New Zealand First MP Shane Jones has signalled that his party wants to look at the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

In the lead-up to the election, Act made it a bottom line to deliver a referendum on the principles of the Treaty, a proposal that has been labelled divisive by many political parties.

But speaking to NZME’s The Country today, Jones suggested his party was onboard with looking at the Treaty and its use. “People should have no doubt as to the willingness and zeal of New Zealand First to bring to heel the polarisation, the exploitation of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi to drive more divisive outcomes,” he said.

“This notion that you can’t proceed with mining off the coast of Taranaki unless the local hapu are happy and it suits whatever their customary tikanga preferences are… there is no tikanga in Māoridom governing the extraction 37 kilometres off the coastline of iron sands from God knows how many metres under the water. That’s not only a fiction, but sadly it has taken root through the corridors of the judiciary.”

Jones wouldn’t comment on whether he wanted to be the next minister for Māori development, saying that decisions on cabinet positions were above his pay grade.

We’re so close, yet perhaps still so far. The incoming prime minister has told reporters there are still a “couple” of issues to be resolved before a new government can be announced.

With policy discussions wrapped up, it seems likely that one of those issues remains who will be the next deputy prime minister. “Largely we’ve agreed our ministerial responsibilities and appointments, that’s in good shape,” Luxon said in Auckland.

Earlier today, National deputy Nicola Willis ruled herself out of contention for the deputy prime ministership. Luxon said that, actually, she’d never been in the running.

“It had never been a consideration for Nicola her and I had both spoken well before the negotiation and were of the view that… the deputy prime ministership should be held by a coalition leader.”

Luxon wouldn’t give any hints as to whether David Seymour or Winston Peters was more likely to take the role – or if they could share it – but said he had enjoyed working with both of them during the negotiation. “There is no one holding the country to ransom,” he said.

Talks remain ongoing in Auckland and Luxon still wouldn’t give a timeline for how long they will take.

National’s deputy leader has confirmed she’s not in the running to be the next deputy prime minister.

Arriving in Wellington this afternoon, Nicola Willis told reporters at parliament that the next deputy PM would be either Winston Peters or David Seymour.

“I’m not in the race… I am not interested in roles and titles. I am interested in the role of governing,” said Willis, as reported by Newshub. “Winston, David, they would do a great job as deputy prime minister.”

Throughout the election campaign and beyond, Christopher Luxon made it clear that the only certainties when it came to portfolios were that he would be prime minister and Willis would be finance minister. He reiterated this yesterday when speaking outside the Cordis Hotel.

David Seymour made a public pitch yesterday that as the leader of the second largest governing party, it would make sense for him to be deputy PM. But Winston Peters has held that role twice before and is largely seen as being more interested in the so-called baubles of office. Perhaps, as Toby Manhire wrote yesterday, they could both share it?

Over 9,000 people have so far voted in the Port Waikato byelection taking place on Saturday. But, by comparison, more than 40,000 people voted in the electorate in the 2020 election.

Advance voting has been open for more than a week now for the election triggered by the death of Act’s candidate ahead of October’s general election.

“Election day in the Port Waikato byelection is this Saturday 25 November, so there are only a few more days of voting left,” said the Electoral Commission’s Anusha Guler.

“The by-election is being held to elect a local MP. If you live in the electorate and haven’t voted yet, you have until 7pm on Saturday to cast your vote.”

Byelection turnout is typically much lower than in a general election. According to RNZ, while figures in Port Waikato remain low, they are trending higher than last year’s Hamilton West byelection.

A pair of senior National MPs, and the party’s president, have been spotted heading back to Wellington, but none will say whether it’s a precursor to the announcement of a new government.

Deputy leader Nicola Willis and campaign manager Chris Bishop were both seen at Auckland Airport this morning, reported RNZ. Willis said her work in Auckland “was done”, but was coy as to what exactly that meant.

“I just want the same thing that everyone in New Zealand wants, which is for us to get on, have some agreements signed, and form a government.”

Meanwhile, Bishop said he simply needed more clothes. “I’m currently wearing Christopher Luxon’s shirt,” he told a reporter. “He lent me a blue shirt… it just means I’ve got to go home, I’ve been away for three and half nights and I was up here for one.”

With policy talks completed, political leaders are now ironing out the final creases around ministerial postings (and, possibly, on their shirts). It’s expected that an announcement could come tomorrow, meaning we might have a new government in time for the weekend.

Israel’s cabinet is meeting to consider a deal that would see Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israelis being held hostage in Gaza, overseas media is reporting.

According to Al Jazeera, this is the third cabinet meeting taking place today and, once it has concluded, ministers will then vote on the deal.

“We heard from prime minister Netanyahu saying that Israel will continue its war against Hamas even if a temporary ceasefire is reached with the group to release hostages,” an Al Jazeera reporter in occupied East Jerusalem said.

In a video address, Netanyahu said: “The war continues, the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals: to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel, there will be no element in it that supports terrorism, that educates its children to terror , and who threaten the State of Israel.”

CNN has reported that the deal would see the release of 50 women and children and lead to a “four-to-five day pause in fighting”. Three Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be freed for every civilian hostage that is released, sources have told CNN.

Here in New Zealand, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine Francesca Albanese spoke to a crowd of hundreds in Auckland last night in support of a ceasefire in Gaza and a free Palestine. “What Israel has done is brutal,” she told the audience. “It’s brutal and not necessarily unprecedented, but it’s unprecedented in terms of intensity, in terms of scope, and in terms of relentlessness.”

As Thomas Coughlan writes in The Herald this morning, the timing of Nicola Willis’ planned mini-budget has always been aligned with the release of Treasury’s Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (Hyefu). These are the fiscal forecasts the finance minister has to ask Treasury to produce by the end of December under the Public Finance Act. While there’s an out for finance ministers in election years, Willis has confirmed she will be delivering the Hyefu and will release her mini-budget alongside it.

If the new government was sworn in next Monday, Coughlan notes it would have just 24 days to produce a mini-budget if that timing is to be retained. As BusinessDesk’s Jem Traylen notes (paywalled), this interregnum “is always brutal for public servants in the policy area” as the issue of what to do with policy work already underway rears its head. Traylen cites the Ministry for the Environment’s extensive work programme to put in place Resource Management Act reform, which the incoming government has said it will repeal.

As BusinessDesk’s Ian Llewellyn writes (paywalled), the change of government has also put paid to work being done by a panel on policy priorities and actions to alleviate energy hardship. The recommendations of the Energy Hardship Expert Panel are no longer under active consideration because of the change of government, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says.

Want to read The Bulletin in full? Click here to subscribe and join over 39,000 New Zealanders who start each weekday with the biggest stories in politics, business, media and culture.

Act Party leader David Seymour says he’d take the role of deputy prime minister very seriously if he takes it on in the incoming government – and appears to be at odds with Christopher Luxon over how important the position is.

By all accounts, we truly are very close to having a new government. Luke Malpass in The Post has reported that a deal between National, Act and New Zealand First could be signed tomorrow – just shy of three weeks since the special votes were confirmed and the overall outcome of the election was revealed.

But the final hurdle is determining who takes on the role of deputy. The three contenders are clearly National’s current deputy Nicola Willis, most likely the pick of Luxon, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who has held the role twice previously, and Seymour.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Seymour put forward his most overt bid for the role, saying it would make sense given Act was the second largest party in the coalition. Luxon wouldn’t comment, but later told media that the role of deputy was “largely ceremonial” and was effectively a fill-in for when he couldn’t be in parliament or was overseas.

As pointed out by lawyer Graeme Edgeler on Twitter, that’s not a totally incorrect observation. “NZ first had a PM in 1902. We didn’t get a deputy PM until 1949,” Edgeler wrote, noting that the UK has often not had a second in command, including as recently as 2015 to 2021.

Seymour, however, told Stuff it was an important job and one that would require “a lot of very hard work”. The Act leader met with Luxon at his home yesterday, and said the catch-up went well. “Obviously, it’s been a long process for everybody but it is clear we will be working well together,” he said.