Green Party co-leader James Shaw refuses to confirm whether Labour has given him Climate Change portfolio

Green Party co-leader James Shaw will not confirm whether Labour has given him the Climate Change portfolio as the two parties wrapped up another day of negotiations on Wednesday.

Newshub revealed last week a formal Coalition deal between the two parties was off the table, as Labour obtained a straight majority at the election.

But it's understood Labour likely offered Shaw the portfolio he held for the past three years - Climate Change.

"We're aiming to form a Government, but - at this point - we can't talk about the negotiations," Shaw told reporters. "We've agreed that those will be confidential until we've concluded." 

"We've made pretty good progress, and we still think that we can conclude by Friday."

Shaw said, "we can't speculate on speculation" when probed on whether he'd been given the Climate Change portfolio.

"It's speculation, and we won't be commenting on negotiations." 

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said conversations continued to progress well on Wednesday, with talks on track to wrap up by the end of the week.

Newshub revealed last week Ardern was planning a lower-level support arrangement for the Green Party. The Greens will go back into Opposition should they put the proposal to its members, and 75 percent of them reject it.

James Shaw and Marama Davidson.
James Shaw and Marama Davidson. Photo credit: Newshub.

"We won't be commenting on the context of the negotiations until they've concluded," Shaw said. "We are hoping to be able to form a Government.

"I'm not going to talk about the content of the negotiations in any way, but we are happy about the progress of the discussions, and we hope to have an agreement put back to the members - by Friday," co-leader Marama Davidson added.

Davidson insisted "good discussions" were being had with Labour but refused to elaborate.

"We are progressing towards having something to put to the members to make the final decision.

"We're getting towards the end which, I think, indicates we're making good progress."

The Greens' wealth tax policy has already been ruled out by Ardern, but the party delivered the Cannabis Referendum and Zero Carbon ACT under its confidence and supply agreement with the last Labour-NZ First Government.