Ardernism’s defeat shifts the political centre of gravity across the Tasman
The seismic upheaval in New Zealand that has paved the way for a National-led coalition follows a voter reaction against Labour’s progressive agenda and its unfulfilled promises.
As shifts in political centre of gravity go, the New Zealand election on Saturday was seismic. Three years ago, prime minister Jacinda Ardern won a second term with 50 per cent of the primary vote after being rewarded by voters for protecting the country by locking it down hard during the early months of the global pandemic.
But then came the pandemic overhang of the inflation outbreak, a RBNZ cash rate of 5.5 per cent compared with the RBA’s 4.1 per cent, and no energy and resources sectors mini boom as in Australia to help repair the heavily COVID-hit public finances.
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