Minor-Party Leaders Make Their Pitch for Coalition Power
Five minor-party leaders debated coalition power on 1 October, without Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins on stage.
The event was organised by The Press and billed as 'The Press Kingmakers' Debate'. It started at 7:30pm and Stuff carried it live as the first major debate of the 2026 election season The Press. Stuff dated its live coverage to 1 October 2026. RNZ also covered it live as 'Election 2026 live: Minor party leaders go head-to-head in first big debate of campaign'.
The five on stage were ACT leader David Seymour, Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick, NZ First leader Winston Peters, Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong and Rawiri Waititi RNZ. Luxon and Hipkins were left out on purpose. Under MMP, the proportional voting system New Zealand uses, smaller parties can hold the balance of power after an election. The format gave them space to argue for that influence.
It was moderated by Andrea Vance and Jenna Lynch. The exchange stayed mostly civil. There were sharp moments but no long stretches of interruption, and the leaders mostly spoke to the moderators rather than to each other.
Peters said Luxon and Hipkins were "not in the same league" as other prime ministers he had worked with. He checked his watch during the debate. When the moderators asked about it, he said "You said 8.30". Asked if he had somewhere else to be, he said "yes I have".
Policy detail was limited, which is common in a five-way debate. Peters pledged a $120 increase to weekly Working for Families payments, the support paid to low and middle-income families. Seymour said his salary was $515,060. He was the only leader on stage willing to share that figure.
On the night, Wong led the debate's vibe tracker with 35 percent, ahead of Swarbrick on 29 percent, Seymour on 23 percent, Peters on 9 percent and Waititi on 4 percent. The tracker records how viewers reacted during the broadcast. It is not a poll of voting intention.
Afterwards, attention turned in part to those who were not there. The Post editor Matthew Hooton said Luxon and Hipkins were the losers of the minor-parties debate. RNZ summed up the night as 'Minor parties keep calm and carry on in tepid kingmakers debate'. Stuff published analysis by Glenn McConnell on 1 October at 2:47am.
Looking at what this means for the campaign, the night was more about positioning than persuasion. With both major-party leaders absent, each minor leader could speak directly to their possible weight in coalition talks. Seymour spoke as a current governing partner. Peters spoke as a former coalition partner with options. Swarbrick spoke as the most likely anchor for a left-leaning bloc. Wong and Waititi spoke as outsiders trying to turn attention into seats in Parliament.
In my view, the civility matters for what happens next. Talks to form a government under MMP need working relationships after the votes are counted, and none of the five ruled out future deals on stage. Peters was the exception in tone. He was willing to criticise both Luxon and Hipkins in public, but that fits with how he keeps his negotiating room open. Wong's vibe tracker lead will interest newsrooms, but strategists will be cautious about it. It rewards clarity and freshness in a crowded debate, which helps smaller parties early in a campaign when voters are still deciding.
