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National's campaign chair has called a media stand-up to demand that Labour and the Greens explain which smaller-party policies would emerge from coalition negotiations - despite National refusing to do the same.
Speaking to reporters in Auckland on Wednesday, Simeon Brown said the situation for a Labour-led coalition was "completely different" compared to a National-led one.
"Because we have got very clear fiscal rules. We took that to the last election, and we have a track record of sticking to that in government,” he said.
"Labour and the Greens don't have a track record. In particular, Labour doesn't have a track record even when they're in government with themselves - they break all of their fiscal rules and they break all of their tax promises.
"Labour will tax more, borrow more and spend more - and New Zealanders have a right to know what is Chris Hipkins prepared to sign up to in order to do a deal with the Greens by Christmas."
Labour has stood by its fiscal plan, with leader Chris Hipkins pointing to the last 30 years, saying hourly wages grew faster under Labour than National, and that Labour has balanced the books 11 times whereas National had only done so six times.
National is coalition with New Zealand First and ACT.
Brown pushed back on reporters' questions about which of New Zealand First's promises - which some commentators have estimated at costing $50 billion to $100b - National would take up.
He also denied that ACT leader David Seymour - who said in 2023 he would like to be finance minister - could be named in the role, saying that would be for incumbent Nicola Willis.
National has consistently attacked Labour over the risk that Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick could be finance minister, despite Hipkins ruling that out.
Asked what National would do if Willis - a list-only MP - failed to return to Parliament, he simply rejected that possibility on Wednesday.
"Look, I'm not going into hypotheticals ... we have demonstrated that National-led governments have, and the work that Nicola Willis has done shows, that we have a proven track record.
“She is our finance spokesperson. She will be our finance minister after the next election, and she has demonstrated that she keeps to her commitments.
“Labour governments don't, and that is the clear choice at this year's election... it will be a National Party Minister of Finance, and it will be Nicola Willis."
Some groups have been campaigning for National supporters to party vote for smaller parties in the right bloc to engineer an overhang.
This would, however, prevent the party's list-only MPs from re-entering Parliament.
The general election is on November 7, though early voting has begun.
