Hard work ahead for Christopher Luxon as his coalition partners draw battle lines

Friday, 21 November 2025

Stuff's political editor Tova O'Brien says the emerging fractures between the coalition partners were 'always inevitable'.

Winston Peters and David Seymour are in a stoush about the days-old Regulatory Standards Bill. How will Christopher Luxon bring his coalition partners back into line before the election campaign begins? Stuff Political Editor Tova O’Brien reports.

ANALYSIS: It was always inevitable wasn’t it?

Winston Peters and David Seymour were never going to be holding hands, walking into the sunset of this election term before renewing their vows at a low-key, tasteful waterside ceremony in 2026.

They’re the political duo who put the ‘enemy’ back into coalition ‘frenemy’.

Before they were co-deputy prime ministers they were exchanging barbs up there with some of the great rivalries of all time.

They were to New Zealand politics Tyson v Holyfield, Kanye v Swift, Coke v Pepsi (before it was co-opted by Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon).

Peters, Luxon and Seymour on the day they formally signed documents finalising their coalition in 2023.

Pre-throuple with Luxon, Seymour called Peters the least trustworthy person in New Zealand politics, a clown and “grandpa”.

No shrinking violet, Peters held his own, calling Seymour a cuckolded puppet, an accidental Māori and a chihuahua barking at every cat, human being or fellow dog that passes.

Perhaps no surprises then that we find ourselves where we are today.

Winston Peters has confirmed his party will campaign against the Regulatory Standards Bill, just days after the bill became law - thanks to NZ First's votes. ACT leader David Seymour says it shows NZ First is looking to work with Labour next year.

Two minor parties, holding major power in a government, but with a Venn diagram overlap of voters that need to be fought for and won well before the 2026 election.

It was only a matter of time before battle lines would need to be drawn, it was just a question of who - and when and how and over what?

The answer was Peters, on Thursday, on Radio Waatea pledging to repeal Seymour’s prized achievement this term - the Regulatory Standards Bill. You can read about it here. And why Peters is now opposed, just days after supporting it to pass into law, here.

If that was the declaration of war, it was Seymour who sunk the first battleship.

“It's pretty worrying, because that's Labour's position,” Seymour told reporters of Peters’ plans. “It sounds like he's getting ready to go with Labour again.

At this, Peters reached for one of his most powerful weapons, his chuckle.

“Don’t make me laugh,” he said before quickly attempting to cauterise any damage done with the leftist association. “The Labour party has no position on anything”.

Seymour said it sounded like Peters was taking Labour’s position on his Regulatory Standards Bill.

Before bringing up talk of the other shared NZ First/Labour policy - the Future Fund - even if just to ridicule Labour’s version for being miserly.

Until now, there had been cracks in the relationship, sure, but they were mostly maturely managed using the coalition partners’ ‘agree to disagree’ provisions within their respective agreements.

Other than the whole, sorry - and at times ugly - Treaty Principles palaver, this was MMP in action, baby.

Now, we’re seeing something different. Something that looks suspiciously like the start of an election campaign. One year out from the actual election. Oh boy.

Peters chuckled at Seymour’s suggestion he could side with Labour after the next election.

As the prime minister said when asked about the stoush between his coalition partners, “we’ve got a long way to go before the election”.

Double oh boy.

Luxon maintains that the coalition is “absolutely not” falling apart.

And indeed, after laughing at Seymour, Peters said: “There’s something important, it’s called governmental stability and we’ve got to make sure this government holds together until the next election.”

Cue the delicate alchemy of differentiating yourself enough from your coalition partners to get votes without tearing your coalition partners apart so much that feasibly working together again - or expecting the public to trust that you can - is impossible.

Peters arguing against asset sales last week by saying that the Government (that he’s a part of) has failed to run the economy properly, is precisely the kind of political acrobatics that risks tying the coalition up in knots from now to polling day.

Unless, of course, you want to remind people you’re the king maker party that could, conceivably, work with Labour again despite ruling them out under Chris Hipkins. Repealing Regulatory Standards, saying no to asset sales and bolstering Labour’s Future Fund certainly starts to sound like the beginning of an olive branch.

It’s going to be hard work for the prime minister, rising above, attempting to look statesmanly and decisive, all while knowing full well that there’s absolutely nothing he can really do to control what comes next.

There ain’t no telling Kanye or Tay Tay what to do.