WELLINGTON: New Zealanders resoundingly elected a new conservative government on Saturday (Oct 14), with incumbent Prime Minister Chris Hipkins conceding his centre-left Labour party's six years in power were over.
Hipkins, who replaced charismatic two-term leader Jacinda Ardern in January, said he was"not in a position to form a government" and had already congratulated premier-in-waiting Christopher Luxon.
"On current numbers, it looks like National and ACT will be in position to form the next government," Luxon added.The election campaign had been dominated by an increasingly difficult economic situation and a spike in the cost of living that has hit New Zealanders hard. In their first 100 days in office, National plan a crackdown on youth offending, a ban on cellphones in schools, and a scrapping of the Labour government's planned fuel tax hikes.
Both Luxon and Hipkins had tried to woo voters with promises to ease surging petrol prices, fix chronic housing shortages, and halt the skyrocketing prices of staple foods.
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