Voters in New Zealand have elected a right-wing government, ousting the party once led by COVID tyrant Jacinda Ardern.
The coalition government will be led by Christopher Luxon, a former chief executive of Air New Zealand, and will consist of his center-right National Party and Act, a smaller libertarian party.
Voters cited the cost of living as their primary concern, leading to the collapse of support for the Labour Party, which won 50 percent of the vote in 2020. With most of the vote counted, the National Party won 39 percent of the vote, up from 26 percent in 2020, and will now lead the coalition government.
The new right-wing coalition government in New Zealand is a return to form for the country, which has mostly had coalition governments since implementing proportional representation in 1993.
This is the first time the National Party, which last governed alone in the early 1980s, has been in coalition with a more conservative partner.
The National Party campaigned on tax cuts, promising relief for ordinary families. However, critics question the funding for those cuts and believe they disproportionately favor property owners while cutting benefits for disabled people.
The inflation rate has slightly eased but New Zealanders still face challenges such as high house and rent prices, a high cost of borrowing, and the ongoing effects of global shocks.
