A former National Party leader says the incoming Government hasn't managed expectations "particularly well" around how long coalition negotiations would take and believes it needs some "quick wins".
Coalition negotiations have made it into their third week and still, we don't have a resolution.
On Sunday, incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there are still "some serious issues that need to be resolved" and wouldn't commit to a time frame of when it would be finished.
Earlier on Monday, ACT leader David Seymour revealed the three parties were working towards a "never been done before" agreement that would see a three-way coalition.
"That's certainly been the goal of the negotiations, no one's tried that before. So fierce competitors during the election, constructive cooperatives in a Cabinet, that's quite a transition," he said.
"This is three parties coming together in a coalition Government. Now, that hasn't been done before. We've had two parties in a coalition with another party sitting off to the side. We've brought together three who were competitors, sometimes fierce competitors."
Appearing on AM's daily panel on Monday morning, former National Party leader and now Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges told the show the revelation by Seymour is "not surprising".
"I think that's where I sort of thought they were always driving because I think in the end, both David and ACT and Winston and the New Zealand First Party would want to be there at the table," he said.
"I said last time a couple of weeks ago, don't count out a two-party thing with one sitting out, but I think now they are too invested for that."
He believes the three parties - National, ACT and New Zealand First - haven't managed the public expectations around how long the negotiations would last "particularly well".
Appearing alongside Bridges as part of the panel was Whānau Ora Agency chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait who agreed with Bridges and wished Luxon had provided the public with some clarity around the length of the negotiations.
"I just wish that perhaps Chris Luxon had said that it's going to be a month and so if if it happened a lot earlier, that would have been great," she said.
"But it's a bit of a yawn now, they're coming up to Christmas, so get on with it and get it done and dusted otherwise, see you later."
As the negotiations continue to drag on, Bridges believed it's getting to a point where the incoming Government will need some quick wins to change the public's opinion on them.
"The issue for the new Government is they're going to have to start really thinking about how they have some - I don't know if quick wins is the way to say it - but shape the public away from this kind of situation, which has been a bit messy or prolonged into some positive things so people have got something good to talk about in barbeque season as they say," Bridges told AM.
