Christopher Luxon and David Seymour faced questioning about coalition negotiations after flying to Auckland on a late flight Tuesday evening.
A meeting with all three parties is scheduled for Wednesday morning, it's understood.
Luxon and Seymour both flew into Wellington this morning for talks. It was expected Winston Peters would also fly into the Capital, however he never showed up.
Asked where the boss was, Shane Jones said: "We're on our way to have a group solidarity lunch... those discussions are still well and truly underway."
He denied there was an impasse. His team were either out of the loop or in on the game.
Perhaps Peters' refusal to fly to Wellington was designed to serve as a lesson and reminder to Christopher Luxon that although he is the leader of the biggest party he does not have total control of how these negotiations go.
Tax has been a sticky issue. National's centrepiece campaign promise of tax cuts funded partly by a tax on offshore property buyers doesn't have the full support of its potential partners.
Newshub understands both ACT and New Zealand First were unhappy with being low-balled by National - leading to the great thawing of New Zealand First-ACT relations and multiple meetings of the minor partners.
But while every party has held one-on-one talks, the three have not yet met altogether.
Later on Tuesday, Luxon and Seymour both flew out of Wellington and touched down back in Auckland.
First to walk through the airport after disembarking was Luxon, who said he was "going home".
He added he'd had a "great day" and a "great series of engagements with both parties".
"We've made great progress, we've got a bit more to do," he said, adding he wouldn't talk about coalition arrangements.
Spotted a few minutes later at the airport after getting off the same flight, Seymour told waiting media there weren't any "formal agreements" to see Peters today, and he'd had "great meetings" with National.
"Not everyone showed up but hey what can you do," Seymour said.
He said it was "highly likely" he'd meet with Peters on Wednesday, and we'd have to "see what happens tomorrow".
