By Giles Dexter of RNZ
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon believes he has the full support of his caucus, as National MPs gather in Wellington for the first time in nearly three weeks.
Parliament's first sitting day since April 2 comes after a 1News-Verian poll showing the coalition government would be out of power, and a New Zealand Herald report the Luxon has evaded National's chief whip, who was trying to tell him that caucus support was flagging.
The poll at the weekend showed National sitting on just 30% approval and Luxon's personal favourability down four points to 16%.
The Prime Minister has denied he was avoiding Stuart Smith and was unaware he had been trying to get in touch.
"He hasn't reached out to me. There has been no engagement with Stuart Smith from my office or with him."
The pair were together in North Canterbury on Tuesday last week. Luxon said it was not raised, and he had not spoken with Smith over the weekend either.
"If there's any issues that he had, he would have raised them with me.
"I talk to my backbenchers all the time. I was with a number of them over the course of the weekend at a number of events. I reassure you, I have the confidence of my caucus, period."
As they arrived at Wellington Airport yesterday, ministers Mark Mitchell, Simeon Brown, Chris Penk and Paul Goldsmith all defended the Prime Minister.
Chris Bishop, Todd McClay and Nicola Willis have also put their support behind Luxon in interviews in recent days, while Erica Stanford, stood next to Luxon at the post-Cabinet media conference, said she had not had any conversations with caucus colleagues about whether Luxon should stay on as Prime Minister.
"I think he's doing an exceptional..." she began to say, before Luxon cut her off to ask if anyone had any other questions.
Yesterday morning Luxon told Newstalk ZB there were "probably five people" that were "moaning and frustrated" - a number he later walked back on by the afternoon.
The number, Luxon insisted, was in response to media reports he had seen.
"My comment was just in reaction to your media reporting quoting a number of sources that you said you had."
Responding to the poor polling numbers and his personal approval ratings, Luxon was "absolutely" confident he would still be Prime Minister after the caucus meeting.
"I appreciate I'm not going to be the person that everyone wants to go to a beer with, but they know that I'm actually leading a government that is a great custodian of this economy. And in difficult and tough times, that's what's needed now: strong economic management and stable coalition government - and that's what we're delivering."
Asked whether the matter would be raised at the caucus meeting, Luxon said there would be "pretty good" conversations, given the media interest that had been "sparked" over the last few days.
He would not expand on what would be talked about in caucus, but said the party had a good culture, and it had been "rebuilt and unified" over the last two-and-a-half years.
National's campaign manager and senior minister Simeon Brown said caucus members who are talking to the media should put an end to it or leave the party.
"Ultimately, there is a need for caucus discipline and for all caucus members to know that ultimately, we are a team. We have a role to play, which is to support our leader, to deliver for New Zealanders, to focus on the issues that matter to them.
"And caucus members who wish to talk to media should consider whether they should quit the leaking or quit the party."
Asked multiple times whether he had put any pressure on the chief whip to put out a statement this morning saying media reports about his attempts to contact the Prime Minister before Easter were untrue, Brown did not directly respond.
"Quite frankly, this is a sideshow which New Zealanders are not focused on. What they're focused on is the issues that matter to them - paying for their fuel bill, getting to work, making sure that they are safe on their streets, that we reduce waiting lists in our hospitals, that we get our kids back to school. Those are the issues that matter to New Zealanders. Those are the issues that we as a National Party are focused on."
In the statement to media today, Smith said he would not be attending due to a "longstanding personal appointment".
"I did want to confirm that I did not contact the Prime Minister or his office seeking a meeting.
"I am disappointed by recent speculative media coverage. The Prime Minister has my full support."
Replacing Luxon won't help: Labour leader
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Kiwis have seen enough of the coalition government not delivering on its promises, and it doesn't have a plan to move the country forward, whereas Labour does.
Hipkins told RNZ's Morning Report programme today if Labour was in government, it would make visits to the doctor free. He said the cost - up to $100 for a visit - was resulting in families not getting the healthcare they needed.
More policies would be announced closer to the election - and after the government had delivered the Budget in May, he said.
Hipkins would not confirm whether he would be willing to work with NZ First's Winston Peters in a coalition if it came to it and Labour would set out closer to the election who they would be willing to work with.
He said it was clear Peters would prefer to work with Luxon as he was a "pushover" and had "run circles around him" since they were in government together.
But he said National replacing Luxon as leader would do nothing to fix the issues the country is facing.
The general election will be held on November 7.
