"This is RNZ and I'm in Christchurch with the leader of the Labour Party, fartoomuchpressure, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, it's great to be on here today."
"Often it seems like the last few days of an election campaign are a mad scramble to the finish, are you feeling the pressure?"
"Oh, not all. Campaigning can often be stressful, but I'm no stranger to the stresses of an election campaign. I'm confident that I'm doing everything I can, and it's up to voters to decide."
"It's a well known fact that most voters make up their mind in these last few days. Do you think that makes this a critical period for you?"
"This part of the campaign is certainly important, but I don't think voters make up their minds overnight, it's certainly a process - and we've got to get our message out to voters throughout the entire campaign. I think the increase in advance voting throughout the last few years is an important thing to consider as well."
"The main thing I want to talk about today is your vision for the future. You've often talked about Labour being a forward thinking party, looking to the future. What do this mean for New Zealanders?"
"I think the Labour Party absolutely is a forward thinking party. Throughout New Zealand's history, the Labour Party has been a party of reform. Since the First Labour Government in the 1930s, Labour governments have looked at what needs doing, and they've got it done. New Zealand is a much better place for the Labour governments it's had.
"In terms of what this means for New Zealanders in this election, we're saying to voters, 'we're not done yet', we still have work to do. I think voters have a clear choice this election: between a clear, coherent vision for the future and a jumbled message about cutting taxes and undoing the progress of the last six years."
"You think the opposition is campaigning on undoing the things your government has done?"
"I don't think it's fair that they're campaigning on undoing all the progress of the last 6 years but they're certainly promising to remove a number of things. I think they'll find it particularly hard, with the extent of promised tax cuts, to balance the budget without cuts to a number of things."
"But you're campaigning on tax cuts, too."
"We are, but the difference is that we've given voters a clear indication of how we're going to pay for everything we're going to do. I haven't seen the same coherent message from the opposition."
"Would you be willing to work with them, though, if you needed to?"
"I'm willing to work with any other party on areas of common ground, but I'm not interested in power at any cost. We'll stick to our principles, but if other parties are willing to work together to get stuff done, I'm not against that."
"Do you think cross-party consensus is important?"
"I think it's important to a certain extent, but we're obviously not going to agree on everything. Even between the Labour and Green parties, there's a lot of negotiating that goes on in finding that middle path."
"So there's a lot of disagreement between the two parties?" "I'm not sure I'd put it that way but we certainly don't agree on everything. We have to find compromises on a number of issues."
"So you'd say a vote for Labour is different to a vote for the Greens?" "It absolutely. In a coalition government, we bring to the table our policies and a mandate from the public. A vote for Labour isn't a vote for a Labour-Greens government, it's a vote for Labour's policies, and the votes we get back us up at the negotiating table."
"Are you implying that you might be in government without the Greens?"
"It's not what I meant, really. At this stage it looks like a left-wing government will involve the Māori party as well. But, a government involving other parties isn't totally out of the picture. We'll see what the voters give us and decide what to do from there. As I said earlier, we're not interested at power at any cost. We'll talk to the other parties in parliament and stick to our principles."
"So you could lead your party back into opposition?"
"I think I can be more effective in government, but that's a possibility."
"Would you consider retiring if you're defeated at this election?"
"I don't think I've finished what I set out to do. At this time, I think I'm the best person to lead the Labour Party, whether that's in government or in opposition."
"Do you want to be Prime Minister again?"
"I just want to make things better for New Zealanders, I'm not fussed about where that puts me in certain roles."
"Ok, it's just about time for the news. Thank you for speaking with us. That was fartoomuchpressure, the leader of the Labour Party."