"You've got to put your ego and your past behind you."
That was Winston Peters' comment on Monday morning on the question of whether he could work with National and ACT to form a new Government.
The New Zealand First leader said he has always worked to ensure New Zealand has a "sound and stable Government".
It comes after National leader Christopher Luxon announced that he was willing to pick up the phone and ring Peters after October 14 if that was needed to form a Government.
Until now, Luxon has refused to entertain journalists' questions about whether National could work with New Zealand First, instead saying he is only focused on National's vote.
A Newshub-Reid Research poll this month found 43 percent believed Luxon should rule out working with Peters, while nearly 37 percent said he shouldn't. Among National supporters, there was even stronger support to rule Peters out.
But with New Zealand First polling around - and sometimes over - the 5 percent threshold needed to enter Parliament, Peters' party could play a crucial role in forming the next Government.
Luxon said it was his preference to form a two-party coalition between National and ACT, but if New Zealand First was returned to Parliament and necessary to get the 61 seats needed for Government, he would work with Peters to "keep Labour and the Coalition of Chaos out".
"I will make that call. Frankly, I think Chris Hipkins will ultimately do exactly the same thing," he said. "That's not my first preference. We all remember 2017. New Zealand First hasn't gone with National in 27 years - and could choose Labour again."
Labour's Chris Hipkins has ruled out working with New Zealand First, calling Peters a "force of instability and chaos", while Peters has also said he wouldn't work with Labour.
Speaking to AM on Monday morning, Peters said he hadn't heard from Luxon prior to the National leader's statement.
He said he had been disappointed by the focus of the media on who would and wouldn't work with each other.
"Over the months when we're out there filling the halls and campaigning and talking to people, because elections are about people, there's been this constant media scramble to try and get people to be ruled out, to demonise and gas light one political party and its leader.
"Now it's not working, you're all on the phone asking me what's next. The answer is we're going to go on campaigning and talking to New Zealanders right up to 6 o'clock in the evening on October 13. The people are going to decide this question and not commentators and not the people who are their leaders who think the people don't matter."
He wouldn't say if he wants to be deputy Prime Minister or Foreign Affairs Minister again - he held both roles under Jacinda Ardern between 2017 and 2020.
"Anyone who goes into negotiations, desiring to advance themselves or get this and that before there is a proper consultation agreement doesn't know what negotiations are about and doesn't realise how serious our economic and social circumstances are."
He said he wished there was more coverage "of the real issues".
"Look, there are some serious issues in this election campaign more serious than they have ever been," Peters said.
"The one that we have to fix before we can fix the rest is to restore the fundamental principles of our democracy where each vote is equal. If we don't do that, then we will not fix the rest up.
So that is the number one issue that New Zealand First is making it very clear on."
Appearing earlier on AM, ACT leader David Seymour said he would work with the Parliament the people presented, but "you can't trust Winston Peters and a lot of things will be much, much harder than they otherwise would".
Seymour couldn't see himself sitting with Peters around the Cabinet table.
"Chris Luxon and I are saying almost exactly the same thing and I have been saying this for a long time, you've got to work with the cards that you've got, but if one of those cards is the old joker then it's going to be real hard to deal with serious issues," Seymour said.
When asked again Peters potentially being a Cabinet minister, Seymour said he would ask Luxon to "go back and play it a bit harder".
"You've got to remember, you're dealing with someone who has had so many chances to fix all of the things they're now complaining about," he said.
At the Newshub Nation Powerbrokers debate last week, both Peters and Seymour took personal jabs at each other.
"He's not baiting, he's imitating," Peters at one point yelled out amid suggestions Seymour had been race-baiting for votes.
"It's like an arsonist showing up dressed as a fireman, saying, 'I am here to help and fix it all,'" Seymour said of Peters.
The quarrelling between the pair prompted the Greens' Marama Davidson to ask: "Do people actually trust that Luxon is going to be able to manage these two?"
