NZ First leader Winston Peters is pleased New Zealand's election date was delayed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced it will now be held on Saturday 17th October, four weeks after the original date of September 19th.

While the Electoral Commission said voting could safely happen under Alert Level Two, Ardern says she also had to factor in participation of voters, fairness and certainty.

However, Ardern says Covid is the world's new normal and gave the assurance she won't change the election date again.

The afternoon before, Peters gave a press conference and sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking for the date to be delayed. In the letter, he pointed out that the majority of Parliament - NZ First and National - supported moving the election date, which the Governor-General would need to be made aware of.

That raised suspicions that Peters would have quit Government if the date had not moved. 

Speaking with Heather du Plessis-Allan, Peters denied that he threatened Ardern to move the date.

"I am, after all, Minister for Foreign Affairs. Diplomacy is my speciality, and there is nothing in that letter that looks like a threat."

He says that he was simply stating the fact.

Ardern made it clear she would not change the election again, but Peters says that we would have to delay it if there was no other option. 

• Barry Soper: Election date change was better than uglier alternative

"If it was to dramatically worsen to make an election impossible, why would you persist with the impossible?"