Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Winston Peters - after nearly a year as Deputy PM and Foreign Minister - will be savouring his electoral victory with party faithful at their Annual General Meeting in Hamilton this weekend.
Voted out of Parliament in 2020, NZ First clawed its way back to more than 6 percent of the vote, guaranteeing eight seats in Parliament and - thanks in part to the politicking of the major parties - a reliable seat at the negotiating table with National and ACT.
All three came away with big policy wins and significant portfolios, with Peters scooping up the Foreign Minister gig - a role he's well versed in - and the first stint as Deputy PM.
This year's NZ First AGM and Convention comes ahead of his handover of the Deputy role to ACT's David Seymour in May.
Commentators have speculated on what version of Peters will emerge when unburdened by the responsibility of that office - the diplomatic statesman, or the savvy populist railing against the establishment?
Speaking to RNZ ahead of the convention, he's having none of it.
"I've spent almost my whole career the last three decades having novices tell me what I'm going to do next," he says. "See how they get it wrong? I just wish they'd go back and examine everything they wrote in the past."
Having worked closely with several Prime Ministers, he says Christopher Luxon is "the most unfortunate prime minister in this context ... some of them have honeymoons for three or four years, I can tell you who they are and I can tell you how the media are wantonly fawning over them the whole damn time.
"Chris Luxon never got one second of a honeymoon. See the difference? But he's toughing it out and for that I admire him."
Asked about the health of the coalition, he lashes out instead at the opposition.
"You've got two parties in Parliament now who've got no idea what politics is, don't understand what the standing orders are, don't give a hoot about Parliamentary standards, come in wearing bare feet sometimes, take their shoes off, wearing tee-shirts, wearing cowboy hats ... these standards are really disastrous in terms of their imaging to New Zealanders that they don't give a darn about standards."
He highlights three things as key contributions from NZ First: reinvigoration of the Foreign Affairs ministry; a focus on provincial development; and ensuring spending is focused on wealth creation.
Much of his attention this term has been on foreign policy and the prime minister's desire for heightened "energy levels" on international engagements.
He has certainly been hard at work in the role, visiting 15 Pacific Island Forum countries this year, with just two remaining: Kiribati, which had withdrawn from the forum and recently suspended diplomatic visits; and New Caledonia which has been plagued by riots and protests against French rule.
He's also had a more contested geopolitical environment to contend with, overshadowed by the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Back home, he was "most definitely" happy with the performance of his NZ First colleagues on domestic policies, saying the party was the strongest it had been for a long time.
"We are in seriously strong shape and the polls are saying it - reluctant and as grudgingly as they are - we keep on creeping up and up and it's the most solid base we've had for a long long time, before we launch the campaign 2026."
He brushes off questions about his usual refusal to talk about polling, saying the party is doing its own.
The convention this weekend follows the typical format, with members and MPs arriving in time for the leader to give an opening address on Saturday morning.
Tickets were $150, with early applicants able to put their names forward for a dinner with the party leadership.
Much of the time will be taken up with the usual debates over which policy positions to bring to the next election and the best approach, and Peters will close proceedings with a speech: an election victory and policy wins to be celebrated, future political fortunes to be secured.
Newsletters to members ahead of the AGM repeatedly hailed second-ranked Shane Jones' progress on Fast-Track consenting legislation, the repeal of the oil and gas exploration ban, and Minister Casey Costello's firm target of 500 additional police officers from when the coalition took office.
The Covid-19 inquiry's second phase, scaling back the replacement for the foreshore and seabed legislation, tougher sentencing laws, "placing need and value before race and identity", and cracking down on youth vaping also received honourable mentions.
No such celebration of Costello's moves on tobacco, including the repeal of the previous government's 'smokefree generation' law and the halving of tax paid for heated tobacco products.
The "independent advice" the minister put forward to back that approach seems far from convincing, but Peters says the coalition is looking to reach the smokefree target "a year earlier than anybody thought".
"A New Zealand First minister put the smoking tax up - not down - in December of last year," he says. It should be noted the tax increase of 5.64 percent which kicked in on 1 January was an annual indexation based on the consumer price index.
Peters says New Zealand First after 31 years is "the most successful new party" in New Zealand politics.
"Our performance mirrors that, we've been in more governments than any other new party, we've had more influence than any other new party. And it's a chance to celebrate and rededicate ourselves to make sure we come back massively in 2026.
"The New Zealand First restoration to Parliament was a tipping point for this country's improvement ... we are needed more in 2026 than ever before to ensure we turn this country's fortunes around and that's our purpose.
"We're going to have a great story to tell and our job is to ensure that we remind people how we made a difference."
It remains to be seen whether that message will resonate enough for NZ First to achieve what has in the past proved a challenge: remaining in government, or even growing their share of the vote.
Peters, at least, is confident.
