Jacinda Ardern assures NZ Winston Peters will do just fine as Acting Prime Minister

  • 10/06/2018

The Prime Minister says she has noticed a motherly side to the nation as her baby's due date nears.

Jacinda Ardern is due to give birth at Auckland Hospital next week.

She's told TVNZ's Q+A on Sunday she is receiving spontaneous messages from the public to take it easy.

"I can assure people I will keep doing my job, but I also acknowledge I'm not superhuman."

Winston Peters will take over as Acting Prime Minister for six weeks. Ms Ardern says the country has nothing to worry about.

"He already is the Deputy Prime Minister and there have been times when I've been absent... We have an incredibly good working relationship. I've almost found it surprising that people have questioned that it would be anything other than business as usual for us, because we already work so closely together."

She says when she has a tough decision to make, she goes to Mr Peters for advice - and she expects that will "happen in reverse".

If a minister got into trouble however - like Phil Twyford did recently - she expects to handle that herself.

"I would be involved in that because I wouldn't require someone else to discipline a member of the Labour Party... I would be involved."

If something were to happen to Mr Peters before the six weeks were up, she says Labour deputy Kelvin Davis would take the reins.

But if either Mr Peters or Mr Davis really needed her, she says she'd be there.

"I am not dead; I have not exited from the country - I'll be in Sandringham."

Newshub.