Conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand's next prime minister after winning a decisive election victory on Saturday. People voted for change after six years of a liberal government, led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern. The exact makeup of Luxon's government is still to be determined as ballots continued to be counted, per the AP. Outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who spent just nine months in the top job after taking over from Ardern in January, told supporters late Saturday he'd called Luxon to concede. Hipkins said it wasn't the result he wanted, "but I want you to be proud of what we achieved over the last six years," he told supporters at an event in Wellington.
Ardern unexpectedly stepped down as prime minister in January, saying she no longer had "enough in the tank" to do the job justice. She won the last election in a landslide, but her popularity waned as people got tired of COVID-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy. Her departure left Hipkins, 45, to take over as leader. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic. With most of the vote counted, Luxon's National Party had about 40% of the vote. Under New Zealand's proportional voting system, Luxon, 53, was expected to form an alliance with the libertarian ACT Party. Meanwhile, the Labour Party that Hipkins leads was getting only a little over 25% of the vote—about half the proportion it got in the last election under Ardern.
Luxon has promised tax cuts for middle-income earners and a crackdown on crime. Hipkins had promised free dental care for people younger than 30 and the removal of sales taxes on fruit and vegetables. Also at stake in the election is the government's relationship with the Indigenous Maori. Luxon has promised to axe the Maori Health Authority, which he says creates two separate health systems. Hipkins says he's proud of such co-governance efforts and has accused Luxon of condoning racism. Within days of taking the reins in January, Hipkins found himself dealing with a crisis after deadly floods and then a cyclone hit New Zealand. He quickly jettisoned some of Ardern's more contentious policies and promised a "back to basics" approach focused on tackling the spiraling cost of living. Early voting before Election Day was lower than in recent elections.
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Earlier in the week, Luxon, who served as chief executive of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, told an energized crowd in Wellington that he would crack down on gangs. "Crime is out of control in this country," Luxon said. "And we are going to restore law and order, and we are going to restore personal responsibility." Luxon also got cheers when he promised to fix the capital's gridlocked traffic with a new tunnel project. Luxon is relatively new to politics but held his own against the more experienced Hipkins during televised debates, per political observers. But Luxon also made some gaffes, such as when he was asked in a debate how much he spent each week on food. His answer of "about sixty bucks" (US $36) was ridiculed on social media as showing him being out of touch with the cost of living. (More New Zealand stories.)
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