Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has revealed when she will make and announce all her key decisions on the next Government following her party's resounding election victory.
Ardern secured a second term as Prime Minister and guided Labour to a landslide win over closest rivals National on Saturday night, taking out 49 percent of the vote and 64 of Parliament's 120 seats.
That majority allows Labour to govern alone if they wish - however it appears Ardern still needs to make a call on that, as she hasn't ruled out forming a coalition government with the Greens or the Māori Party.
Other major decisions Ardern needs to make include who to include in her Cabinet, who gets what portfolios, and who will take up the coveted role of Deputy Prime Minister.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament moments before speaking to her newly enlarged Labour caucus, Ardern said the first major announcement would come next week.
"As you know yesterday, I had a very preliminary discussion with the co-leaders of the Green Party," she said.
"That was really just to catch up after the election, not formal conversations particularly - just talking about what timelines we might work to in the coming days.
"My very clear expectation is that we will conclude those conversations around potential areas of cooperation next week some time, and that we would look to announce any outcome of those conversations around that time as well."
That same week, a call will also be made on who the next Deputy Prime Minister will be. Winston Peters was the choice last term, with Labour reliant on his New Zealand First party to form a government - but this time there is no such constraint.
The obvious choice on this occasion is to go with Labour's deputy leader Kelvin Davis - but while Ardern says he'll remain her right-hand man within the party, she won't commit to making him Deputy Prime Minister.
"All of the roll allocation I will work through over the next two weeks, and they do go to a vote with our caucus," she said.
The following week, starting November 2, Ardern expects to announce ministerial allocations before shifting gears and focusing on the more formal formation and swearing in of the new Government.
Ardern promises to keep the media updated on timeframes for each decision, but said she would keep many of the details of her conversations and negotiations private.
