Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said his "historic" coalition government means an "historic" arrangement is needed for the deputy prime minister role.
At the Beehive this morning, the National leader, alongside partners David Seymour and Winston Peters, formally signed their parties' coalition deals, which included placing Peters in the deputy role for the first half of the next term.
From May 31, 2025, Seymour will then take over as deputy PM.
When asked how the assignments for the deputy PM role would benefit the New Zealand public, Luxon said it was necessary given the new government's unique formation.
"The reality is the convention over successive governments is you want the coalition leader to be the deputy prime minister, and this is no different in this case," he said.
"We've done something historic, we actually have three parties in a coalition government, and as a result we're doing something historic around the deputy prime minister role.
"We've actually split it, half the time will be done by Winston, and half the time will be done by David."
In response to questions of sharing the role with Seymour, Peters, who will have the role to himself until May 2025, snapped back at media.
"We're not co-deputies, get it right for a start," he said.
Luxon added, "there is one deputy prime minister at a point in time, "the role is shared and broken up at the 18-month mark, halfway through the term."
"No, we're not sharing it either," Peters said after, in response to media, "I'm taking the first 18 months and David is taking the second 18 months. Right?"
For all three years of the coming term, Peters will stand as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Racing, while Seymour will act as Minister for Regulation.
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