Wong says Opportunity would have walked away from current coalition deal
Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong says her party would not have propped up the current coalition government or signed up to its coalition agreement. Speaking on RNZ's Morning Report on 21 October, she said, "if that coalition agreement was put in front of us, we would have walked away." The coalition agreement is the written deal that sets out how the governing parties work together.
Wong also said Opportunity would not support a Treaty Principles bill, a proposed law on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, in the next term of government.
On election night, Wong said, the party would still contact other parties if it was the largest party. She said this was no guarantee that it could form a government.
Wong accused National leader Christopher Luxon of playing a game to shore up National's vote with his rule-out of working with Opportunity. She said he had backed himself into a corner. According to RNZ, Luxon has repeatedly ruled out doing any deal with the Opportunity Party.
Former National minister Jonathan Coleman told RNZ's Midday Report that the rule-out was a strategic error and "premature."
Recent polling has given Opportunity the balance of power between the right and left blocs, though some polls have put the party close to the 5 percent threshold. That is the minimum share of the party vote a party needs to win seats in Parliament under the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system.
Separately, the NZ Herald reported that Wong responded to allegations of a toxic party culture within Opportunity. She said she wants to look into what went wrong.
