Slogging his way through government coalition talks with two minor parties, incoming New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon concedes he is all but certain to miss a key deadline - the APEC summit.
Tuesday will mark one month since the New Zealand election, won by Mr Luxon's conservative-leaning National party.
The election results gave the parties of the right - National, libertarians ACT and populists NZ First - a majority in parliament, ending six years of Labour-led governments.
In the month since polling day, Mr Luxon has staged closed-door negotiations to agree terms for the next government.
Mr Luxon said talks were "constructive" and marked by "good faith" but they were yet to strike a deal due to the complexity of their "bottom-up build".
"I'm not selecting a flatmate," he told radio Newstalk ZB.
"I'm actually selecting partners to be in government and we've got a lot to do."
Coalition talks are common in NZ, where a mixed-member proportionate (MMP) system makes it almost impossible for a single party to win a majority.
The exception was the 2020 election, when voters rewarded Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party for its handling of COVID-19 with the first single-party majority in NZ's MMP history.
On the table in coalition talks this year are the role each party will take in government, which positions will be held by key individuals, and the policy agenda the coalition government will pursue.
"We've gone through the manifestos and full policy programs for all three parties," Mr Luxon said.
"That takes a huge amount of work.
"You're discussing each and every policy and line item as you go through."
Mr Luxon said there were "a few remaining issues to work through and the mechanics".
"We'll keep pushing hard to get that job done this week," he said.
"We're now down to issues ... that are a bit crunchier but we can work our way through those.
"We need another week to get it all squared away."
Local media report the sticking points could be tax and constitutional issues.
National and the ACT party both pledged major tax cuts but it is not clear how they intend to fund them given the worsening fiscal environment.
ACT and NZ First also want a referendum or review of how the Treaty of Waitangi is interpreted in modern-day NZ - something Mr Luxon has repeatedly labelled as divisive.
On Friday, ACT leader David Seymour said the talks were at the 80-metre mark of a 100-metre sprint.
However, the time it is taking the parties to edge closer to the finish line is likely to cost Mr Luxon a dream start to his prime ministership.
Mr Luxon had hoped to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) leaders' summit in San Francisco this week and meet with United States President Joe Biden and other world leaders.
Instead, he is likely to be holed up in the meeting rooms of Wellington's parliament and Auckland hotels where he has been conducting his government talks.
"I won't make it, no," he said.
"I need to be here to close out these conversations this week."
Mr Luxon's unavailability could mean a likely APEC call-up for lame-duck Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who was sworn in again at the weekend due to the length of the coalition talks, and National foreign spokesman Gerry Brownlee.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Mr Brownlee represented NZ at last week's Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in the Cook Islands.
