a goal of scrapping red tape and shrinking the size of government. Mr Seymour is loathed by the left, and never more so than during last year's debate over his Treaty Principles Bill, which drew historically large protests - particularly by Maori. Mr Sachdeva said Mr Seymour was "among the least popular political leaders" in New Zealand, evidenced by a Labour fundraising drive on the back of him becoming deputy prime minister. Political analysts also contend the changeover will mark the unofficial start to campaigning for the next election, due by October 2026. "There could well be a shift in the vibe," Mr Sachdeva said. "Seymour will almost certainly take a different approach to Peters when it comes to filling in for Luxon. He's already hinted that he might use the deputy position as a bit of a soapbox for ACT's own agenda. "(Mr Peters) has said he'll ramp up his political campaigning once he's clear of the deputy's job and does have a history of making life difficult for his coalition partners the closer you get to the next election." The idea that the National party was nervous about the switch was given more weight when Finance Minister Nicola Willis was asked about it on Thursday. "You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar," she told Newstalk ZB, claiming she didn't even know it was happening. In previous campaigns, Mr Peters has positioned his NZ First party as a swing party which could side with either left or right, exemplified by his 2017 decision to back Jacinda Ardern's Labour into office. However, the indefatigable politician has vowed never again to support Labour, falling out with the party over Maori policy and COVID-19 mandates. This time around, his party will rally around "anti-woke" causes, adopting Donald Trump-style campaign phrases and, most likely, to pull New Zealand out of climate commitments. Mr Coughlan said Mr Peters would relish a return to the role of retail politician. "Peters has travelled a lot during the first half of the term. I think he'll ease up a bit and spend more time in the heartlands leading up to the election," he said. The switch will not cost Mr Peters any staff, but it will hit his wallet: Mr Peters' annual salary dropping from $NZ344,000 ($A319,000) to $NZ304,000 ($A282,000) and Mr Seymour enjoying the bump in reverse. New Zealand is on the cusp of an orderly yet highly unusual transition of political power, swapping the deputy prime minister position between coalition parties. On Saturday, Winston Peters, the wily veteran first elected in 1979, will hand over the reins to David Seymour, the rising star of the right. The odd spectacle was agreed upon 18 months earlier, when both men argued to be deputy to Prime Minister Chris Luxon in coalition talks. The brokered solution was a job share, which Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva said put New Zealand in "unchartered waters". "There have been changes in deputy PM during a term before, but only due to a leadership coup or coalition bust-up rather than a pre-arranged deal," he told AAP. Perhaps more remarkable is the willingness of Mr Peters, the firebrand leader of NZ First, to step down for the ACT party leader Mr Seymour, the 41-year-old free-market ideologue, given past hostilities. In 2020, Mr Seymour called Mr Peters "a crook", and while campaigning in 2023 called the 80-year-old an "arsonist showing up dressed as a fireman saying 'I am here to help and fix it all'." "We're not going to sit around the cabinet table with this clown," he said, two months before agreeing just that. Mr Peters has hurled all sorts of names at Mr Seymour, including "a cuckolded puppet" and a "chihuahua". When election results showed Mr Luxon's National party would need to include both ACT and NZ First to build a majority coalition, the antagonism between the pair contributed to coalition talks taking six weeks. The eventual agreement of a coalition deal - including the job share - brought about a detente. "They have mellowed," NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan told AAP. That may be as the political incentive has moved from scrapping for attention and votes to presenting a united front as a co-operative, effective government. "The coalition has been dangerously united," Mr Seymour told the NZ Herald. "Our opponents thought it would all fall apart ... they underestimated that while we're all quite different we're all committed to digging New Zealand out of a hole." The two men will experience Saturday's handover in differing fashion. Mr Peters, also the foreign minister, returns from a four-country mission late in the day, and will not have to suffer the ignominy of a decommissioning, as his appointment will lapse at midnight. Before he arrives home, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will host Mr Seymour for a ceremony at her Auckland residence to formalise his ascension to the second most powerful job in politics. The rise is a remarkable one for both ACT and Mr Seymour, who entered parliament in 2014 and spent six years as the party's sole MP before engineering the ACT's growth to serious player. He championed euthanasia - which became law after a 2020 referendum - and was the sole voice opposing gun law reform that followed the Christchurch Mosques terror attack and Jacinda Ardern's Zero Carbon Act. The unlikely mix of causes - and a stint on Dancing With The Stars - saw Mr Seymour improve from one MP to 10 at the 2020 COVID-infused election. "A lot of pundits wrote the party off, guessing that eventually ACT would lose that last remaining seat and vanish," Mr Coughlan said. "The End of Life Choice bill proved there was something more substantial to Seymour than the celebrity dancing. "As National's support imploded during COVID, ACT seemed to be the main beneficiary and the party has never really looked back." In government, he created a new 'regulation' portfolio, with a goal of scrapping red tape and shrinking the size of government. Mr Seymour is loathed by the left, and never more so than during last year's debate over his Treaty Principles Bill, which drew historically large protests - particularly by Maori. Mr Sachdeva said Mr Seymour was "among the least popular political leaders" in New Zealand, evidenced by a Labour fundraising drive on the back of him becoming deputy prime minister. Political analysts also contend the changeover will mark the unofficial start to campaigning for the next election, due by October 2026. "There could well be a shift in the vibe," Mr Sachdeva said. "Seymour will almost certainly take a different approach to Peters when it comes to filling in for Luxon. He's already hinted that he might use the deputy position as a bit of a soapbox for ACT's own agenda. "(Mr Peters) has said he'll ramp up his political campaigning once he's clear of the deputy's job and does have a history of making life difficult for his coalition partners the closer you get to the next election." The idea that the National party was nervous about the switch was given more weight when Finance Minister Nicola Willis was asked about it on Thursday. "You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar," she told Newstalk ZB, claiming she didn't even know it was happening. In previous campaigns, Mr Peters has positioned his NZ First party as a swing party which could side with either left or right, exemplified by his 2017 decision to back Jacinda Ardern's Labour into office. However, the indefatigable politician has vowed never again to support Labour, falling out with the party over Maori policy and COVID-19 mandates. This time around, his party will rally around "anti-woke" causes, adopting Donald Trump-style campaign phrases and, most likely, to pull New Zealand out of climate commitments. Mr Coughlan said Mr Peters would relish a return to the role of retail politician. "Peters has travelled a lot during the first half of the term. I think he'll ease up a bit and spend more time in the heartlands leading up to the election," he said. The switch will not cost Mr Peters any staff, but it will hit his wallet: Mr Peters' annual salary dropping from $NZ344,000 ($A319,000) to $NZ304,000 ($A282,000) and Mr Seymour enjoying the bump in reverse. New Zealand is on the cusp of an orderly yet highly unusual transition of political power, swapping the deputy prime minister position between coalition parties. On Saturday, Winston Peters, the wily veteran first elected in 1979, will hand over the reins to David Seymour, the rising star of the right. The odd spectacle was agreed upon 18 months earlier, when both men argued to be deputy to Prime Minister Chris Luxon in coalition talks. The brokered solution was a job share, which Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva said put New Zealand in "unchartered waters". "There have been changes in deputy PM during a term before, but only due to a leadership coup or coalition bust-up rather than a pre-arranged deal," he told AAP. Perhaps more remarkable is the willingness of Mr Peters, the firebrand leader of NZ First, to step down for the ACT party leader Mr Seymour, the 41-year-old free-market ideologue, given past hostilities. In 2020, Mr Seymour called Mr Peters "a crook", and while campaigning in 2023 called the 80-year-old an "arsonist showing up dressed as a fireman saying 'I am here to help and fix it all'." "We're not going to sit around the cabinet table with this clown," he said, two months before agreeing just that. Mr Peters has hurled all sorts of names at Mr Seymour, including "a cuckolded puppet" and a "chihuahua". When election results showed Mr Luxon's National party would need to include both ACT and NZ First to build a majority coalition, the antagonism between the pair contributed to coalition talks taking six weeks. The eventual agreement of a coalition deal - including the job share - brought about a detente. "They have mellowed," NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan told AAP. That may be as the political incentive has moved from scrapping for attention and votes to presenting a united front as a co-operative, effective government. "The coalition has been dangerously united," Mr Seymour told the NZ Herald. "Our opponents thought it would all fall apart ... they underestimated that while we're all quite different we're all committed to digging New Zealand out of a hole." The two men will experience Saturday's handover in differing fashion. Mr Peters, also the foreign minister, returns from a four-country mission late in the day, and will not have to suffer the ignominy of a decommissioning, as his appointment will lapse at midnight. Before he arrives home, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will host Mr Seymour for a ceremony at her Auckland residence to formalise his ascension to the second most powerful job in politics. The rise is a remarkable one for both ACT and Mr Seymour, who entered parliament in 2014 and spent six years as the party's sole MP before engineering the ACT's growth to serious player. He championed euthanasia - which became law after a 2020 referendum - and was the sole voice opposing gun law reform that followed the Christchurch Mosques terror attack and Jacinda Ardern's Zero Carbon Act. The unlikely mix of causes - and a stint on Dancing With The Stars - saw Mr Seymour improve from one MP to 10 at the 2020 COVID-infused election. "A lot of pundits wrote the party off, guessing that eventually ACT would lose that last remaining seat and vanish," Mr Coughlan said. "The End of Life Choice bill proved there was something more substantial to Seymour than the celebrity dancing. "As National's support imploded during COVID, ACT seemed to be the main beneficiary and the party has never really looked back." In government, he created a new 'regulation' portfolio, with a goal of scrapping red tape and shrinking the size of government. Mr Seymour is loathed by the left, and never more so than during last year's debate over his Treaty Principles Bill, which drew historically large protests - particularly by Maori. Mr Sachdeva said Mr Seymour was "among the least popular political leaders" in New Zealand, evidenced by a Labour fundraising drive on the back of him becoming deputy prime minister. Political analysts also contend the changeover will mark the unofficial start to campaigning for the next election, due by October 2026. "There could well be a shift in the vibe," Mr Sachdeva said. "Seymour will almost certainly take a different approach to Peters when it comes to filling in for Luxon. He's already hinted that he might use the deputy position as a bit of a soapbox for ACT's own agenda. "(Mr Peters) has said he'll ramp up his political campaigning once he's clear of the deputy's job and does have a history of making life difficult for his coalition partners the closer you get to the next election." The idea that the National party was nervous about the switch was given more weight when Finance Minister Nicola Willis was asked about it on Thursday. "You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar," she told Newstalk ZB, claiming she didn't even know it was happening. In previous campaigns, Mr Peters has positioned his NZ First party as a swing party which could side with either left or right, exemplified by his 2017 decision to back Jacinda Ardern's Labour into office. However, the indefatigable politician has vowed never again to support Labour, falling out with the party over Maori policy and COVID-19 mandates. This time around, his party will rally around "anti-woke" causes, adopting Donald Trump-style campaign phrases and, most likely, to pull New Zealand out of climate commitments. Mr Coughlan said Mr Peters would relish a return to the role of retail politician. "Peters has travelled a lot during the first half of the term. I think he'll ease up a bit and spend more time in the heartlands leading up to the election," he said. The switch will not cost Mr Peters any staff, but it will hit his wallet: Mr Peters' annual salary dropping from $NZ344,000 ($A319,000) to $NZ304,000 ($A282,000) and Mr Seymour enjoying the bump in reverse. New Zealand is on the cusp of an orderly yet highly unusual transition of political power, swapping the deputy prime minister position between coalition parties. On Saturday, Winston Peters, the wily veteran first elected in 1979, will hand over the reins to David Seymour, the rising star of the right. The odd spectacle was agreed upon 18 months earlier, when both men argued to be deputy to Prime Minister Chris Luxon in coalition talks. The brokered solution was a job share, which Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva said put New Zealand in "unchartered waters". "There have been changes in deputy PM during a term before, but only due to a leadership coup or coalition bust-up rather than a pre-arranged deal," he told AAP. Perhaps more remarkable is the willingness of Mr Peters, the firebrand leader of NZ First, to step down for the ACT party leader Mr Seymour, the 41-year-old free-market ideologue, given past hostilities. In 2020, Mr Seymour called Mr Peters "a crook", and while campaigning in 2023 called the 80-year-old an "arsonist showing up dressed as a fireman saying 'I am here to help and fix it all'." "We're not going to sit around the cabinet table with this clown," he said, two months before agreeing just that. Mr Peters has hurled all sorts of names at Mr Seymour, including "a cuckolded puppet" and a "chihuahua". When election results showed Mr Luxon's National party would need to include both ACT and NZ First to build a majority coalition, the antagonism between the pair contributed to coalition talks taking six weeks. The eventual agreement of a coalition deal - including the job share - brought about a detente. "They have mellowed," NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan told AAP. That may be as the political incentive has moved from scrapping for attention and votes to presenting a united front as a co-operative, effective government. "The coalition has been dangerously united," Mr Seymour told the NZ Herald. "Our opponents thought it would all fall apart ... they underestimated that while we're all quite different we're all committed to digging New Zealand out of a hole." The two men will experience Saturday's handover in differing fashion. Mr Peters, also the foreign minister, returns from a four-country mission late in the day, and will not have to suffer the ignominy of a decommissioning, as his appointment will lapse at midnight. Before he arrives home, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro will host Mr Seymour for a ceremony at her Auckland residence to formalise his ascension to the second most powerful job in politics. The rise is a remarkable one for both ACT and Mr Seymour, who entered parliament in 2014 and spent six years as the party's sole MP before engineering the ACT's growth to serious player. He championed euthanasia - which became law after a 2020 referendum - and was the sole voice opposing gun law reform that followed the Christchurch Mosques terror attack and Jacinda Ardern's Zero Carbon Act. The unlikely mix of causes - and a stint on Dancing With The Stars - saw Mr Seymour improve from one MP to 10 at the 2020 COVID-infused election. "A lot of pundits wrote the party off, guessing that eventually ACT would lose that last remaining seat and vanish," Mr Coughlan said. "The End of Life Choice bill proved there was something more substantial to Seymour than the celebrity dancing. "As National's support imploded during COVID, ACT seemed to be the main beneficiary and the party has never really looked back." In government, he created a new 'regulation' portfolio, with a goal of scrapping red tape and shrinking the size of government. Mr Seymour is loathed by the left, and never more so than during last year's debate over his Treaty Principles Bill, which drew historically large protests - particularly by Maori. Mr Sachdeva said Mr Seymour was "among the least popular political leaders" in New Zealand, evidenced by a Labour fundraising drive on the back of him becoming deputy prime minister. Political analysts also contend the changeover will mark the unofficial start to campaigning for the next election, due by October 2026. "There could well be a shift in the vibe," Mr Sachdeva said. "Seymour will almost certainly take a different approach to Peters when it comes to filling in for Luxon. He's already hinted that he might use the deputy position as a bit of a soapbox for ACT's own agenda. "(Mr Peters) has said he'll ramp up his political campaigning once he's clear of the deputy's job and does have a history of making life difficult for his coalition partners the closer you get to the next election." The idea that the National party was nervous about the switch was given more weight when Finance Minister Nicola Willis was asked about it on Thursday. "You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar," she told Newstalk ZB, claiming she didn't even know it was happening. In previous campaigns, Mr Peters has positioned his NZ First party as a swing party which could side with either left or right, exemplified by his 2017 decision to back Jacinda Ardern's Labour into office. However, the indefatigable politician has vowed never again to support Labour, falling out with the party over Maori policy and COVID-19 mandates. This time around, his party will rally around "anti-woke" causes, adopting Donald Trump-style campaign phrases and, most likely, to pull New Zealand out of climate commitments. Mr Coughlan said Mr Peters would relish a return to the role of retail politician. "Peters has travelled a lot during the first half of the term. I think he'll ease up a bit and spend more time in the heartlands leading up to the election," he said. The switch will not cost Mr Peters any staff, but it will hit his wallet: Mr Peters' annual salary dropping from $NZ344,000 ($A319,000) to $NZ304,000 ($A282,000) and Mr Seymour enjoying the bump in reverse.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Seymour vows straight talk, Peters fires up campaign
By Craig McCulloch of RNZ David Seymour has vowed to keep speaking freely as he takes over as deputy prime minister, while an unshackled Winston Peters shifts into campaign mode, planning to avoid another handover next term. And both men were quick to demonstrate their fire after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he still regards the number two job as largely ceremonial. The handover of the deputy prime ministership, as agreed during coalition negotiations, marks a new milestone for the government and the halfway point of its term. Seymour will head to the governor-general's official residence in Auckland on May 31 to be sworn in. In separate interviews the ACT and NZ First leaders remarked on the honour of holding the position, though downplayed the significance of the change. Seymour said the transition - in most respects - would be "business as usual", adding, "I've actually been the acting prime minister several times, and we're all still here, so don't worry." Peters too was matter-of-fact: "We signed up to that in 2023 - so we don't have reflections on it. Just stick to your word and keep going." Ceremonial? 'How would he know?' The position was one of the last points of contention to be resolved during coalition negotiations. At the time, Luxon sought to play down its importance, saying it was "largely a ceremonial role". Eighteen months on, Luxon said he stood by that, noting Peters and Seymour were only ever left in charge for brief stints: "When I do my trips [overseas], I'm pretty fast - in and out and back home pretty quickly." To that, Seymour sniped: "He doesn't think it's ceremonial when he leaves the country and relies on you to act for him. "A couple of times when I've been acting prime minister... we had the CrowdStrike [IT outage], we had the Chinese ships... you're the person on the spot for those decisions." Peters also gave Luxon's comments short shrift: "When he [first] said that, he had no experience himself of the job, so how would he know?" He pointedly noted that the opposition asked him far fewer questions during Parliament's Question Time than they ever did Luxon: "I kind of think that tells you something... experience matters, big time." Seymour: 'Won't be losing my freedom to think' Asked whether the new role would temper his at-time-outspoken style, Seymour was defiant. "I'm astonished you believe that my tone would need moderation or my remarks would need constraint," Seymour said. "I certainly won't be losing my freedom to think and to speak and to express what people in our communities are thinking." Seymour denied ever criticising his coalition partners, saying he had only ever responded to criticism: "Hopefully that won't be necessary again in this term of government." He stressed he intended to discharge his new responsibilities "very well" to demonstrate the ACT Party was "a serious player". "My responsibility is going to be regulation, education, finance and health, just like the day before," Seymour said. "My job will be to show New Zealanders that ACT is politically competent and can deliver and execute in government. This is another chapter of that - becoming DPM." Seymour said he'd not sought - nor received - advice from his predecessor, saying Peters had taught by demonstration. "Some of those lessons, I'll take. Others I might leave with him." Peters eyes 2026 as he passes the baton The NZ First leader said his role as deputy prime minister had been to "offer experience... in an environment where a lot of ministers were new". Peters said the privilege of the position also came with "serious constraints" including a heavier workload and limits around expression. "Speaking your mind is marvellous - but we're not in a free-think society here. We're in a coalition, and one should always remember it." With his duties reduced, Peters said he would now have more time to focus on NZ First's election campaign, with a series of roadshows - "not eating sausage rolls" - planned around the country. "We took the first turn [as DPM], not the second one," he said. "It works out like a charm." Peters also planned to ease back his relentless travel schedule as foreign minister, as previously signalled. He will be overseas at the time of the handover, visiting Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India. By his return, he will have visited 44 individual countries in the past 18 months. "We've slogged it out trying to make up for the massive deficit that we inherited... it was pretty exhausting, and in that sense, it is going to be less now." As for what his election campaign would look like, Peters said he had learned the "bitter lessons" of 2020 and would bypass the mainstream media to speak directly to hundreds of thousands of "forgotten New Zealanders" over the next 18 months. "This time, we're getting the firepower, the army ready," he said. "We are better prepared than we've ever been in this party's political career." And Peters made clear he would seek to avoid another handover of the deputy prime ministership next term. "If we'd have been given a fair go in the 2023 election, there'd be no need for a handover," Peters said. "It's our intention to remove any doubt next election." Early election? Full term, the plan The exact date of the next election remains unset, though Labour has stirred mischief by raising the spectre of an early vote. Peters said he was "not really" preparing for that possibility: "You can never forecast any of those things, but our plan is the full term and stable government." Seymour also dismissed the idea his time as deputy prime minister could be cut short. "It's in absolutely nobody's interest - except perhaps the complete Looney Tunes in the Greens and Te Pāti Māori and their enablers in Labour. "There's only about 60 odd people in New Zealand - and they are odd people - who would benefit from an early election." Even Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he thought it unlikely: "Turkeys don't vote for an early Christmas."
