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Jacinda Ardern is next prime minister of New Zealand, Winston Peters confirms – as it happened

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NZ First leader announces he has reached coalition deal to form government with Labour, which says it also has backing of Green party

 Updated 
Thu 19 Oct 2017 04.42 EDTFirst published on Wed 18 Oct 2017 19.58 EDT
Jacinda Ardern's speech in full after being named next New Zealand prime minister - video

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Key events

Bill English concedes defeat

The outgoing PM is speaking now.

He says he is proud to leave New Zealand “in great shape … a more confident country with more aspiration”. He says he wishes the new government well.

Ardern key points

Here are the key takeaways from Jacinda Ardern’s press conference:

  • NZ First will have four cabinet roles in the Labour-led coalition, plus one ministerial role outside cabinet. Portfolios will be revealed next week.
  • Winston Peters, NZ First’s leader, has been offered and is considering the role of deputy prime minister.
  • The Green party has yet to vote on its agreement to back the Labour/NZ First coalition but has been offered ministerial roles.
  • Ardern says she “enjoyed the theatre” of finding out via Peters’ televised speech that he was entering a coalition with Labour. Peters said he did not tell Ardern or National leader Bill English in advance which party he had picked.
  • Ardern said coalition negotiations had been robust and agreements would be published early next week. She said the parties had more in common than issues that divided them, including affordable housing, clean rivers and reworking the TPP.
  • The Labour caucus will meet on Friday to elect its cabinet.
  • English has conceded that National cannot form a government.

English, the outgoing PM, will hold his own news conference shortly.

Ardern, amid a barrage of questions, has asserted some of her priorities as prime minister. She has mentioned:

  • Housing and the need for affordable homes, as well as restricting foreign ownership of NZ homes.
  • A manned re-entry of the Pike River mine.
  • “A period of renegotiation” on the TPP.
  • A possible alternative site for Auckland’s port (a key Winston Peters concern).
  • Protection of NZ rivers.
Prime minister-elect Jacinda Ardern. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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“We have tried to be as proportional as possible” in determining ministerial roles, Ardern says, but insists she won’t be drawn on what has been offered to the Greens until that party’s delegates have concluded their meeting, which is happening now.

Asked if she’s had congratulations from other world leaders, Ardern says she hasn’t had a chance to check her phone.

Ardern on learning her win from TV

Asked if she’d have preferred to find out that she was PM-elect before Winston Peters announced it on television, Ardern laughs:

I enjoyed the theatre … I joined with NZ as we learned the news together.

She says she is “privileged and humbled” to become prime minister.

And on her relationship with Peters, she adds:

We’ll have a partnership, we’ll continue to learn from one another.

Four cabinet roles for NZ First

On the Greens, Ardern says she awaits the outcome of the party’s decision on whether it will back the Labour/NZ First coalition.

Tomorrow afternoon the Labour caucus will meet to elect cabinet positions. The coalition agreements with NZ First and the Greens will be published early next week, followed by news of ministerial appointments.

NZ First will hold four cabinet positions and one junior ministerial role.

Peters has been offered the role of deputy PM and is considering whether to take it, she says.

Ardern won’t be drawn on what roles could be offered to Green MPs, but confirms they will have ministerial portfolios.

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Ardern says coalition negotiations have been “robust”, but says the parties found more to unite them than divided them.

She says Labour and NZ First are “true allies” when it comes to protecting the rights of New Zealanders.

She says policy agreements are the “solid foundation on which we will now build a coalition government”.

Jacinda Ardern speaks

The PM-elect starts by thanking Bill English for his service as prime minister.

She says English has conceded that coalition talks have now concluded.

More on this story

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