captions for some items. Welcome to a two-hour Q+A special. Three more years. The victory for those who kept the faith. An extraordinary night. A historic victory. Record numbers. It was amazing. We thought nationals vote would start to come back. But it didn't. It was something to watch. A crushing defeat for Labour. They are starting from a weakened position. But they have some new blood coming through. Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis significant. They bring a different style to Labour. Hone Harawira out of Te Tai Tokerau. How much did Kim Dotcom infect the water? We didn't realise he would affect things in this way. It hurt Hone in the North. Winston Peters won't be happy. He's gone from kingmaker to bystander. He has the likes of Ron Mark coming back. He won't be happy that national won't need to call them. But he is not the kingmaker that he thought he might be. We must recognise that our opponents have built a formidable political machine. They are well funded. It is clear that our fundraising must become a priority. They have had the benefit of a long period of stability in the caucus and leadership. We have change leaders three times in the last few years. They are disciplined in their message and implementation. Tomorrow we begin a three-year campaign for the government benches. Let's bring in today's panel. Michelle Boag, a political editor, Raymond, who would have thought? Any who imagined that national would win last night thought it would be with the help of Winston Peters and the Conservatives. National has increased its boat. Previous caption incorrect: vote. It is in a better position. Much better. Knowing John Key, he will bring in the smaller parties that he has worked with before. For the rest of them, who would've thought Winston Peter's would be Irrelevant. The Greens, epic fail for them. I asked Steven Joyce," were you expecting this?" Maybe national could send Kim Dotcom a bunch of flowers. I think it was pretty clear in the last week of the campaign, Kim Dotcom sucked all of the oxygen away from everything. That helped National immensely. For Labour, the rebuild, the blame game. Three leaders in three years. A lot to do. He is solely responsible for this loss When David Shearer was leader of that party, they were At 35%. Then the far left of the Labour Party, they decided that Shearer was not good enough. In the time David Cunliffe has been leader of the National Party, it has lost a third of Its support. It is down to 24% last night. If as a leader in one year you lose a third of your support and takes your party to the worst result since 1922, you have to accept that you were responsible, especially when 14 months ago your party was on track to victory. Last night, David Cunliffe said he was here for another three years. Will he be? I don't think last night's defeat was about the leadership. It was about the fundamental soul of the Labour Party, how it speaks to New Zealanders. The lines are well and truly down. They have to be rebuilt from the membership up. There needs to be a generational shift within the organisation of the party. We need people who communicate policy which matters. Generational shift is not just about age. Who is in there at the moment part of the generational shift? Kelvin Davis. Labour has done well in the Maori seats. They have gone for the median voter model. Both Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis rejected the strategy from head office which stated target the poor and dispossessed. They decided the way you win elections in New Zealand is to target the median voter. And for that, Stuart Nash was severely criticised within the Labour Party. We have a party which criticises candidates for trying to get votes. He won Napier by virtue of the fact that the centre right vote was split. A rebuild of a party like Labour is going to take time. Generational change takes years. Yyes, there needs to be party shift, but don't you have to have a popular leader? You have to have a leader that will concede that what they were doing was not the right thing. So far we have not seen it. Damien O'Connor says "when will New Zealand realise we're not on the right track?" The voters make the decision. At the end of an election, the voters are always right. David Cunliffe spoke about the brutal lessons, the rebuild. He must be in shock at the moment. A leader of a party` leadership is about saying things` to say it is all about David is not true. This win was all about John Key. He has a powerful machine behind him. Money can't buy elections. We saw that in this election. It is about support, loyalty, generating numbers on the ground. I never saw as many National Party numbers on the ground as I did in this election. There was not one scrutineer in any of the booths in labour. The National scrutineers were there. The question of not being able to buy elections is extremely important. Hone Harawira gone for Te Tai Tokerau looking like they were being bought. Kelvin Davis is certainly saying it. Let's not say it looked like he was being bought. A German person came to this country and tried to buy our electoral system. Hone Harawira got a raw deal. Once the Internet party came in, they completely took over. Hone Harawira lost the agenda. Apart from the Maori seats, we Labour did fairly well, Labour has lost across the entire country. Look at all the provincial seats. 31 seats out of the five metropolitan areas, they only held three. They once held half of them. They've lost them. There are no discussions... interesting to get Steven Joyce's perspective. Christchurch is now a National Party town. National one Christchurch East by 3000 votes. Gerry Brownlee has a lot to be thanked for by the National Party. If we could start with how things are going to look now with your support partners. National could technically govern alone. You could lose one of the specials. It's surprising how well the vote held up over the night. The Prime Minister will want to have relationships with the three support partners that we had. You will see those conversations quickly. A government with United and Maori Party would you consider getting on the phone to Winston Peters? I felt Winston Peters was lining himself up as the leader of the opposition last night. I think he made it clear he wasn't interested in Speaker. I think it's highly unlikely the Prime Minister will reach out. But we will build a relationship with New Zealand First in the next two years. But there is a lot of water to flow under that bridge to. What about a relationship with the Greens? It's a matter for them. They have moved the economic policy far to the left, and so has Labour. In terms of the Greens, in 2008 when we did that memorandum of understanding, that progressively reduced overtime. They've got interesting questions to answer.� They are 10 percent again. It didn't turn out again on the night for them. Do they want to always position themselves to the left of the Labour Party? How quickly can you get this done? The Prime Minister has shown in the past that he likes to get on to things. You will see it move pretty quickly in the next week. Maori party you don't technically need them. We have had a good relationship with them over the last few years. The whole Cabinet would say we have been a better government because of the involvement with them. I think he would be keen to see them involved again. Who wins a ministerial slot and who doesn't, that's to come. What gave you the final burst that put you up to 48? The Labour Party are already showing signs of missing That fundamentally New Zealanders think the country is heading in the right direction economically. Despite three years of Labour telling them it is a mirage, people feel things are getting better for them. When they got into the polling booth yesterday, those who were marginal, they felt they didNt want a radical change. Will the RMA reforms Be at the top of your list? There is the employment relations Bill obviously. There is one of my own in terms of tertiary education. One thing we have learnt from being in government for six years is that the legislation we pass in the first year is what is most important. We won't see radical shift in policy. I have been asked if we will throw out our manifesto. You can effectively govern alone. You can do whatever you want. The reason the Prime Minister is liked by New Zealanders is he does not abuse the trust they place on them. He takes his responsibility seriously. He will stay close to what he said he was going to do. People ask why is it that after two elections our vote has gone up each time. I think it is because of the trust they place on him. What about the dirty politics? Will you make changes after that book? A lot of things in that book disturbed New Zealanders. Will you make changes? That book at the end of the day was Nicky Hager's catalogue of things he didn't like. They were presented as new shocks and horrors, At a cynical time close to the election. The public saw it as what it was. Are you happy for the relationships to continue in the way that they were outlined a netbook? Previous caption incorrect: in that book. Judith Collins there was an issue there, and there will be an enquiry. But a number of people perhaps on the outer circles of the National Party will be thinking carefully on whether the approach of paying for opinions on websites is wise. I am a bit cynical about the whole official information act attacks. I am old enough to remember that every opposition feels the official information act doesn't happen quickly enough. I think in the fullness of time we will go to an exercise that will show National Party has been no different regarding the OIA than any other party. Labour was able to use information when it was in government in interesting ways. you will see a less partisan look at this over the next few months. As a Minister, I tried to get out everything as quickly as possible. You don't always succeed. New Zealand is well served by the official information act. Thank you, Steven Joyce. Send us your thoughts. we are on Twitter. Or text your thoughts. Labour leader David Cunliffe next. Labour will lead this change. I intend to lead the Labour Party. WITH ME NOW, LABOUR LEADER DAVID CUNLIFFE. Good morning. This is a tough result for Labour. How much personal responsibility do you take? I take my share of the responsibility. When you took over, you were polling in the 30s. Your vote has collapsed. How did that happen on your watch? Let's be clear about the context. It's a completely different situation months later when you're in a general election. At one point you with 36% in our poll. Wwe were polling at 36 when we came of the primary. We will have to take time as a party and work through what the public has been saying. This is not a good situation not only for the Labour Party but across the league. Previous caption incorrect: the left. Didn't the problems start for you earlier than Kim Dotcom? When you took on the job, you didn't get the momentum going. You yourself said you had a slow start. Some things went really well. We had a good conference, we had a referendum campaign. Learning happens on the job. It takes time to learn the ropes. You want another three years? That's a question for the party. We need to modernise the party. Feedback I have got from party members in New Zealand is that I can do that. You want a time to be able to rebuild Labour? That's right. One year is not enough to do that talk us through the process for this. Would there have to be another primary? I will meet with colleagues and party officials, but I will go to our caucus and say we have a big job ahead of us and that I want a mandate to lead you to the next election. If others wish to stand and offer themselves for that role, they will. It should happen reasonably quickly, over by Christmas. We could have a primary before Christmas? Yes. I don't believe that rotating leaders is the key to changing our party. If I did, I would stand down now. We have do modernise, rebuild our brand. I don't believe it's a policy or membership problem. We need to dig deep. Some people today will be saying it was you. Did you connect with voters? Your preferred prime minister numbers never got up about 14. It's not true, we had some polls above 16. That's comparable to leaders in the past, including Helen Clark. I don't think that says much. It's always tough for leaders of the opposition. This campaign has been extraordinary. We have had outside influence, which simply takes the opposition out of the headlines. In politics, that is death. These were huge bombs being thrown at the government. A Cabinet minister had to resign during the campaign. Yet you still couldn't get your message across, attack the government in a way that hurt them. The deeper you dig into that, the more you get tarred with the same brush. There Is a balance between that and keeping your own party clear. These issues wrenbeing raised by Labour. These issues weren't being late raised by Labour. The Greens came to you midway through this year and put up a proposal where you campaign together as a coalition effectively. Why didn't you go for that? Largely because of two reasons ` one, we needed to keep open to New Zealand first and the centre as well. It's a balance so that we are not locked into one potential coalition partner. Secondly, I was balancing the need to unify internally while maintaining good relations. Was that a good decision? Given the numbers, we had no option. The only way centre-left was to Govan was a three-way. Previous caption incorrect: govern. You should have presented a structured, coordinated image. Labour has never lost in two terms. This was always going to be a tough election to win. If there was going to be a change of government, it would take more than Labour and the Greens, so we had to consider a three-way. Going forward, that is potentially different. There is an argument be about forming a close working partnership across the parties of the progressive side of politics, so we provide a more unified front. That is an issue for reflection .I wouldn't rule it out. I want to bring in Susan now. If you had managed to lift your vote a bit, it would help your cause to stay on as leader. But at 27%, that will count against you. I'm here to do a job for New Zealanders and the labour movement. I believe I have the goods to deliver victory in 2017. Yes, I have learned on the job and toughened up. Let me be clear ` this was always a tough election to win. We've done the best that we could. The downscaling of the left vote is not simply a Labour matter. We're interested to know on the panel, you said you took your share of the responsibility. We're discussing how much is your responsibility, how much is other factors I don't know how you'd quantify it. You must be a significant factor. As leader, I take responsibility. We need a process of change. I am looking for the party to renew a mandate to do that. Have you missed the fundamental fact that the economy is okay and people are all right? That is a big factor. We have tried to point out to New Zealanders that dairy prices are down 45%, wool prices down even more. Next you will be tough for our rural communities. Previous caption incorrect: next year. Some time with your family today? I'm calling together party officials to make sure we have a clear process going forward tto our next caucus. Thank you for your time. Earlier, current spoke to Kelvin Davis. I need to acknowledge Hone Harawira. I have a lot of respect for him. The hard part is now doing what needs to be done to raise outcomes for Te Tai Tokerau. I think he is doing it hard. I have been there three times now. You have to take it on the chin and move on. What do you put your victory down to? We had a plan. We analysed our strengths and weaknesses and the opposition's strengths and weaknesses, and try to raise our strengths and exploit the weaknesses. One of those weaknesses was the Kim Dotcom factor. Did you ruthlessly applied that to convince people not to vote for Hone Harawira? Yes we did. We knew people of the North did not like the Kim Dotcom factor. Of course we exploited that. But we look at aspects of Hone's personality and pushed the right buttons when we needed to. What aspects of his personality did you exploit? When he was under pressure, we could see that he was going flat. He was not responding as he should. Are you part of a new movement that wants to see Labour move back to the sender? Previous caption incorrect: centre. I've never thought about whether I was left or right of Labour. It is about focusing on the right outcomes. I went into a school that was struggling as a principal and focused on how to improve. We need hard conversations about where things went wrong. What were they focusing on that they have been getting wrong? There is too much factionalisation in the Labour Party. In a rugby team, people with different positions, sizes, weights ` but still work together as a team. We need to come together as a team. We believe in the same stuff, but need to pull together as a team. What now for David Cunliffe and the leadership? Wwe can expect a process. What will happen for David Cunliffe? That's part of the conversation going forward. We have to be honest and say what we think. Hopefully we'll get the right result. I'm A hundred percent behind our leader. It will be up to caucus to make decisions. Did they get the campaign right? I really liked the Vote Positive campaign. But we've got to be positive for three years and drive that message the whole time. Not just shortly before an election campaign. I think we were... Even after we came out with both positive, vote positive, there were still a lot of negative messages. One of Labour's few success stories. CHATTER AND AN UNMISTAKEABLE BUZZ AS THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 20TH BEGAN IN NEW LYNN. I'M QUITE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE AND DAVID LEADING LABOUR PARTY INTO THE NEXT PARLIAMENT. WE DEFINITELY NEED LABOUR TO STAND OUT AND COME FIRST IN THIS VOTING THAT'S HAPPENING NOW. YES. WHY DO YOU THINK WE NEED IT? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US. I JUST CAN'T PICK WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. IT'S BEEN THE MOST UNUSUAL CAMPAIGN I'VE EVER BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE MAN WHO IS LAST ON LABOUR'S LIST ` SIMON BUCKINGHAM. BUT EVEN BEING NUMBER 64 AND WITH NO CHANCE OF GETTING TO PARLIAMENT, HIS ENTHUSIASM WASN'T DENTED. IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY TIGHT RACE. IT REALLY IS. IT IS ON A KNIFE-EDGE. BUT I THINK WE'RE GONNA GET IT. IT'S 7.30PM HERE AT THE LABOUR PARTY HQ. THE RESULTS ON THE TV ARE SHOWING THAT NATIONAL IS MAINTAINING THE LEAD THAT IT HAD IN THE POLLS THAT WE'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT. BUT PEOPLE ARE STILL PRETTY OPTIMISTIC. THERE'S A COUPLE OF PESSIMISTIC PEOPLE. BUT IN GENERAL PEOPLE THINK THAT WORK HAS BEEN DONE HERE AND THAT LABOUR WILL BE ABLE TO PULL IT OFF TONIGHT. ARE YOU FEELING THAT DAVID CUNLIFFE CAN DO IT TONIGHT? DEFINITELY. I THINK HE WILL BE THE PRIME MINISTER. I THINK THAT I CAN TELL YOU BY THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM THAT HAVE WORKED HARD ENOUGH TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. FOOD WAS SERVED ` PIZZA, SNACKS AND LOTS OF TARO. THE CROWD DIVED IN AND MUNCHED NERVOUSLY AS TV RANG OUT THE RESULTS. AS IT DID, A PRAYER ` FOR LUCK TO TURN, PERHAPS. FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US. THEN IT WAS TIME TO GET SERIOUS. THESE TWO NABBING A GREAT SPOT WITH THEIR CHAIRS A COUPLE OF HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE GUEST OF HONOUR. (SINGS FOLK MUSIC) ANOTHER CUNLIFFE, TOM, ENTERTAINED THE CROWD. HE'S THE SON OF SIMON CUNLIFFE, DAVID'S COUSIN AND PRESS SECRETARY. HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT THE RESULTS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH? A LITTLE BIT. IT DOESN'T LOOK TOO GOOD. HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR DAD WILL BE FEELING RIGHT NOW? UM, I DON'T KNOW. HE'S A PRETTY RELAXED GUY, BUT` SO I THINK HE'LL HAVE HIS FINGERS CROSSED WITH EVERYONE ELSE. THEN CAME A FEW GOOD ELECTORATE RESULTS AND THE MOOD LIFTED SOMEWHAT. CHEERING IT'S 8.30 NOW AND THINGS ARE STARTING TO LOOK UP A LITTLE BIT FOR LABOUR. STILL, THE RESULTS AREN'T THAT GREAT. BUT WE'RE GETTING A FEW MORE CHEERS FROM THE CROWD AND A BIT MORE POSITIVITY. THE CROWD WAS CHOCK FULL OF SUPPORTERS OF KELSTON MP CARMEL SEPULONI, WHO WERE CHEERED BY WHAT WAS LOOKING LIKE A VICTORY, ALBEIT A NARROW ONE. WHAT I'M HOPING IS THAT AT THE END OF TONIGHT, WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE RELIANT ON SOME SPECIAL VOTES TO COME THROUGH. LAUGHTER WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT TONIGHT? I THINK IT'S PRETTY GOOD. WHY ARE YOU HERE TONIGHT? COS OF DAVID CUNLIFFE. DO YOU LIKE DAVID CUNLIFFE? YES. LIKE THIS LITTLE GIRL, MOST PEOPLE WE SPOKE TO APPROVED OF CUNLIFFE BUT REALISED IT JUST WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THE REDS TO SEIZE POWER FROM A SEEMINGLY INVINCIBLE PRIME MINISTER. AS THE NIGHT WORE ON AND THERE SEEMED NO WAY BACK FOR THE PARTY, MANY OF ITS WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS, INCLUDING MISS RIBENA, TOOK A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH. I'M PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT, BUT I'D SAY THE OLD-SCHOOL GAY VOTE STILL, YOU KNOW? I THINK THEY SUPPORT A LOT OF DIVERSITY AND A LOT OF COMMUNITIES. SO THAT'S WHY I, OF COURSE, VOTED` I'VE ALWAYS VOTED LABOUR. I'M PROUD OT HAVE STOOD UP AS A CANDIDATE AND DONE MY BIT WITH A CLEAN CAMPAIGN. AND WITH THAT IT WAS TIME TO GREET THE VANQUISHED LEADER AND LICK SOME WOUNDS... AND PARTY INTO THE NIGHT. UP NEXT ` GREEN CO-LEADER METIRIA TUREI PLUS ACT PARTY LEADER JAMIE WHYTE. IT'S A TERRIBLE DISAPPOINTMENT. WELCOME, GREEN PARTY CO-LEADER METIRIA TUREI. Are you in moUrning as some are saying? It was a disappointing result. We wanted 15% of the boat. We held our vote in a swing to the right. You might lose one though. We had to see with the specials. Even if we do, and that will be disappointing, we held a vote with a swing to the right. You are facing a threat to from the Internet Mana party. Did you get damaged by association? It's hard to tell. The chaos of the campaign didn't help. People don't vote from fear. You have to have a clear vision, which we put forward. Once again, why didn't the Greens polling of 14% translate on the day? I don't know. There will be lots of dissection of the selection. It has been an unusual result. You knew that your ground game was a big thing. You put the emphasis on the advance voting. You just couldn't do it. We solidified our 2011 result. We have held on. We are the third largest political party in the country. With held on to our 10% buffer. We still intend to grow. I am not be as disappointed as others might think we are. We have strengthened our position. What about Labour? Did they let you down? They made the rain strategic decisions. I can't judge the campaign. David Cunliffe was alluding to the fact that next time round they might look to get together with you and former pre-coalition. We put forward a proposal to be a proposal of presenting an alternative government. They rejected you because they were trying to keep New Zealand first in the mix. You cannot assume what Winston will do by being nice to him. That's a lesson that should have been learnt already. Labour decided not to present an alternative government at this stage. The Greens are the third largest political party. We have held our vote which is good in the circumstances. We will stay as coleaders with the full backing of our party and caucus. If we hadn't worked as hard as we did, we would have a worse result today. You are flirting with the idea of challenging Labour. You did! No, you did. You had a little bit of a shot at them. We expect to lead the opposition this term. We are highly effective as opposition which is why we would be so effective is government. National this morning didn't completely rule out talking to you. Adding any areas you think you could talk to them about? Stephen Joyce needs to wind back three years and remember his own history. 2011 the Greens put forward a document with areas of common ground. And they said no. Would you put up another proposal? We haven't decided that it all. I don't know what our approach would be at this stage. We have to work with our party to find out what they want us to do. Is there anything you would have done differently in this campaign? No, the resident. We set out our vision for a cleaner Aotearoa. Because of that we have held our vote. It's a good result. I'll bring in Susan now. Metiria, I have a question for you. You told me a couple of weeks ago that you had a plane to solve child poverty. That is one of the thing New Zealanders like about you guys you have integrity, passion and principles. Pick up the financial to Stephen Joyce and Paula Bennett and John Key and say I have a plane here. To things. In 2011` you're waiting for the door knock. In 2011 we put forward a plan of where we had common ground and they said no. If you want to talk about whether we could work with national, you need to talk to them. We're yet to decide what strategy we will take over the next three years. We've also said that it is our responsibility with the vote to get the best green change that we can. You're not rolling about? National has cut the scheme since we went with them. You need to pick up the fine. Susan, it's worthwhile remembering we offered to work with them in the past and they refused. I'm not taking any responsibility for the odd behaviour. Do you think they should pick up the phone? Metiria and Russell both know my views on this. I believe very strongly that having been rejected what they need to do is position themselves in such a way that they appeal across the board. Appeal to both National and Labour voters. They have to reposition themselves now as the green party. They had to shed some social democratic tradition in the direction of Labour. They have been appealing to a broader cross-section of voters. Stephen Joyce made that point. The Greens had to decide if they want to remain left of Labour. It's in the areas of social policy where the Greens.. Fixing the problem of poor damp housing shouldn't be at a left leaning governments problem. On the environmental issues it's very different. Greens believe that national is heavily influenced by climate change deniers. There is an enormous gulf the between the two. Surely there is some common ground. National is taken some great initiatives in setting up forums. The factorsthat all the staff that Metiria Turei talked about during the campaign New Zealanders did not buy into. She wants to solve child poverty by giving people money. That is not the right approach. National says get people off welfare and into work, which is the right approach. Right through the education and health and housing areas, there is a similar approach in ministries. I don't think it's except double to anybody. Is David Cunliffe in denial? Is this guy in denial? People don't warm to him and don't like them. David Cunliffe has to accept that the 30% strategy for the Labour Party has failed. The missing million are still missing. The vote was up slightly by 100 couple of hundred thousand. They were wrapped the national not Labour. Labour need to be a 40% plus party. Kelvin Davis talked aboutI moved back to the centre. Labour did well where they had candidates which took the approach neck is talking about. David Cunliffe when he became leader promised Labour voters that he would take them above 40%. It's been an epic fail. Then he loses a third of their support. Then it's everybody else's fault. The move to the Greens is a real concern. In Wellington Labour got the bronze in Wellington Central. Despite very popular Labour Mps and local government in Wellington the Greens have twice the number of seats is Labour. Opening the door to the Greens does not grow the vote the Labour. Labour voters out of the centre and left of the political spectrum. David Cunliffe keeps talking about his membership. The problem is he is alienated all the people who understand winning elections is about winning the centre. The ones who do well is the ones who understand it's about the centre. Kelvin Davis went against his party on the highway north because he understands it's about economic growth. David Cunliffe and his failure to connect - people say he's a good debater but I stopped listening to him partway through the debate. He delivered sermons. If you listen to John Key, he's a storyteller. He has a wonderful ability to interpret the world and away the voting public will understand. He begins by saying something along the lines of let me explain this. Then he explains in a language people can understand. That ability to storyteller has redefined the generation of New Zealand voters. Matthew, paints the picture for me of the Labour primary roles on before Christmas. I think one of the models the New Zealand Labour Party should look it is the British Conservative party when they are up against Tony Blair. Michael Howard lost quite badly as leader of the Conservatives. He said we had to take a deep breath and think about it over time. He will stay as interim leader while the party really thinks about where it should go without me as a leadership contest. It worked really well for them and the British Conservatives modernised and moved to the centre. The idea of beginning a campaign against John Key that starts today is arrogant and stupid. Perhaps we should work more closely with the Greens. That is to announce the end of the Labour Party. Nick, let's talk about the party. Are you going to stand for some role? A generational shift is required and new talent is required. I'm interested in playing a role in the Labour Party. I don't know what that role will be. It's about re-examining the principles and opening the party up. Involving the membership and internal party democracy. The party has been involved for too long by a narrow group of technocrats. Focused on a narrow number of issues. The party needs to open itself up. We need the whole list selected by the membership of the party. So New Zealanders can involve themselves in politics and feel they have an influence. Labour seems too distant from the electorate. The first step is about I will support anyone who is prepared to give New Zealanders are safe. That's a fine presidential speech. I'm not announcing. A lot of people have been concerned about we're the Labour Party is going. I'm interested to know what people are going to be talking about. That's a candidacy announcement. The presidency is not elected for some time. The problem is you are a centrist. I don't see any problems there. These are negatives within the current Labour Party. Nick has said to me previously he doubted he would get preselection in a safe Labour seat. He's done the wrong thing. You're not ruling anything out. That's as good as it gets. One of the things that skews this debate is there is an outstanding leader and John Key. Prior to him we had Helen Clark. But prior to that we didn't have an outstanding leader. National doesn't have another one and Labour doesn't have anyone at all. And the Greens don't have one either. What's with all the sports analogies? Rugby is the national sport. In the main success. Everyone wants to be associated with excess. Labour Party have a big issue around finding the right leader. It's astonishing David Cunliffe is not being less humble about it. Laila Harre has just stepped into the studio. Good morningInternet party leader Laila Harre. We heard Kim Dotcom say he poisoned your campaign. We under estimated the aggressiveness with which Internet Mana would be treated. Because of the aggressiveness with which Kim Dotcom is treated by the right. Remember can has been subjected to systematic two-year programme of vilification. For many of us, we've seen that for what it is. You could have led him away from it especially in the last month. That's correct and it was a mistake that can continued to have a high profile in association with our campaign. Most of that was not proactively associated with us. He didn't deliver on the moment of truth. We did deliver. That was a real disappointment and a disappointment for home. He made that decision based on the legal advice that he had received. What was produced in the moment of truth was extraordinary evidence of the level of invasion and intrusion by the government into our Internet freedoms. That issue won't go away. A lot has emerged in this campaign as a result of our initiatives. What we saw was that the impact was to mobilise or help national to mobilise that space. When you look at the turnout figures and that will be broken down over time, you'll see that overall the left made a serious error in not working more cooperatively. The right with very smart and very strategic. Aggressively on message right to the last couple of days. The very big turnaround for us came with the coordinated endorsement by national and New Zealand first of Kelvin Davis. You had a lot of resources for a party of your size. You had lots of billboards, lots of AIDS. Why didn't you get your message through? It was very difficult for us to get a message through into the mainstream because of all that the media were interested in talking about was Kim Dotcom. Even when Kim Dotcom was not the focus, all that the media wanted was an interview with Kim Dotcom. You must have realised that was happening. We underestimated the level of organised and aggressive right-wing attack around him. It would have been very difficult. Of course we had these conversations. It would have been very difficult to extract brained Kim Dotcom from brand Internet Mana. What could have been different is the way believed overall conducted our part of this election campaign. Labour designed you. When Internet Mana were established, national were cruising to victory in the selection. There needed to be something changed to mobilise voters and bring the issues to the fore. You just energised the right. That does seem to be the case. By the beginning of June, there was a 12% gap between the leave to block and the right block. We almost close that gap during the cause of this campaign. Looking at the numbers, if there had been a strategic move to support Hone into Te Tai Takakau who's to blame for that strategic failure? The Labour Party made an era from the start. Rather than accept the reality of Internet Mana, they bought into the right wing narrative. By bashing us, they bashed themselves. Very early on we sought to have the engagement and work more collaboratively. Do you think you can rebuild those relationships on the left? There has to be. The issues and problems have not gone away. We have had exposure through this campaign two massive amounts of deprivation in our communities. Will you stay on? I don't know what the formation will be. The Internet Mana says a brand-new party. Many great new candidates and supporters. We will continue to work together. I want to be part of rebuilding believed. I want to be part of ensuring that we are put up a positive and constructive and successful alternative. Will it doesn't sound like you still want to be the leader of the Internet party. I want us to focus on how we will tackle growing inequality. Are you going to have a role in that? How we do that and what the organisational form for that is, I can't answer that. You could say will even be an Internet party? I can't answer that at this point. We need to regroup. This was an opportunity for New Zealanders to start something new. Will you continue to have the backing of Kim Dotcom? Is can given you any indication as to whether he will continue to fund the party? We haven't had that discussion last night. The expectation is the would be ongoing support for the Internet party from Kim. This party needs to be able to stand on its own 2 feet. That would have been easier if we had someone in Parliament. I know how hard it is to get traction when you don't have a parliamentary presence. We need to be sensible and strategic about how we rebuilt. I'm up for that regardless. SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS. WE'RE ON TWITTER @NZQANDA. YOU CAN EMAIL US AT Q+A@TVNZ.CO.NZ OR TEXT YOUR THOUGHTS AND FIRST NAME TO 2211. KEEP THEM BRIEF; EACH TEXT COSTS 50C. UP NEXT ` LABOUR'S DAVID SHEARER PLUS CONSERVATIVE The brand Kim Dotcom was poison for what we were trying to achieve. It only became apparent to me in the last couple of wakes Welcome, David Shearer. Former leader of the Labour Party. What has gone wrong for Labour? We've lost touch with New Zealanders who said the Labour Party as being the party that fills their aspirations. We attended to a party that is about small, special interest groups. New Zealanders want a party that stands for them. The party is 98 years old this year. Its lead on just about every issue in New Zealand and has shaped our country. King David Cunliffe be the responsibility for that is leader? Obviously if the leader you be the responsibility. There's more fundamental things about our loss than that. It's about moving in a position where we no longer serve as the major party. We had to come to terms with that. We need to have an honest discussion about it. When you were leader, the party was holding a 35% you are being crucified. David Cunliffe has seen the result ball to 20%. How does that make you feel? I'm gutted. I'm really disappointed the party has done better. For all our supporters out the and people out knocking on doors, I feel for them. The get-together last night where people were sitting around and was very sombre. We had to see this as being something we need to take in our stride. We had to sit down and be honest. What do we want the Labour Party to represent? Do we want to be a small or medium-sized party where we need coalition to be in power? Or do we want to be the proud party we've always been? Does the party to move to the centre to do that? You have to have the centre. If you don't hold the centre, you don't when is the major party. You were criticised by bloggers who felt you were too centrist. This morning we still have people saying we need to move further to the left. It's oblivion. We don't need to move to the left. We need to be wider and broader. John Key in the last budget reached across the centre line and said under 13 is can get medical treatment free. Those are Labour Party policies. We had to do the same things as he did. What's the best thing for the party right now? Should we head into the primary process? I hope we don't talk about leadership. Leadership is part of the change that Labour needs to go through. If it comes out that David is the right way to go, so be it. Fundamentally we need to jump to the fact we need to reform the party. We need to look at broader policies and take back the trust that we've lost. Do you think David Cunliffe is the right person to lead the Labour Party? I don't think you take this but in the spirit and try and analyse it. You have to take it overall. I don't think it'll happen on Tuesday a caucus meeting with it will happen. I think the party has to sit back and reflect on this outcome which is tragic. Then we had to say what we need to do to rebuild? If there was a primary, would you throw your head back in the ring? I'm not going to talk about that today because I don't think it's the right time to be talking about it. Will end up being dragged down` I do think we don't want to be dragged down the path where we look at one issue only. There is a bigger part of the Labour Party that needs to be discussed. As leader, I struggled with trying to keep those various parts together. If those parts don't come together, then no leader can take it. The leader has to have the support of the caucus. How can you have a leader who doesn't have the full support of his caucus? Caucus got behind David. Everybody pulled in behind him because we realised in the last year` Will he still had that support? I believe the caucus will said we need a root and branch think about where Labour goes next. Let's not jump on the first thing that happens, which is change the leadership and suddenly there will be a miraculous change. I don't think that will happen and I don't because good for the party. We need to do it very carefully. David Shearer, thank you for your time. David, you've made a lot of sense this morning. When the numbers were really poor for you, you have the integrity to stand down. You will see that is a tragedy. Shouldn't David Cunliffe stand aside and let the whole process go through? I think what will end up doing if we do that is end up with the process which focuses just on one thing which is the leader. It is important, but there is more fundamental things than that. In my time as leader I was eroded from behind. John Key was the least of my problems in some cases. It was what was going on behind. Unless we sort out what is going on as a party together, we don't get any we're. Sounds like a good party to lead the one that gets together. Dream about it, Susan. It's all happening on to Q&A this morning. We're about to elect a new president and that was a declaration of candidacy for the leadership. He blooded Murray McCully's nose over some issues. That was a leadership declaration is no doubt about that. But he's right that they should slow down and delayed the process until next year. It's important Cunliffe indicates he won't be a candidate. Grant Robertson would be a favourite. David Shearer is justifiably angry because he was need to be prime minister this morning. Before we get to Colin Craig, I want to ask who won't stand with Laila Harre? People take their holidays with all sorts of different people. I have to say what an absolute contrast - the first honest appreciation of what happened last night that we have seen. Contrast that with Laila Harre who has a huge blindspot she completely ignored is that the party that she led engaged in the most despicable behaviour against a Prime Minister who stood therein took that. I think that's what the people of New Zealand voted for last night. They could see a Prime Minister who had dignity, who wasn't going to engage in the gutter politics the Internet Mana engaged in. Kim Dotcom has made some good investments in his time, but that's the worst one he's ever made. Colin Craig, thank you for joining us. You got close but not close enough. A mixed bag. We ran a good campaign but at the end of the day the last week with the dot-com thing sucked a bit of oxygen that we needed. When national gets over 48%, other centre-right parties start running out of votes. You had disrupted last week. Your press secretary resigned. You are fighting with New Zealand first. Did the final week cost you? What happened in that final week from our reading of it is that the big reveal by .Com revealed Woods New Zealanders back the Prime Minister. New Zealanders lined up behind John Key and we felt that dearly. We needed that extra .8 to get in. If the threshold was 4%, last night would have been fantastic for us. But it's not. We didn't get there. The Prime Minister took a punt and decided not to give you a deal. It was a risky move but his decision meant you didn't get paid. We never asked for a deal. We made that choice. If we wanted to, we could have pursued that line. We didn't do that and we may well look back on then regret it. The Prime Minister didn't have enough confidence in you and your party to give you that deal. We didn't ask for a deal. The Prime Minister made some very good calls around the section. He is a very good leader, he handled this campaign well. He delivered a fantastic result for the national party. For us, that makes it so much harder for us because we compete for the centre-right voters. We are very young party building a support base. We built our numbers and membership. We're in a good position. What did this one cost you? I've spent over 1 million. I would do it again if I can. It's a challenging environment because we don't get taxpayers funding. That half, but I think we competed pretty well. We were one of three parties to increase our vote. That's a positive. I've had everybody pledging to be on board the next time round. We had to look ahead. Do you think New Zealanders don't like parties that tried to buy their way into Parliament? I don't think that's an issue at all for us. Our spending on the campaign will be leased the national is. It might be less than Labour. The reality is that costs money to get a message out there. We grew up party vote up into the fours. That strong for us and a good platform for next time. Any regrets? We'll look back and analyse this. The biggest regret is that we still have a 5% threshold and not a 4% threshold. But we don't control it. Will learn things from this campaign, but overall we built our boat and our supporter base. We have fantastic people stepping up to do it next time. We are looking ahead. Thank you, Colin Craig. WELCOME, NZ FIRST LEADER WINSTON PETERS. Do you expect to get a call from national? Could you do some cooperation agreement? No. Why would they? They call an election in winter to ensure that economic conditions were not known to NZ. Congratulations. Why would they call me. Everybody's turnout would have been hurt by that. The emergence circumstances of economic decline in the dairy price and will impact. Surely voting would have gone up? To be honest, that's why they pulled the elections. Congratulations to them. That does not change things. What's your motivation for the next three years? You're not near power. What is the driving force? Do you think this may not have occurred to us? The motivation is that it is a privilege to be an MP. That's an enormous privilege and challenge, and that's what we intend to do. Do you intend to carry on as a leader? What about the issues that never got discussed in this campaign? The economy, our declining growth rate, exports. That's not an unreasonable question to ask. This campaign got sidelined by a guy from Germany who John Key let in in the first place. They may have triumphed in that respect. Now you have to select the winner that doesn't mean things will get better in NZ. What about speaker? Could you do that? Instead of talking about policy in the campaign... You come back with a reasonably strong number. We have the experience. We have a record. Watching this campaign, Labour has been seduced by the idea of a Green coalition. Green is poison to them. They rejected Greens early on. No. The maths added up. Sometimes you can help them, but sometimes you can't. We want to see an outcome that will turn the economy around. It has been sliding for 30 years. Isn't the best chance of that. By forming an agreement with national? Do you know more about this than I do? That's not my best chance. Farmers will be going to their bank manager and pleading for mercy. They still voted national, though it was fatal to them. What about dirty politics, the moment of truth? Will the next Parliament to be dominated by that? Yes. Anyone who thinks Snowden Greenwald are lying doesn't know anything about politics or democracy. Evidence will be coming shortly. Either Mr Key lied, or he did not know what was going on. He might have gotten away with it in the campaign, but he wants any more. Do you think there will be an official information act request? There has been a lot of abuse of it. People take the spirit of the acts which national changed to mean if there was no reason not to give the information out, you have two. National has gone back on it own word. You have some new faces coming back in. What will they bring into your caucus? Experience. They have this man who would have been a wasted vote. Did you have information that he wouldn't make it? I don't like people who say that they're against foreign ownership and yet our commission agent for them. I don't like people trying to buy an election. John Key a phenomenal results for national. What's your view? I have seen other leaders when elections like this, but things will change. For those Nzers who believe our country can regain its greatness. We work. We have been fighting for 30 years. Last night was a disaster, but don't give up hope. One day our goal will be achieved. What do you make of David Cunliffe's campaign? Will he stay on as leader? You have got to get rid of these people who think the issues are about them. There are people who are enormous pain creeping into the middle class. Some members of their party should be utterly ashamed. The Greens as well. For much of the campaign, they attacked Labour. You can find people in every political party. David Shearer is a man he's a problem person. People in the national party like that. They'll have them. They are the people who should be promoted in terms of politics. Thank you very much for your time. Winston I have a question for you. As a 54-year-old woman, when will you retire? I thought you were younger than that. Thank you. That's a good birthday present. When will you retire? I had no idea you were so young. The reality is I look at Warren Buffett. He Has kept all of his money. Why are you so ageistic in your approach? Don't you want to go fishing? I might have wanted to Do that long ago. You had to make the most of it. The reality is you might not think that but I have wanted to leave the benches for a long time. We can't leave it to the national parties to change the fundamentals. You'll be around with us for a bit longer. That was a clear answer about longevity. Simon no. National. Expect to hear From them? Doing this extraordinary work around other things went wrong for us. Shearer wasn't responsible. He had the maturity to say we need to look to ourselves. Winston Peters talked about this silly personal politics. I don't think that makes any sense at all. Labour's issues make sense in their own terms. To be contemporary, Labour needs a max of progressive and economic social policies that makes sense for a number of people. It has to do with credibility. When not going to be the rainbow party we need to be not the white working man's party. What do you think? In part I agree. David Shearer said is what Nzers wanted to hear a condition. That we need to move forward and grow. He wasn't talking about who needs to be party. He won't want to lead a party that hasn't had a decent cleanout. Labour needs to start talking for Nzers. Whatever coalition They put together Needs to Be 40% plus. Labour needs to say we want to win, and we want to be 40% plus and we need to speak to the aspirations of Nzers to do that. Thank you Susan. Jamie Whyte is here. Eddie had a call from John Key? No. But I accept one. You dn't necessarily be crucial to them in power. Policy gains will happen in an area where national would like them to happen. That will be the basis of the gains we get. Would you stick around? We have a board meeting after this. I'm committed to the cause and party. I want to stay. I want to know how it could work. People have asked me to stay on as leader. It would be unusual. But I am committed. Do you enjoy it? I enjoy bits of it. I have overall. You get into a bit of a fight, and you start winning. Last night, as a result came through, I felt more committed than ever. Why couldn't she even get yourself through? You must have had some money. You have wealthy backers. Not uch as you imagine. We were in a difficult position. I'm not an experienced politician. It's difficult ask. We will look at what went wrong. The ideas are not up for grabs. At the least and policies. Guns in dairies? Did that work well? I hat to change gun laws. But in NZ is, guns me to be treated separately from bullets. I know the message that got out, but it wasn't the actual policy. We had a lot of education policies and taxes. That's a good example. It may well be that you're controlling the message and anticipating the way things are spun is difficult. What we did is actually sickly have with national at 48%? Why do they even need you? We are related to the fortunes of the national party. When Don brash led national, act did poorly. The reason actors needed is that the national party if you look on their and you see their actual policies, the act party is committed to those things. Jamie Whyte thank you. EARLIER, CORIN SPOKE WITH NATIONAL'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER, STEVEN JOYCE. HERE'S WHAT HE HAD TO SAY. Do you thinkyour leadwill hold? We wqill lose a bit to the specials. But we all at the relationships of the support parties that we have. Arelationships with United and Maori party is most likely. What about Winston Peters? Would you consider that? Winston was lining himself up to be the leader of the opposition. Just as in 2002. I remember him declaring to all and sundry that he would lead the opposition. I think what we will be looking to do- I think it is unlikely that we will reach out at this point. But we will try to build a relationship with a NZ first over the next two years. There's a lot of water to flow under the bridge. The Maori party, you don't typically need them, But you will �bring them into the Cabinet? We have a good relationship with them. We have a better government because of them. I would be keen to see them involved again. We'll see how it works, who works, who doesn't. Did that final bursts push you to 48 can you pin It on the backlash? The Labour Party are already showing signs that fundamentally, Nzers think NZ is heading in the right direction. In spite of three years of Labour telling them the economy isa mirage, they think we're moving in the right direction. They said actually we don't want to change direction. What will you do in your first hundred days? Were you back us on the RMA changes? They are important economically for NZ. They won't all happen in 90 days due to Parliamentary process. It is the employment relations Bill and others. They will need to get through. We are conscious that the legislation you pass in the first year will have the biggest impact on the economy. I think those will be important changes. We won't see radical shift in policy. You do have an extraordinary amount of power. You can effectively govern alone. You have an extremely popular prime minister. The reason he is liked by Nzersit's because he does not abuse their trust. He takes that responsibility seriously. People ask why is it that after two elections our vote has gone up this time? I think it is the trust. COMING UP ` CORIN'S BACK WITH MAORI PARTY LEADER TE URUROA FLAVELL. JOINING ME NOW IS MAORI PARTY CO-LEADER TE URUROA FLAifVELL. Kia ora. You have one MP. The specials may affect that. Yes the second on our list. Will you look to work with national? We are waiting for an invitation. It's in the hands of the Prime Minister. I think they have made it clear that they want to involved. Do you want to be Minister of Maori affairs? We waiting for an invitationso we can make a positive change for our people. You come back a diminhsed party. We always hopeful. I'm disappointed for many of our candidates. I think they have carried our kaupapa well. Pita and Tariana have moved on. We have a good base of candidates. It's an opportunity for us. When it comes to Maori seats, there is a swing back to Labour. What's going on? I guess the influence of Kim Dotcom has played a significant part. What role? The vice of politics he and the Mana Party and the lies they put out to the public means that they lost, and we lost as well. It is time to consolidate the view of having a strong body voice. Tariana and Sharples ar gone. It is time to rebuild the party. Yes. THAT can't hold us back. What's the reaction about Hone Harawira? Your main rival in mana. Is it easier for you to be built? Sure, there's a lot of water under the bridge with respect to the Maori party and hone. It's been a terrible result for both of you. Isn't it time to work together and counter the threat from Labour which has taken all the Maori seats? The situation with the Internet Party is something that Maoridom does not want. You will work with the national party again. Labour will done for your seat next time. Every election, that's what they want. Maoridom may have shifted back to the Labour Party. The irony is, there will not be able to make any change for the next three years. We had to consider the notion of an independent Maori voice in Parliament. So we can be at the table of every election. That has to be the exercise of us building this. John Key says what's the policy you want? We have built enough impetus in terms of Whanau ora. More money? Not justfor that. It appears negotiation. Whanau ora is the cntre/ WE'RE BACK WITH OUR FINAL PANEL AFTER THE BREAK. TO THE PANEL NOW. The shape of the third term in government. What will it look like? Who is going to be justice and health? My expectationis that there will be a massive reshuffle. That may come later. Things will be pretty much as usual. With some promotions. It will be pretty much business as usual. There will be some surprises, no doubt. John Key will probably promote young, relatively new Mps to senior positions. So far it's been fairly successful. Steven Joyce has hinted that your first year has biggest impact. Not the RMA. What else do you think we'll see on the legislative program? key will look to cement in some things that he actually nose or make a difference in the economy. He has made announcements about moving people from welfare into jobs. Paula Bennett has done a fantastic job there. There will be significant changes. A new Minister of health. I don't think Collins will be back. I'll move it along. Who do you think it will be for justice? It's hard to say. Possibly Nicky Kaye there aren't many lawyers in the ranks of the senior national government. What is interesting. Chris Ferguson has done well as Atty Gl. I think it will be Amy Adams. Simon Bridges is popular in the energy portfolio. They will probably keep him. Matthew, what aRe you picking? People need to get their heads around how historic this was for a third term prime Minister to get this level of support. He has beaten Bolger, Muldoon You have to go back to 1889 to find someone who has done better in this third term. John Key only gets silver medal. Goals is held by Richard Seddon. 2017 has already been mentioned by Steven Joyce. I concur with everything everyone has said. The future of John Key will come into question during this term. I expected to promote upcoming talent like Simon Burgess and Nicky K. Will we move from the easy listening government? Is that going to change? Will John Key be the person who leads national into`? Yyes. He will win the election. Based on this. If they do reform the RMA, there will be a more decisive government than the first two terms. I have to say goodbye. 4 million voters as opposed to 2.2. After all the criticisms Winston Peters maze of various politicians, he told you for looking so young. I thought it was an insult. Thank you all. Thank you for watching. Thank you for your contributions.