The wait, the secrecy, the fear of job losses - get the low-down on the latest moves to form a government

October 17, 2017

It's not just the media who are waiting for a decision, there’s people waiting to find out if they’ll have a job.

It's not just media and the leaders of the major parties waiting for a decision from NZ First on who the government will be - there are people whose jobs are on the line.

On day 24 since the election, the NZ First board members are on their second day of meetings to decide whether to make a deal with National or a Labour Party supported by the Greens.

1 NEWS' political reporters Andrea Vance and Katie Bradford this morning discussed the motives that would sway the board. 

"Does it come down to policy though?" Vance asked.

"Or does it come down to the gains they can get, how far they can go with each party? And where their values line up as well?

"I still believe relationships are key when it comes to forming coalitions."

They questioned whether the Labour team (aside from Kelvin Davis) had the depth of relationship compared to Winston Peters and Bill English. 

Seymour says 'Winston is off talking to his imaginary friends' and that nothing has been made public about policy.

Bradford said even if an announcement came out today from NZ First of their preferred partner or partners, "there's still a whole lot of processes to go" such as working out portfolios, ministerial positions and the shape of government. 

The NZ First board would have to go through all the documents on policy for each deal and come to a conclusion of which deal they'd prefer. 

"What I find very perplexing about this whole process is the secrecy," Vance said. 

"When you're deciding the future of the next government, firstly you need to be accountable, secondly shouldn't you take some pride in that? Wouldn’t you want people to know?"

The pair said it's not just the media who have been waiting in parliament, "everyone is in limbo". 

There are about 1,000 staff in parliament who "are just waiting", Bradford said. 

"A lot of people's jobs are contingent on who the government is, so it's very unnerving for them as they sit around waiting here trying to find out – am I going to have a job next week?"

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