Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand has put its faith in Labour: now the party must deliver | Claire Robinson

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With its most resounding victory since 1946, the weight of expectation on Labour has never been greater

The Jacinda Ardern-led New Zealand Labour party has swept to its largest election night victory since 1946, winning 49.1% of the party vote and 64 seats in parliament. While the outcome is, in effect, a little-change election in the sense that the next government will still be led by Ardern, Labour’s victory is one for the history books. Not since the introduction of New Zealand’s Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system, has the Labour party had a mandate to govern alone.

For Labour’s former coalition partner, New Zealand First, the result was a disaster. It appears minor-party voters were no longer attracted to New Zealand First’s promises to be a handbrake on change, preferring instead to give their vote to ACT and the Greens, two parties with strong ideas about how to deal with the issues that are confronting New Zealand in the immediate future: rising house prices, income and social inequality, climate change, and the post-Covid economic recovery.

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New Zealanders have recognised the good luck that Jacinda Ardern is ours | Steve Braunias

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As prime minister, Ardern inspired love and trust; now she has to do something with it

And the winner is … New Zealand. It was the happiness election – Covid fizzled out, lockdown was released, and a sense of gratitude and sheer joy buoyed Jacinda Ardern through a long campaign to Saturday’s landslide victory.

“Let’s keep moving,” Labour’s campaign slogan urged, but in reality it was much more a case of: “Let’s stick with what we’ve got, so actually let’s not, you know, move.” The alternative – National’s Judith Collins – was too appalling a prospect.

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New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern condemns divisive elections in victory speech – video

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Jacinda Ardern condemns divisive elections during victory speech, saying polls 'don’t need to tear people apart'. Her words were interpreted as a veiled allusion to the divisive US election, which take place in two weeks.

The Labour party secured a landslide victory with its best result in five decades after Ardern emphasised kindness and cooperation during her first term, and told voters she needed a second term to deliver on her promises of transformational change

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Jacinda Ardern’s first term as New Zealand’s prime minister – in pictures

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Jacinda Ardern has secured a second term as leader after a resounding victory in the country’s general election. The Labour leader had led a coalition government since October 2017, ending nearly a decade of National rule. During her first term Ardern had to deal with responses to the Christchurch terrorist atrocity, the Whakaari volcano eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic. She gave birth to her first child, Neve, in June 2018

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NZ election 2020: Jacinda Ardern thanks New Zealand amid Labour landslide – live results

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Judith Collins concedes as results show Labour on track for a large majority. Follow live:

A tweet from 2012 by Jacinda Ardern in which the newly reelected New Zealand prime minister is less than complimentary about the British prime minister Boris Johnson is being circulated once more on social media.

Are people really discussing Boris Johnson as possible candidate for PM? When I lived in London he was known as the gaffe man!

Thanks Helen.

David Seymour, the leader of the libertarian ACT party, has been pictured arriving at his election celebration on a boat – with his party set to win 10 seats, tied with the Greens.

David Seymour arriving at the Act party by boat – exclusive photo by our man on the ground, @duncangreive pic.twitter.com/6jsTPVoQm3

Brutal scenes. @JohnJCampbell offering Nikki Kaye lollies as consolation #NZElection2020 #nzpol pic.twitter.com/jOdSTZUr8f

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Jacinda Ardern to govern New Zealand for second term after historic victory

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New Zealanders give Labour more votes than at any other election in past five decades

Jacinda Ardern will govern New Zealand for a second term after the Labour party secured a historic landslide victory in the general election, attracting so many votes it could become the first party in decades to be able to govern alone.

Ardern’s deft handling of the Covid-19 outbreak and resolute belief in science and experts was credited with earning the trust of New Zealanders, who cast early votes in record numbers, giving her party more votes than at any other election in the past five decades.

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Jacinda Ardern thanks supporters amid Labour landslide – video

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Jacinda Ardern is on track to be re-elected as the prime minister of New Zealand. The Labour party looked set for a landslide victory, attracting so many votes in the general election it could become the first party in decades to be able to govern alone.

With more than 90% of the vote counted, Labour had secured 49%, with the opposition National party on 27%. Addressing supporters, Ardern said: “Tonight New Zealand has shown the Labour party its biggest support in 50 years.”

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NZ election 2020: Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins make final push to persuade voters

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PM tours shopping malls in Auckland, while Collins takes final chance to attack Ardern’s record

Political leaders in New Zealand put in a frantic final day on the campaign trail before Saturday’s vote, with Jacinda Ardern, the Labour leader and prime minister, making a whistle-stop tour of shopping malls in the largest city, Auckland, where she was greeted by hundreds of fans who clamoured for selfies.

It was a more muted day for Judith Collins, the leader of centre-right opposition party National, who opted for a handful of events with party volunteers and reporters as she made a last attempt to poke holes in Ardern’s track record. A final poll on Thursday showed Collins’s party languishing about 15 points behind Labour.

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‘I love this country’: US doctors head to New Zealand as cure for America’s ills

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Number of physicians yearning for a move has increased substantially since the Covid-19 pandemic, recruitment firms say

When Dalilah Restrepo, then a New York-based physician, clicked on an email in 2018 asking if she was “looking for experiencing something abroad”, she was sceptical. “And then I opened it, and I was like … New Zealand? Gosh, that’s a bit drastic.”

Restrepo, who had been in private practice for “10 or 11 years”, was exhausted.

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Jacinda Ardern saves best for last in New Zealand election TV debate | Steve Braunias

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Judith Collins has the look of a defeated woman as Labour heads to likely victory

Long time no see. Jacinda Ardern left it late, but turned up at last night’s fourth and final debate of the election campaign as the prime minister. Ghostly versions of herself made weird, kind of shifty appearances in the previous three debates. God she was terrible, an anxious mess, uptight, easily thrown, unable to say anything memorable or with much conviction. She got better or at least less terrible as the debates dragged on and last night, back at the TVNZ studios where the series began, she was in the ascendant. She looked like she knew what she was doing. She looked like herself.

Who was the person sitting beside her in the mauve lights of the studio, though? Someone who only had a faint resemblance to the National leader, Judith Collins, someone who looked like she had the fight taken out of her and had nothing left to give. God, it was sad to witness. It’s a lie that it’s lonely at the top. It’s a lot lonelier at the bottom, and that’s where Collins seems right now at the end of a campaign that has turned into a nightmare, with the prospect of a sound thrashing on Saturday.

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Jacinda Ardern prevails in final debate before New Zealand election

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Leader says she will resign if not re-elected but polls show Labour 15 points ahead

Jacinda Ardern has dominated the final leaders’ debate before New Zealand goes to the polls on Saturday, appearing confident and prime ministerial as she took on a subdued Judith Collins.

In a surprise admission, Ardern said if she was not re-elected, she would resign as Labour leader.

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‘Sorry sunshine, wrong place’: New Zealand deputy PM tells off Covid conspiracy theorist – video

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Winston Peters has rebuked a coronavirus sceptic at an election campaign event in Tauranga. New Zealand's deputy prime minister was answering questions from an audience on Tuesday when the unidentified man asked: 'Where is your evidence that there is a virus that causes this disease?'

'Here's someone who gets up and says "the Earth is flat",' Peters responded. 'Sorry sunshine, wrong place.' New Zealanders go to the polls on Saturday 17 October

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New Zealand euthanasia vote: polls point to ‘yes’ amid campaign of fear and doubt

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The ‘yes’ campaign has Jacinda Ardern’s support but opponents say they believe New Zealand’s most vulnerable will be at risk

On Saturday, New Zealanders will be asked to vote yes or no on whether Kiwis enduring “unbearable suffering that cannot be eased” have a legal right to end their life.

For Matt Vickers, the former husband of lawyer and euthanasia campaigner Lecretia Seales, the vote can’t come soon enough.

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Why are coalition governments so common in New Zealand?

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The country’s MMP electoral system was designed to give more diverse voices entry to parliament

Coalition governments – regarded with horror in many other democracies – have become the norm in New Zealand since the country shifted to the MMP electoral system in 1996, ditching the British “first past the post” system.

MMP – mixed-member proportional – was designed to allow more diverse voices entry to parliament, and award more power to smaller parties in an attempt to dilute the hold that the Labour and National parties had on government.

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‘Jet fighter’ godwit breaks world record for non-stop bird flight

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Bar-tailed godwit flies more than 12,000km from Alaska to New Zealand in 11 days

A bird said to have the aerodynamic build of a “jet fighter” has been tracked flying more than 12,000km (7,500 miles) from Alaska to New Zealand, setting a new world record for avian non-stop flight.

The bar-tailed godwit set off from south-west Alaska on 16 September and arrived in a bay near Auckland 11 days later, having flown at speeds of up to 55mph.

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‘Scent of democracy’: nice hand sanitiser ticks box for New Zealand’s early voters

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As far as polling booth drama goes, Aotearoa’s election has so far yielded none – but early voters are quite keen on the fragrant hand sanitiser

They arrive carrying their own pens. They stop for a dollop of pleasantly lemon-scented hand sanitiser as they enter and exit polling places. And they are turning up to vote ahead of election day in record numbers.

As far as polling booth drama goes, New Zealand’s election has so far yielded none: just the calm, orderly process of 1.15 million people casting early votes – nearly double the number who had voted by this time in advance of the 2017 election.

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Cook Islands’ prime minister gives himself 17 portfolios

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Mark Brown’s multiple ministries prompt opposition to suggest PM lacks confidence in his cabinet

The Cook Islands’ new prime minister has allocated himself 17 portfolios in the country’s government.

Aside from the premiership, Mark Brown is the minister for foreign affairs, immigration, finance, energy and renewables, police, and telecommunications. He is also holds portfolio responsibilities for marine resources, seabed minerals and natural resources, superannuation, and the country’s outer islands. Brown is also the country’s attorney-general.

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Danger lurks for Ardern even as her star power dominates New Zealand election

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She is wildly popular in the polls but significant risk lies in Labour’s decision to pin all their hopes on their leader’s profile

On the lush green grounds of New Zealand’s oldest university, prime minister Jacinda Ardern is getting mobbed.

Half a dozen police officers clear a path through the heaving crowd in Dunedin, while her security detail tightly flank Ardern, and look increasingly tense as the crowd gets bigger and more demanding.

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New Zealand health experts back reform of ‘outdated’ cannabis laws

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Supporting legalisation of marijuana, they argue its use should be seen as a health issue ahead of referendum

Some of New Zealand’s most experienced public health experts have thrown their support behind legalising marijuana, a week out from the country’s general election.

In an editorial in the New Zealand Medical Journal, specialists from the fields of addiction treatment, public health, health promotion and epidemiology have urged New Zealanders to tick yes in the referendum, days after a poll showed the vote on a knife-edge.

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New Zealand National party leader yearns for the star treatment

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In the election Judith Collins is up against one of the most popular PMs in recent times

“I’ve been having an awfully fun time, can you tell?” Judith Collins, the leader of New Zealand’s centre-right National party enthused, to a campaign trail meeting packed with her admirers outside the South Island city of Dunedin. “I can’t stop grinning.”

It was true; she could not. Collins, the country’s opposition leader, is running in the 17 October election against one of the country’s most popular prime ministers of recent times, Jacinda Ardern, who is mobbed for selfies wherever she goes – with such large and closely packed crowds that security and Covid-19 precautions often appear to be cast aside.

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