But they will be waiting until November 3 to learn whether they have elected a government of change or if Winston Peters will be able to apply his infamous handbrake.
If Luxon is unable to deliver change, he’ll be the latest Kiwi Prime Minister to let down his supporters.
Three years ago, voters gave Labour its first clear majority since 1946 to grow the welfare state, introduce a more progressive taxation system and turn New Zealand into the Sweden of the South Pacific. It proved too incompetent to achieve anything.
On Saturday night, New Zealanders made clear that if Labour couldn’t or wouldn’t deliver them social democracy then they would ask National and its ally, the more right-wing and small-government, Act Party to try for something more like the Switzerland or Singapore of the South Pacific.
Labour’s rejection was unprecedented. Compared with 2020, its vote has halved, and it has become the first outgoing government in New Zealand history to crash below 30 per cent.
In Auckland, Labour lost some of its safest electorates, including Mt Albert, the seat of former prime ministers Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern.
The country’s largest city repaid Labour with interest for outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ failure, as Ardern’s Covid Minister, to get the vaccination program underway early enough, causing the unnecessary and disgracefully prolonged lockdown of 2021.
But Aucklanders didn’t just lean a little further right. Their demand for true change was underlined by Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden decisively winning the safe-National seat of Tamaki, despite National investing so much in try to prevent it.
In Epsom, Auckland’s wealthiest electorate, ACT leader David Seymour romped home, with double the National candidate’s vote, despite National trying to unseat him.
Under Seymour’s leadership, Act now controls what was once National’s Auckland heartland.
By midnight, National and Act still had a slim majority of 62 seats, which will increase to 63 after a by-election in the true-blue Port Waikato, caused by the death during the campaign of Act’s candidate.
The problem is that National usually loses two seats to the left when special votes are counted.
That would make it necessary to deal with Winston Peters, who would then have a veto over National-Act’s agenda.
After a quarter century of drift, New Zealand voters are demanding a clear sense of direction, including to address the fiscal crisis, beat inflation quickly, drive down interest rates, begin to pay of Labour’s debt and deliver tax cuts as conditions allow.
Some in National will be happy to bring in NZ First as a handbrake, to provide an excuse for not decisively breaking with the past quarter-century of failed incrementalism under both Labour and National regimes.
That would be a betrayal of the near-majority of voters who last night placed their faith in Luxon and Seymour to do more than administer Labour’s legacy.
Those New Zealanders who do aim for more than a continuation of its slow decline have a nail-biting two weeks ahead.
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