We finally have a government – but at what cost? I have previously said that New Zealanders did not vote for a lurch to the right. The difference in the seats tell us that story – 59 v 55 on the left when New Zealand First seats are not taken into account. Winston Peters was previously in government with Labour from 2017 to 2020, signing off on the responses to the Christchurch shootings and Covid crises, and one assumes his return with the National party is more about his personal ambitions than a rightward policy direction.
Peters has managed to secure an expansion of the Covid inquiry to include vaccine efficacy and rollout, a key issue for those who voted for him. Even though he has previously supported vaccination, he eked out support from those who don’t to make a return. The foreign homebuyer tax, which was going to pay for National’s tax cuts, is gone so it is unclear how National will find the funds to pay for it. Presumably it will be through further cuts to public services and additional taxes.
